That along with the aluminum engine block with no sleeves were just a few of the features of that POS car. A early example of what went wrong at GM. The reasons they are on the ropes now can be traced back to the early 70's and bad decisions heavily influenced by accountants, not car guys. I had a 74 Astre GT, bought in 75. It was junk so I got rid of it. A lot of other people I knew at the time switched to Datsun and Toyota because of the way they were treated at the GM stores. Sounds too familiar eh?
The trick was to keep the coolant system in perfect condition and to change the oil on a regular basis. Screw any of this up and you were done as the silicone (I believe that's what it was) coating on the cylinders would be scuffed off and she'd start using oil..
I remember in the early 80's a neighbor two houses down would buy Vegas for next to nothing and drive the heck out of them. He didn't care if they burnt oil.
That along with the aluminum engine block with no sleeves were just a few of the features of that POS car. A early example of what went wrong at GM. The reasons they are on the ropes now can be traced back to the early 70's and bad decisions heavily influenced by accountants, not car guys. I had a 74 Astre GT, bought in 75. It was junk so I got rid of it. A lot of other people I knew at the time switched to Datsun and Toyota because of the way they were treated at the GM stores. Sounds too familiar eh?
The GM stores have often lack service-in those days the Japs shopped it out ! Won't brag about the Vega but it sure wasn't worse than the Datsun or Toyota of the day-GM built these as comparables
The trick was to keep the coolant system in perfect condition and to change the oil on a regular basis. Screw any of this up and you were done...
Hmmmm, Sounds like the same formula in maintaining a Cadillac Northstar, LOL.
what was the gm quote on allowable northstar oil consumption? 1qt per 1500 km? tell that to a guy that paid 60Gs for his new caddy. i highly doubt their attitude has changed.
Kind of like the Super Duty 455 Firebirds. I believe the statement there was 1 quart per 800 miles was acceptable consumption.
And likely 1 pair of rear tires per 1000 miles as well..............
I recall my Dad driving the 66 chevelle out east on holidays-anthing better than 1 qt to 1000 miles was considered good-highly doubt the imports of the day did any better-especially considering the cloud of blue smoke that followed them around
The trick to keeping an Northstar from burning oil is to drive the snot out of it. I remember when I was at the Caddy dealer being told by a GM rep it was like the Hemi owned by a non car guy in the 60's. Remember they'd get all carboned up and the cure was to beat the hell out of them? Same thing with the Northstar. These are high performance engines and if they are driven like most old folks do the piston rings "seize" in the grooves. A decarb treatment sometimes worked.
The trick to keeping an Northstar from burning oil is to drive the snot out of it. I remember when I was at the Caddy dealer being told by a GM rep it was like the Hemi owned by a non car guy in the 60's. Remember they'd get all carboned up and the cure was to beat the hell out of them? Same thing with the Northstar. These are high performance engines and if they are driven like most old folks do the piston rings "seize" in the grooves. A decarb treatment sometimes worked.
The North*'s have Nickasil liners. Same thing was specified by Reynolds for the Vega 2300's but GM accountants nixed it due to cost. They were forewarned about porosity in the castings and oil consumption, but went ahead without them. The guy that bought my Astre GT( Lil' Smokey as it was known by) tore down the engine and had it sleeved and rebuilt. He got quite a few years out of it driving to school London to Woodstock before rust finished it off.
I can't believe it would be good to let all the fluids drain to the front like that...
Vert-A-Pac Shipping:
The Vega was designed to be shipped vertically, nose down. Special rail cars known as Vert-A-Pac cars held 30 Vegas versus 18 in normal tri-level autoracks. Each Vega was fitted with four removable, cast-steel sockets inserted into the undercarriage.
Chevrolet conducted vibration and low-speed crash tests to make sure nose-down Vegas wouldn't shift or be damaged in railcar collisions. Chevrolet's goal was to deliver Vegas topped with fluids and ready to drive to the dealership. To do this Vega engineers had to design a special engine oil baffle to prevent oil from entering the No. 1 cylinder, batteries had filler caps located high up on the rear edge of the case to prevent acid spilling, the carburetor float bowl had a special tube that drained gasoline into the vapor canister during shipment, and the windshield washer bottle stood at a 45 degree angle. Plastic spacers were wedged in beside the powertrain to prevent damage to engine and transmission mounts. The wedges were removed when cars were unloaded.
When i was 16 , my dad wanted to get me & my brother (twin) a nice little car , he looked at an absolutley cherry diesel chevette .... he decided against it after he took it for a ride ... he fiqured we would have been rear ended , because it was so dam slow , so instead he got us a 1974 vw bug , not much faster if you ask me
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