77 Astre SW
 

Hi y'all

Just wanted to show and possibly ask questions later about my new project.
It's not too bad. We've found the major things it needs already. The engine is seized but my boyfriend(Jory) has a friend with one :) Found a hood and a steering column(it's broken). Then there's the stuff that has to be made. The right front frame rail is bad. As you can see the core support is shot too. Good thing Jory has a way with metal ;)

There's an Astre in the boneyard near here. Can't remember if it's a wagon or not. I'm heading out there this weekend, I should snap some pics if you need anything.

Thanks!! I have an order into a local junkyard, should hear back today. If he doesn't have the rest of the nose piece I'd be interested in that.

Thanks for the offer but I just heard from my guy. He's got everything :)

I'll post more pics as I get them. We're trying to get my 78 TA done first though so it'll be slow going until then.

i never knew they made them in wagons
i knew the vega was
kewl....

H bodies were one of my first car loves.....
to bad they rotted so much, fun little rides

I had a nice one(wagon) back in the day.
White with turquoise trim and white bucket seats.
151(iron duke) and about every option.
was sandwiched in a rear ender between my Dads van(which I was driving)
and an idiot in a Suburban. My wife was stopped behind me when the clown didnt even slow down hit us.Car was hit so hard the engine was sitting where the radiator used to be.
Ours was a fun little car that was anemic until I figured out to drill out the jets in the 2bbl.A good friend had a 78 Sunbird(same body) with a factory 305 V-8 and 4 speed.
1 st gear was useless with stock 13 inch tires .

I remember the chrome valve cover on the 151,I guess it was PMDs way of touting the OHV-4.

Congrats on the new purchase!!!! I have a 78 Sunbird Wagon, Chesterfield Brown, with a slightly built 231 V-6. And a 77 Astre Formula HB, I have parted out three 75-79 Astre/Sunbird wagons in the last 4 years so if you need any parts I may have them.

And Yes the made Astre wagons in 75-77, then rebadged them as Sunbird wagons in 78 & 79.

Well, Jory's been working on the wagon pretty steady. There's been a lot of obstacles but it's starting to look like a car again :) Here's a before and then some recent sheet metal shots.

Jory had to make a driver's floor pan :cool:

The engine is back out now so it can be diassaembled & cleaned. It was rebuilt a couple years ago but never used. It was covered with chain oil(?) before stored away. I also had to buy a trans out of an 4th gen F body, I won't say which one :o
We had an S10 trans but the shifter ended up in the middle of the dash. So rather than make a long shift rod I got the other trans. Which leads to another issue, the starter is now on the opposite side. It's always something with this little buggy :(

But it should be worth it when it's all done :drive:

We had a couple great scores in parts! Jory found an NOS rad support which saved SO much work :D

And I found some nice used quarters on the H body forums :)
They won't go on now but will be saved for when it gets worked on again years from now..
Possibly when it's gets the 455 outta my TA...:3gears:

Stacey, If Jory keeps it up you may actually have a car when it's done!It's looking a lot better than it did when you bought it.


Is that a 64 GTO sitting beside it?

Mike

Thanks Mike!
Yea, that's Daddy's 64 post coupe, his latest addition :)

That cars rare as hens teeth, niiiice

Nice thing about the Iron Duke is it's a Pontiac motor -

Mike, wasn't about '79 the Iron Duke got a cross-flow head ?

I thought it was 77. It was right in that era. The Coupe I owned had it and it was a late 77 build. I kinda wish I'd have kept that one around instead of letting the ex trade it off on an 89 'vert.

Mike

Friend in high school had a 77 Astre sedan, not the hatchback, it even had under dash a/c. I remember working on it in shop class it was not a cross flow head, the later ones got that feature, but I'm not sure of the year. The 2.5 originally was almost a 301 cut in 1/2.

I'll have to check my records and see what yr mine actually was. I'm 90% positive it was a 77 tho, It was a coupe, black with a tan interior rallys.

Mike

Thanks!
Well, that's another issue with my little wagon. The original motor was seized so I ended up buying a 2.5 out of an 80's S10. My Dad & I :argue: about what color to paint it. He says I should paint it Pontiac blue, like the original motor was. But beings it's out of a chevy S10 :confused:
Any opinions?

Pontiac blue, of course ! The "Iron Duke" is a Pontiac motor. It shared several common parts with the 301, they even have the same bore x stroke. People knock 'em for being gutless, but the truth is they're pretty hardy long lasting engines. It's a much better engine then the failure prone aluminum Chevy Vega engine that was also offered.
It even shared many parts with the 301, they debuted the same year. Keep us posted -

Pontiac also had the Super Duty parts for the 2.5L.That was the last actual Pontiac engine.They used it in the fiero and into the 90's in the buick century,grand am,s-trucks,and the olds cierra(fwd).