Hi, my name is Tom and I am the original owner of a 78 Malibu Classic. I moved to Dallas in 1978 from Cleveland and my 64 GTO did not have any AC, so I ordered the Malibu with F41 suspension, 305, auto, and rally wheels. After about 70K mile, the 305 never stopped cackling even on premium fuel so I swapped in a new drive train. It was ~350hp 350 with a turbo 350 and a transplanted 7 5/8th 3.73 posi rear from a Monte Carlo SS. The Malibu survived two sons without any wrecks and was parked in 2001 with 170K on the odometer. I am resurrecting the car as a weekend cruiser and after sitting idle all that time, a new battery and some ether, it fired up. Of course it leaks from every imaginable crevice. This will be a couple year project of getting it to look decent and run great and I look forward to learning from the collective experience and wisdom of this forum. Thanks.
New member from Dallas
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Welcome, glad to know you are willing to take the time to bring it back to life instead of junking it and buying a new cookie cutter mobile! Good luck and have fun with it.
Thanks everyone for the welcome and the encouragement.
The plans for the Malibu are simple enough. I am going to work on the body and interior and depending on the spend and quality of the outcome, I will make a determination of the route for the drive train and suspension.
My thought is to make it look as factory as possible with the exception of the wheels which will be period correct but 17” or 18” IROC style. I also owned an 82 Grand Prix with buckets and gauges and I always loved that interior. So buckets and console are a must.
At the low end, I plan a rebuild of the existing drive train.
At the moderate end, I will be looking at a 383 or 406 with a 700-R4 and either an 8.5” GN or 12 bolt rear. I like the Global West negative roll upper control arms and the 12” 1LE brakes on the A body spindles.
There is a lot more percolating in my brain but that is the broad brush stroke of my vision. I always liked sleepers and they have to be drivers.
Cheers
Tom
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The plans for the Malibu are simple enough. I am going to work on the body and interior and depending on the spend and quality of the outcome, I will make a determination of the route for the drive train and suspension.
My thought is to make it look as factory as possible with the exception of the wheels which will be period correct but 17” or 18” IROC style. I also owned an 82 Grand Prix with buckets and gauges and I always loved that interior. So buckets and console are a must.
At the low end, I plan a rebuild of the existing drive train.
At the moderate end, I will be looking at a 383 or 406 with a 700-R4 and either an 8.5” GN or 12 bolt rear. I like the Global West negative roll upper control arms and the 12” 1LE brakes on the A body spindles.
There is a lot more percolating in my brain but that is the broad brush stroke of my vision. I always liked sleepers and they have to be drivers.
Cheers
Tom
***
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