81 Malibu project restarting

What's the condition of the rest of your front end components? Tie rod ends, idler arms, center link, etc. If all those things seem like they're tight with little to no slop. then I'd try adjusting the steering box a tad.

I agree about the Q-jet difference. After I rebuilt mine and put it on the car, it was like night and day.

Glad to see that you recovered from that metal splinter. Man, those things can be nasty....and painful.

Btw, cool set of seats. Also, make sure the mirror bases are at the correct angle and see if there's a difference in the base gaskets.
The rest of the front end is still pretty solid. The car is a true 36k mile old lady car. It was well maintained over the years that she owned it, I got all the receipts since new. I plan on rebuilding it down the line but it should be good for now. It may just be me since the original steering required zero effort one now this one is a little stiffer.
I ordered el Camino gaskets for the mirrors and they look like they’ll work ok.
 
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The rest of the front end is still pretty solid. The car is a true 36k mile old lady car. It was well maintained over the years that she owned it, I got all the receipts since new. I plan on rebuilding it down the line but it should be good for now. It may just be me since the original steering required zero effort one now this one is a little stiffer.
I ordered el Camino gaskets for the mirrors and they look like they’ll work ok.
The reason I mentioned the mirror base gaskets, I had a pair of the late style Monte Carlo mirrors and to be able to use them on my Malibu, I needed the El Camino base gaskets. I see that you already know about that...cool! I never did install them, though. I sold 'em.

As for the steering feel, the quick ratio steering box is an immediate difference compared to the low effort standard wide ratio steering. I kept mine a bit on the stiff side. You can also change the valving in the steering box in order to obtain a low effort steering feel.
I'm glad to hear that the car was well maintained over the years.
 
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The reason I mentioned the mirror base gaskets, I had a pair of the late style Monte Carlo mirrors and to be able to use them on my Malibu, I needed the El Camino base gaskets. I see that you already know about that...cool! I never did install them, though. I sold 'em.

As for the steering feel, the quick ratio steering box is an immediate difference compared to the low effort standard wide ratio steering. I kept mine a bit on the stiff side. You can also change the valving in the steering box in order to obtain a low effort steering feel.
I'm glad to hear that the car was well maintained over the years.
The car is solid for living in the northeast, only has rust in the bottom of the doors, and for some reason above the wiper motor. I find it odd that there’s rust above the wiper motor because it was garage kept its whole life. My 79 H/O had rust everywhere, but that area was solid. If the car didn’t have a vinyl roof I would have done some spot repairs and left it alone. Unfortunately I hated the landau too and took it off. So it needs a full paint job. Being a paint and body guy, that specializes in painting, the paint job is a long way from being done. Some day it’ll get there. I’ve owned the car since 07 and didn’t really drive it because it wasn’t “finished”. My kids have been motivating me lately to just use it as it is, so that’s what I’m doing.
 
The car is solid for living in the northeast, only has rust in the bottom of the doors, and for some reason above the wiper motor. I find it odd that there’s rust above the wiper motor because it was garage kept its whole life. My 79 H/O had rust everywhere, but that area was solid. If the car didn’t have a vinyl roof I would have done some spot repairs and left it alone. Unfortunately I hated the landau too and took it off. So it needs a full paint job. Being a paint and body guy, that specializes in painting, the paint job is a long way from being done. Some day it’ll get there. I’ve owned the car since 07 and didn’t really drive it because it wasn’t “finished”. My kids have been motivating me lately to just use it as it is, so that’s what I’m doing.
You gotta listen to your kids... drive the car while you're making upgrades. Before you know it, it's winter again and time to put the car away for hibernation. At least while you're driving the car you can figure out what you want to work and improve on over the winter months.
Rusty door bottoms are pretty common. I replaced all 4 of my doors, radiator support, front fenders, etc. also attributed to northern winters.
The area above the wiper motor I can understand. Below that, leaves and crud form there and water doesn't drain properly...which as we all know, creates rust...that dreaded 4 letter word.
 
I got the new to me rear installed. I’m glad it only has 3.08s in it because 3.73s would really be screaming on the highway. Such better pickup at any speed, even with the tired 305. I think i need to add some spacers to rear springs, because she sits a little low. I need to get the back up about a half inch.
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I haven’t been doing much work on the car lately, but I installed core support braces and my trailer hitch last week. The hitch really made the car feel tighter.
I’ve been driving it to work 2 or 3 times a week and taking it to cruise nights. Once the weather turns I’m going to take care of the 2 holes in the floor and add the bucket mounts and hurst shifter. Then on to the body mounts and body. A few g body pics from the local shows for you guys.
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Heck.... I'm impressed to see 5 G-body's @ a local meet (that's not g-body specific). That slammed black MCSS looks slick.
That MCSS is very slick and I believe you can see in the pic that it actually has the LS nose on it, it had made the rounds on some of the Gbody IG pages and other social media
 
That MCSS is very slick and I believe you can see in the pic that it actually has the LS nose on it, it had made the rounds on some of the Gbody IG pages and other social media
I did notice the nose as a matter of fact.
 
I did notice the nose as a matter of fact.
I'm jealous its like the better looking twin of mine, seems to have the same stance, wheels, rear spoiler, and with a slightly smaller cowl hood.
 

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