Danginharl's 1980 Malibu Wagon Project

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Danginharl

Apprentice
May 23, 2011
70
32
18
Airdrie, Alberta, Canada
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.
Photo2012-05-0573931PM.jpg

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.
Photo2012-05-0574004PM.jpg

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.
Photo2012-05-0572942PM.jpg

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.
Photo2012-05-0572958PM.jpg
 

maliburacinfreak

Master Mechanic
Oct 7, 2005
449
3
18
Evansville, IN
congrats! other than the small amount of rust in the rear lower quarters, looks like a nice clean start. the buckets and console will look good in it too. have fun with it!
 

Longroof79

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
G-Body of the Month
Oct 14, 2008
12,156
9,762
113
Gainesville, Fl
Congrats on your new acquisition.
Looks like a good score and a great start to a cool project.
Keep us up to date on your progress.
 

clean8485

Comic Book Super Hero
Dec 18, 2005
2,860
2,136
113
Ontario, Canada
Congrats on your new project. I was looking at the underhood photo, and I can see what appears to be an A.I.R. setup on the engine. Is this originally a Canadian car? I wasn't aware of Canadian emission requirements for A.I.R. on anything other than the Monte SS. I've got an '86 GP 2+2, which is an original Canadian car, and even it doesn't have A.I.R. Good luck with the Malibu, and keep us updated.
 

Danginharl

Apprentice
May 23, 2011
70
32
18
Airdrie, Alberta, Canada
clean8485 said:
Congrats on your new project. I was looking at the underhood photo, and I can see what appears to be an A.I.R. setup on the engine. Is this originally a Canadian car? I wasn't aware of Canadian emission requirements for A.I.R. on anything other than the Monte SS. I've got an '86 GP 2+2, which is an original Canadian car, and even it doesn't have A.I.R. Good luck with the Malibu, and keep us updated.

I'm pretty sure it is a Canadian car, has the correct speedometer (km/h). I'll try to dig into the history of the car and see what I can find out.
 

Danginharl

Apprentice
May 23, 2011
70
32
18
Airdrie, Alberta, Canada
I spent $750 to get the car and another $170 on fuel and trailer rental. So, for under $1000, I have a great project. I starting going through the car in the last couple of days and am very impressed at the condition.
Photo2012-05-0572906PM.jpg

Photo2012-05-0572847PM.jpg

Photo2012-05-0573203PM.jpg

All of these pictures were taken the day I brought it home, no cleaning has been done in these pictures.

I started cleaning and removing some of the items that didn't belong.
Photo2012-05-0573617PM.jpg

This was somebody's idea of an "economy" gauge I guess. There was also a manual choke cable installed at some point. I have removed that and put a factory screws back in both locations.
Here is a picture of my youngest, Harley, who is absolutely in love with this car.
Photo2012-05-0573759PM.jpg
 

Danginharl

Apprentice
May 23, 2011
70
32
18
Airdrie, Alberta, Canada
The car is not perfect so here are some pictures of the rust the car does have. These pictures pretty much cover the areas that need attention body wise. I think I got lucky!
Leduc-20120504-00219.jpg

Leduc-20120504-00218.jpg

Leduc-20120504-00215.jpg

I have a bumper that is in great condition, so I was not at all concerned.
Leduc-20120504-00217.jpg


I need to sit down and seriously think about what direction I want to move in for this project. With a car that is in this good of condition, I would hate to rip into the project without knowing the direction I am heading for. I encourage any and all input from you guys.

Here is a partial list of parts at my disposal.

Posi 3.18 rear end
454ci BBC
3 x TH350 and a 700R4 transmission
Grand Prix cloth buckets
Full '80 Grand Prix dash with center console
79 El Camino Royal Knight (black) front clip with full decals
El Camino instrument cluster with tach

Send me the direction you would like to see this go. Here is a picture of a Malibu I absolutely fell in love with and believe will be the direction I go towards with this project. I came across this on Car Domain and thinks its almost as perfect as it gets. If this is a members car WELL DONE SIR!
malibu2.jpg
 
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Bowiemontecarlo86

G-Body Guru
Dec 17, 2011
693
1
16
Tampa fl.
nice find bro the car is in really good shape . For one i think i would junk that roof rack its hideous. I don't like those side mirrors either maybe replace them with the sport mirrors from a Monte 86-88. Tuck the bumpers and paint or powder coat all trim black . put some 5% on all the windows and lower the car some and add some crager soft 8's. i dunno that's what i would do lol .

Now does the El Camino nose look just like the Malibu's ?
 

Danginharl

Apprentice
May 23, 2011
70
32
18
Airdrie, Alberta, Canada
Bowiemontecarlo86 said:
Now does the El Camino nose look just like the Malibu's ?

Yes, very similar, except it's from a 79 not 80.
 
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