Malibu bumpers

[79BuWagon]

While out in the shop looking at the wagon the other night , a couple of ideas came to mind , and I figure if I thought about , so has some one else and possibly done them . First concerns the bumpers . Has anyone known , seen , have photos of taking the stock bumpers and altering them to be a bit narrower , perhaps even being a little thinner , and pushed back further , much like the style that 60s cars had . Second idea was relocating the turn signals and turning the original locations into air ducts for a ram induction system . Since the Malibus already had one that came stock , shouldnt be too hard to add another , possibly using the Vette air cleaner with the double snorkle ... anyone .. ????

 

[Longroof79]

First off....18 posts in 7 yrs?? Where ya been, man?

As for altering the bumpers, it's been done quite a before, myself included. Maliburacing had a thread about narrowed/ tucked bumpers.
Here's a link to my thread. https://gbodyforum.com/threads/working-on-the-wagon.33260/

 

[O. D. Showtime]

Well worth the read in the link above. I really like the way Jack's (Longroof79) bumpers turned out...again nice work Jack.

 

[oldgraycat]

Well worth the read in the link above. I really like the way Jack's (Longroof79) bumpers turned out...again nice work Jack.

tucking flipping and altering bumpers been done for years big deal in the 50s thinking about narrowing and tucking the bumpers on my 84 elki

 

[Longroof79]

Well worth the read in the link above. I really like the way Jack's (Longroof79) bumpers turned out...again nice work Jack.

Thank you as always, Kevin. That's very kind of you.

79BuWagon--If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask.

 

[vanrah]

Greetings 79Buwagon & all; I'll toss in $.02 worth. For 35 years I've hated the bumpers on these cars! And after seeing 90% of the OverHaulin shows I wanted smoother. Since I haven't welded since the early 70's or ever worked car body panels I went to my old friend's body shop to ask how much to shorten the bumpers & re-chrome. And that still didn't address the right angle where the fillers set. That would be timed or totally removed. Plus if someone bumps the shortened bumper the surrounding fender or rear quarter panel would be damaged. The only up side is bugs don't damage chrome. The other down side is they (bumpers weigh 70 Lbs?) Small fish'in boats don't have anchors that weigh that much! So I went with the fiberglass, ya bugs & stones can sure damage the paint. But I now have a little less aero drag & saved a bunch or weight. The yas out weight the nays, Ol'e Bob.

 

[Longroof79]

Bob,
They do look cooler and cleaner, I'll grant you that, but they don't offer any viable protection.
However, I feel they're still an improvement over the fiberglass roll pan.
I agree that the stock bumpers and energy absorbers weigh a ton as well.

 

[79BuWagon]

First off....18 posts in 7 yrs?? Where ya been, man?

As for altering the bumpers, it's been done quite a before, myself included. Maliburacing had a thread about narrowed/ tucked bumpers.
Here's a link to my thread. https://gbodyforum.com/threads/working-on-the-wagon.33260/

Well LR , its one of those gearhead sob stories and I tend not to know when to stop once I starting typing so we will skip that ... and for that reason , I tend to be a looker/reader and not so much a poster . But the real answer is that im on a real tight budget since retiring and when I come to this site and starting looking and reading at all the great cars and build stories such as yours ... something strange comes over me and I start having ....thoughts ... stuff like , " I can just skip paying the bills this month cant I " ... or " are you sure you really need to buy those blood pressure pills and even worse thoughts that get me into trouble like " Hey , me and da wife can just eat Ramen noodles for the next year , and I can have ol Lobuc back out the road .... and then they get worse !!! Stuff like , " hey old man , all ya gotta do knock off 5-6 of those 7/11s and not get caught " or " that .45 needs to start earning its keep around here "....and Those are the kind that always lose me brownie points with the better half ya know ... And I find them hard enuff to come by as it is ..... sooo I dont come here much , not that im hooked on cars or anything you understand ... But seriously , the car has been sitting last 7-8 years , funds are tight , and coming in here does make it harder to have it just sit there . It does run and drive by the way , but it needs a cash infusion to make it safe to drive . ( suspension ) . I have actually started looking for a part time job ... the clocks ticking here for this old geezer ... But I cant say theres a booming demand for over 65 folks with no schooling looking for part time at the least . But im looking ...
I havent been thru your whole site , but I did get a look at the bumpers .... Wow is the only word that came to mind . This is how they should have looked from the factory !!!! . Nice job LR !!! A bud of mine and I back east in the 90s started predicting that the 79-82 Malibus would become the 55-57 Chevys of their time ... when I look around in here , id say they have or at least are well on their way to having that kind of status ... Well I promised myself just ten sentences old man ... ten sentences or less ... and you see first hand why I dont post often ... thanks for the reply to my question LR

 

[79BuWagon]

Greetings 79Buwagon & all; I'll toss in $.02 worth. For 35 years I've hated the bumpers on these cars! And after seeing 90% of the OverHaulin shows I wanted smoother. Since I haven't welded since the early 70's or ever worked car body panels I went to my old friend's body shop to ask how much to shorten the bumpers & re-chrome. And that still didn't address the right angle where the fillers set. That would be timed or totally removed. Plus if someone bumps the shortened bumper the surrounding fender or rear quarter panel would be damaged. The only up side is bugs don't damage chrome. The other down side is they (bumpers weigh 70 Lbs?) Small fish'in boats don't have anchors that weigh that much! So I went with the fiberglass, ya bugs & stones can sure damage the paint. But I now have a little less aero drag & saved a bunch or weight. The yas out weight the nays, Ol'e Bob.

Thanks for the reply Van ... Im actually kind of keen on chrome bumpers ... but ... ive seen some photos of rolled pans and if done right , makes these cars look good . And your mention of glass bumpers might have well have answered questions I have had about a lot of the drag cars ive seen . If I ever get this project off the ground , I most likely wont have much motor as id like and saving that much weight is a major thing to be considered . Id like to race it some iffn I get that far ... Drag racing needs to be on my resume and long overdue .

 

[Longroof79]

Well LR , its one of those gearhead sob stories and I tend not to know when to stop once I starting typing so we will skip that ... and for that reason , I tend to be a looker/reader and not so much a poster . But the real answer is that im on a real tight budget since retiring and when I come to this site and starting looking and reading at all the great cars and build stories such as yours ... something strange comes over me and I start having ....thoughts ... stuff like , " I can just skip paying the bills this month cant I " ... or " are you sure you really need to buy those blood pressure pills and even worse thoughts that get me into trouble like " Hey , me and da wife can just eat Ramen noodles for the next year , and I can have ol Lobuc back out the road .... and then they get worse !!! Stuff like , " hey old man , all ya gotta do knock off 5-6 of those 7/11s and not get caught " or " that .45 needs to start earning its keep around here "....and Those are the kind that always lose me brownie points with the better half ya know ... And I find them hard enuff to come by as it is ..... sooo I dont come here much , not that im hooked on cars or anything you understand ... But seriously , the car has been sitting last 7-8 years , funds are tight , and coming in here does make it harder to have it just sit there . It does run and drive by the way , but it needs a cash infusion to make it safe to drive . ( suspension ) . I have actually started looking for a part time job ... the clocks ticking here for this old geezer ... But I cant say theres a booming demand for over 65 folks with no schooling looking for part time at the least . But im looking ...
I havent been thru your whole site , but I did get a look at the bumpers .... Wow is the only word that came to mind . This is how they should have looked from the factory !!!! . Nice job LR !!! A bud of mine and I back east in the 90s started predicting that the 79-82 Malibus would become the 55-57 Chevys of their time ... when I look around in here , id say they have or at least are well on their way to having that kind of status ... Well I promised myself just ten sentences old man ... ten sentences or less ... and you see first hand why I dont post often ... thanks for the reply to my question LR

Thank you for your complements.
I could fully understand the concept of being retired and sticking to a tight budget. I know $$ doesn't roll in like it did when being gainfully employed, and social security doesn't pay a whole heck of a lot. Being our age, it's not easy finding work. You could try reinventing yourself and start your own business of some sort. I have tried finding work, but to no avail. No one wants to hire people over 50 anymore , (never mind being over 60) when they can find younger people for less money. The older you get, the harder it becomes.
Let's face it, you have to be creative in this life. I didn't go back to work since quitting my last job. I just had enough of their micro managing bullshit. I might have been hasty in my decision, but there's no looking back...regrets perhaps. It's always hard when you're used to a regular paycheck. Fortunately there's no kids to put thru college, etc., so I have that in my favor.

I personally don't think the Malibu will be the Tri-five of the future, but I may be wrong. Maybe more like the '60's-'70's Chevelle. Time will tell.
Good luck finding a solution to get your car in happy driving mode again. I would start with the mechanicals first and go from there.You'll at least be able to drive the car while you're putting it back together...unless you have a beater you could use while the wagon is laid up. My car also was my daily driver for over 20 yrs.