Restoration of my Malibu,, 79 two door, the fun begins

matty man

Dragway Regular
Jun 1, 2003
1,352
24
38
Grove City , Ohio
Going to start working on my car,, bought this old girl way back in late 1990's,, pan handle of florida behind Eglin AFB and drove it home.
Needs some TLC,, have a 355 with a small cam, 350 turbo trans. The doors are done baby work wise and the front clip, going to use a 81 header panel as of now, could change.
Buckets out of a GP, 81 or 83 tail lights(all red blocks) going to add the middle light. Now the fun starts, going to pull the body. I will try to post pics on the progress,,
Matty man
 

matty man

Dragway Regular
Thread starter
Jun 1, 2003
1,352
24
38
Grove City , Ohio
Going to start working on my car,, bought this old girl way back in late 1990's,, pan handle of florida behind Eglin AFB and drove it home.
Needs some TLC,, have a 355 with a small cam, 350 turbo trans. The doors are done baby work wise and the front clip, going to use a 81 header panel as of now, could change.
Buckets out of a GP, 81 or 83 tail lights(all red blocks) going to add the middle light. Now the fun starts, going to pull the body. I will try to post pics on the progress,,
Matty man
PXL_20201123_192852260.jpg
 

matty man

Dragway Regular
Thread starter
Jun 1, 2003
1,352
24
38
Grove City , Ohio
Started on the passenger side firewall above the heater box,, and found more rust just below the windshield towards the corner,, going to replace the floor pan, too many pin holes,, so do the little pain repairs,,
PXL_20201126_204742796.jpg
PXL_20201126_204738723.jpg
PXL_20201126_204742796.jpg
 

rwd_pete

New Member
Feb 14, 2013
2
0
1
Hi Matty
Looks like a real project. I have a basket case ElCamino that I have yet to really get into into. The floor is more "Fred Flintstone" than pin holes but I haven't seen a cowl as bad as yours. I live in Ontario Canada in the rust belt. I thought cars in Florida would be more solid.
Good luck with your project.
Pete
78 Malibu LT1 4 speed
79 ElCamino project
 

matty man

Dragway Regular
Thread starter
Jun 1, 2003
1,352
24
38
Grove City , Ohio
Hi Matty
Looks like a real project. I have a basket case ElCamino that I have yet to really get into into. The floor is more "Fred Flintstone" than pin holes but I haven't seen a cowl as bad as yours. I live in Ontario Canada in the rust belt. I thought cars in Florida would be more solid.
Good luck with your project.
Pete
78 Malibu LT1 4 speed
79 ElCamino project
Hello Pete,,
What caused this rust on the cowl was pine needles and leaf's that sat under the panels and held the moisture and even in the pan handle of Florida with the high humidity and rain which just eats metal. When I got the car home I pulled a bunch of needles and leaf`s out of the cowl. I have seen worst rust on the G bodies, once I get the windshield out that will expedite the process on the cowl then to the floor pan. If I repair the existing floor pan I would have 10 plus patch panels and that would look to redneckized to me. Thanks Pete,,

Matty man
 

Longroof79

MalibuRacing Junkie
May 10, 2004
8,948
9
38
Gainesville, Fla.
Hi Matty,
Good to see you still out there and giving it hell.. It's been awhile, my friend. Do you keep in touch with any of our old buddies (Gary, Jimmy, etc) from the Thunder days? Do you still have your green 4-dr?
 

matty man

Dragway Regular
Thread starter
Jun 1, 2003
1,352
24
38
Grove City , Ohio
Jack!! Ol` longroof79,, how are you my friend? I have not heard from any of the old thunder days yet,, The green 4 door I sold a few years ago, wish I hadn't but looking for a 79 or so Cutlass solon 4 door to make a 6.0lt Mustang eater!! I hope all is well down there,, it is snowing for the first time this year,,, nutz!! Take care, Matty man
 

MalibuRacing.com Gear

Stickers & Shirts!!