I'll be trimming the squirrel damaged area of the hood blanket from the Aero Blue Crossfire that I recently replaced and use it on the Vega.

 

~ Cluster is mounted, dash pad is mounted, must remove glove box to install sissy strap to the dash pad.
~ Painted the side mirrors and headlight bezels 08 Dodge Brilliant Crystal Pearl Black. Moved the Crossfires to avoid overspray.
~ Wet sanded all overspray from door jambs. Fabricated a new clutch linkage from pedal to piston...it bent from offset angle.
~ Made a test sprayout of the Mazda 46V Soul Crystal Red- 4 stage with the black stripe...close but no cigar...I don't think I sprayed enough base coat...will try again.

 

 

~ Thanks for posting that, it is a nice example of a Cosworth Vega.
~ The original 74 140 ci. engine that came out of my Vega had, or has (its on an engine stand presently) the dual -port Offenhauser intake and a Hedmann header with decked head and block. It would outrun the stock Cosworth.
~ I was misled on the paint I used for the door jambs and hatchback jamb that it was the same as the Mazda 46V, it is NOT. So, I am in the process of prepping and repainting those parts as well as the door insides so they will match when the entire car is painted. All of the "brite-dipped" aluminum chromelike trim pieces will be in black. Inside headlight bezels will be black as well...like the Cosworth.

 

~ 6 months later... The portable paint booth is finally constructed and tied down for the hurricane season coming up. Mazda 46V was sprayed on a repaired spare fender for color testing. We will use a medium reducer since we will be spraying in 95 degree heat. Re-spraying the doors and jambs offline including the backside of the hood and hatchback.
~ If you see a Mazda painted in 46V, it stands out like a candy apple at the fair....Kia and Toyota have one that looks close, but not quite the POP!

 

Not sure if you're using base coat or single stage but I would go with a slow reducer in either one for better flow in 95 degree heat.

 

~ The paint color Mazda 46V is a tri-coat candy. I used a BASF product and it was close but no cigar..I used an Axalta product and it was closer. I called a large Mazda dealers repair facility and they said that they use PPG Automotive water based which I have not tried. We painted the underside of the hood and hatchback with the BASF product which is close and will not show when closed. We repainted the door jams and hatchback jams with the BASF paint. We need to re-visit the doors themselves and get them hung before we paint the rest of the car.
~ Went to the boneyard to retrieve a passenger window rail that goes under the glass to keep it on the track. Saw some cool cars - a Hudson Hornet and a Pontiac Streamliner caught my eye.
~ We will make a 4-stage project out of this as the "GT" stripe will be painted on instead of a vinyl sticker. The black stripe will be painted using a reverse mask after the base coat goes down and before the candy mid-coat goes down. I only hope that we do not marr the base coat as we adhere the mask to it.

 

~ Prepping the doors to hang before we paint. Went to boneyard to retrieve a side glass lower window channel from a deceased Vega. My original galvanized one had deteriorated from constant water leak at window sweep seal. Found window channel setting rubber online. Must remove old window channel from glass without breaking it. Knowledgeable glass folks said to use propane flame to get the rubber to release. Have new felts and sweeps as well as door gaskets on standby.
~ Garaged Crossies are all covered up to keep off dust and any oversprays. Need jacks to ward off flat spots in the tires.

 

1975 Chevy Vega V8 prototype...
https://www.mecum.com/lots/SC0509-79...ega-prototype/

 

~ Thanks for posting that link. I see where they added the two more rows to the radiator giving it 4 rows,(like we did). They would have had to open the inlet and outlet as well to accomodate the larger radiator hose size and used the short Corvette water pump to clear the fan. We used an electric thermostat controlled fan out of a Ford Festiva. I see that this car has A/C, on the 4 cyl. models, the evaporator coils were in the engine bay, they would have had to relocate it under the dash like the the V8 Monza version did after '75 resulting in shortening the glove box a bit.
~ The description makes mention of a suspension upgrade to the front suspension, maybe a front sway bar was added but there was no mention of unibody frame strengtheners which would be needed to prevent body twisting with that much horsepower. We should be approaching 300 HP on our 4.3 V6 with our .030 over bore and mild RV cam so we welded in the frame strengthener rails to prevent twisting.

 

I read somewhere it had Monza suspension under it, which I assume is just beefed up Vega stuff. I think you're on the right track with your engine choice. That V8 can't make for a very drivable car.

 

~ The Monza suspension you refer to originated on the Cosworth Vega. Some of those mods included a heavier front and rear sway bar and a torque arm that ran along side of the drive shaft as well as deep pocket lower control arms. This Vega project began as a Cosworth with no motor or t-rannie..( can we still use that word?)
~ I finally got a pair of seats that will work due to the narrow seat track area. These came from a C5 Corvette, black leather electric sport seats. I am currently working on a new bowtie logo to have embroidered for the seat repair person to sew in replacing the "Corvette" embroidery....not gonna be cheap either.