1983 Malibu T Wagon project

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GRIFF442

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Oct 9, 2012
36
3
8
Coral Springs, Florida
So I finally found all the old pics of my 83 Malibu wagon that were stuck in my old computer and decided with all the sweet wagon project threads on this site that I should start my own. This will be a bit of a time warp thread as i will backtrack to when I first purchased the wagon in March of 08 (can't believe it has been 5 years!!) up until now where car is almost complete except the interior. So check it out and let me know what you all think.....

Going back 5 years :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: These are pics of when I first purchased the car off ebay out of Virginia for $1500. These are some of the original pics from the ad....
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It only had about 60k original miles. Someone had put a cheapo black paint job over the original blue paint and painted everything (bumpers, trim. and even the rear qtr glass. It was powered by a 350 that ran pretty good and a TH350C trans.
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The interior was pretty clean except the ripped front seat.
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I purchased the car and had it shipped down to me in south Florida around April 08.
 

GRIFF442

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Oct 9, 2012
36
3
8
Coral Springs, Florida
Here are a few pics of the wagon not long after it arrived at my shop. At this point all I had done was swap the wheels (tires that came on car were dry and shot) and scrapped paint off back qtr glass and windshield (yes, they actually painted the top edge of the glass black also. :wtf:

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I also found a black El Camino hood locally to bolt on the car to get rid of the ugly rusty one....

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I actually drove the car like this for about a year while I started work on building an 87 Buick GN turbo motor I acquired from a friend. 8)
 

Longroof79

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
G-Body of the Month
Oct 14, 2008
12,156
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Gainesville, Fl
It looked pretty cool all black with the GTA/GNX style wheels. It's certainly come a long way since you first purchased it.
Very nice indeed.
 

liquidh8

Comic Book Super Hero
Looks good. reminds me of the 83 I did along time ago. All black just like that.
 

81cutlass

Comic Book Super Hero
Feb 16, 2009
4,639
13,542
113
Western MN
Black wagon with GTA's=Awesome! Looks great! Looking forward to seeing it turboed.
 

Josh Hanna

Greasemonkey
Feb 3, 2013
130
1
18
Coral Spings FL
crazy old pics bro! i miss my malibu! and seeing it on the lift hurts lol!!!!!
 

GRIFF442

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Oct 9, 2012
36
3
8
Coral Springs, Florida
So I had a few minutes here to update with some more pics..... :D

Here is the turbo engine just before putting it in the car the first time (more on that disaster later...)
I got the long block from a friend who took it to a supposedly "reputable" machine shop. I painted everything up nice and added some go fast goodies I had in stock.

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So I pulled the whole front clip off the car (can't find the pics of this right now), pulled the whole dash, A/C box, and front suspension. I rebuilt front end with all moog components, added F41 sway bars and supports, put in Eibach lowering springs and belltech dropped spindles. I also put in correct A/C box from a GN with heat shield, and scored a super nice dark blue dash out of a low mile Monte Carlo that came from up north (severe rust!), and of course added a T sterring wheel 8)

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Got the engine in and all hooked up....
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I also rid the car of the black treatment with some chrome...
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GRIFF442

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Oct 9, 2012
36
3
8
Coral Springs, Florida
So I just found some pics of the front clip off the car before the 350 engine was pulled.....

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And here it is after I got the engine out.....

IMG_4938_zps1ce29bce.jpg
 

Longroof79

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
G-Body of the Month
Oct 14, 2008
12,156
9,762
113
Gainesville, Fl
Thanks for posting more pics of your progress, Griff.
You've certainly made a lot of progress on your wagon since you purchased it. Very nice work, man. 8)
 
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