Well, I guess an update of sorts. Not much of one, more of just a bunch of mental notes for me, since I really haven't done anything to it. I got distracted and sold my truck to buy another wagon. Well worth it, I must say, though I think I'll need to finally get rid of the '79 Malibu.
My friend whose place the car is at is going to help me rebuild the carb, since he knows quadrajets well, and I've never had the opportunity to dig into one. So I'm gonna look over this shoulder and try and learn a thing or two. Once the carb is taken care of, I'll finally take it to have the exhaust done and bring it home.
The column shifter linkage needs some slight adjustment, as it rubs the rear most header tube when you put it into park. Shouldn't be a problem, but I'm also considering putting in a floor shifter. The car has the split bench seat, so buckets would bolt right in. I have a passenger side bucket, though it's claret and not brown, but I'd have to come up with the driver side. More money, so I guess it's staying on the column for now.
When I was putting the new wheels and tires on, I noticed that the brake hoses were dried out, and starting to crack near the fitting. The car stops fine driving around the yard and in and out of the shop, but I'll have to replace them before I put it on the street. Might as well go through the rest of the brakes while I'm at it. I do have a new pair of calipers and hoses on the shelf, but those are supposed to be for the 442...
The car also desparately needs to be detailed. Probably the first thing I'll do once it's back home. It's really dirty. The guy I bought it from pressure washed it after he dragged it out of the yard, after sitting for over 7 years, and that's all the cleaning it's gotten. Hopefully I can sweeten it up with the buffer a little bit, and see if there's a little shine left in it.
Even after I vacuumed the living daylights out of it, the interior is still dingy. The previous owners must've had dogs, as there's hair everywhere. I'll end up having to have the carpet and seats shampoo'd. Oh well, at least the dark window tint helped save the interior panels. Since the headliner was falling and the board was broken, I'll need to pull the headliner out of the Malibu(intact, suprisingly), so I can recover it in brown (it's tan) and put it in here.
I also have to replace both vent windows in the rear doors. With age, the swivel at the base of the window rusts and starts to stick, becoming harder to open and close, until they inevitably break. Both are broken on mine. I was however, able to get my hands on some excellent vent windows to replace them, and the seals are even in good shape yet. That's another thing I'll worry about once the car is home. But then there's that wagon at the yard with power vent windows...
I also have a rallye gauge cluster to swap in that I got out of the '87 Cutlass I parted out several years ago, and I'm kicking myself for not putting it in when I already had the dash apart last summer.
Speaking of gauges, I need to figure out the rear end ratio as well, so I can make sure that I have the correct speedo gear for my trans. Since it's probably the suck fest 2.41's or 2.73 or something, I'll end up having to swap them down the line. The tires will probably screw it up a bit too...
I think the 3.42 rear we pulled out of the Monte SS at work ended up at the scrapyard when we moved last spring.
😢 I remember them offering it to me, but I had no use for it. Then I buy this thing just a few months later...
After that, it's just running a few wires for the CD player, and I should be ready to go!
Man, I can't wait to hear what it'll sound like once the exhaust is on it...
😀
