The 1978 Malibu was the last of its breed and ahead of its time

"JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7" (jayzayeighty) 08/06/2015 at 00:19 • Filed to: This post wasted my time and it's going to waste yours too

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It’s where the bloodline of the Chevelle ran dry. Sharp styling, the choice of wagon-sedan-coupe, and some acronyms that spelled THE END back in those days for a small car: SBC, BOF, RWD. But the question that rings true today: would you like a 350 and or a 4 speed with that?

Above is the M80, an attempt to revive the bare bones tire destroyers of the 60s in the form of a dealer installed package featuring graphics, rally wheels, a spoiler, and the exciting part- a blue vinyl interior. This had both a 305 putting out 140hp and a slushbox with good enough gearing to allow the car to get out of its own way; the kind of alright-let’s-get-down-to-business punch that says “it’s almost 50°F and 200ft above sea level and I am still going to merge.”

The 350 was 1978 and 1979 only for us gringos*, a sad fact considering that those 170hp cars would see that rubber was applied to the road in the first of its three dirty self-shifted gears. As you can imagine, that 170hp is a hell of a lot in a small car with a transmission intended to make low compression, teeny 2bbl carb’d 200ci power survivable. That would be 94 hp. If a slushbox brick like that can make do with 94, 170 might be fun in the same situation. The difference in power between this 350 and the 350 seen 8 years earlier in the LT1 Corvette is a BRZ worth of power; so with some work, “might be fun” changes to “might be scary.” Isn’t that what you’d say about the 3.3 V6, though? Is 170hp the mystical sweet spot we talk about? Did Chevrolet get it perfect here?

No.

No, it isn’t. You were thinking about a 4 speed the whole time, weren’t you? You weren’t? I’m sorry life, and genetics, have treated you so badly. Because this pie in the SS ky would be a hoot and a classic, and we only got 140hp with the stick. That’s the short end. Do you know what it takes to swap from a 305 to 350? Access to a bunch of screwdrivers and willing children for starters. Duct tape to round off the list. Up above is the 9C1, which had a cop motor and cop shocks and damn near won the Cannonball Run. Speaking of fleet cars, who can forget the Iraqi taxis generously discounted to Saddam? Between the 229s and three speed sticks and tweed seats, these were must haves for Iraq’s strongest leader of the past 40 years And pretty benevolent, too, having ordered AC in these 6 pot, 3 speed sex objects. They built 25 thousand and change, only shipped 13.

Oh, no, it wasn’t that bad.

Thousand.

The remaining Iraqibus were sold to the lovable Canadian public, who bought them out of sympathy for General Motors. The most popular option was laid off Plant Worker Family Adoption (RPO G6X), followed closely by Velour Seat tweed coverings for the ride up north. Speaking of fleets, a fleet of Malibu-bodied cars were used in NASCAR and did aight. Mexibu below “Malibu Classic” as it’s colloquial referred to. Take note of the wheels, modern GM.

*Mexico got 260 caballo power de 350... con Manuel.

But this post is about how great one of the last American essence capturing compacts is great, so let’s go back and scratch that.

I guess the moral of the story here is:
-FlappingAmericanflag.gif
-V8 manual small wagons are not enough
-What goes around x3 comes back around

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 08/06/2015 at 00:35

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Go to sleep, Jay. You’re overtired.

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 08/06/2015 at 00:42

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But a 350 Malibu? That is undertired. Me and he, weam-ake a perfect team-sake. Hulk Hogan’s daughter, go ahead.

Actually you’re right, my eyelid muscles were having more taxed than a 200 V6 (and more taxed than the 350 in the other sense of the word) as I wrote this and I was just asleep. If I live to the next C4 update, I won’t live beyond it.

Tuned-Port-Injected-Rage > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 08/06/2015 at 00:50

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Came here to waste time, was not disappointed.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 08/06/2015 at 00:59

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That hurt to read.

DirtyBird > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 08/06/2015 at 07:59

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*sigh* off on another exciting, action packed craigslist quest for the holy grail

BaconSandwich is tasty. > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 08/06/2015 at 09:01

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my parents had a 1979/1980 Malibu. I sayv1979/1980 because my dad always complained about half the fasteners being imperial and the other half metric. It had the 305 and automatic. It served its family duties reasonably well, but having only two doors meant getting in/out was always a bit of a hassle. Eventually it was passed on to one of my older brothers who drove it until the back end was so rusty that the only thing holding it together was a hitch my dad had put on it. All in all: It was an okay car - nothing really terrible but not that great either.

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Tuned-Port-Injected-Rage 08/06/2015 at 10:38

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Well then it’s a good thing you didn’t come to be disappointed, because you would’ve wasted time.

How’s the ‘86 by the way?

Tuned-Port-Injected-Rage > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 08/06/2015 at 12:59

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Dude, that reversal though.

Its actually doing pretty great right now. Been running stellar for a couple months now. I think I’m gonna re-do the headliner, because the job I did on it a while ago is starting to show its age. Also thinking about buying a chip for it pretty soon.

How’s your ‘85 doing?

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Tuned-Port-Injected-Rage 08/06/2015 at 20:08

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Ah, I haven’t done anything with my headliner but the other side of the top might need some work eventually (slight chipping at the edges). As for cheap and easy power, hacking up your air filter lid to look like this (or just buying it) made a noticeable difference with the K&N filter. Breathing is the biggest problem and this is a pretty way to improve it a bit. I’ve heard fantastic things about PCM for less as far as chips go, with people running (very) high 13s in automatic 1986E cars. Porting and polishing anything intake-wise is pretty effective, the downside being our iron heads limiting the gains. The upsides are no head problems (somehow I now have them) and 87 octane (but I use 93 anyways)...

The upside is gain 80hp from AFR heads alone. The downside is they cost more than the rest of my car is worth.

But on a more positive note, mine is in the middle of a full suspension overhaul right now (the boring kind). KYBs (no Bilsteins, but way better than rusted Monroes (or spending $350 on shocks that are too stiff for your chassis)), a used front spring from ebay (not Z51 or anything, but perfect shape+$90+free shipping), and poly bushings (replacing mostly poly bushings but oh well). I did without the later spacer setup which would allow for a far better alignment, but it needs one badly anyways. Almost bought a full kit with hyperco springs, smart strut rods, Z51 sway bar, Bilsteins, spacers, lowering wedges, and poly bushings—but I can do without the cost. Also about to do a conversion from R12 to R134 AC. I have some new spark plugs ready to go in (finally, I have two replacements that make one hell of a misfire) along with seafoam (top end+oil+fuel) and the biannual oil change to follow that up.

In the long-term, Momo 78 steering wheel (old one is the thinly-padded first design and in bad shape) and fix for the cassette deck, neither of which should not be on the list for a car in this one’s condition; it needs valve seats (fills the air with blue smoke on hot startup), but I can only hope that the forged bottom end has held up over the years. If so, at least my car has spared me one cost. Anyways, sorry for rambling but the C4 has been keeping me busy and I haven’t had an opportunity to vent.

Oh yeah, I forgot I need to order front rotors and pads pronto. Maybe I’ll go for a real PPI the next time I’m buying a car, haha

Tuned-Port-Injected-Rage > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 08/06/2015 at 22:05

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Ah, gotcha. That kinda tends to happen to a lot of C4s. Yeah, I’ve seen that filter lid a few times while browsing, and I’m really not sure why I haven’t plunked down the $40 on it yet, especially because I already have a K&N. 13s would be pretty fucking satisfactory for me. I was looking into this Hypertech chip ( http://m.summitracing.com/parts/hyp-1260… ). Porting and polishing seems like a hell of a lot of effort for the gains that you can get from it if you ask me, but I’ve somewhat considered it before. What’s going on with your heads? And yeah, lol, also use 93 anyways.

Hell, it doesn’t matter if its not too exciting, that’s great! I haven’t heard much bad things about KYBs on the base suspension C4s. They seem like a pretty good balance for cruising and spirited driving. They’re obviously not as stiff as the Bilsteins, but, as you said, those come into play a lot more on the Z51s than on the base ones. That kit that you’re describing sounds pretty killer, but I’m sure it was pricey (like everything else). I’ve pondered upon doing the R134 switch, but I don’t really use my AC enough to justify it (more of a windows-down kind of person). Yeah, the 84-85 wheel design definitely isn’t optimal. The Momo 78 is one of the very few aftermarket steering wheels that look good in a C4, so good choice there. How much does one of them cost? If you decide you want a stock wheel with the ‘86+ design, I think Ecklers sells them somewhere in the $200 range (I think I actually suggested them to you once). Otherwise, sounds like you got a solid plan going on for the car. And C4 ranting is always welcome, lol.

Gotcha. If you’re looking for suggestions, I bought some drilled rotors from Summit (will have to find the exact ones) and Wagner pads for mine, and I’ve been pretty damn satisfied with the setup. Wasn’t too pricey either (Around $310, assuming you’ll do it yourself).

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Tuned-Port-Injected-Rage 08/06/2015 at 23:14

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Thanks for the pad advice! I already ordered EBC solid rotors (front) and AC Delcos (rear) but I just ordered Wagners as they do seem to be very nice. As far as chips go, I’ve heard good things about Hypertech; I don’t know too much about the topic, but have seen PCM For Less recommended a great amount. The valve seats are almost certainly the source of the warm startup oil consumption issue, but I’m not sure whether to approach that with a repair or replacement (which would be pretty ideal in terms of weight and power). Still counting on the V-Power to regenerate my engine! As for the suspension, I’ll eventually get around to making it Z51 spec- but for now, that would really only make things less comfortable and it’s not as if I’m going to out-drive even a standard suspension Corvette as a novice on track or in autocross. Turns out my mechanic has a set of low miles Bilsteins/coilovers (that a customer let him) keep for a while that will fit my dad’s Miata, so I’ll live vicariously through him.

As for heat, opening the windows doesn’t really do as much as I’d like after trying out many 90+ degree summer days. The traffic here almost makes driving it topless hotter. Still, it seems that getting the retrofit process straight is almost as tiring... there seems to be no definitive procedure, but I’m trying to do the conversion as thoroughly as possible. A Momo 78 runs about $210, which is almost justifiable for something that is so key to both the tactile driving experience and interior appearance. If you include because racecar in the pro-column, it is an obvious choice. The ‘86-’89 wheel is a very nice feeling wheel, though. I just hope the brake components get here soon enough to help keep this service bill in the 3 figure range!

Tuned-Port-Injected-Rage > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 08/07/2015 at 01:01

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No problem, glad to help! I’m not necessarily experienced on the topic of chips either, but the Hypertech seemed to be a good bet. I’ve actually never heard of PCM for Less, so I’ll have do some research on them. On the valve seats, I’d probably compare the prices of the two, but replacement sounds like the better plan to me. And, yeah, that makes sense with the suspension. Really no sense in making it even more uncomfortable with how much you drive the car.

I really don’t take the C4 in traffic, so windows are almost always effective in my case. But I’ve gotten caught in rush-hour traffic a few times (especially passing through Indianapolis last year) in it. It gets HOT, and, as you said, even hotter with the top out. That Momo wheel is a much better price than I thought! I was expecting it to be a lot pricier. While the ‘86-’89 is a great wheel IMO, that Momo sounds awesome for the price. And that would be nice, haha.

Oh, and dammit V-Power. This is why we can’t have nice things.

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Tuned-Port-Injected-Rage 08/07/2015 at 20:59

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I just looked around a bit about chips, and it seems that Hypertech has a mixed reputation. They are one of the few companies I actually knew about prior to research, but I might actually try out a PCMforless chip. I read that the Hypertech tune really only changes your idle but is not at too much of a disadvantage (vs. custom tune alternatives) if you haven’t done any modifications. This thread contained a link to an L98 dyno graph, but the page is gone. It seems that it was impressive but I’d definitely like to know what the numbers were exactly. Head replacement might be in the future if I don’t end up doing work on the current heads, but the internals would need to be sound first.

As for the suspension, it turns out that I received an ‘88-’96 front spring instead of an ‘84 to ‘87... my friend who is running the shop where the suspension rebuild is happening at first said that he’d need to put everything back together with the splintered spring (yikes- there’s a large portion of my savings wasted on wasting his time), but decided he could wait while the car sat on the lift until the new spring came. I guess that taking my car there has paid off once again, although I feel kind of bad making things potentially more difficult for him. I really hope this new spring is in nice shape and gets here by Tuesday because this still could be pointless otherwise. I still have to see if he can switch the spacers, as they reversed front and rear in ‘86 for better caster. I finally have the R134a conversion parts ordered and process figured out, at least. What a contentious topic, though... it took creating a long thread to figure it all out. I’ll have to wait on the Momo wheel as it costs $320 with the hub, but I will definitely be prioritizing steering wheel replacement once all of this tedious work is finished! Then on to the tedious Delco Bose and tedious heads!