'73 Vega GT All Aluminum Wildcat 355 Project

Contents:
Page 1: Engine Block prep
Page 2: Head mods
Page 3: Induction
Page 4: Engine Assembly
Page 5: Front Suspension Mods
Page 6: Rear Suspension/Weight Transfer Mods
Page 7: Rust Repair and Undercarriage prep
Page 8: Frame Rail fabrication/Unibody support
Page 9: Body Mods
Page 10: Transmission Mods
Page 11: BMW Radiator Swap

Engine Assembly:

My machine shop, Wagamon Brothers, finished the machining and customization of all the separate componants of the engine project:

The engine was blueprinted; Cylinders to pistons, Crank mains to block mains, Rod journals to connecting rod big ends, Cam to bearings etc.

As you've read on the previous pages the heads have been modified for the larger valves and the cylinders have been pinned. The last pieces of custom work to be done was fit the Buick pins to the Chevy rods and Ford pistons.

Then I had the whole assembly balanced. We found interference with the crank and the pistons so I had them releave the crank where there was interference and rebalance the crank. They also trial fit everything to check clearence for bearings and rotating assembly.

The connecting rods are from a '69 Z28 302. The beams were shotpeened and polished, and the pistons were deburred and releaved for the crank interference. The big ends had 100 thou removed to fit the crank journals, and the smalls were honed for Buick pins.

It wasn't cheap: $4972.57 Now that I have all the pieces ready to assemble. Since I had the assembly trial fit I don't need to check the clearences so things should go pretty quick with the short block. Then will come the front cover. I expect some problems there...

Good new for me! I found an adjustable roller rocker for the Rover/Buick on Summit manufactured by Harland Sharpe. It was listed as a stud mounted system so I called Harland Sharpe directly. I spoke with Randy Sr. He was a huge help. The best part is I got the setup for $130 less than on Summit!! I'll post some pix when the system arrives.

Here they are! Here's a pic of me eagerly opening the package:

I started assembling the pushrod cup screws. I've been waiting to buy these for over a year now. It's pretty cool that I could finally afford it.

I'm putting the deckheight stats in here because I continually forget and go to work out the math over and over.

Piston comp height is: 1.585"
Piston dia: 3.7395"
Wrist Pin dia: 0.9122
Piston head vol: 1.5cc

Connecting Rod length: 5.7"
Big end dia: 2"
Small end bored to: 0.9122

Block deckheight: 8.96" stock
Block decked: -0.005 (8.955")

Rotating assembly height: 8.985"
Pistons 0.030 above deck

Head vol: 54cc

Engine Mock up

I assembled the empty block with the heads and oil pan to mock up the engine in it's final placement for engine mount fabrication. I started by installing the ARP stud kit I got for the heads.

I had the rare opportunity to see what the chamber looked like from the cylinder side. Here's a pic. It's not that easy to see by the pic but the edges of the chamber fits right to the cylinder walls. It looks like I will not have any problems with valve shrouding with the larger valves I installed.

I just slapped on the grungy valve covers and the single plane intake I bought from Australia. What I hadn't noticed was the intake is setup to be level with the engine. The Buick/Rover is usually mounted with the engine rotated back about 3-5º. The Edelbrock performer 3.5 may be a better choice. We'll see.

So I got the engine/trans empty (no rotating assembly or internals on the T5) in place. It was really gratifying because it's been years since the engine has been in it. So my plan is to move the engine back a couple inches. I think I can get it to move about 2" before I get to the firewall. Since the distributor is located in the front of the engine I don't have to worry about interference there. The only problem is the heater core then. I will have to make a custom, smaller one to fit if I move it back. That's what I'm going to do though because I'm fixated on moving it back

You can see here how far away the engine is mounted with the D&D kit. That's OK but I need all the weight distribution I can get. I'm really close to 50/50 and I think moving the engine back with get me there. SO I used a soapstone to mark where I would need to relieve the firewall to make room for it.