Big Block '82 Malibu wagon thrash

[Longroof79]

The car looks great, Matt.
I'm sure it pulls your boat with no effort...and with class..

I dig the "55 T-bird and the '55-'56? Chevy wagon...it's hard to tell in the picture. You always seem to have some interesting stuff in your shop. Cool motor coach, too.

You definitely have to post some pics of the Labor day bash. 8)

 

[Mystery_man]

Very nice wagon. I like your build.

 

[Tinbender 66]

Just got the Hot Rod with the "Draguar" article in it. Funny stuff. You did get an honorable mention.

Love that wagon!

 

[Ringers]

Thanks, Guys, I wasn't expecting any mention, we met Finnigan racing boats. Just so happens, he works there. Super cool guys. Having Freiburger as a boss would be the dream job, no sh*t. They travel their asses off though, so they earn their pay in the terms of familial neglect. Looking forward to the next build with them. Can't say enough good about that crew.
****!!! So, here I am, towing my 21' Daytona over the mountains, we are rolling up Snoqualmie pass in third around 80 MPH, converter not locked, everything is fine. Smelled a little heat, so I let off the throttle and leaned back into it. The car shuddered, not bad, but not normal. We went another 60 or so miles and I thought, "**** it, not going to make it to Royal City" So, I stopped in Vantage, disconnected, left the chicks in a dusty parking lot with four cold beers and shot back over the mountains to snag a more appropriate tow rig. The car ran and shifted flawlessly. I cruised it at 90 and better for a hundred miles, 'till I hit the west side that is full of cops. It shifts great, but shudders under hard acceleration, or a tow situation. I'm thinking converter, but have too much customer stuff on the lift to get mine on. I'll yank the terans and take it to one of my trans pals and see WTF.
Thank You for the compliments on the wagon, I picked up an EFI unit for it, so I'll add it very soon and post the sh*t out of that, plus do a full dyno report on it. You guys, keep it cool! Great Forum!
MFR

 

[Ringers]

Been a bit, since my last post. Busy in the shop, which is good and bad. No time to work on my junk! The wagon is turning out to be a really good driver. I ordered up a RevMax 3000 stall converter after suffering a converter failure a week after Labor Day. Towing the Habit, we made it a couple hundred miles, but the converter was almost like hunting to stay locked up. I pulled a long hill and smelled ick, so I disconnected, left the boat AND girls in a hot desolate parking lot in Eastern Washington. The rest of the crew was rolling behind us, with the bus and support, but I wasn't waiting. It was our VACATION, for crap sake!!
I pulled back out on the hiway and without a boat behind the car, it drove like nothing was wrong. I stepped on the loud pedal, took the car to a smidge under a hundred and held it there for a little under 50 miles, then I needed fuel. That small stock tank! Filled it, made the last hundred miles in record time. Threw the Wagon in the Home Base and grabbed the dually and went right back. Now, THAT thing is thirsty! Holy COW! I got back to the boat, girls and bus a couple hours later, but no worse from the wear, poured a cocktail and we made the last leg of our journey, issue free.
Got back after a week of screwing off and checked the fluid condition of the wagon. Stinky, but not brown. Plus, it was driving like normal. I pulled the trans and replaced it in whole, with a known good one. Worked awesome. My trans guy said it was an O-ring failure. the one on the input shaft. A 10 cent part. Oh well. At least now I know. Car is back to tow duty, the suspension is settling and the stance is perfect, albiet a little low. Time for spring upgrades. EFI is next, I just gotta make the time...

 

[Ringers]

Damn, we are busy! But, I was running around 70 up the Boeing Freeway. I passed a truck and was going back into the right lane and BOOM! I hit SOMETHING, don't know what, but it bent my rim, induced a right pull and I had a clicking sound. So, I pulled into the shop and jacked up the right front. This is what I found-


Cracked a Weld wheel through. Blew me away. WOW! So, I kinda panicked, cuz I use the wagon daily, towing boats and cars around. I called my friend up at KompactKarKorner, in Lynnwood and asked if they had a set of ready to runs. They turned me onto a set of 17" Americans. I know they are overused, but in '08, I bought six of them for my boat trailer. At least they match.


I wish I had more time, we are working on some cool off topic projects. But, that's where it sits today. I will get to the EFI in a few weeks.
Cheers MFR

 

[DRIVEN]

HTF did you do that? I had it in my head that Weld wheels were forged. Should be damn near indestructible. The Americans look fine, especially with the trailer. There's a reason they're overused -- they just look good on lots of cars.
I was up in Auburn/ SeaTac last weekend and was actually thinking to myself, "The roads up here are horrible. These guys need to pay their taxes or something?"

 

[Ringers]

Ya, I thought so to! I have never seen one break. It bent the rim part, and I used a big deadblow to straighten that part out. Didn't notice the cracking, but after a couple days, I heard a creaking noise. So, that's how it went down. I do more weird stuff and deal with the "Never heard of that " or "That NEVER happens" I call it "The **** with Me's" Right after I fix one oddball thing, something else obscure throws up it's hand and like says"ME NEXT!!!"
The road subject? It's called misappropriation of funds. We pay the highest fuel tax in the nation, pay one of the highest license fees, 10% sales tax and STILL have the worst roads. They take our road money and funnel it into the Lavish assed schools that our poor privledged kids so desperately need. Our schools look like castles up here. Pisses me off. Then, the busses that run over legal axle weights and boeing with their permanent license tags that mash the sh*t out of 405, where there are no weigh stations. Add that to the never ending replacement of the asphalt freeways. Hello? Anyone ever hear of Concrete? I'll get off my soap box and head to the shop. We are running to Bakersfield next week to run in the NJBA races. Then the next is at Dexter pond, you oughta come on out and chat! We'll have the Big Black and silver bus just to the right of the main gate!
MFR

 

[Blake442]

WOW is right! That wheel must've taken one hell of a shot! :shock:

The torque thrusts look good on there!

 

[sbc383rulz]

man this car is SWEET!! got me wanting to throw my big block in my wagon in stead of sticking to a small block.. nice seeing a great wagon build from a local, im from poulsbo. keep up the great work!