86 GP project

[08Malibu]

Got the car up on stands today. I got the original exhaust and crossmember out. Decided I’d bleed the brakes before I dropped the engine in. Rears were no issue. The passenger front I snapped off the bleeder. Off to pick up 2 front calipers. Of course I locked my keys in my Malibu’s ignition. Lucky for me my wife was home to drop me off the spare set. Due to that mistake, I ran out of time to put them in. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little more productive.

 

[08Malibu]

Picked up the jeep today. Now I have another vehicle my son wants me to keep. This one isn’t a keeper though.
After that I got the front calipers installed, and bled. Car is back on the ground and outside. Time to rearrange the garage to drop the engine in.

 

[08Malibu]

Finally got the engine dropped in today. Love having the TV in the garage so I can be a little more productive.

 

[Rktpwrd]

Finally got the engine dropped in today. Love having the TV in the garage so I can be a little more productive.
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I purposely didn’t put a TV in mine so I would be more productive. Congrats on the transplant.

 

[melloelky]

I purposely didn’t put a TV in mine so I would be more productive. Congrats on the transplant.

struggle's real..

 

[08Malibu]

I managed to get the left header in, but the right is being a royal pain. I wanted to lay them in before dropping the engine in, but the extra length of the GP front end vs the Malibu was a big pain in my *ss. I think I may have to pick the engine back up anyway. Tomorrow is another day though.
I can’t stand how high this car sits. I have a set of Monte SS springs, I hope they will bring the car down to a respectable height. Stance and wheels make the car.

 

[SS_Malibu]

Headers have always been one of those parts that never fit like “they“ say they do. Unless you have them custom made. I had to use inductive heating and a hammer to make clearance for my headers to fit and bought them for a 79 Malibu with SBC. It’s just one of those things we have learned to accept.
Nice seeing your project coming together.

 

[08Malibu]

I jacked the car up a little higher, and I was able to pull the header up into place.
I went to put the driveshaft in and the u joint seems to be different than the pinion. The plus is that this thing is really clean underneath.

 

[08Malibu]

Popped in a fresh u-joint, that was the correct size. I started looking at the wiring, and noticed it has a dealer installed goodwrench alarm. I can’t leave that in, so starting removing some of the interior to get the wires out, and came across the build sheet. Pretty cool.

 

[08Malibu]

I removed the alarm, and spliced the necessary wires back together under the dash. J hooked up my jumper box, and the engine cranked over, so I can can get back to buttoning that up.
I also pulled most of the old sound system wiring out, while I was inside the car. Unfortunately I found a little rust hole in the trunk under the cd changer, so that will have to be addressed, at a later date. This will have to be the last weekend I work on the car for a little while, so I’m hoping I can get it all buttoned up. I started getting parts for the 62 Corvette I’m going to be painting, so that moves ahead of my personal projects.