Well, it seems the car Gods have bestowed upon me a magnificent gift. After searching for some time for a G-body project to build that is not a complete rust pile, and that I can actually afford on my strict budget, I finally scored a great almost all original 1980 Malibu Classic Wagon.
After much grief and displeasure from my wife, I somehow convinced her to let me buy it. For those that are not aware, I made an introduction post a while back and asked for thoughts on keeping a 79 Royal Knight El Camino or a 80 Grand Prix. As it has all turned out in the end, I have scraped both cars but have accumulated a large collection of good usable parts. These include a complete front clip from the Royal Knight, a complete bucket seat and console interior (blue) from the Grand Prix and a complete frame with posi rear end also from the Grand Prix.
As you can see from this photo, my driveway has been overtaken by G-body parts. Also, for those wondering, that is snow on the ground. Living in the beautiful province of Alberta, Canada under the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, we can get snow at almost any time.
The adventure began Friday with a reply to a Kijiji (local classified) add and a phone call from a great guy who offered to take as many pictures as required because we live 3 hours apart. As you can and will see the car is in great condition and early this morning, I loaded up the family and made the 3 hour road trip North to Leduc, Alberta.
After viewing the car in person, i was apparent that this was a great start to my dream project. The main issue with the whole cars was that the old 267ci was tired and appears that a cam lobe has been worn down. It pops a bit and misses but otherwise still runs and drives. The PO also informed me that somehow one of the main power feeds from the starter to ignition had somehow burnt up. He had run a temp replacement wire direct to the battery so it would run. Again, not a huge concern as I have both harnesses from my parts cars. Look for the red wire in this photo.
After much grief and displeasure from my wife, I somehow convinced her to let me buy it. For those that are not aware, I made an introduction post a while back and asked for thoughts on keeping a 79 Royal Knight El Camino or a 80 Grand Prix. As it has all turned out in the end, I have scraped both cars but have accumulated a large collection of good usable parts. These include a complete front clip from the Royal Knight, a complete bucket seat and console interior (blue) from the Grand Prix and a complete frame with posi rear end also from the Grand Prix.
As you can see from this photo, my driveway has been overtaken by G-body parts. Also, for those wondering, that is snow on the ground. Living in the beautiful province of Alberta, Canada under the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, we can get snow at almost any time.
The adventure began Friday with a reply to a Kijiji (local classified) add and a phone call from a great guy who offered to take as many pictures as required because we live 3 hours apart. As you can and will see the car is in great condition and early this morning, I loaded up the family and made the 3 hour road trip North to Leduc, Alberta.
After viewing the car in person, i was apparent that this was a great start to my dream project. The main issue with the whole cars was that the old 267ci was tired and appears that a cam lobe has been worn down. It pops a bit and misses but otherwise still runs and drives. The PO also informed me that somehow one of the main power feeds from the starter to ignition had somehow burnt up. He had run a temp replacement wire direct to the battery so it would run. Again, not a huge concern as I have both harnesses from my parts cars. Look for the red wire in this photo.
