1980 Malibu Classic in Indiana

[ABigBadZebra]

What's up guys? My dad has had a couple Malibus sitting in his yard for the last several years. A white 1980 2 door classic and a burgundy 1980 2 door classic. I've bothered him a few times over the years to let me buy one, but he insisted on keeping them, even though they mostly sat. He finally decided he wanted some of his yard space back, and since he was already planning on passing these cars onto me and my brother at some later date, he went ahead and gave them up.

I got the burgundy car. He bought it back in 2005, and for the most part, it's sat. He started it from time to time, but there were probably times that it wasn't started for a year or more. Nevertheless, it appears to be in pretty good shape, and we did start it with just a little effort here recently.

Pics:

So, here is what I know...

• It's a 355
• It has a Holley 1850s carb on it
• It has a cam in it (no details)
• It has 373 gears in it, I believe
• I believe it has a different steering box on it (only cause I have a spare in a box)
• It's got a 2500 stall converter

I'm going to get with my dad again and try and get all the details. However, it's likely that over the years he has either forgotten, or wasn't told legit stuff to begin with, so I'm hoping I can do some part identification when I get into the build.

As for the build... I don't want a drag car. The body appears to be in pretty good shape. There is a little rust underneath the quarters in from of the rear tires, and a little around the corners of the rear side windows (also at the fenders), but overall it seems to be pretty solid. I want something to cruise in. A weekend car with some balls, good handling, lowered slightly, burnouts on demand type of thing.

So far, I've stripped some of the exterior chrome and started investigating how bad rust is, but I haven't gotten far. I still need to tear out the interior (which is also in pretty damn good shape) and check the floors and whatnot.

Anyway, I'll be starting a build thread here in the coming months. I also have a garage to finish so I have a suitable place to start the build 🙂 I look forward to learning a bunch from you guys. Chevys are all new to me, so I'm in for it, I know.

Thanks!

 

[1evilregal]

not a bad looking car to start with! looks like someone may have switched it to a manual steering gearbox, or it came with manual, and someone was getting ready to convert to power steering... be sure to start a thread in the build section, and welcome to the site!

Darin

 

[Doug213xrj]

Welcome from West Michigan.

Doug