Worst Automotive Inventions: The Chevrolet Vega's Irreplaceable Air Filter!

[@dmandman9]

Bad news: The air cleaner price was outrageous ! Good news: The filter usually never needed to be replaced because the ENGINE failed first 😂

[@junelipinski2025]

I agree. It ran for 30,000 miles, if that, and then you changed the engine. It was a car that you checked the gas and filled the oil.

[@ddavidson5]

True enough. My Vega that I bought new (my first new car) was so bad I got rid of it before I had to replace the air filter. The Vega looked and handled good, and was why I bought it, but that was about all it had going for it.

[@mankind8088]

🤣😭😂🤣😭😂🤣😭😂

[@Whateva67]

@@junelipinski2025😂

[@Whateva67]

@@junelipinski2025dude😂

[@sct913]

My sister had a 1972 Vega. The family joke was "Pull into a gas station and tell the attendant to fill the oil and check the gas."

[@josephgaviota]

I remember that line, too.

[@JETZcorp]

That line got recycled when the Saturns came out in the 90s. They used a quart per thousand miles or more, but they were easy 40 mpg cars if you knew how to drive at all.

[@michaelallen1432]

@@sct913 yes, they say that many started burning oil within 6000 miles due to the failed experiment of cylinders lined with a thin layer of deposited silicon. It was an idea that sounded good but they must not have tested it properly, or perhaps it was something that couldn't be produced properly in mass production. But it failed miserably. I know American cars of that period were plugged with problems. Not just quality control issues, where a good design fails because it wasn't assembled right, but design defects. I suspect they didn't test them rigorously, thinking that they could just fix it later. It's not a good idea obviously. You end up with cars that NEVER worked right out of the factory and unhappy customers and there then many defects are never fixed because they it's too expensive or simply impossible. But I suspect that strategy would more or less work because their new vehicle models were just relatively small variations on a technology they had been building and perfecting for 60 years or more. Even very different models like pick up trucks and sedans used many of the same components like engines,transmissions and axles. So the number of serious flaws was probably limited due to that commonality. A problem with a transmission for example would get worked out quickly then it's fixed across the whole line. But with the Vega they tried to essentially reinvent the whole car. Without proper testing, it's going to be a train wreck. And it was.

[@jmcbike]

Accurate. The car burned and leaked oil like crazy, with less than 50,000 miles on it. I never bought another GM car after that.

[@oldguy6976]

😂 oh the memories

[@althunder4269]

The air filter was made like this because you are supposed to replace the whole engine.

[@dmandman9]

They had about the same lifespan. 😂

[@marko7843]

That's what I was thinking, one-time-use filter and one-time-use engine... 😂

[@HemiCudaGuy]

"replace the whole engine." Which is what I did. With a SBC, a Muncie 4-sp, and narrowed 12-bolt rear.

[@jw-hy5nq]

without cylinder liners why did they even bother with a filter?

[@TheShivABC]

@@jw-hy5nq It had to survive long enough to make it off the lot

[@cadillacguy1890]

I ran an auto parts store in the late 1970’s. Many Vega owners would ask for an engine air filter only to experience sticker shock when we told them the price. A normal paper air filter was anywhere from $2.95 to $4.95, about $12 to $20 in today’s dollars, depending on the application. The A/C brand Vega filter was nearly $20, about $70 in today’s dollars. We sold a filter from the Hastings brand, it was about $20 too, the canister was split, so you could then replace only the internal paper element. I believe it was a standard GM four cylinder element, too.

[@RayEttler]

that price info was crucial for the video. thanks.

[@Shiftyspeedshop]

Thanks for the price, it was the first thing I had a question about.

[@u686st7]

The Chevette used a similar filter. I replaced it with a Hastings conversion.

[@JohnnyAloha69]

Exactly what I was going to ask

[@Nick-b7b9s]

Isn't this the sama as traditionnel metal oil filtres? Tin is pretty cheap

[@PCUser-m4u]

My first car was a '72 Vega GT. I turned 16 in 1986, by which time the only Vegas you saw had V8s in them or were abandoned next to the freeway. But it was a great chassis, and my father and I made the best of it. We bought my car from a guy that used to race them in the NASCAR baby-grand series, and it already had a lot of good parts on it. With its split front bumper, rear spoiler and a fresh set of Cragar wheels I bought from the auto parts store I worked the parts counter at it looked very much like a 7/8s scale 70 Camaro. We built a nasty sleeved 2.3L Vega motor for it, using forged TRW pistons, and a cylinder head ported by a local machinist who drag-raced the 4-cylinder Vega motors. It also had all the cut-down stainless SBC valve that would fit in the recut combustion chambers. We finished it with a fairly wicked Crower cam, a pair of 45mm Weber DCOE side-draft carbs, a GM HEI ignition, header and a glass-pack muffler. No power brakes or steering, so you could run a lot of cam in it. The car was very fast, making 175HP and turning 7400 RPM while ripping through the gears of the Saginaw big-car 4 speed sourced from a later Vega. The '72 GT originally had a little Opel-derived 4 speed box that was easily broken, but you could not hurt the later Saginaw units. I spit the spider gears out of several of the tiny 6.5" 3.36:1 Vega rearends before we built a narrowed 12-bolt Chevy for it and ended that problem. It beat every 4 or 6 cylinder car on the road at the time besides the Buick Grand Nationals, and most of the V8s as well, while still returning 20mpg. I was amazed at how well the car handled. I had been racing karts since I was 11, and was very experienced by the time I got my license. That Vega was perfectly balanced, without a trace of the push that plagued most 70s designs. It had aftermarket sway bars front and rear, as well as a few other suspension goodies when we bought the car. It seemed like an extension of me, and with my racing experience and 16-year old lack of fear was uncatchable when the road wasn't straight. It was one of the greatest cars of my life, and the very foundation of my lawless glory days. Oh to be young..

[@FrankBullitt390]

I figured they were all gone by 83. I was born in 1980 and never saw them - distant memory by the 90's

[@Bullseye120]

I owned a 74 Vega GT, and I was told that GM discovered that air conventional filter element designs would not survive the Vert A Pac shipping method that GM used for the Vega. The battery, and windshield washer bottles also had uniques designs because of this.

[@fakenews7266]

Your not from Maryland ?

[@johnandrus3901]

@@Bullseye120That sounds strange. I understand the battery and washer bottle, but the dry air filter wouldn’t leak. A removable lid wouldn’t take up any more space and the air filter would still be secure.

[@PCUser-m4u]

@@fakenews7266 No, never been there. I lived in the Phoenix, AZ area in the '80s. Even Vegas were fairly rust-free there. My out-of-state car had only a little rear quarter panel rust that had been repaired by the time I got it. After a little more bodywork and an Earl Scheib paintjob, it was sharp.

[@truthfilterforyoutube8218]

My father ground away the edge of the crimp all way round on the grinder ,thus separating the top from the bottom. Took the filter to the parts place and found a direct size replacement.....put it back in and spun the nut back down on the top....no problem

[@LooneyFarmGuy]

I would have tried the same , somehow messed it up and end up buying the aftermarket kit 😂

[@PETERREPKA-du4up]

One of my friends dad did that and to open up to get more air flow as there was too much restriction at highway speeds causing it to slow down on the bigger hills on the interstate in PA.

[@Abitibidoug]

That's exactly what I did.

[@billsmith5960]

My dad did the same thing to my uncles Vega. I think most shops did that at the time.

[@Who-ry8of]

My dad had a ‘73. He used to sit in the yard drink beer and say he was watching his car rust.

[@billsmith5960]

My neighbor had a 73 and that guy never took the window sticker off of it. He was old and retired yet outlived the Vega and had to buy another car.

[@ambientstereorecordings3528]

My dad had a '74 Chevy Vegan. He would park it on the lawn when he would BBQ and listen to it complain.

[@warnegoodman]

@@ambientstereorecordings3528 :/

[@billsmith5960]

@@ambientstereorecordings3528 - Amazing part was, cars were not that good back then compared to today but the Vega was setting all new standards of what not to do. Then people wonder why the Japanese came in and did so well.

[@sharedsailing4787]

My parents had an ugly blue Vega when I was a little kid. I remember the uncomfortably hot pleather/vinyl seats and cheap interior. One day either the engine or transmission seized in a parking lot. My dad cussed for a few minutes then had it towed straight to the junkyard while my mom came to pick us up. And we never spoke of that car again 😂

[@gvlambo]

didnt even try to see the problem. just started swearing and sent it straight to the junkyard. Your father was probably very mad

[@josephgaviota]

Good Riddance!

[@Tubes12AX7k]

I forgot all about the hot vinyl seats until you mentioned it.

[@randolfo1265]

@@Tubes12AX7k - Vinyl seats were in a lot of cars in those days. That's what you get unless you could afford a luxury trim. I didn't get cloth seats until my fourth car, a 1976 Camaro that I got in 1982. - LUXURY!

[@jamesengland7461]

Sadly, this air filter probably lasted the life of at least some of the engines.

[@marko7843]

😄☑️

[@markg7030]

Yep!

[@michaelmurphy6869]

When the air filter was do to be replaced as outlined in the owner's manual, there was an asterisk * attached in the bracket. At the bottom of that page it stated, * engine replacement is highly recommended. Standard tune-ups on Vegas included a short block...

[@ritchiesokol1061]

Not so. 1974 plugged air cleaner. A smart 16 year old cut the tin off. Burned off the glue and installed with 4 bolts & pamada air filter. True story

[@ludicrous7044]

Replace it with a RamAir to fix this problem but it didn’t help the sluggish engine!! DONT pull out on front of a big truck!! It’s so sluggish you can’t run the AC!’🙄

[@kevinbarry71]

It had so much promise, but, oh, the reality! There's nothing that general motor's finance guys can't destroy

[@carpballet]

Boeing’s finance guys took that page right out GM’s playbook.

[@Primus54]

@@carpballet… and said, “Hold my beer!” 😉

[@tempest411]

They did the same thing with the Fiero.

[@JPIndustrie]

America's MBA and business leadership at work 😂😂😂🤣

[@leerusch7392]

Cast iron sleeves, aluminum head, bigger radiator, and address the rusting issue and the Vega would have been almost perfect.

[@rightlanehog3151]

Adam When it comes to bad engineering, bad execution and bad news the Vega is the gift that keeps on giving.

[@ludicrous7044]

Nobody will even buy a restored one!😮‍💨

[@lb9gta307]

​@@ludicrous7044maybe a Cosworth or a Yenko. But yeah, they're generally more desireable as hot rods or race cars.

[@gavinmclaren9416]

A good friend of mine was gifted a vega wagon, similar to the one shown at the end of the video. Its engine ran but was a hopeless oil burner. I convinced him to do a V8 swap and he agreed if it could be done for $1000 (this was in 1981). So we got to work and located a good 327+powerglide for $200, a new radiator for $150, and spent about $400 on engine parts to warm up the 327. We bought a motor mount kit from Motion Industries for $50. I gave him a Mopar 8 3/4 axle, which I narrowed to fit the Vega, and one long weekend we put in the new drivetrain. An exhaust system cost another $200, which put us right at about $1000. What a difference! It turned the oil-burning "economy" car into a really fast, reliable ride. Chevrolet should have put small block engines as an option for the Vega from day one.

[@maineiacman]

What happened to it?

[@Haffschlappe]

Also in any Jaguar

[@maxpowerta3183]

"Chevrolet should have put small block engines as an option for the Vega from day one" They kind of did, It was called the Monza which was built on the same H body platform as the Vega and you could get that with a 305.

[@mcqueenfanman]

I think the 153 inline four should have been used from the get go.

[@mikekokomomike]

@@maxpowerta3183 that's the one you couldn't get to all the sparkplugs the way it came from factory. Pretty useless in winter driving too with the heavy nose

[@dmandman9]

I remember this filter. It was insane! I also remember that the aftermarket offered a replacement assembly with a replaceable element. Many cars were retrofitted with the revised assembly

[@ericknoblauch9195]

GM also used the same sealed air filter on the 1976 and 1977 Chevrolet Chevette. They said the filter was designed to last 30,000 miles. The filter back then I remember it cost $ 59.95. The filter would not last 30,000 miles when you had a crack in your exhaust manifold. There was a pipe that ran from the exhaust manifold to the air filter. The pipe sent all of the escaping exhaust to the air filter, and it got dirty quick. The pipe was supposed to be a heat pipe to help the car heat up quicker.

[@HighSierra1500]

The pipe was to prevent carburetor icing. GM used those Thermostatic Air Cleaners well into the 1990s

[@Petesworkshop2225]

If I never see a 'carburetor ' again for the rest of my life! 🎉🎉🎉

[@robertalbertson889]

When I turned 16 in 1976, I bought my first car with a little help from my parents hahaha 😆 but anyway, it was a 1974 Chevy Vega all stock with a 4 speed transmission. It had 21,000 miles on it, and it ran terrible! It burned oil like crazy so I knee it had been overheated at least a couple of times, causing scoring in the cylinder walls. When I did my first service by myself, it was then I found out about this air cleaner assembly that had to be completely replaced! It was, of course, an issue and cost significantly more than just the normal paper air filter. So it was then, with the help of a couple of older friends of mine with a lot of Chevrolet repair experience, I made the decision to go crazy against the wishes of my Dad hahaha 😆 and the hunt was on for a Chevy small block V8 to shoehorn into my Vega's engine bay. We found a 350 4bbl V8 from a wrecked 1970 Chevy Camaro, and I bought the engine and the included 4 speed transmission, which was a lucky find already attached to the 350 V8 My friends and I worked for I think two straight weeks a few hours each day, making the engine swap work! It actually wasn't too bad, but there were some front suspension issues to iron out, and the radiator situation took some work as well as getting the accessories, alternator, and power steering situated. Well, the Vega ended up with manuel steering, which wasn't too bad except for parking lot driving, but after about 5 mph, the steering was fine. It took some modifications and special fitment engineering on our part, but finally, we made it all fit and run like it came from the factory with a V8. After a couple of weeks driving it with a V8, we obviously didn't think to replace the rear end?? Hahaha 😁 I broke the rear end one Sunday afternoon at the beach in Santa Monica, California, and luckily, I used my parents' AAA toeing service to tow it all the way back home about an hour away. Needless to say I owed my parents for the expensive towing bill considering I think at that time you only received 7 miles of free towing hahaha 😆 I think it was maybe 50 or 60 miles from the beach to my house? Oh, the days of youth and cars!! Actually, I had my V8 conversation Vega for many years and fixed it up to the point that Vega looked like a factory V8 Vega from the showroom. 😅😅😅 In the years after the V8 swap to my Vega, I met many others that had done the same, including many who had also swapped a V8 into a few Ford Pintos, hahaha 😆 Thank you, Adam, for this video, which brought back so many fond and frustrating memories of my first car 1974 Vega V8 swap!

[@steven-vn9ui]

Cool story, great times!

[@robertalbertson889]

@steven-vn9ui thank you 😊 good times indeed

[@jamesonpace726]

Dad fixed the air filter problem & all the others by angrily "Turning Japanese", (I really think so) & trading for a Mazda. As a WWII sniper in the S.Pacific, he hated that, but Mom was already in a Beetle, so convenience over conviction, poor olde guy....

[@Jody-kt9ev]

My mother in law moved to the US after WWII from the Philippines. The Japanese had murdered her grandfather and killed her uncle by denying Malaria medicine. She finally bought a Toyota Corolla in the 1970s.

[@gm12551]

Ah yes a Red Forman type guy in situation

[@robertmueller6979]

We're a Mazda car Ford truck family.

[@MillerVanDotTV]

GM directly betrayed more Americans than the Japanese ever did. Fuck GM. I went Japanese and never looked back (except for Tesla 🇺🇸) GM should have had gone out of business decades ago.

[@davidgenie-ci5zl]

My neighbor who fought the japs in okinawa till the day he died never bought a japanese car, he was all chevy, although his wife had a Bug. He was really upset when his grown daughter bought a Japanese car. Super nice man he was RIP Paul.

[@cycleguy666]

A wonderful car with a fluid film rust proofing and a 4.3 v6 conversion!! A friend of mine did a v8 . Super Sleeper!! The v6 was a peppy sleeper too!! A family friend had the black and gold Cosworth Vega.....very spiffy little car!! And it ran forever!!

[@PoXFreak]

The Cosworth Vega had the look, but my brother, a NASCAR engine builder, HATED that engine. His main complaint was oil flow and pressure to the top end, and almost every time you revved the engine close to redline, you'd have to do a valve lash adjustment. And unlike most engines, there was no aftermarket for engine parts, so you either dealt with it and replaced the cam in question as needed or you machined new internals for the oil pump yourself.

[@Greatdome99]

That six-cylinder Gremlin engine ended up in Jeep Cherokees for a very long time, and it was bullet-proof.

[@mgkleym]

It's by far the most desirable engine if you are buying a used jeep wrangler.

[@Pisti846]

Well into the 21st century.

[@randolfo1265]

I had one in my 1974 Gremlin with a three speed manual. Could burn rubber in one gear!

[@Caledon91]

Cherokee XJ owner here, the engines are pretty good but the fuel-injected versions have one Achilles heel, they ran hot and had problems with "heat soak". Pretty much the fuel rail would get too hot and cause the fuel inside to vapor lock when starting it hot. (For example, you drive it on a hot summer day, stop at a store for a few minutes, come back and try to start the engine while it's still hot and get cylinder misfires or rough idle.) There's a few remedies to this like adding or replacing heatshields on the rail and injectors, getting aftermarket injectors that are more resistant to heat, and/or modding the electric fan to kick on at lower temps to help cool the engine. This was a problem I was chasing for a while after I bought my then 16 year old Jeep and was experiencing the rough hot starts the first summer owning it. It seemed to finally go away when I replaced the heatshields and got new injectors. Fairly easy fix and the number of Cherokee and Wranglers with the 4.0 I6 on the road today is a testament to their durability. But it's still a funny design flaw that a lot of owners like to poke fun at.

[@nalinux]

The 258 was an improvement over the 232 I had on my 66 Ambassador. So you can use a 4.0 head on a 232 :) I started converting my Ambo to injection and supercharger with a 4.0 head .. Never had time to finish

[@mjmorrill081]

I owned a 1972 pinto. My air cleaner housing was plastic. One day smoke was coming out of the engine compartment. The air filter assembly had fallen sideways down onto the exhaust manifold. I just picked it up by the piece that was not on fire yet, which was very little and removed it from said in your compartment. I then tossed it on the side of the road and watched it burn until it was no more. Ah memories!

[@DanBrown1234]

The air filter assembly was only for the71-74 Vega with Rochester carbs, in 75 they switched to Holly carbs and did away with the element system. My dad was a Chevfrolet mechanic at a dealership from the 50's thru the 90's and we had several Vegas since he could fix them cheaply (did the same with Corvairs for all my older siblings) and the trick with the air filter was to simply grind the lip off the housing and just replace the element. Also he woudl dump the beads out of the cat, block the EGR valve hose with a bearing and widen the fuel inlet to accept regulat gas. :D

[@tonyboss3025]

I like that ingenious ...😮

[@gm12551]

The changes he saw between those decades

[@philipfrancis2728]

My buddy and I did the same things to my 1975 Vega Kammback, plus we replaced the single barrel with the two barrel carb and put in a hand choke valve vs an automatic choke for better cold weather warm up. I always felt guilt about bypassing the catalytic converter and unleaded fuel because I knew lead in fuel was deadly. I sold it to a Chevrolet mechanic like your father.

[@philipfrancis2728]

I got 16 mpg City and 24 mpg Highway (speed limit was 55 mph then, so steady cruising was usually around 60 mph) on my 1975 Kammback. I ditched a bunch of stock Vegas items, including that ridiculously expensive disposable air filter. I made my own out of the stock aluminum shell.

[@robertmueller6979]

Yep. My first thought was to grind the lip. Not a problem. I emptied the cat and used 4 inch fence post for the exhaust. Didn't touch the valve. Worked just fine.

[@stevefick3919]

I always liked the look of the Vega. As you said, it looked like a little Camaro. Too bad it had rust and engine issues. It could have been a great little car. Maybe even a classic pulling in good dollars.

[@sparkplug0000]

Regarding that AMC 258 inline six you mention; I had one in my 1981 Jeep CJ-7 and it was fantastic, providing the kind of low end torque appropriate for a Jeep that was actually used off-road.

[@Diogenes1360]

I remember in High School Auto-Shop (1977), one of the students had a Vega, removed the factory engine & installed a small-block Chevy V-8, it worked like a champ.

[@jerrystaley1563]

In 1971, I was in the market for a small car and looked at the Vega & Pinto. The Vega was horrid with even a fixed, non-adjustable front passenger seat. Almost bought a Pinto but the new car had deep windshield scratches from a wiper operated w/o a wiper. The Ford dealer would replace the glass but no price reduction. Finally, my Dad (a Hickam Field, Pearl Harbor survivor) suggested that I look at Toyotas! I found a beautiful silver 1971 Corona Mark II 2-dr pillarless HT w/4-speed. Extremely smooth 1900cc OHC 4-cylinder with dual chain drive for the OHC, no cam belt. So glad that I bought that car. Kept it until I sold it and bought a new 1975 Celica GT. Dad, by the way, bought a new 1972 Toyota Hilux P/U and added his "Remember Pearl Harbor" stickers on the tailgate.... in the middle of each "O" in TOYOTA. Oh, yah... the 4 snap clips on the air cleaner made it a snap.to change the air filter, with no chance of dropping a wingnut. And no paying for a brand new air filter housing each time ala your Vega. I'm certainly glad that my Dad believed in the PHSA's motto "December 7th, 1941: Forgive but never Forget."

[@billolsen4360]

Non-adjustable front seat? Morons engineered this car.

[@kevinlee7263]

I don't remember the canister filter on my Vega, but I bought it used, so it might have been replaced by the previous owner. I put a Weber air cleaner on it anyway. I was pretty happy with mine, I'm pretty sure the engine had already been steel sleeved. I lived in Arizona, so rust wasn't an issue. I replaced the cam belt on the side of the road once in about an hour. Had to replace the clutch once and was able to drop and reinstall the transmission by myself with just a bottle jack and a few blocks of wood. Overall it was a fun to drive and easy to work on little car.

[@larryfromwisconsin9970]

I remember. I had a Vega in the late 1970s and early 80s. The timing belt also ran the water pump. All the bolt holes on the water pump were slots. The water pump pulley was actually the only tensioner for the timing belt. To replace the water pump you needed to push the pump to the right until you had enough tension on the belt then tighten the bolts to hold it in place. And you were tightening steel bolts into an Aluminum block so you wanted them tight but don't strip out the holes. I was too poor at the time to afford a torque wrench, not that I owned a service manual to know the torque spec.

[@DanBrown1234]

Back when antifreeze was 99 cents a gallon (no premix then so really 99 cents got you two gallons) I went an entire year before I finally replaced the water pump in my Monza because it was such a PITA and I worked at a Chevy dealership. lol

[@PCUser-m4u]

An interesting side-effect of this arrangement, was that if you decked the head or block to increase compression you no longer had enough adjustment to properly tension the cam belt. I used an oversize pulley that EMPI made which bolted over the top of the original unit to provide the necessary diameter on my hot-rod Vega described above. Good times.

[@PCUser-m4u]

@@DanBrown1234 It was actually a 30 minute job to change the water pump. All you had to do was remove the radiator fan and coolant hoses, and the 4 bolts described by larry above was all the retained the pump. You did want to replace the gasket every time, and be sure to obtain the proper tension on the cam belt. Smart money was spent on a new cam belt.

[@immikeurnot]

@@PCUser-m4u There are problems with timing after decking the block or shaving the cylinder head on every OHC design.

[@PCUser-m4u]

@@immikeurnot I'm not talking to timing issues, only that you couldn't tension the cam belt once you deviated more than about 0.040" from the stock deck height. Timing is another matter. You have to have an adjustable cam gear, or in my case, the Crower cam I used was built around a 9:1 compression ratio, assumed the decking required to get there, and had the advance corrected in the cam's design.

[@kevinj2412]

I drove a 74 and 76 and I would love to have them both back, never a problem and super good fuel mileage. close to 40MPG on a long trip. Air filter didn't bother me, just bought one and went on about my business.

[@billbraun6846]

I worked in a general repair shop back when these Vega and Chevette sealed air filters where made. One big problem with them is you can't look at the filter element to see if it needs to be replaced like we would do with normal air cleaners. Going by mileage is fine if the customer kept track of that which they seldom did back then.

[@ericknoblauch9195]

The Chevette only had it for 1976 and 1977. In 1978 when Chevrolet rolled out the Chevette it was gone. Replaced with a air filter with a removable cover, and all you replaced was the paper element inside.

[@michaelcrumlett187]

“I’d have the Gremlin”. I knew I liked you for a reason.

[@robertkeefer1552]

Nice that GM gave you room to put a 350 SBC in it with little trouble.

[@billmoran3219]

A 327 fit very nicely in the Vega engine well , transmission also. Too bad the rear end couldn’t handle the power from the mill as well as the body twist. If I remember right there was a kit you could buy to alleviate some of that stress, once you took care of the weak points they were rocket ships even with a stock small block.

[@PCUser-m4u]

@@billmoran3219 That's why I built the Vega motor rather than drop a V8 in it. My car would carry the left front wheel about 4" in the air across an intersection - and the right about an inch. V8 cars were scary if they made any power and hooked up without a lot of stiffening of the unibody structure. I destroyed three of the 6.5" 3.36 GT rearends (spider gears through the diff cover) with the 4 cylinder. They were a memory with any kind of V8. My father found a nice 12-bolt Chevy housing that had been narrowed, converted to Olds (press-on bearing rather than C-clip) axles and already had the Vega suspension mounts on it. I bought a Richmond 4.11 ring and pinion and had it assembled at a 4x4 shop I worked at for a brief period - they did a lot of gear swaps.

[@dougthompson1598]

With a special tool one could stuff an alcohol-burning blown big-block in a Vega wagon and run low 9s at 160+ mph.

[@rogerdodrill4733]

​@@dougthompson1598that special tool being a brain😂

[@rogerdodrill4733]

Not by design,probably coincidence

[@NorthernChev]

John DeLorean wrote in one of his books that they (Chevrolet) had reports from Dealerships that some of their Vegas were rusting within weeks of receiving them from the factory.

[@billolsen4360]

Yeah, put em on a lot in Michigan, come winter ice & snow and the lot manager's spreading salt and they be rustin'!

[@xaenon]

Chrysler was bad for that, too. Some of the new Dodges and Plymouths in the late 1970s were showing rust ON THE DEALER LOT. They were so bad at holding their value that one of the local Chrysler dealers refused to take Chryslers in trade, Yes, you read that right. "Hi, I'd like to buy this Chrysler. " "Okay, do you hae a car to trade in?" "Yes, this 3/4/5 year old Chrysler." "Sorry, no."

[@billolsen4360]

@@xaenon Chrysler couldn't get a reliable source for steel at the time, I hear.

[@cubey]

​@@xaenon I had a 78 Dodge van in 2014 from Texas. A mechanic in Arizona changing the shocks said he'd never seen such a rust free old 70s Dodge. I guess the vans got a better build quality.

[@billlloyd4354]

Still have the '73 I bought new. The AF was supposed to last 50,000 miles, (according to GM), but no one tried it. I knew some guys that modified the factory unit to fit a replaceable filter. Most people went with the Fram, Hastings, or other aftermarket type with the replaceable filter.

[@Damien.D]

And now we have serialized parts that stops the engine from even cranking if your oil filter RFid chip is not paired to your VIN.

[@Eis_Bear]

I drove a '64 Volvo amazon which also featured a sealed unit air filter. You had to swap out the entire thing, even sillier, inside it's metal casing was a standard circular airfilter which you can get at any automotive store. Some people ended up cutting it open, replace the filter and rig up some way of sealing it again.

[@rEdf196]

I owned a 1978 Chevy Chevette which used those dreaded AC, all in one filters, probably leftover surplus NOS (new old stock) from the Vega era, which, of course by the 1980's the filter was clogged and done. I was "shocked" to discover a filter replacement cost over $60. so I took my old AC filter unit and cut it open scraped out the old paper filter and silliconed a new regular $6 filter to the metal housing and sealed it with duct tape. it did the job.

[@xaenon]

A man of resource and culture!

[@danr1920]

I bought a replacement filter from J.C. Witney that had a replaceable filter. Filters lasted me about 5-10 thousand miles. I had a '76 Astre. Terrible workmanship and reliability,

[@marko7843]

Ah yes, the good ol' JCW Catalog...

[@HAL-dm1eh]

Another fantastic looking version of the car. It's almost like they did all this with these cars just to mess with us or something. 😂

[@billolsen4360]

I'm sure the Vega & Astre assembly lines ran much faster than the Nova or Caprice lines did.

[@HAL-dm1eh]

@@marko7843 I miss looking through those and dreaming when I was a kid in the 80s, on top of all the Hot Rod and Mustang magazines my closet was full of.

[@venussavage]

Why worry about air filter replacement? You'll be looking at engine replacement at 15,000-20,000 miles anyway. Early 2000cc Pintos had plastic air cleaner housing with a flame arrestor inside.

[@gerry-p9x]

Yeah but pintos went booooom when rear ended

[@billmoran3219]

Almost forgot about these air cleaners because the very few that I ever worked on had a two piece(top&bottom) air cleaner with an exposed paper element . Had a teacher in an advanced auto tech program I was in and his wife was from Brazil. He always commented how GM had a car with a Nova badge ( completely different than the US version of the Nova) and how the car was a dud because nova in Spanish means something like don’t go or it doesn’t go, thus making it bombing in sales there !

[@cabaneencac5168]

We have made so much progress today with single-serving containers like coffee pods or those for laundry that we forget all about this wonderful GM air filter...and don't forget ''Keep your GM vehicule all GM'' .

[@1967davethewave]

I wonder if you walked into a GM dealer and asked for a new air filter assembly for your 1972 Vega if they would have one setting on the shelf? Hey, it's their policy, they engineered the dang things like that🤣

[@Colorado_Native]

I watched another documentary some time ago on the Vega. Apparently, the steel sheeting used to make the panels was already rusting before being formed into panels.

[@FrankBullitt390]

Yes, pinto and Volare too. They were crushing old rusted cars but not removing the rust from the melting process - so the new panels were rusting when brand new, Volare/Aspen fenders would have rust bubbles on the dealer lot - they had to recall them

[@hotpuppy1]

@@FrankBullitt390 True. My parents had a '77 Aspen with rust from new. I ended up changing both front fenders and cutting off the bottom of the rear 1/4's. EVERYTHING on the car was poor.

[@MrTheHillfolk]

Dont forget the tin can Honda civics. I was a little kid ,but later on in life my dad told me about the one my uncle had. Rust starting when he looked at it for purchase. Leaned on the fender with his legs against it for support while changing plugs ,left dents in the fender. Seat back broke ,propped it up with a cinder block. Unless it's been at a show ,I haven't seen one of those cars on the road here in the northeast since probably the late 80s.

[@FrankBullitt390]

@@MrTheHillfolk Yes, family friend had an 80 civic and I think they had to take it back because it rusted so fast and so badly

[@phils4634]

@@FrankBullitt390 Not just Honda. The Toyota Crown Custom was notorious for panel corrosion, especially behind the headlights, and around the bonnet lights (the alloy composition of which seemed to enhance the process). Many UK Toyotas, though reliable mechanically, experienced serious, costly corrosion issues, and this is one reason why they were unpopular in the UK, despite their technical advantages.

[@NuxDriver]

As a broke college student I owned several of these. They would backfire frequently through the carb. I learned the hard way that when working on the engine to leave the air cleaner on. Loved the design. Hated the execution.

[@gracelandone]

The Gremlin with a straight six was a pip. As a 16 year old I wore out a set of rear wheel Goodyear raised letter tires in 8,000 miles from squealing the tires.

[@stoneylonesome4062]

They also had a non-serviceable, disposable air-cleaner on the USDM GM T-Platform cars, like the Chevrolet Chevette and Pontiac T1000, as well. The Isuzu version of the T-Platform, the Isuzu Gemini/I-Mark, had a serviceable version.

[@yambo59]

The Chevettes were also pretty much throw away cars-- had THE worst automatic trans that shelled out in no time flat, and the engine was so weak on power I remember an employer of mine loaning me his wifes brand new four door with auto trans and A/C for a weekend while they were out of town, so me and three buddies just went out to tool around in it (no hot rodding) but with four of us in it the thing would barely go up a moderate hill at any kind of pace even approaching minimum highway speed-!! Seemed our weight, auto trans and the A/C was way too much for the little micro engine those things had. A two door with a four speed was a bit better and ok around town but id seen beetles with more pep than that thing had-!

[@theprinceofsnj]

Having owned 3 Chevettes 1980, 1984, 1987. Early Chevettes did have this filter. All three of mine had replaceable air filters. So a change was made at some point.

[@greggv8]

@@yambo59 how about a diesel Chevette with an automatic? Super gutless and super rare. Prone to breaking the flexplate.

[@garykeith1048]

@@yambo59 The 4- speed was also pathetically slow going up hills. But some of the maintenance on the car like replacing the spark plugs, distributor cap, points and condenser, adjusting idle speed were fairly easy. The lack of acceleration from the Iron Duke engine was the main problem with the car. It also rusted underneath the car like the Vega.

[@xaenon]

@@greggv8 Yes, the diesel auto-trans T-body. It would flat out tell you: "Look, we can sit here in air conditioned comfort, OR we can try to climb that hill. NOT BOTH. I don't know what GM was thinking....

[@volks-jager]

see some of this stuff now. newer jeeps and dodges have the trans filter made into the pan, so you have to replace the whole pan whenever changeing the filter. i bought an aftermarket pan that has a replaceable filter

[@Oldbmwr100rs]

Well, considering in the first couple years of production the air cleaner outlasted the engine, the price of a new element was not a problem. By the time the 2nd engine was failing, the fenders had likely rusted out so badly it wasn't worth fixing. A problem with the body design was there were pockets that would hold the original pre paint metal etch which would begin eating the metal from the inside out. I believe in 74 or 75 they did some redesign on the body and engine, the "durabuilt" engine had some improvements, including an actual radiator where the previous models came with something closer to a heater core for a station wagon. After that they became pretty OK. The cosworth vega was supposed to be close to 150HP with it's EFI 16 valve engine, but getting past the EPA left it with closer to 120, but a friend had one and it was pretty neat. Sadly the price of these cars was close to that of an upper level camaro, so they didn't sell well at all.

[@CD318]

I worked in a parts retailer when I was young and remember these things--it was crazy even back then!

[@bluepen61]

I bought a Vega to drive to and from college about 4 hours away. About $2,200, silver, and it did generate rust like most, if not all of the cars in that era. Great car with those exact same issues you mentioned, though I had a manual transmission. Loved the hatchback feature. I don't think it had A/C. Mine wasn't much of an oil burner though. I thought the air cleaner was novel. But then I was very young. Performed most of the maintenance myself. Thank you for featuring the Vega!!

[@gnosticnight]

To say that the Vega's THM 200 transmission "wasn't necessarily that great either" is the understatement of the 21st Century.

[@tc6580]

It was especially not great when they used them in the full size cars.

[@WindsEternal]

The first car I ever bought was a 1971 Vega station wagon in tan. Loved it! I don't recall it having this particular air filter.

[@anthonyjackson280]

Hi from Ontario. In 1974 my parents bought a house in Oshawa (smallish city east of Toronto), Canada's GM town. I can still remember the trip from Scarborough to Oshawa when we went with the Real Estate agent (a friend of my Mom). She had a new Vega. Her and my dad were in the front seats and Mom and I were wedged in the back (i was 15 and almost 6'). It was an automatic. The windows were rolled up with AC (such as it was) running and both the agent and my Dad were smoking continuously. That car struggled to get up to highway speed - barely doing 50mph when it reached the end of the entry ramp. 25 minute drive that was hell on wheels...

[@braddietzmusic2429]

When the potential buyer went to the dealer lot and popped the hood (remember when people actually looked at the engine?) and saw… NO FENDER LINERS ?!?!? That really should have been the end of consideration right there, and the prospective buyer should have walked.

[@saywhat2014]

Nobody in the southwest cared about fender liners.

[@NorthernChev]

Can you imaging the management meeting at GM where they all sat around the table drooling over the idea and patting each other on the backs thinking about how much money AC Delco was gonna make off forcing people to replace the entire air cleaner?

[@bobbbobb4663]

That may have happened as I’m sure the margin on that filter was high. Relative to the rest of the car that was probably low margin, the air cleaner was definitely a high five moment 😀

[@NorthernChev]

Having picked the Gremlin you'd have exposed yourself to an entirely different set of calamities. 1) You'd have the failing door hinges that caused every Gremlin to have sagging doors that didn't close. 2) You'd have the spent rear springs that always gave out and caused every Gremlin to sag in the back. 3) Depending on year you'd also have had the sloppy-shifting Chrysler automatic transmission. You know, the ones that used to immediately shift into Second the moment the car started moving forward, regardless of how slow you were still going. 4) Vacuum-actuated windshield wipers that ALWAYS leaked and failed at the worst time. 5) Oh! And don't forget the massively SLOPPY steering they had. They wandered all over the road and required constant counter turning.

[@timhinchcliffe5372]

Sounds like _Gremlin_ was an appropriate name.

[@MarkSmith-js2pu]

Sounds familiar. I changed tires and batteries at a very busy Sears store from about 1975 to 1980. During that time I worked on practically every car make and model on the road. Then I adjusted collision claims for about 10 years. I saw the Japanese evolution and the Domestic devolution.

[@ericchristensen4107]

Never saw a Gremlin sagging in the rear, you must be thinking of 70’s Camaros. Electric wipers were an option, and became standard a couple years later. BTW my AMX vacuum wipers still work perfectly and are infinitely adjustable for speed. Gremlins used the same Saginaw steering box GM did. If the Gremlin you drove wandered, the front end must have been worn out.

[@richsarchet9762]

@@ericchristensen4107 Most of the Gremlin wander was due to roll steer in the rear suspension. With those silly short leaf springs the geometry didn't work out very well. Instead of a ride/handling compromise you got both stiff ride and bad handling.

[@saywhat2014]

Had a couple of Gremlins in the family back then and had none of the problems you talk about. Went all through school with my Gremmi and put about 150K miles on it, mine was very reliable and so was my sisters.

[@annareismith6843]

I loved my Chevy Vega. It was cheap to get and easy to repair and upgrade to a better engine and power train. You could start young and poor and end up later with a very fast, powerful hot rod, as I did. The air cleaner was the first thing I remember replacing. When my father and I first bought my 1975 GT hatchback and brought it home, we clean it out with degreaser and sprayed hot water in it and the cleaned the carb to get all the oil out. Then soon after I got an aftermarket one that you could change the air filter. I also had one off a 1975 Toyota Corolla that fit and was not the best I used to on my green 1972 Vega Estate woody station wagon that had a rusted fender on the passenger side.

[@jack002tuber]

Fill the landfill faster and spend more money, GM should be proud.

[@LakeNipissing]

The air filter was designed to last the life of the engine or the body or both.

[@dmandman9]

Replace the engine and air filter at the same time. If you lived in the south, the body lasted a bit longer. It lasted about twice the engine life. So you needed 2 air filters, 2 engines and one major body rust repair.😂

[@JC-op4co]

Today, GM tries to make irreplaceable batteries. They seem to have a design philosophy in place that there must be no fewer than 3 items that serve no useful purpose in the way of removing the battery. It doesn't matter if it makes the car more expensive to manufacture, it doesn't matter if it serves a purpose either to GM or to the customer. It is a rule handed down from the top that it may not ever take less than 20 minutes to replace a battery in a General Motors vehicle. They don't even fuck this rule up by accident which is *astonishing* because GM fucks up all the time but this is the one singular thing they have been consistently good at for a decade. This is all a vestige of the corporate decision made by GM in the 1950s that they must do everything they can to encourage customers to buy a new car from them every 5 years. They started by rotating in new paint colors because they thought men's wives would nag them to buy a new car in a pretty color that was limited to that model year. Then they realized they're bad at doing business and just started intentionally making it frustrating as fuck to work on their vehicles so it managed to irritate the shit out of the DIY crowd or inflate labor prices for professional service. GM vehicles are *designed* to add labor cost to repairs. On purpose. Before their bankruptcy, they were simply incompetent. After it, they were both incompetent and predatory.

[@Richard4point6]

"GM" and "junk" have always been synonyms in my vocabulary. Thank you for the classic example!

[@DerrickOil]

I spoke to a couple at Heshey Fall meet with a 1973 Vega hatchback. They said they had cylinders lined, no problems.

[@frothe42]

No wonder why many removed the Vega engine and put in a replacement.

[@garyfishel9612]

In 1975, I delivered auto parts driving a '74 Vega wagon. On rural roads, I beat the snot out of it! Had a blast. It required about two quarts of oil daily. The Vega was a refreshing change from driving the big land yachts of the day.

[@4af]

As others have pointed out - the 50,000 mile filter usually never needed to be replaced because the ENGINE (71-75 models) became an oil burner before then, even if it was never overheated. By 1976 the Vega had a durable engine and outstanding high speed handling and stability compared to most other small cars.

[@MUUKOW3]

Vega stories are eclipsing Woodstock "I was their" stories . Most get filed under things that never happened.

[@3beltwesty]

A mess of friends and their parents use to own one back in 1975. Past tense. Today they glorious say how great a car they were. With two older friends their folks collectively once owned 7 of them..all owned 2 years to sometimes 2 months Ie when you took a trip with them their gasoline paper logbook had 4 different Vegas in the same book. You think they are rolling back the odometers. Ie their parents would constantly buy another and trade the old one in in less than 2 to 6 months.. So you are recording the Odometer as 12345 miles and the last entry was 23456 miles. Your friend says oh that was the other Blue Vega that mom traded in for this Blue one. So since they never owned them long they all were the best car ever made in mankind.

[@Ozark_Bule]

For about 5 years I used the Black/Sholes formula daily in my job as an economics engineer for an oil company in the 90s. BTW Black and Sholes shared the nobel prize for economics and one of my colleages met Fisher Black at an airport. Did not know about the Vega reference.

[@morgansword]

I remember how weak the frontend was. Just bump the curb and it knocked the wheel alignment out badly. I put the 327 V8 engines in them and did the front suspension out of new steel. Nine inch ford rearend with ladder bars to keep it in a straight line.

[@appalachianrob8201]

I had a '77 Astre in the early 90's. 2.5 Iron Duke. I ended up un-crimping the housing, and finding a conventional filter element that fit the height and diameter of that original housing, Just reinstalled it with the wing nut like a normal air cleaner.

[@sharkinstx]

I owned two Vegas - a ‘75 base Hatchback with two-barrel, THM250 auto and a/c during high school in the late ‘70s, and then a ‘76 GT Hatchback with 5-speed and a/c, from ‘84 until ‘96. My first one still had the AC air cleaner, and I replaced it during my one year of ownership (I traded it for a brand new ‘78 Audi Fox). My GT was a one-owner car, and the first owner had replaced the air cleaner with a black Fram air cleaner that used a replaceable element. Another problem with the two barrel engines with the Holley 5210c carburetor was the air cleaner studs (four of them), which on the ‘75 were pressed into the carb body from underneath, which eventually became loose in the holes in the body, making it tricky to get them to stay up, to screw the wingnuts back on. I bought a Heli-Coil kit and some 1/4”-20 all-thread, made my own studs, and screwed them into the body. The ‘76 models went to regular studs that screwed into the carb body.

[@Rush-gu3ij]

I had this engine, with the steel sleeves in my ‘76 Monza. Went with the Fram after market housing that took a standard donut air filter replacement.

[@Fuzzycatfur]

I think you need a Playlist for this series.

[@silicon212]

I had a 1975 Vega as my first car, back in 1986. This one had the 'hotter' engine with the better cam and progressive 2 barrel carburetor. The air cleaner on this one was the typical serviceable part with individual filter. It used two wing nuts to attach due to the Holley/Weber 2 bbl carb.

[@WildBill236]

How about the "catalyst" and "emissions" yellow flags that would drop in front the odometer reading, and the dealer had to reset it on some GMs, like Chevettes and Citations! Until they were reset, you couldn't see the mileage anymore!!

[@jeffreyrich6494]

My dad bought a Vega wagon and probably only had it for a year or two. He never really had any mechanical problems with it. I remember two things about it that were unique. The first, that it was very hot. You could feel then engine heat emanate through the tunnel into the car. Also, his was a non-power steering car. I’ve had many cars without power steering, which was always a non-issue, but in this car, you had to wrestle the steering wheel to drive it. It took an extraordinary effort.

[@jefferypease3920]

Back when I was about 17 a friend of mine’s brother had a Vegas station wagon. His brother used to let him drive it. I think it was a 1975 model with a four-speed transmission and that’s the car we learned how to drive a stick shift transmission.😊

[@annelarrybrunelle3570]

Had a Vega once for a short time. It actually ran just fine, no particular issues.. Traded it off to discharge a debt, and it was still doing fine.

[@cncwizard]

My first ride, back in '92 was a 1980 Chevy Monza. Thing was held together with zip ties & duct tape, but got me everywhere on less than a $10 fill-up!

[@Jody-kt9ev]

Good video. I have never owned a Vega, but do own a 1978 Mustang II. The air filter is conventional. I also owned a 1982 Ford Ranger with a 2.3L engine (pretty much the Pinto engine). It went 300,000 miles. It had a standard transmission, so power was not really an issue. Seems like GM at that time was just intent on driving buyers to other brands, including Toyota and Honda. Another video I watched indicated that the Vega had an issue with the rear suspension falling off. Has anyone else heard of this?

[@PCUser-m4u]

Nothing at all wrong with the Vega rear suspension. It was an entirely modern (for the time) unequal-length 4-link design using coil springs, just as with the mid-size GM products like the Chevelle. GT package cars had a rear sway bar, which was a good upgrade for lesser trims.

[@yambo59]

Yeah, especially in the rust belt states - the suspensions spring mounts would rust out and I saw one in a shop I worked in the springs and mounts came right through the floor on one side-! The suspension itself was ok if it stayed bolted in the car-lol Also used sheet metal or aluminum as a quick fix to replace rusted out floors - the local chevy salesmen used to joke about selling them fast before they rusted on the lot - I only knew this because I was friends with a guy that worked at the GM parts counter.

[@Jody-kt9ev]

@@PCUser-m4u According to another post, it was the fact that these cars were so prone to rust. The mounts would rust out and the rear suspension would come loose from the body of the car.

[@PCUser-m4u]

@@Jody-kt9ev I had a Vega. I lived in Arizona, but the car came from out-of-state. It had a little rust on one rear fender lip and a little in the lower rear quarters behind the wheels, which had been fairly well repaired when I bought it as a 14-year old car, mechanically sound. Vegas did rust, but everything made in that era did if given a chance. Chrysler products of the era were notorious rust-buckets. If you lived in an area where road salt was used you had to undercoat the car from new or it was done after 5-7 years, and without regular maintenance whipped mechanically as well. Cars simply were not durable then, and were replaced regularly by most. Fortunately they were a lot more affordable then, and it was expected. The Vega did not suffer abuse or road salt, but there's a lot a piling on by people whose knowledge of them comes from what they've read. By the standard set by the 15 year-old Lexus I drive these days all '70s US cars were junk.

[@Jody-kt9ev]

@@PCUser-m4u I got out of college and bought my first car in the 1970s. I watched several of my co-workers buy cars then also. You are definitely correct about 70s American cars. The co-workers who bought Celicas from Toyota did fine.

[@lvsqcsl]

That whole car was the worst automotive invention. The 1977 Pontiac Astre was the same car with a Pontiac split grille and one other critical difference; it had the 2.5 liter "Iron Duke" engine for 1977. GREAT VIDEO!

[@Dannysoutherner]

I had a Vega when I was 16. 0 to 60 in 3 months. Still, I learned a lot by having that car. Air filter was the first mod - cut around the beveled edge you see at 6:11 then you have an open element filter worth a few HP. Remove the cat, put in what they called a Test Pipe, good for 10 HP by itself. Those old exhausts were very restrictive. Run the timing up several degrees, good for say 5 HP. 3 hours time you gain 20 HP for the price of a 10 dollar part back then. 15 20 HP is a difference you can feel. Motor did go bad. They replaced under warranty. Car ran great till my mom totaled it going offroad. She bought an 81 Monte Carlo she still has.

[@maxr4448]

I bought my sister's '72 Vega after they finally got the GM replacement. That was April 1975. They had so many problems with the engine. But when I bought it, I didn't have any issues at all. It was a red GT 4speed. The gas mileage wasn't anything to brag about. The rear hatch would squeak and drive me crazy. It was the 2 v engine. But power, nadda. When it 30,000 miles on it. went to get a replacement filter. It was 20 bucks I think. Mind you I was 17 and working a family owned grocery store making minimum wage. THAT WAS ALOT OF MONEY!!!!!!! I think gas was 65 cents a gallon at the time. That was alot gas money. So I didn't replace it. Saved as much money as I could and bought a New Chevy Monza with a V-8. Another monster>>>>>

[@TorquePowerVideo]

I loved the looks of the Vega, especially the early years. This non-servicable air filter is a new one for me. I never knew that!

[@Iconoclasher]

I have nothing to say now. You covered it all with the great things I was going to say about the Gremlin. 😂

[@Carstuff111]

I do know someone that had a Chevrolet Vega, and they owned it for over 100,000 trouble free miles. They did so by staying ahead of all their services as they did with their previous vehicle (which I believe was a Ford Falcon) and the car was never over heated or abused. Said person did go with an aftermarket air cleaner as well because he about passed out at his first servicing that needed an air filter. He was likely the exception instead of the rule, but he loved his Vega other than the air cleaner, and I think he had the in tank pump fail once as well. It has been awhile, and that friend is no longer with us now, so I have no way to ask him more about his Vega. I should add, that his daily drive at the time net him 30 miles per gallon on average, flat roads and no traffic where he lived at the time helped with that.

[@PCUser-m4u]

Vegas were viable cars with regular maintenance and a modicum of good sense, both in short supply by the '70s. Handling, brakes and looks were above average for American cars of the period. They did not shrug off abuse or road salt, but had their upsides as well. A full-size radiator was the only upgrade I'd call necessary, but you could get by with the stock one in cooler climates and attention to the coolant level.

[@verlaryder]

​@@PCUser-m4u Not true. '71-'75 Vegas became oil burners at between 20,000-35,000 miles (depending on transmission and axle ratio) regardless of how often the oil was changed or how carefully the owner maintained the ignition and cooling systems. Only the '76-'77 models were durable.

[@PCUser-m4u]

@@verlaryder There was never any problem with the ignition systems. The issues resulted from consistently low coolant and oil levels, both of which are actually preventable with careful monitoring and consistent oil changes. Which nearly all owners do not do, and to a degree that is understandable. Revisions were made by 1973 to reduce coolant loss. Further revisions (the 'Durabuilt') ones were limited to revised coolant passages and different valve seals. But as in the owner experience related above, some Vegas did survive despite these challenges. It did take a more serious commitment to maintenance than most owner gave then or have given since. But it stands to reason if you don't monitor coolant and oil levels consistently, it does not take 20-35,000 miles for an engine to fail. By the time I got my 72 Vega in 1986 with over 80,000 miles on it the engine had been sleeved, but without oil and coolant even this measure would not turn the tables, much less did the 'Durabuilt' revisions magically imbue this admittedly fragile design with durability. All Vega motors required a more serious approach to maintenance than they were likely to receive, but those that were well cared for could indeed provide a reasonable service life, which was my point.

[@verlaryder]

@@PCUser-m4u you did not buy/own multiple '71-'75 Vegas from the time they were new. So you are unaware the '71-'75 Vegas became oil burners at between 20,000-35,000 miles regardless of how often the oil was changed or how carefully the owners changed the oil and maintained the cooling system. Even Mobil 1 full synthetic could not save them. And equally unaware that '76-'77 Vegas could last 200,000 miles because so many improvements had been made to the engine's oiling system, its valve stem seals, valve seats, pistons.

[@SmurfHunter]

Irreplacable filters? So all that junk is stuck in the engine permanently? I guess that means what happens in Vega stays in Vega!

[@jeffstorm]

I bought a 72 Vega in 1973 just to drop a 327 ci into it backed by a 350 Turbo Transmission. It worked great, but it was tight. The rear ends could eat up readily, but go to a junkyard and they only ran about $25. I did run the car for about a year and a half with the Vega engine and I rebuilt it with Ford 302 pistons (a direct fit) and had the block sleeved. That ran about $500 and I got the car cheap due to the engine smoking and overheating. First taking it to the dealer for the recall to get the head done for free and then I pulled it the next week to sleeve the engine. It would 1/4 mile at 11.23 seconds.

[@Geoduck.]

Wow, I remember this! Replaced the air filter with an aftermarket unit. First engine blew up at 48K GM did help with replacement cost. The entire car was junk at 100K. Having said that I did like my 1972 Vega GT and for the most part was reliable comfortable and economical.

[@Abitibidoug]

Yes, the Vega's irreplaceable air filter. I had a Vega in the early 1980s, don't laugh I got it real cheap, and I found a way to solve this problem. I ground down the seam, took it apart and found the air filter for a 1968 and 69 Ford fit in just fine. It sat higher, than original so for summer use I just left it open. For winter use I followed the advice of Red Green of the Red Green Show and put ductape around the edge. It worked just fine, saving me a few extra bucks to buy much needed motor oil.

[@stuffyoucando2]

In the picture you show at about 7:00, it reads to replace it every 50,000 miles, which seems to be quite a bit more than the standard element replacement interval? Do you think the costs evened out in the end?

[@mark4827]

My father owned a 73 vega wagon. It was a nice little car from what I remember. Never had any problems with it. Never replaced the air cleaner......

[@VincentVader]

How much was the difference in price between the assembly vs. average paper filters of the day?

[@danr1920]

If I remember the Delco was $30, lasting 50,000 miles (not). The unit with a replaceable filter was about $10 and the filter for the new unit was about $3. It been a long time so I may be off a bit.

[@NorthernChev]

I swapped out the irreplaceable air cleaner in my '71 Vega with a stroked 383 Small Block Chevy and a cross-platform TH-350. It was cheaper...

[@PCUser-m4u]

Must have had a time bolting that BOP (Buick-Olds-Pontiac) transmission to the Chevy engine, with the BOP bolt pattern being different and incompatible.

[@NorthernChev]

@@PCUser-m4u Thanks for pointing out my mistake. I called it the BOP when it was actually the late model cross-platform TH that could be bolted to ALL GM makes, including the Chevrolet. I don't remember what it was called.

[@PCUser-m4u]

@@NorthernChev I don't now if there was an official designation for those. Most refer to them as the 'universal' pattern, which exploited the common portions of the BOP and Chevy patterns. They were fairly common from the late '70s when GM started using BOP and Chevy engines interchangeably in the mid and full-size cars up through the TH200-4R days.

[@andyharman3022]

Yeah. My family owned more than one Vega. I still have a Cosworth. My dad figured out a way to change the element in the supposedly non-openable assembly. He was very "frugal". But the aftermarket came up with a conventional air cleaner assembly for the Vega that did have a replaceable element.

[@BingBangBye]

I bought a new 1973 Vega GT. By the time I traded it in 1976, I was adding a quart of oil every 1,000 miles. The front fenders had rusted through at the top, just in front of the doors. Other than those "small" problems, it was a decent little car.

[@billlauretti7963]

My first car was a '72 Vega, and I had to drive around with one or two GALLON jugs of oil in the trunk, and needed to top off the oil pretty much every time I filled the gas tank because it leaked/burned oil so bad. I don't recall ever changing the air filter--with all the other issues the car had, I don't think it ever even occurred to me that the air filter was something worth worrying about. I guess that saved me some money after all!

[@richsarchet9762]

In the early 1980s a not car smart friend bought a Monza with a Vega motor to deliver pizza. I did a tune up, including replacing the apparently original filter with an aftermarket assembly, plugs, cap, rotor and set the timing. It still burned oil, but it was easier to start and ran better. Five days later I towed it from the side of the road after it threw a rod, probably due to oil starvation. He replaced it with a Pontiac Ventura with a straight 6 that may still be running today.

[@donaldszymczak]

one of the many reasons why American car buyers were turned off by this crap and turned to imports ,

[@OldIron1961]

I had a 72 Vega GT wagon with this awesome air cleaner assembly. Ended up grinding away the outer edge of the perimeter flange to open it up. The element was literally bonded to each half of the housing, and scraping away the elastomer was quite a task. Found an "normal" element that was a reasonable fit and used this until I sold the car a couple of years later. Sadly, this design was just one of many stupid ideas on this car. A few others are the front calipers that were held in with pins with speed nuts on the ends, rear parking brake self adjuster that was integrated into the push strut (look it up to understand better), enormous cast iron cylinder head that weighed more than the block, backward opening hood, etc. My theory is that this car was never intended for production, but originally just a project to keep Engineering interns busy. Then one day upper management were in a big meeting trying to figure out how to justify doing a small car project when someone said:"Hey, I saw nice looking small car over in the prototype lab. Looks complete. Let's put it into production!"

[@paulcateiii]

Gremlin X(6:35) actually looks pretty good, brand new from the factory

[@donaldsalkovick396]

I see it says replace every 50000 miles....isnt that triple what you were saying the change interval was of other cars?

[@johnrockley9472]

My Mother had a 1985 Renault 5, a very cheap French car, but a great functional vehicle. It had an engine air filter with a non replaceable element that cost an 'arm & leg' to buy, the oil filter was pretty expensive too and awkward to change! Happy days.

[@SockyNoob]

I wasn't around for it but definitely heard about it on TV and from people who owned it.