Here's what I'm starting out with. Getting things ready for body work hopefully by the start of this coming year.

http://youtu.be/oihftgol068

 

Sounds sick. Any specs on the motor you want to share?

 

Here's what I do know so far. The motor was rebuilt and punched out .040 over, making it a 463. I have the summit racing kit number. From what I can tell on the cam card, the cam is a 294 intake/310 exhaust cam. I'm still trying to decipher the paperwork that came with the car. It drives like it has a high stall coverter or the trans is shot. Either way I think I'm eventually going to go with a built up 200R4 or 700R4 for the overdrive.

 

I put a built 200 4r in mine & a 4:10 posi rear. Great off the line & low rpm about 70-80 mph. 255/60/15 tires. Supposedly, built right, the 200 eats less hp than the 700 & can be made a bit stronger.

 

Packrat,

Were you able to find a BOP 200R4, or did you have to use an adapter from a Chevy transmission? Also, is there a good writeup on how to do the swap?

 

IIRC, some? or all? of the 200 4r are a dual pattern bellhousing so they fit BOP/caddy & the chevy engines also with no adaptor needed. I'm sure someone here can clarify this info. I removed mine from a '87 monte carlo in a yard. I think the later year v8 cars(86-88 or so??) have some better internal parts to begin with & make better cores to rebuild.
There are many pages of how to build up a 200 online & I'm sure you can find out what you need on how to make it strong enough for over 500 ft. lbs of torque. I had a friend build mine & I've got about $600.00 in parts in it.
I did have to have my drive shaft lengthened. My vista originally came with a medium tail shaft th350 trans & the 200 uses the short tail shaft, so I was a few inches short(that's what she said). If you do go this route, it is VERY important to get the TV cable set up properly. If not, you will burn up the trans pretty quickly. They sell carb. brackets that help keep the TV cable where it needs to be.
Other than the drive shaft, it's a pretty simple remove & install procedure. I would recommend a external trans cooler as well as the one in the radiator.

 

Nice utube tour of a clean car. Is that the original color. If so keep it that color. I just bought a 71 VC body not quite as clean but converted to a 5 speed stick and mechanically sound. Are you keeping the woodgrain and the outside stock? I am trying to decide what to do with mine.

Lee

 

I'm going to paint the car in a candy apple red metallic, get rid of the wood grain and have those areas painted in a gold or light copper metallic.

 

Found this page on 442.com for the TH200R4 buildup and swap:

http://www.442.com/oldsfaq/oft200.htm

 

Nice sounding engine!
I was expecting a burnout though - bummer...

 

Same here. Sounds sweet though, and the interior looks to be in decent shape. I can definitely see a lot of potential here, looking forward to following the build progress!

 

Listen to this vid with a good subwoofer. The bench seat needs some work in the driver's position with new foam and vinyl. I have to do some digging to find a shop that can do it right.

 

I would suggest you keep the original color on your wagon. It looks from the photo to be the orange color like comp. orange from Chevy in the late 1960's. I had a Vista that color back in the 70's with the Sienna interior and wood grain. It was beautiful and a very rare color. I think I have only seen 4 including yours. Regards.

 

Vista1971, the paint is so badly oxidized that it would be difficult to determine the actual shade. I cannot find any documentation to confirm what the original color was. The wood grain is shot and I really never cared for wood grain.

I am going to paint the car in House of Kolor Re-entry Red with Nugget Gold Pearl metallic for the wood grain areas. I'm working on how much body work is going to be required.

 

...I would leave it as is, a patina like that is hard to come by.

 

I wish you well. Just wanted to give you my .02 cents worth. Regards

 

WoofWagon, very cool I love the black interior. Oh yea, sounds pretty good as well.

 

Great lookin and sounding Vista you have there. The cowl tag will tell you the color it was originally, unless it was a special order paint, then it will either have two dashes or just left blank like mine.

 

Looks and sounds beauteous.
Ten times better than my former Vista was when I got it, the only things going for it were that it was untouched and had zero rust.

One suggestion, with the exhaust dumping out the back like a non-wagon don't drive with the tailgate window down or you could get carbon monoxide poisoning from the exhaust coming back into the car through the window opening.

I remember when an unfortunate bird flew under mine when I was on the road and after it's demise from being caught up in all I can figure is the driveshaft it's feathers went back and up through the open back window and were floating all over the place inside of the car.

 

I'm going to trim the pipes back and put down turned tips so that sound pressure of the exhaust reverberates out around the car to make the sound of the engine all the more impressive.

 

The car does sound impressive, a 200-4R will make it even better off the line and very long-legged on the open road. I'm going the route of having the tail pipes on mine trimmed back and turned down too. With the pipes sticking straight out the back, one is reminded very quickly leaving a car show and having forgotten to put up the back window! Don't know how I missed the video, too bad 'commenting' was disabled.

 

Very nice! ..Keep us updated.
And becareful of that noggin knocker!!!

 

All I'd do is remove the engine chrome, install a factory radio & fix the gas gauge. I hate to see that car lose its originality. To each his own I guess