Good grief that brings back memories. I built a 73 Vega 44 years ago. Had a 060 over 327 11to1 pistons a muncie 4 speed and a narrowed 12 bolt with posi and 4:10 gears. Painted Spectra red 5" snorkel scoop. It was a fast death trap. Rolled it,tore it all to pieces. Built another one. Blew the motor sky high! Sold the whole mess. Enjoy fellas! Thanks for the trip down memory lane! ;

What is rare now. Used to be commonplace in the late 70's and80's lots of v8's running in them cars back then😊

Fellas, that small block Chevy will absolutely fit in there. Guys have been doing this for decades.

Vega, back in the day we called them the "Baby Firebird"! They always had this potential ! get after it fellas! Entertaining AF boys !

the best part of this show is whenever they recommend a product, I know I can find it at crappy tire

Back when I was a senior in high school in 1991 for my class project I took a 76 Vega and dropped a 383 stroker motor and a Muncie 4-speed in the car that thing was awesome. The only thing I can see that doesn't make sense to me is why that entire engine got painted black if that engine gets an oil leak you'll never see it that is one of the main reasons American car manufacturers painted their engines with different colors. As far as your clearance issues with the engine goes you are definitely going to have to change the motor mounts but what I have always done when doing a V8 swap into a Vega is cutting the firewall and moving the transmission two or three inches backward the way you're doing it right now you'll never get a radiator in it

Absolutely love the content. Keepin it real. No big fancy machinery and showing how it's done in the yard. Keep up the awesome videos.

First off, get the V8 monza mounts, gonna need the monza oil pan too. Long water pump set up won't work, need the short water pump and pulleys. Also a good idea to drill 4 holes in the firewall for the top 4 bell housing bolts. The further back you can get engine and Trans, the easier it will be to work with cooling system.

Well, well, well.... you need to take the heater core out, silicone and pop rivet a piece of tin over the hose outlet area, turn the heater core to the 9 o'clock position, cut new holes in the heater core cover so you can use the heater core. An HEI distributor is too big around to be able to push the engine back far enough, so massaging the firewall with a BFH so the HEI has room is necessary. You need a short snout waterpump and a single fan belt pulley set to clear the radiator and the sway bar. A small rear sump oil pan is needed. I actually have plans for side mount motor mounts that bolt to the area on the inner fenderwells, curve forward, and then up to where the V8 motor mounts are on the side of the block. I will try to send you a diagram of them. Now, the factory through the firewall wiring harness will work on the V8. Starter wiring, water temp, oil pressure. If it has a factory tachometer for a 4 cylinder, this won't work correctly, too many cylinders😐. If the front of the car sets too low to the ground, get some V8 or 6 cylinder front springs from a ....... a whatever, and cut them to 0ne coil shorter than the stock Vega/Astre front coils. You can measure and figure out the size of radiator that you'll need, but make sure it's a 3 core or 4 core. Exhaust manifolds that are rear dump, preferably straight down, or "Ramhorn" center dumps work. A transmission mount is very simple to make. 1 inch to 1½ square tubing works well with angle iron on each end and in the middle for the rubber mount. The driveshaft, you will need to get made or make one. You'd be the luckiest people ever if you can find one that fits at the right length. If you can think of anything else, let me know. I used to have a ton of fun building some V8 Vega wagons, hatchbacks, and notchbacks....😮😊!

Love the content!! I was going to get in touch to see if you needed my V8 Vega kit that I removed from my race car a few years ago. I was listening and heard your accents when you said ooout and I realized you were in Canada. Well new subs scriber here anyway..lol......Love the Honda powered John Deere!!!

You guys already know by now your going to need the trans-dapt vega v8 swap mounts by now, Y'all have fun - love that Pontiac

Loving these videos. Thx for taking the time to create them.

I built one in 1977. 250 horse 327 and a power glide trans. I use a Headman or Hooker header front mount. Bolts to the 4 holes by the vibration damper. The mount then sits on the frame. I just added a bracket to the trans crossmember. I had a points distributor so a little smaller. For exhaust I milled the stock ram horn manifolds on an angle to hug the block. 2 turbo mufflers hanging off the stock Y pipe split. Qjet carb. welded the stock rear axle for a locker. Much shorter rear tires also. I delivered pizzas in it for 3 years. Street raced it any time I could. Only lost one race to a wicked Buick or Oldsmobile. Ran under 12 second 1/4 mile. The whole project was only about 500 bucks without the cost of the car.

Oven cleaner, brilliant! It even worked on my first wife's cooking.

Of course you can fit it. I did that swap back in High School in the late 1970s using a then available kit from "Hooker Headers" nothing new here. Only problem was that Vegas were notorious rust buckets that would rust away just by looking at them! 🤣

I did two Vega swaps in the early 80s. I used Don Hardy mounts. Probably long gone. Headman still makes a mount kit. The best exhaust manifolds I found were the center dump Rams Horn ones. The drivers side has to be the angled outlet. The short water pump set-up makes it easier to put a fan and rad in, but, I squeezed the long pump in one of them if I remember correctly. That 305 running properly will surprise you because as you said the car only weighs 1800 Lbs. Also, sadly any "spirited" driving with the 305 will break that rear axle.

Finally got a chance to watch, great video! Thanks guys!

Of course you can! My buddy dropped a 4 bolt main 350 in his, instant monster! Years later I installed a corvette 327 in mine and it was extremely nasty! Nothing wrong with the origional 4 cyl eithier, as long as it's cared for with qualify oil and filter changes on time, and you don't overheat it! I never had those problems because I do my maintenance before scheduled. I wanted more power so I dropped in a 327 with the 4 speed and a narrowed 12 bolt rear diff with 4:11 posi, super stock springs, ladder bars, and welded in subframe connectors. That's it!

This channel is so UNRATED !! Great content 🙌🙌

Its a bolt in with Monza parts

Your easiest route is probably to use the Trans-Dapt mount kit. this attaches the front of the engine to the frame, and includes a transmission crossmember. they are still available from a number of sources. I know I saw them on Speedway's website.

Like someone else mention transdapt still makes the kit to swap the sbc v8. Make sure you change the chain, cam and lifters. I can't say it enough. Many of those blue sbc engines had soft cams. Comes with a new oil pan, where you'll find plastic teeth from the cam sprocket in your oil screen. Hang in there, you're doing a great job, and I'm not lying to you.

I worked at UPS back in the late 70's, a trucker i used to talk to had a 73 Vega he'd put a small block 350ci in, it was black on black, had to beef up suspension to deal with the extra weight, he raced it at HALSVILLE DRAG STIP on the weekends drove it to work during the week, sometimes, cause it was "Tubbed and Narrowed"! Man i wanted that car! Think it ran in the 10's cant remember for sure, ive slept since then lol.😎👍

I think you have to use the short water pump and pulleys on this swap, if I'm not mistaken. There is a whole "V8 Vega kit" that you can buy with all the correct stuff for the swap

The majority of us are not rich men and do things like you do. Awesome video agian.

Yeah my buddie back in the late 70's had a Vega with a 327 in it, and a 2 speed slushbox behind it, we would drive it to PIR, Portland Intnl Raceway in Oregon and have a blast takin it down the dragstrip on Prostock days. Man that thing was fast!!!

Ah, the Chevy Astre/Pontiac Vega!

Your channel was suggested to me by KZfaq, because I watch shows like yours I decided to subscibe to you guys about half way into your video because you are not trying to be anything other than what you are! Down to each and fun to watch. I am 60 years old and I had 2 of those Chevy Vegas back in 1984 & 1985 they were ok cars i guess. Looks like you fella's are going to rocket ship this one into space for sure LOL. Be carful and be safe and have lots of fun while your young. By the way guys... Get ready for a lot of modifications that will need done LOL

The comment you made about not being rich and owning a lot of nice things, I think that aplies to many of us who watch you're videos and I have to say the improvising of that honda motor is pure geinus ( I hope I spelled the rite lol)

Had a 73 Vega back in 83… 327 tunnel ram…4 speed. I used the Baldwin Motion kit with Hooker headers..short water pump… special pan.. the engine mounts bolt to the 2 lower (front) bolt hole and 1 water pump bolt.. the headers alone were over 6 hours to install

Sorry I don’t have any helpful advice on this on guys but, if nothing else, it shows you are keeping it real and showing the struggles on this kind of project. More importantly, you’ll be showing how to overcome them at some point. Good luck! Also - the 10K is getting closer. 👍🏻

Amazing video guys! cant wait to see how this plays out. also the rogue chicken attack was priceless

My 71 vega, years ago, had a single flat pulley, thinner harmonic balancer, homemade custom engine mounts and the front grill was cut out and reinforced to set the radiator back further. But the 283 fit nicely. By now, you guys have probably figured yours out too, good luck, outside of getting a complete kit that's offered today, it'll be fun fabricating your own.

Cool video, looks like you're having fun. A short water pump and SWP accessory brackets and pulleys will make your life easier.

Hi guys. There are a couple of companies that make complete kits to install a SBC engine in a Vega. Custom engine mounts, headers, radiator and a transmission mount adaptor. The cost should be less than a thousand dollars American. In the old days, Chevy had several different configurations of exhaust manifolds that could be mixed and matched to work in the Vega chassis. That's much harder to do today. GM put a 305 in the H Body cars, from the factory, so a really good salvage yard should be able to figure out exactly which manifolds make that happen. You'll need the short water pump and the correct pullies, and it's helpful if you "massage the heater box for some clearance. There are hundreds of these things on the roads today, with salvage yard brake, suspension, and rear end upgrades. The Vega needs all of that help, AND MORE. The first time you find traction, the right rear lower control arm will fold up like an accordion, and the combination of crappy GM parts, and crappy GM suspension geometry is to blame. Read everything that you can before proceeding, or you'll just waste your time building a steaming POS. I've never watched your channel before, and it almost looks like your claim to fame is doing things half assed, so maybe a steaming POS is what you want? It's up to you.

did the swap in the 70s with a 283 bent the oil pan and fire wall with a sledge hammer made my own front engine mount bolted to the original 4 speed , fun car

Envious of that weather. Trying to work outside in 95 degree fahrenheit sux! You guys got it made! I had a V8 Monza. Very fast.

Great basic platform for the powerplant, smaller chamber heads, cam decent intake and carb setup it will a fun Vega

Wow《☆》Good Luck Guy👍🍺🤳I was hoping to see a 340 Mopar going in😁The 305 will be fun tho✌️😎☯️

Yeah, if my memory serves me, you'll need to slide the transmission back a few inches. Then massage the fire wall with a big hammer. The bolts are gonna be tight for the bell housing and the distributor should miss the fire wall about an inch. When you get it that far back you'll need to keep an eye on the steering linkage and the wall should move pretty easy about 3 inches in. After you can smooth things out with a little body filler and spray paint. A guy i use to know was a monza v8 guy and i remember this. I believe the Vega is a bit smaller in the nose. Definitely do the chain and cam because you'll have to pull the engine again if you want more power.

My Vega was 355 4 speed, I used front suspension and reareand out of a Monza! BAMF out of the gates! Did that in the late 80's!

Some people put big blocks in those cars 🤔

My brother had an ashtray. A long forgotten name.

👀Engine bay always looks big until you get the engine close to it😂. Pressure wash the engine, and paint it with spray bombs. No masking tape, valve covers still bolted on.👍👍I subscribed. Bonus points for using an engine hoist on dirt.

Beautiful car

What a great looking car 👍👍

We were stuffing small and big blocks in vegas back in ‘70s high school.

Cute little cars ...old man had a baby blue one

I saw Vega, but see an Astre in the clip. we had a '71 in the Family years ago, & I did a Tour of the Lordstown facility in '74 with the Boy Scouts.

You went high dollar with the Easy Off oven cleaner. I use the Dollar store brand so I could buy more cans for my projects. I worked on these with factory V8 and motor swapped ones too. They used to sell V8 swap kits for the Vega/ Astra. Made for a fun ride!

I put a 350 Chevy in my 74 vaga no problem with a turbo 350 tubbed out for 9-inch rear end four points roll cage wheelie bars I drove it to the racetrack and erased it and drove it back home on pump gas drove it to work that thing was fun

Not sure what y’all were thinking I did the same type swap but whole unit engine/Trans. It’s all about Angle the angle of the Bojangle. Good luck cool channel ✝️🇺🇸

"Can We Fit a V8 in our Classic Compact" [Laughs in watching my neighbor do this in 1979]

On sbc I always used a front mounting plate with no mid motor support and a good transmission crossmember. You will run into a clearance problem with the distributor but a few sledgehammer blows to the firewall takes care of it. Did a few of these back in the '70s

I had a Chevy Monza wagon (same front end) and it had a Buick V8 in it.

You may want to take a look at the 305 V8 Chevy Monza that was produced by GM right after the Vega was scrapped (1975-1979)...pretty close to the same chassis. There may be many factory parts from the V8 Monza that will help you convert that old beast to V8...including manifolds etc. (Check Rockauto for potential parts listing numbers and availability.) I remember back in the day, the V8 Vega was a pretty common conversion since they were absolute hell on wheels at the dragstrip! Anyway, good luck to you guys...love watching your content!

The fastest street car I've ever known was a 71 V8 swapped Vega.It was Pro Street before Pro Street was a thing.Legendary in its hometown Street scene and made an appearance on the streets of Bristol Tennesee.way back in the late 70s.

Good luck boys

Built a 1974 Vega used a 4.3L out of a V8 Monza 4sp built the motor using 305 ho heads decked the block 9x to gain compression only problem with the car was keeping a clutch in it used to spin the center out of the disk used Monza frame mounts and Monza motor mounts

You need the v8 vega motor mount kit, as well as the correct oil pan for the vega frame, and you need to use specific v8 vega headers, or Rear exit manifolds. It’s not just drop in and go. Plus you’ll need a vega/monza v8 radiator as well

New subscriber here. Back in the mid 70's a guy in my neighborhood swapped a 350 into an early Vega. He totally changed the front suspension with a Dodge straight axle and leaf springs (gasser style). The first time he drove it, he revved it up and dumped the clutch and wham. The front end came up, the rear bumper hit the pavement, and he panicked. He hit the brakes and the front end slammed down snapping the front axle in half and sending the front wheels up into the fenders. He never drove it again. I hope you boys are more successful than he was.

Cool channel so far I like the content. I think there’s a complete V-8 Vega kit witch has oil pan motor mounts and headers. And I think you have to use a short water pump and front accessories

yo they did put 305' in monzas you need to get the parts for that the motor mounts exhaust manifolds a short water pump and pullies then it bolts right in and the trans mount as well. you have an awsome start i cant wait to hear it run and drive.

Don Hardy Race cars used to sell chassis mounts to install. Makes it an easy task

Lol Built a bunch of these back in the 80's, answer is, yes it will fit lol

The biggest engines that came in the75-79 Pontiac Ventura was the Chevy 5.7 CI or the Pontiac 5.8 354CI and if you can find the OEM 5SPD Borg & Warner T-50 Trans, these were pretty well loaded back in the 70s

I had a 327 in a Vega in the 80s. Motor mounts and headers from hooker. Th400 was a tight fit, but faster than anything I raced.

First you need to remove the heater core and flip it around(it will move the tubes further away from the engine), just redrill 2 new holes using a hole saw and use the pieces you drilled out to weld over the old holes. Second you will need to slightly clearance the trans tunnel, not to much just enough to get the bolts in the transmission. Third you will need a short water pump and pulleys,(Monza V8 swap parts would be best but they are extremely hard to get now a days) but you can go with 70's era Corvettte stuff. Fourth engine mounts, again V8 Monza would be the way to go but they are hard to find so, You can get a set of mounts and headers from Headman, also Sanderson makes nice headers(Me personally would go with the Headman engine mounts and Sanderson Headers, as the Headman headers go into the wheel well). Fifth the oil pan just buy a Moroso oil pan for the Vega, the work great. Sixth The original fuel pump is in the tank if it works use it if not put a electric remote fuel pump back at the tank, and ditch the one on the engine and put a block off plate on. Seventh Go with a aftermarket Radiator, I would go to a place that will custom make a aluminum one for you, But be aware there are a lot of Radiators out there that say they will fit but they will not and you will be throwing money away.(So after the engine is in measure what you want and get one made). Don;t worry about the rear end, the Astre you have has the 7.5 rear end and it will handle up to 300 HP, unless you are doing burnouts every 10 secs. I built around 50 V8 Vegas and Monza's in my youth, with some friends and we would sell them, I could V8 swap a Vega or Monza in a day. They are a blast to drive. If you are looking for insight into the swap or parts check, v8monza.com

I personally made a plate 3/16 to a 1/4 thick n bolted it to the front of the motor, they r3 bolts on each side of the front of the engine that's where the plate is bolted on, that plate will extend to the center of the chassis 1 L shaped piece of steel on each end of the plate that's where the engine will be bolted to the car with rubber bushings under the L shaped plates, did many of them on Vegas for racing, the idea came from the 50s truck motor mounts, hope I didn't confuse u but good luck trying my idea, try finding a old 50s truck n u will see how the mounts work on the engine n tranny

Not cheap, but looks like for the most part its got everything you need, Trans Dapt makes a kit including headers, a modified oil pan & what looks like a trans crossmember for about $1500 or just look it up, find a reference for scale point, buy some steel, & weld 'er up! 😁

I have Sanderson shorty headers on my v8 Vega and they work great. You can also use Monza V8 exhaust manifolds too, if you can find a set.

you need a v8 plate to bolt on the chasis and after you need v8 mount to bolt on the plate. you can find plate and mount on oem v8 monza. last thing you need Sanderson headers.

I had a 71 with a 4 banger.👍

They make mounts for it they are like the old Corvette mounts that bolt to the water pump. The drivers side manifold is an issue, but if you get the Monza manifolds they have a groove for the steering shaft

Did this in a 76 Vega. Look for a monza v8 oil pan motor mount and a universal joint on the steering. Electric fan that pushes air through the radiator from the front. Ram horn exhaust manifolds (driver side)

40 years ago built half dozen These cars real fun it needs hammer therapy to trans tunnel for starts

Ya you guys will get it.

Cool Pontiac

I wished that you guys would have used a dummy block and heads with the oil pan attached so that you can see your clearance problems, I modified my stock GM oil pan and had a friend weld it up for me I just looked at pictures of the Moroso V-8 Vega oil pan and made my own, you just need to cut out the middle of the pan so the steering linkage can pass under the pan , it's gonna take a little bit of work but it can be done 👍🏾

ours had a foward mounted motor mount plate on each side from the oem towards the v8 on the 305

Somebody probably has said monza parts .i owned a factory built monza town coupe 1975 with the 4.3 V8 262 same as a 350 so there shouldnt be issues if you use the monza stock parts ,my monza got the 262 yanked out for a 350 using the orig pan and mounts it was a beast with a saginaw 4speed but anytime you hammered throttle she was breaking traction even at 70 80 it would light them dunlop gts like hell fire best o luck man

Love the hbody cars mine has come a long way just put 750 holley on it have to hook it up yet

Oh hammer the oil pan

BTW, Motion, Don Hardy, & Hooker as well as some others made V8 Vega kits back in the day also.

New to your channel...we did a 283 swap back in 81. It would do a burn out from he doulbe hockey sticks

Always listen to your buddies, never do any research and things will sort themselves out

Need to turn heater core around. firewall massaging for distributer . had a 283 bored to 301 in it. Made plates for motor mounts pretty easy really. Headers were a pain ,power glide trans. Gene

You could just put a motor plate in the front of the engine to mount it. It makes a little less BS. I started doing that when putting V8s in vegas and monzas when i did this stuff in the day. There always still some screwing around getting things right when doing it but once you do it and figure out how stuff will fit and function it really is not that bad. It is all part of wrenching. You will get it.

You need to use short water pump and pulleys mount the motor from the front two plates of the lower mounting holes that’s how 55 Chevy where mounted and you have to use old Chevy exhaust manifold or buy a set of headers for a v8 Vega good luck I have built 3 of those cars.

Bolt a flat plate of length to frame then mount up new motor mounts to plate also get the car off the ground around 3ft of ground clearance make it easier to work on

Might help to use a short water pump from a 283 or 327.

I built a couple v8 vegas from a cosworth to a 600 327 powere fiberglass tilt front ended 71

When I was a teenager if you didn't have a small block in your Vega , you'd be called lame and told to go sit on the porch before the big dogs run you over.

Yes you can. I had a 73 Vegas Kammback I put a 293 and a Muncie 4 speed in.

put a short water pump in it if your needing a little more clearance between the radiator and the water pump

May need to run corvette short water pump.

Nothing to apologize with that paint job; even a bad paint job is better than patina IMHO. Painting the engine bay and cleaning the motor is more than sufficient pennance.

Work with a guy, has 2... one with a 350, his other has a 454 ready for install. That one went out for full restoration and Spirit of America livery

Uhh put in good supply of windshields they will crack if you hot rod it. Also subframe connectors be advisable😊😊

Summit racing sells the motor mounts for this swap. Along with all the other parts too swap it in.