What Got You Into G-Bodies?

[Chickenbone]

Back in '96 I was looking for a daily driver to get me to school and work. My parents junked the '77 s/c'd Nova that I was driving a year earlier and I wanted to get another Nova. This was back way before we got the internet, so I was scoping out the classfieds and Auto Trader. Well, I found a '76 Nova for $1500 in some ad in a used car lot. It looked good, so I dragged my father down to see it. It was stuck in the rear corner of the lot against the fence. It did look as good as the pic advertised. Then my father went through a hole in the fence and went on the other side; he motioned me to come over to have a look. The rear driver's side of the car was smashed up pretty good. The owner of the lot said "$1500 firm as we walked out. We drove a block away and sighted another used car lot and decided to have a look. I was looking at the usual crap that a lot has lying around and then spotted the '78 Malibu. So we walked over to it and looked it over. The body had surface rust in some spots and was sitting low in the front. The owner of the lot came over and said he'd sell it to us for $750. My father told him to start it up. It took him a little bit, but it started up. It was running rough and being that I didn't know what I know now, I didn't recognize the sound of a lumpy cam. So I started to walk away. My father stayed there and talked with the guy. My father called me over and explained to me that the car has a non-stock 427 BBC that was blown up by the previous owner and patched back together. He also said that I can get all of the original powertrain and drivetrain from the previous owner for free. At the time I wanted to get another Nova and this Malibu was looking to be a lemon, but I reluctantly signed the check and limped the Malibu home. The following two weeks were spent retrieving and reinstalling the 305 sbc/TH200 combo into the car. I kept that Malibu for 11 years before selling it for a truck.



Chickenbone

 

[midwestls]

GRAND NATIONALS!!!!!!! lol Simple as that. Although I've still yet to own one. But I've taken a liking to the Monte LS and 87 and up Cutlass as well. I like the look of the composites. I've had friends build mean street cars out of them and others build lowriders and they just kinda grew on me. I grew up as a Mopar Guy but when I started to figure out the cost and avail of parts for G I ended up with one in the garage and have since had 2 Monte LS's, a T Top GP and a 87 Cutt and still want a GN and a 79 Monte someday.

 

[beermonkey9417]

when i was 4 or 5 my moms boyfriend had this buddy who was kinda crazy, but in a cool way. he owned an a body elky and i thought it was the coolest thing. i think it was a 350 or bigger and i remember it being a 3 on the tree. well one day my moms boyfriend send me and him to the parts store and on the way he draged another car and whooped it. on the way back he did the huge-ist burnout ive ever seen at that time and that was when i fell in love with elkys. the only thing im dreading is when i finnaly fix it right that my friends are gonna ask me to help them move lol.

 

[85_SS]

I grew up riding around in my father's 1970 Rallye 350 and 1975 Malibu Classic, so the GM mid-sized two door was in my blood. I always like the looks of the Monte SS, and when I was a teenager my father bought a 1987 Cutlass Supreme Brogham. Bought my Monte a few years later and never looked back.

 

[350_85cutty]

I remember when I was in elementary, my dad had a maroon 81 cutlass supreme, basic V6 model, no power windows,seats, but it did have AC. that car just stuck with me and I grew attached to it. My dad put a "pop up" sunroof in it. i thought that was the coolest thing back then and i use to draw it with the moonroof popped up haha. I think that really started my fascination with the cutlass supreme. The car still resides in my backyard and is now my parts car. Its not in the best shape anymore as I've taken some parts off it, and the rally wheels that i now roll on.

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

i had a 86 parisienne. i loved that car. it had the 4.3 TBI V6 and a 3 speed auto behind it, not the 700r4. it was beautiful, it ran great and then someone ran in front of me and totalled it.

after his insurance paid for my car i put out 500 bucks for a 76 cutlass with a 330 rocket. it had no choke and ran ok, had a hole in the floor behind the driver seat. a real beater. a couple weeks later i found this 85 grand prix for sale and went to check it out. i swear this thing had to have been owned by an old lady or something. interior was great, ran great, drove well, all original and had 70K miles on it. so i bought it.

i didnt know what a g-body was at the time. i was young and was just starting to get into cars and i was still in auto tech classes at college. but i loved that car, i loved how it looked, how it drove...i still have that car and its not as good as it once was, 24 years will not be kind to a paintjob. the interior isnt perfect, i need a new carpet headliner and recover the front seats but this all minor, the door panels are still very nice, the dash still has no cracks and looks flawless.

ive also learned a lot about g-bodies since i got the car and ive learned more about my car than most people will know about their own family members.

so what got me into g-bodies? my 85! like after learning the 200 metric POS boat anchor had to be rebuilt twice when i could have just had a th350 put in for less (which i had done after the 200 puked parts on me for the second and LAST time) i became more hardheaded to make this car better than GM made it from the factory. i added more bracing, bigger swaybars, better suspension parts, improved cooling system, etc.

not wanting to get rid of my cars, learning what can be done with a g-body and putting plenty of money into this car is what got me into g-bodies.

 

[413Cutlass]

my first car was an 82 Cutlass. It had the 3.8 2barrel. Wasn't very fast, but I didn't care, I liked the car for it's interior, character, and handling. It was whopped on pretty bad by previous owners. I got the car from my dad as a gift when I turned 16 and replaced the alt, ps pump, battery and cables, t-stat, trans fluid and filter, rear end fluid, new tires, new ball joints, new u-joints, new exhaust from the cat-back, and a slew of other small stuff. I got 30k out of it. The head gaskets where already on thier way out when I got it, and it burned 2 qts of oil a month. So she ended up being sold for $500. I owned a Jaguar (holy problem child!), a S/C Buick Park Ave, and now I'm back into a G-body. I went and looked at this car for sh*ts and giggles during my car hunt late this summer, and the next day it was in my driveway.... There's just sotin about the character these cars have.... Well mannered dd'able, but you wanna have some fun it's more than happy to abblige, and likely scare your passengers...lol

 

[Chickenbone]

If I ever get enough money to build a strip machine, it'll be a '78-'83 Malibu for sure. My old Malibu was friggin slow, but for whatever reasons, it looked and sounded really mean. The car had a reputation that I wouldn't find out about until after I sold it.



Chickenbone

 

[Bowtiefan]

My folks bought a brand new '78 Grand Prix. It was a base model but it was black with the Rallye II wheels on it. I may have only been 9 years old but man I could picture that car with some Cragar SS wheels on it and some tinted windows!

My grandparents had a '79 Lemans 4 door that was cherry but it was sold before I could get my hands on it. That car would've made a killer sleeper!

 

[BrownGP83]

My parents bought their first G-body in June of 1985 when i was only 6 years old. It was the 83 Grand prix that i have now. I bought it from them in October of 92 for $300 with 98,000 original miles on it. Now it has over 225,000 miles on it has been through 5 engines, 3 transmissions, and 2 rearends and has even been crashed a couple of times! But i will never sell it because i have owned the car for more than half my life and even grew up in it as a kid.