Top Five Reasons to buy a G-body 

"Sweet Trav" (thespunbearing) 12/12/2014 at 14:18 • Filed to: gbody, gm, top5

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1. Variety

The Grand National

The Pontiac Grand Prix

The Olds Cutlass 442

The Chevrolet El Camino

The Chevy Malibu

The GMC Caballero

And the Monte Carlo all shared the same underpinnings, which brings me to reason number 2

2. Swapability.

Nearly all these cars have interchangeable parts. Want a Monte Carlo SS nose on your El Camino? No problem, Can do.

Or maybe you want to swap the Grand National's Legendary 3.8l Turbo V6 into your Cutlass

Not a problem.

They make great candidates for LS swaps as well

3. The last "real" muscle cars

The G-bodies were last body on frame rear wheel drive intermediate coupes made by GM. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Sure they are missing the gigantic engines of the Muscle Cars from the 60's and 70's, but that is easily fixed with an engine swap.

4. They are decently quick around corners too when properly equipped.

Generally considered to be one of the better body on frame cars for track duties, minus the brakes. Cheap parts if you wreck. But please if you track it re-enforce the frame, they do have a tendency to flex either on the track, or the strip. I have seen broken windshields on cars without reinforcements from a single pass with a hot new motor under the hood!

5. Almost entirely worthless from a collect-ability scale, and this is a good thing!

Except for the Grand National, the 86 Aerocoupe and 2+2 these cars arent anything special or highly desired. They built a whole lot of these cars, from the factory most were terribly underpowered. So ditch that 307 with smog equipment, put that L69 305 out to pasture, ditch 4.3l V6 and make it yours, parts are cheap and so are the cars themselves, I routinely see good examples for 3-5 grand. With any of the common G's you aren't going to hurt the value with an engine swap, and that awesome universal bellhousing 200-4r trans will mate to any GM gasoline V8 , from a big block chevy to a 455 Olds V8 (you'll need an adapter for an LS motor though), may need to beef it up to handle the power though.

The only downside to the G-body ownership is only the early 80's Malibu's and El Camnio's and some odd diesel models came with Manuel Transmission as standard equipment, however T-5 and T-56 swaps are easy.

They might not be high dollar cars, or even good investments but on the smiles/dollar category you cant go wrong with a G-body.

ly2v8-Brian > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 14:29

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I'd stretch that out to the S10 as well. A lot of the components from these cars made it to the trucks. Mostly in the frame and drivetrain.

Sweet Trav > ly2v8-Brian 12/12/2014 at 14:31

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Thats true for 2wd models, sadly the 4wd parts don't really swap over for my dreams of an AWD Monte Carlo SS rally car.

Party-vi > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 14:32

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Did you post 10 pictures of the same car?

:3

Sweet Trav > Party-vi 12/12/2014 at 14:33

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har har.

This is proper way to do badge engineering. Take a sound concept and make it just different enough.

Margin Of Error > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 14:36

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That's beautiful, nice essay.

I love these cars.

youshiftem > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 14:38

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I agree, I have a wagon and coupe, both manual conversions were very easy and they are just so much fun.

ly2v8-Brian > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 14:41

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I dont think they changed much on it for a front axle. In fact it might even be the same A frames used.

Mattbob > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 14:41

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You forgot DONKABILITY. I went to school in Flint Michigan, and let me tell you, there are a prime car for the Donk crowd.

Group B Enthusiast - Captain of the supercharged barge > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 14:43

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I cannot tell a lie, that green Malibu looks sexy as HEALL!

Sweet Trav > Mattbob 12/12/2014 at 14:44

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Growing up about 30 mins outside Flint, Michigan I can also attest to Donkability of G-bodies, and of course their larger Caprice brothers.

However as Donks ruin most of what makes these cars awesome, I chose not to highlight that side of these cars.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 14:54

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I've never considered a G-body. If I can find one already engine swapped this might be a good idea.

Sweet Trav > ly2v8-Brian 12/12/2014 at 14:57

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the 4wd S10 uses torsion bars, it would be hard to adapt.

Sweet Trav > Logansteno: Bought a VW? 12/12/2014 at 15:00

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Most came with small block chevys usually 305's or 307's to begin with. if you're looking for a cruiser, just get a GM goodwrench 350, rebuild the 200-r4, and swap everything over.

Look for rust on the doors and quarters, actually look for rust everywhere, these things are rust prone.

ly2v8-Brian > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 15:00

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maybe, maybe not

Sweet Trav > ly2v8-Brian 12/12/2014 at 15:01

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From what i have seen you have to cut, and weld an s-10 frame and body frame together.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 15:17

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Agreed. That's precisely why I bought my Oldsmoboat.

Mattbob > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 15:30

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where did you grow up? You still in MI?

Evil-B > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 15:33

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NEEEEEEEEED

Sweet Trav > Mattbob 12/12/2014 at 16:08

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Lapeer, and yes.

doub > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 16:46

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maybe because I'm a child of the 80's, but when I think of G-bodies all I can picture is sweaty velour and sagging roof liners....

ly2v8-Brian > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 17:23

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see not impossible, little bit sketchy

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > Sweet Trav 12/12/2014 at 22:56

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Love these cars. I've never ever seen one before, but I've always wanted one.

Turbo6malibu > Sweet Trav 04/27/2015 at 07:52

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The monte Carlo ss nose doesn’t bolt onto a malibu or Elcamino there two different fender and body lines. A monte has a straight down edge to it the other two are angled. You need to buy a choose choose customs nose to do the conversion. Standards shifts came in every model G-body Oldsmobile offered a 5 speed also.

Sweet Trav > Turbo6malibu 04/27/2015 at 10:18

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Show me a US Monte Carlo SS with a factory stick...

Dragonslovespace > Sweet Trav 02/08/2017 at 15:43

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Hello, I’m looking at these for my first car. I was wondering if you would recommend one for a newly licensed driver

Sweet Trav > Dragonslovespace 02/09/2017 at 07:53

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Do you live where it snows? These things are terrible in the snow. If you live in a southern state you would probably be OK. They are easy cars to work on and relatively durable.

Dragonslovespace > Sweet Trav 02/09/2017 at 18:34

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Yes unfortunately, but it is rare. It just gets really cold.

Sweet Trav > Dragonslovespace 02/10/2017 at 06:38

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If it’s a light dusting and not like the weather in Michigan. You would probably be OK. When evaluating a car Look for Rust on the underside of each door, the rear quarter panels and the rear part of the frame.

Wyatt Hawkins > Dragonslovespace 03/05/2017 at 03:45

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Congrats on the license, friend! I got mine last summer, and with it an 87 El Camino. Personally my favorite g-body variant, but not by much as they all have a certain charm that I can’t quite explain (despite their lacking power figures). Once I get situated in collage I plan to swap my 200r-4 auto for a t-56 manual transmission, then soon after replace the stock 305 with either a 350 or ls1.

Steven Dacke > Sweet Trav 07/29/2018 at 02:37

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The monte carlo ss and el camino ss front nose dont interchange. The fenders and therefor attachment are different. (The ec ss with the aero nose wasnt a factory car. It was converted by Choo Choo Customs that also did custom vans for gm.) However, if you want an ss aero nose on your malibu, the el camino nose will bolt on. Be prepared to either find an elusive factory set up (the early g body ec   ss didnt have the aero nose. Just the last couple of years had this) or pay around $2k+ for a s etup from “H onest Charlie” who took over when Choo Choo folded.

Steven Dacke > Sweet Trav 07/29/2018 at 02:46

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I have a 79 malibu 2 dr that ive owned since 1997. I got it be fore the prices started creeping up. It originally was baby blue(!) and had an anemic 267 v8 (google it) and th200 and 2.67 gears (!) I built a 355 and put 3.42 gears in the 7.5" rear and it was my daily driver for nearly 10 yrs. i bought an Acura Integra to drive to work and swapped a 383/ 200 4r and an 8.5" rear with 3.73 posi out of a 442. The 383 ate itself (no zinc in the oul and no notice from oil mfrs.) so i built a 468 bbc. It dropped in on stock mounts. Im running  stock cast iron lanifolds now because the hooker headers for the swap (only high dollar part of swap) are $500-$700/ pair), but i found a used set from a guy going to an LS and paid $200 for the coated ones!  (He called me and asked if i would sell them back for $300 because he was disappointed in the 5.3 LS. I said  “nope!” And that he needed a turbo (or two) to wake that LS up!

Steven Dacke > Sweet Trav 07/29/2018 at 02:53

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Earlier this year i bought an 82 malibu wagon for $500. Rust free, 52k miles but BAKED from siting on asphalt in Austin Tx since 1987. It was a 3.8 chevy v6 and a th200, but im swapping it for a 350 vortec with a carb intake, zz4 take out cam and comp bee hive springs. Its also getting an S10 T5 swap using g body bellhousing and pedals. I bought a late 90's camaro 28 spline carrier with a posi and a set of 3.42 gears for $150. This enables you to run 8.5" 28 spline axles in the 7.5" (which i scored for another $100!) not as strong as the 8.5", but better and a lot cheaper. Several companys sell bolt in 9" ford h ousings and kits to install 12 bolt gm or ford 8.8" rears.