New to GBodys and this Forum

Jorge1958

Master Mechanic
Mar 2, 2019
380
214
43
Columbia City Oregon
Hey everyone, just joined this forum. I am a muscle car guy, total car nerd and have owed dozens of different ones.
I have been looking for a Malibu wagon for years and I finally found one a couple months ago. My plan was to buy one and turn it into a hot rod but this one came perfect already. I bought an 81 with new 350, 200r4 transmission and rear end with 342 gears. The whole drivetrain has only 5000 kms on it.
What a machine!
Super glad I found this forum for I already have questions…
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Welcome from Oregon. I had an 80 Malibu wagon back in the early 90s. Of course it was nothing like yours. Had the 229 v6 in it. Great car. Wish i still had it but back in the 90s these cars weren't wanted like they are now. Nice wagon
 

abbey castro

Royal Smart Person
Oct 31, 2015
1,048
1,318
113
Harker Hts TX
I am an OEM guy. I have 1999 S10 2 wheel drive with the front spindles, rotors and the dual piston calipers. It is a direct swap out with nothing to grind down! You'll need to rebuild the calipers and I suggest new hubs, rotor and pads. Backing plate is available everywhere. Depending on what you can find, I only needed new backing plates, rotors, rebuild kits and pads. Hubs were really like new! As far as rears I went with 2002 Camaro with rear disks. Got a whole rear end to have all the nuts and bolts. This is a bit more complicated as brake cyl mounting tabs have to be cut from the housing, shocks spaced out since the calipers do not allow shock lower mounting to original bolt holes, and fabricating e-brake brackets and cables. It is not hard just a bunch of stuff to make them fit. Some guys say that the Master Cyl and Booster need to be changed, I did not but did change the proportioning valve to disk/disk type. As far as eva canister, I think the parts stores still sell the canister. I took mine apart and put in new charcoal (from my fish tank bag) and got the bottom filter from Rockau.
 

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SS_Malibu

Royal Smart Person
Supporting Member
Sep 27, 2021
1,171
2,051
113
Mesa, AZ
The blazer front brake upgrade is something a lot of us Gbody owners do. I'm planning on doing mine later this year. And just replace my rear brakes with new gbody stock.
 

liquidh8

Comic Book Super Hero
Welcome, and nice long roof. AS abbey castro stated, you could go the OEM route, and it would be a vast improvement. I went with the C5 vette stuff, still affordable but a bit more fabrication.
 

mclellan83

Comic Book Super Hero
Jun 27, 2017
4,270
9,483
113
Pgh, PA
So being new here and not very techy, just trying to navigate this forum. Have some questions regarding brakes/brake upgrades and looking for input on evap canisters. Thanks in advance, I’m a car guy not much of a computer guy lol.
Welcome, great score. As others are saying, thats the best part of the g body. There are many different options to go with depending on what you want. I was going with 20's and had the space so decided to go C6 ZO6 front and rear, the are probably overkill for most everyone. A lot of people go the Vette upgrade route just with the C5 because you get a ton of stop for a lot less money and effort. But use the search bar, it will get you into many different threads showing you tons of different options
 
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Streetbu

Know it all, that doesn't
Supporting Member
May 22, 2011
3,734
11,581
113
Central NY
Welcome and nice wagon! Take everything you hear with a grain of salt as far as what you can, can't, should, and shouldn't do to your car.
Swapping to rear disc's would help a lot. Many ways to do it, they vary in price and difficulty. I swapped LS1 Camaro rear disc's as that was the easiest, cheapest way to retain the parking brake, which I need for state inspection.
Plus with my car being a stick shift it's a good idea to have a parking brake.
 
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88AZSS

Master Mechanic
Mar 13, 2018
436
1,098
93
Mesa, AZ
Welcome to the forum.

As for the front Blazer brake upgrade, ask away. I have done it on my MCSS and am very happy with the results.
 
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Its not a hearse!

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Jul 22, 2023
7
14
3
Alberta
Welcome, great score. As others are saying, thats the best part of the g body. There are many different options to go with depending on what you want. I was going with 20's and had the space so decided to go C6 ZO6 front and rear, the are probably overkill for most everyone. A lot of people go the Vette upgrade route just with the C5 because you get a ton of stop for a lot less money and effort. But use the search bar, it will get you into many different threads showing you tons of different options
Thanks for the info! I def need to put new brakes on. From what I understand, if I put larger than stock then I have to change spindles? Anything else I have to change? I know how things work I’m just not handy at actually doing it. My buddy is and I pay him in beer haha. I’d like to go bigger and even swap the rear for discs but for now I’m just going to replace to front. I’ve heard Powerstop and Stoptech are good brake kits for not much money. Any advice would be much appreciated.
 

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