1980 Malibu "Fun Car"

[1980Bu2Dr]

Hey Guys....Just thought I'd share a bit about my Malibu and how it got to where it is now. Here's the basics and how I got it. It is an 80 Bu, Runs and Drives with 305....only catch, interior needs alot of work, somewhere along the way it ended up with a Monte hood, and the previous owner sanded all of the paint off. I was looking for what I call a "fun car" and it seemed like this could fit the bill. A fun car to me is something i can wrench on, not put too much money in, but still fun to cruise and do smokey burnouts.

Anyway so here it is the day I brought it home. I traded my 97 s10 reg cab 2wd w/ 2.2l 4 cyl for it. I didn't need the truck anymore and it had over 200,000 miles on it so it seemed like a decent trade. It has a running 305 and th350 transmission. Motor didn't matter much to me because I just finished rebuilding another 305. Why a 305 you ask...we'll get to that later, let's just say its got some sentimental value. Anyway here's the pic, only good thing about the paint being sanded off is I could see how good of shape the body was really in...

 

[1980Bu2Dr]

First thing I figured I should do is get some primer on it. I've painted a few racecars in the past so I figured in order to stay in budget...I'm gonna paint this car myself. After sanding and sanding....and sanding some more, here it is in my "homemade" paint booth with a fresh coat of epoxy primer I got from summit.

 

[O. D. Showtime]

Looks like the body is pretty solid! Primer job looks good...

 

[1980Bu2Dr]

After the primer I wanted to get the new power plant in. Pretty much a bone stock 305 with some extra goodies. Freshly rebuilt by me...in my garage. Here's the deal with the 305. I mentioned I had painted some racecars back in the day. This was the motor I had in the first racecar I owned with a buddy of mine. Its out of a 79 Impala that we built into a car to run at our local circle track. The car was built for the "Cruiser Car" class. This class is unique because the car has two drivers...one runs the steering wheel and brake, and the other runs the throttle. My buddy and I built this car and were fairly successful with what little money we had to throw at it. We finished 4th in points two years in a row and sneaked in a feature win. That buddy was also the best man at my wedding and I was his. Unfortunately, he passed away last April unexpectedly. This motivated me to dig this motor out from under the cover and bring it back to life.

Anyway, now that the sappy stuff is done...here is the motor. It does alright with the Hooker comp headers that are on it. Sounds good with the cam we snuck in when we were racing and is very good at providing a smokey burnout every now and then.

 

[1980Bu2Dr]

After the new motor was installed I decided to finish the paint...this is pretty much how the car sits now. I used Summit paint for this too and was pretty impressed. I ended up with some rough spots but I will take credit for those. Maybe next spring if i get time I will sand those spots down and throw on another coat....Anyway this is where it sits now. Just got a performer intake to throw on and hopefully that'll happen in the next couple weeks. Then I may have to at least buy a seat cover... :lol: :lol:

 

[O. D. Showtime]

Looks good...nice work!

 

[DRIVEN]

Well done. Can't wait to see it finished.

 

[1980Bu2Dr]

Thanks, So i'm having some trouble getting the windshield trim to stay on. Anyone know of a good place to order the clips that hold it on...about half of mine are broken? Also since replacing the weatherstripping on the doors the windows don't go up and down as will as they used to. Is this something that will get better as the new weatherstripping gets broken in or is there something i can do to help this?

 

[Longroof79]

The car looks good...nice job!
Here' who I used for my clips. http://www.thefastenerwarehouse.com/pag ... 584919.htm

http://www.autofastco.net/general_motors.html

 

[1980Bu2Dr]

Thanks man I'll check that out and get some clips ordered....hopefully that will prevent the trim from flying off the car at 55 mph like happened last time.