my free 78 malibu... Update 5/11/12 huge friggan update!!

[killerbeachboy]

Re: my free 78 malibu

Yeah a four door trunk will fit good 'cause 2 doors and 4 doors shared the same frame and floors the only thing they didn't share is the body panels from the doors back.... and make sure to get some four doors hinges while you're at the junkyard 'cause your hinges might be like all my other previous and now g body: worn out in the bushing area


great deal anyway I had to pay about 2000$ canadian to get a good usable grand-prix as a good proect start

 

[Porklops]

Re: my free 78 malibu

the doors on this car do not sag at all!! try to lift on the door and no wiggle in the hinges whatsoever. Ive made some improvements to the car since last post. front comaro iroc z 34 mm sway bar in the front, rear factory style 7/8 bar in the rear.did the grand prix frame brace and monte ss jounce bars in the front and this is a completely different handling car, this thing loves off ramps now!.next is shocks, whats a good g body shock?

 

[Porklops]

Re: my free 78 malibu... Update 2/3/10 new pics!

Ive been keeping my self busy on my 78. Got the iroc z sway bar and 7/8 rear sway bar installed along with the gp brace and monte ss frame braces. This car handles and drives 150 percent better now!! Do this mod if you have the money!!! Next plans include new rear brakes with s 10 manual wheel cylinders and a shift kit. New shocks are needed too but not sure what kind I should get .

bumper fillers and front end trim off.

removed side moldings and chrome wheel moldings. I really like the clean look.

new mirrors and gaskets from ebay. I despise having one mirror on my car

fillers were stripped down and a few tears were fixed with 2 part bumper repair adhesive

this is my place of work, you can see the booth i spend hours painting and cursing

Soooooo what you guys think so far?

 

[patmckinneyracing]

Re: my free 78 malibu... Update 2/3/10 new pics!

I put all the same bracing on my car as well except I kept the front sway bar and put in a monte carlo ss quick steer ratio box in from autozone. The bracing and rear sway bar is VERY noticeable on the car and helps it big time. The only thing I haven't replaced are the body mount bushings, which I've heard make a substantial difference in body roll.

I used regular replacement shocks and S10 moog 5660 springs from autozone as well. The springs handle double the factory capacity of our stock springs and I cut a coil and a quarter out to drop the front end. Now it handles better than a corvette and can out run almost any tuner that says he can handle better.

PS I see your in massachusetts judging by your plates. As I've heard many a mainer say, "those guys are massholes" lol

 

[83cutlassowner]

Re: my free 78 malibu... Update 2/3/10 new pics!

just a suggestion.... but looking at your car without the bumper fillers, what if you just pulled the bumper in that extra couple inches and got rid of the fillers? it might be a nice subtle custom thing to do. i would think it would take much to do

 

[MOTORHEAD_INC]

Re: my free 78 malibu... Update 2/3/10 new pics!

wheres the best place to find these "chassis tuning tools"? lol. gp braces, monte ss bars, sway bars....

 

[outsider_27]

Re: my free 78 malibu... Update 2/3/10 new pics!

wheres the best place to find these "chassis tuning tools"? lol. gp braces, monte ss bars, sway bars....

Either go junkyard hunting or keep an eye on the for sale section on this forum.

 

[patmckinneyracing]

Re: my free 78 malibu... Update 2/3/10 new pics!

Best to just go junkyard hunting. That's what I did and I found every possible brace I'll need for my car, but then again I'm down south and g bodies are plentiful. Hell got my 86' monte ss rear end complete with 3.73 auburn posi factory gears for 200$. Got my rear sway bar off a monte carlo aerocoupe that showed up in a well known junkyard after one of the hurricanes. GP brace is found on Gran prix's, hence the abbrev. gp.

 

[MOTORHEAD_INC]

Re: my free 78 malibu... Update 2/3/10 new pics!

right i gathered that. but how bout some pics of the monte and gp braces so i know exactly what im looking for. and what yr iroc are the sway bars coming from? just curious if there is only specific yrs that would fit, and what are the rear sway bars comin out of? thanks fella's. g-body noob! lol

 

[patmckinneyracing]

Re: my free 78 malibu... Update 2/3/10 new pics!

Remember this... chevies did not get jack squat hardly for bracing. I got lucky and came across that monte carlo aerocoupe in the yard, and the guys up here will tell you, that DOES NOT happen normally. If you want bracing, you need to look at the BOP's (buick, olds, and pontiac). Those cars got all the bracing and then some including the rear sway bars. Here is a pic of the bracing diagram. I don't have pics to show you but when you look at this diagram and go to the yard you'll know where to look and its fairly obvious which are the braces.

The easiest to find braces are the X braces that go in front of the radiator. I don't use them cause it doesn't seem logical to me and I run an S blade electric fan in front of the radiator. The other easy ones to find are the red braces that come off the center K frame and out to the frame rails (The red ones in the first pic). The green one that runs between the two red ones is a little trickier to find. That one is found specifically on the grand prix and no other car. The other ones I'm using are the fender to core support braces. All the other ones really are not that important.

I went looking around for all these braces for my 80' malibu and only looked at chevys for quite a while and wondered "where the hell are these braces". But then once I looked at the BOP's, then I noticed they all had these braces and were quite easy to find.