What Did You Do To Your G-Body Today? [2020]

[Texas82GP]

You outta see everything I have to do to the 81' Malibu in the course of the summer just to beat the Winter season. Crossing fingers I get the car back on at least by Tuesday or Wednesday, the bill going to be well over $1000 just for the repairs I can't do because I don't have the shop equipment to do it. Then there after it will need a New Wind Shield, Radiator, Alternator, Exhaust, Air Conditioning, Brakes, Coils and Struts, Suspension kit, possibly a new Sending unit, Underside rust clean up though not alot just a few trouble spots I am going to use a rust converter for much of it, A New modern Radio, Interior Head liner, all round Weather stripping , Cat Whiskers etc, I still have a lower Door Hinge to put in, Headlight dimmer switch, Center mirror put back onto the windshield. I have to repair dents and rust holes on the body then repaint to the color I have planned for it. Then save up for what I have planned for the motor rebuild (Hint: a Similar GN Turbo application) .

Much of what I have mentioned here I can do myself, some other stuff I may have to take to a Meineke, Auto Glass etc. Like you these G-bodies are super rare to get in our local area, Sure you'll see a bunch of El Camino's and Monte Carlo's but not these Malibu's. This car is a Jem in the rough and was highly coveted only after I showed interest into it on Facebook Market place (and mostly likely would have been built as a dragster). My intention is to restore it to get it back on the road, and participate on next years Power Tour 2021. Thankfully the previous owners where a first come first serve type otherwise I would never have gotten this car, as there were a few people trying to bid high on this thing.

As for the 79', I think it would be a good idea to wait for the price to get marked down a touch, anymore than that sitting on it waiting any further you may have someone snatch it from you. . . Good Luck.

Sounds a lot like Dan Aykroyd when he rolls up with the Cadillac hearse in Ghostbusters....

 

[5spdCab]

So, I did make it to the wrecking yard. The weather alternating between showers and full-on rain, I found a driver side power mirror from a 3rd gen fbody, the passenger side was already missing. I also grabbed an A/C air box out of a '78 Cutlass with a good portion of the interior vent ducting, and a lot of the dashboard wiring harness as well.

 

[Marcel1971]

Did some interior restyling .

 

[5spdCab]

Did some interior restyling .

Wow, you like lots of color. It will be easy to find your car in a crowded lot.

 

[melloelky]

hooked up my vacuum advance back up after reading lilbowtie's write up on the subject.pulled the rear wheels so i can find someone to swap the new tires on this week,i doubt i can get a sticker with the ones i have on there.the problem might be finding someone that can perform this task without me wanting to break their hands after seeing how they bitched up my wheels.fingers crossed.

 

[WanaBa442]

Fixed my transmission problem with a fuel pump.......

If you recall from my other posts, the car would lay down on a 2-3 shift when passing or after making it kick down.
Rechecked the carb mixture and timing, and talked to my buddy who's been a GM mechanic for 39 years.
We concurred it was either fuel or possibly ignition, but car never lost spark, just ran out of go.
Local flaps got me a Carter pump ( I recommend an Airtex if you have a choice, Carter pump puts the fuel inlet tube reeaal close to the alt bracket) ,
swapped that in. The road test showed better acceleration and no drop out or dying with a 2-3 shift at 60mph
Next step is to make it sound better.

 

[CopperNick]

Took a step back, and pulled the fan assembly off to get a better path to the power steering pulleys. Like I mentioned elsewhere, now in dimy -(do it myself)- mode and ginning up a belt tensioner from odds and sods that will let me do the job without buggering up my new paint or putting a body ding in yet another pump body. Could maybe pull the dent in the others using weld on pins and a slide puller but it sounds like too much work for too little profit.

Nick

 

[kornball426]

Got my cigarette lighter, interior light, and horn working in the elcamino.

We (my buddy and I) completely rewired the head unit in it which was all wrong, rewired the two 6x9's that are behind the seat and it doesn't sound terrible. There's a 10 inch kicker sub back there too that I tried to hook up but the amp is dead, so I ordered a new amp, and I ordered two new 3.5 inch speakers for the dash. The dash speakers are definitely original and not even connected to anything, but the wiring is there and it's a 4 channel headunit so it should be plug and play. I think with two brand new dash speakers, two 6x9's and a sub it'll sound pretty good. Probably not as good as my VW but still good. I'm not an audiophile or anything, I just like to hear my tunes loud and clear and not blow speakers haha.

Question though, should I get a bigger alternator? I'm pretty sure this one is stock which I'm guessing is 60-85 amp at most?

I got this piece of crap amp at one of the big chain stores and returned it and ordered one online that's got better specs and is cheaper, in fact came out almost the same price including the two dash speakers I ordered as just the junk amp I returned.

 

[mclellan83]

Well I kind of had a good weekend since the car went home, but on the way she got up to 212 degrees which I did not like. Added some more water to her and when I took her out the second time she got close to 200 but did not go over. When I added the water the inside did not look too pretty, so debating on if I want to try flushing the rad or if I want to just go for a new rad and electric fans to be done with it? Had a little water come in near the center console when I washed her for some reason as well which I didn't love. But felt good to get her out and I think everyone I passed had a look with some sort of reaction to it

 

[fleming442]

new radiator, for sure.