Jatcos are great behind underpower undertorqued cars

That vega motor was cheap!!!!! love the dizzie drive solution

But there was this version of the Vega motor...

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25222/lot/122/

Yes I can't argue with anything Scotty says, I watch a lot of his videos

The biggest surprise I got from him is how bad he thinks JATCO automatics are -- I always liked them and they were pretty reliable on the old Datsuns and Corollas. But on second thought they aren't as bulletproof as the best automatics. For example in May I fixed my Forester JATCO for $120 but if id have taken it to Subaru it would have cost $1500 to fix (and it was only a single small part that needed replacing...)

Quote:

Great links! yep single cammed iron heads that belonged on iron blocks
definitely not high tech all alloy blocks with no experience or durability
testing over time to expose its issues.

However Nissan or Datsun were amongst the best in the US but no more
My Jap father in law would not go near a new Nissan with a 10 foot chop stick
and neither would many Muricans these days.
The truth from SK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h_r_OuJU-w

Here's that Chevrolet corporate film

YouTube: CHEVROLET AUTOMOBILES VS. FOREIGN CARS

2:58 is where they start talking about Toyota and Datsun

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Even worse ... it was a single-cam head

I agree with you all in everyway and prob was a bit
too nice to say Chev made any kind of fantastic effort
However these Giants have so many departments Im sure
the guys in charge of the twin cam 16v all ally engine
had the best of intetions but let down by the rest of
the companys assembly, design and its politics.


There was no way Chev could make this complex engine reliable
in that era and believe it was the most ridiculous idea they ever had.

They prob got hold the japs were making twin cam headed
econoboxes so tried to offer more than them.
However also supplying the lesser version with an iron head!
was a totally wacked out move beyond stupidity.

Dodge did the same thing with the Slant 6 ten years earlier!!!!

Chev could have learnt from that but no and the same factory
that cast the flat 6 for the corvairs seems to be connected
to the worst cars ever made by Chev.

I think they looked amazing but take all you guys for your word
they sucked in every department.

Sure the idea of a 16v head all alloy engine was insanely courageous
but due to their usual world famous poor execution it ended as a joke.

Oh I agree with you. But apparently when they were new they drove well, at least at first -- from what people told me. Certainly 2 million americans ponied up and bought them, even if they later regretted it

I remember particularly this one guy told me that he and his buddy each bought one at the same time, they drove them hard and treated them like throwaway econoboxes, and they only lasted like one year! Hard to believe

The Pinto was quite a bit different, the engine was tough (unlike the Vega engine) but Pintos always had something needing repairs. I remember fixing one Pinto the cam tensioner got loose and it still ran but not so well. Fixed that and the customer drove it for many years afterwards

Wow, it’s amazing how perceptions can differ.
In my Unhumble opinion Vegas were poor running , unreliable , rattling, poor quality tin cans of the era. Ranked up there with the likes of the other great America POS cars such as the Pinto, Chevette, Monza & Citation. Plymouth at least imported a Mitsubishi to badge as an Arrow or a Colt.
I don’t know about the Cosworth motors as I never saw one in the shop but trust me the above list were always in there plagued with repairs....the Citations less so as they were 80’s era tech.

I just remember working on Vega’s and test driving them thinking how poorly they drove and handled. One gals car was in all the time for clutch cable adjustments, brake issues, constant out of tune and body integrity issues inside and out-oh yeah, panels on those rotted out very prematurely too.

The big 3 were good at mid and full size cars, not the new econobox types like a 1200. Seemed like every import mfg-er had Detroit beat except perhaps Yugo.

Look back at GM’s 68 firebird with a Sprint 6 OHC motor- reliable, good tech, 4 barrel carb, belt drive cam I believe. That was pretty decent setup for the era and it was older they then the Vega era.The Vega and others were a rush to market solution to compete against everything imported.

Sorry if I’m raining on anyone’s parade , purely my unhumble, bias opinion based on my experience of working in a shop back in the day.