This is an early picture of my '74 Vega GT. This picture was taken sometime in 1988. I bought the car for $25.00. It had no engine, but was complete otherwise. The body was in decent shape, but had some rust in the right rear quarter, and a bad dent around the gas filler. By this time, I had completed most of the bodywork and finally got it all one color. I rebuilt a Chevy 200 V-6 and put it in the car. I had to fabricate the motor mounts by hand since none were available at the time.   I drove this car while I was in high school and to Texas while I was stationed there for some Army training. I finished the body work and had it painted before I left for Texas in January of '89.
 
 

I eventually tired of the V-6 and decided to drop in a V-8. I found a 283 and a V-8 Monza donor car while I was stationed in Texas. The Monza donated it's engine frame stands, motor mounts, accessory brackets, front coil springs, bell housing, exhaust manifolds and radiator. This was when I discovered that there really IS a difference between the Vega/Monza front suspensions. With the Monza coils in the Vega control arms, the car sat nose in the air like there was no engine in the car. I put the stock Vega springs back in the car after I got it back home to Virginia. They held up pretty good, but were definitely a little on the soft side. This picture was taken after I mortally wounded the 283. The 305 that replaced it is on the stand beside the car. I was in the process of modifying the nose of the car to hold a larger radiator.
 

This was supposed to be the "before" picture of a "before and after" set that was never completed. I had just removed the 283 when this picture was taken.

This is the 305 and the larger radiator. I think it actually came out of a diesel Caddy. You can see the temporary mounts for the Fiero electric fan  in the top of the radiator. That Fiero fan really pulls some air through the radiator. When it came on, I could actually feel the air blowing under the car from the back of the car.

 
  This is how the car looked when I sold it. I eventually installed the power steering and front/rear suspension from a '80 Sunbird that had the 2.5 Iron Duke engine. The coil springs from the Sunbird held the weight of the V-8 better than the stock Vega springs, even though they both had the same ride height. The torque arm from the Sunbird had to be shortened, as did the drive shaft. I shortened the drive shaft myself, being very careful to keep the yokes aligned. When I put it in the car, the first thing I did was wind it up and dump the clutch. If my drive shaft was going to fail, I wanted it to do it at a near standstill, not on the interstate somewhere. Pole-vaulting a car is not my idea of a good time. It held up fine, and without any vibrations either. If I were making any kind of serious horsepower, I would have had the shaft done professionally.

The last known location of this car was in West Virginia somewhere. If you happen to know where this car is, I would like to try to buy it back if possible.