Car: 1979 Malibu
 |
Ever since I can remember, I have had a thing about making my modes of transportation personal, from my little red wagon to my first bike at age 12. My first car was a 1956 Chevy Belair 4 door hardtop which I quickly rolled on Portage Ave in Winnipeg Manitoba one month after I bought it. Next came a 1932 Ford Roadster which I planned to build but monetary funds were not available so sold it off to a new owner. My dreams of building a hot rod were always present but important things got in the way; marriage, family, moving for work, etc.
Then in 1984, I started looking for something I could build again. I was looking for a GM, preferably a Malibu 1978 to 1981. The only condition was that it be a 4 speed manual transmission. One day I was passing by Ed’s used car lot and lawn mower sales and spotted this black 1979 Malibu, drove in and low and behold it was a 2 door sedan with a 4 speed tranny. A test drive told me that the tranny’s syncros were shot and the rear end was noisy, but I had to have the car; a deal was struck!
I took a trip to Winnipeg and went through 4 quarts of oil; now I knew the engine was ailing too. Had the tranny and engine rebuilt in Winnipeg and a few years later the tranny crapped out on me again and so I parked the car in my garage until I could put some decent money in it.
In 1991, our house mortgage was paid off so my wife made me a proposition. “You can go to the bank and make loan for a new car or use the money to fix your Malibu.” The next day the car loan was negotiated, my dreams of building the car myself had eroded as I felt if I wanted time to enjoy it, I would have to farm out the build. I got in touch with Guyon Racing in Calgary and away we went.
Body off, frame gusseted and reinforced, all seams rewelded and frame powdercoated. I wanted to buy a GM crate 350 but Guyon said he could build me 383 stroker with at least 400 horsepower. He recommended a T-10, 4 speed tranny. No more Saginaws for me. The rear end is a Ford 9 inch (the only thing Ford is good for is bringing up the rear), with 3:58 gears. Guyon insisted on all 4 wheels getting disc brakes so I could bring all those horses to a safe stop. The rear wheels sport Camaro disc brakes while the fronts are stock. The brakes have given me problems a few times as one rear brake calliper had to be installed upside down due to clearance. A few brake shops don’t quite know how to deal with this. It has to be bled from the line rather then the zirk.
When it came time to pay up for all this work, I forgot to factor in the “Gesus Tax” and so there went my plans for the body work. It was a sleeper car, nobody expected this faded beater to be so fast.
In 1999, I figured it was time to update the body and interior. I went for the Monocromatic black look trying to emulate a 1987 Buick GNX. All the work was done in my garage including the paint job but would not recommend that to someone else. (It is better to paint a car in a quality paint booth). Fortunately or unfortunately, in 2001, I was coming home, ran out of gas, turned the car off to coast to a stop and locked the steering wheel. Ran into 2 parked vehicles, $5, 000 damage to my car but the good news was a new paint job. People keep guessing about the make. Is it a Monte Carlo, a Buick, a Chevelle. The only moniker denoting it as a Malibu Classic is on the dash.
Since then I have been having fun showing the car as often as I can and enjoying it to the limit. Last time at the track ran a 14:31 at 101 miles per hour at 3000 feet above sea level. It’s fun beating the doors off all those Mustangs.
When you have a toy, it is never done. It’s constantly a matter of updating. Thanks to fellow club member Kent Dalton; he has helped me tremendously in updating the suspension with easily available parts from the local wrecking yards. Recently I had a transmission crossmember built by a friend to enable me to run a proper dual exhaust system. It really stiffened the car which helps corner better. Next are plans to put in a Mallory electrical system and have the valve springs and valve guides looked at. “Neverdun” is the saying! Next, helping my son rebuild his 1961 Karmann Ghia/ priceless!