I may be getting a piece of my youth back

[Dave McFly]

When I was in high school i had a clean but boring 1980 Malibu Classic coupe. The only options it had was V8, auto tranny, AC (did not work ) and AM/FM 8-Track (yes in a 1980 model year car ). Shortly after I graduated HS I had the vinyl top removed and had the whole car repainted 1978 Corvette anniversary silver metallic (same color as the 78 pace car's lower area). But alas the car was totaled in a hit and run accident in Florida. I always vowed I would get another of these cars from the 78-81 model years. They did make the Malibu up to 84 but it only came in sedan, wagon, and el camino versions. Well I came across this car cruising eBay.



It is a 78 coupe in Ohio about 270 miles from me. The only thing I will do if i get it is replace those boring 14" wheels and tires with a set of these.



a set of 98-02 SS Camaro wheels . What do you guys think?

[TAG UR IT]

I'd need to see a chop, to be honest. Love the wheels, though...wonder why! If the Malibu were mine, I'd do some wider meats in the wheelwells as well and lower it's stance w/ some suspension mods. Then again, if I were buying it for the time being until the 5th Gen got here, I'd make sure it's running right and leave the mods list alone.

[Dave McFly]

oh i would do other stuff as well, the car has in the auction a 3.3 liter V6 (wtf ). if and i say again IF I get this car I will do the following stuff I never got to do to MY car before it was totaled.

Drivetrain:
install a LT1 or even better a LS1 and tranny from a 4th generation F car
They make a rear disc conversion for this car, I would get that with good discs and calipers front and back along with a beefier gears in the rear end.
finish off with a nice exhaust system, maybe true duals, but I may just settle for a setup similar to the 80s era Monte Carlo SS.

Interior:
replace bench seat with bucket seats and center console from a Monte Carlo SS, along with the steering wheel and gauge cluster (Malibu's had only a horizontal speedo and a fuel gauge, Montes had full gauges)
Get the AC working if it is broken, install one if it does not have it. I will also make sure the heater works .
Install my pioneer stereo and 4 speakers from my last car (6.5" front, 6x9" rear). But I will have to have the front speakers installed into the doors as the Malibu's only had a center speaker in the dash. I also have a Sirius Satalite radio from my last car to install in the Malibu .

Exterior, I will leave that alone, with the exception of swapping the boring wheels for the ones from the SS Camaro and maybe a lowering job.

I am NOT gonna do all of this at once, I do not have the $$$ for it . I will just make sure the car is 100% road worthy and will pass NYS inspection .

oh, I found a picture of my old Malibu after it was repainted in 78 Vette silver metallic. I miss this car, I HOPE the new car will be as cool and fun as the old one was.

[alleykt123]

Coolness!!

My favorite Malibu was the one in "Repo Man" - I dunno, a car with alien bodies in the trunk has gotta be pretty freakin' cool!

[Dave McFly]

that was a 1st generation mid 60s, possibly a 64 or 65. as most do not know the Malibu was originally the 'base' model mid size car for Chevrolet. The Chevelle was the top model. It was this way up until 78 when Chevelle was canceled and the Malibu became its own car which only lasted until the 84 model year. the current Malibu, in my opinion is a nice car, but is NOT worthy of the name Malibu .

[alleykt123]

Originally Posted by Dave McFly

that was a 1st generation mid 60s, possibly a 64 or 65..

*Ding Ding Ding* Give that man a PRIZE!! (You really know your Malis!)

From http://imdb.com/title/tt0087995/trivia

When filming began, they only had one 1964 Chevy Malibu. It was stolen a couple of days into filming, forcing the film crew to scramble to find a replacement. Shortly after finding a replacement, the original was recovered by the police undamaged. This was fortunate timing because about a day later Fox Harris [J. Frank Parnell, Driver '64 Chevy Malibu] severely damaged one of the Malibus by accidentally plowing it into a gasoline pump! In the carwash scene, one of the gas pumps is clearly severely dented up and damaged. This is the pump Fox plowed into in a previous take.

[Dave McFly]

well, i did not get the car the auction ended before I got home. it sold for $1,925 . oh well there are other ones out there but not for THAT price :(.

[joegagan]

[Dave McFly]

Originally Posted by joegagan

joe, nice

I am still looking for the 'last' of the rear drive 2 door Malibu. Hell I would even settle for it's G body cousin the Monte Carlo (as long as it is a SS ). It is nice to see the wheels/tires I want on the Malibu type i want

[joegagan]

you got it, dave! i found this 2 year old thread on some weird google image search, and of course, i was already a registered member here,,, ha ha.

i like a photoshop challenge, this was fast and easy.

... tell you a funny story. back in 05, i was buying/selling a bunch of used GM cars that i would find in people's yards and driveways. i found a '79 2 DR malibu on a residential street for $650. the guy selling it was the son of the original 84 yr old owner, she had bought it new. 115k orig miles. there was a replaced front clip due to his teenage son driving it for a few weeks, the body was very straight but not all same color. the interior was very plain ( ALA 65 nova ), the headliner was ripped out, but overall a very sound car. New Mexico dry climate is very kind to these cars....

3 weeks later, sold it to the mother of a highschool kid for 1000 dollars. 4 months later i found it in the junkyard with a big dent in the passenger door.

what happened? who knows. all i know is that one more, low mileage two dooor malibu got raided for parts and then melted down. do not let obama do this to any more of our cars! join SEMASAN ( lobbying group dedicated to preserving the auto hobby)
free membership at http://semasan.com

[Dave McFly]

Originally Posted by joegagan

what happened? who knows. all i know is that one more, low mileage two dooor malibu got raided for parts and then melted down. do not let obama do this to any more of our cars! join SEMASAN ( lobbying group dedicated to preserving the auto hobby)
free membership at http://semasan.com

I agree, with the 2 door version being the 'holy grail' for those wanting a nice cheap rear drive V8 (or V6 if you don't have the gas $$$) coupe it is getting harder and harder to find them. and it does NOT help when half the ones i see on ebay are already have been gutted and had roll bars put in and turned into dragsters. I know they are popular cause they have a full frame, but guess what ALL G body GM cars had full frames. why don't those guys but a Monte, or a Grand Prix, etc, they made them for almost 10 years for each model. leave the car they only made for 3 years in one body style for those who want a nice clean stock or mildly souped up cruiser .