81 Malibu "Uncaged" Performance Therapy project thread

[NOT A TA]

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/pt_winnerswhats_hot9image.jpg

Several months ago I won a contest I learned about here on Lat-G called, "The Performance Therapy Online Photo Contest" http://www.performancetherapycontest.com/ organized by John Hotchkis. The winning photograph of me in my Firebird was taken by my bud John Hendrick at the famous Sebring Road Race track. As the Grand prize winner of the contest I am recieving products from Hotchkis Sport Suspension, Baer Brakes, Flowmaster, MSD, Rushforth Wheels, Yokohama tires, Lifeline Fire Systems, Redline synthetic oils, and Hot Wheels.

Since my Firebird already has a Hotchkis suspension, MSD ignition, and sidepipes (which I like) I'm going to use some of the prizes to give my Malibu some much needed Performance Therapy. During the 15 years or so since I paid a whopping $300.00 for the bu I've used it on and off as a DD and slowly fixed it up a little at a time until about 5 years ago when I decided to repaint it again. It hasn't been driven much since then mostly due to an idiot keeping it for a couple years when he was supposed to install a Jegs rollbar which some of you may have read about on one of the forums or can read about here. http://www.maliburacing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=90869 And after that I moved far away which was a huge nightmare and at one point I was so fed up I didn't even look at the bu for a whole year.

With 70,000 miles on the car currently, it still has the original unmolested 229 V6 auto combo and all stock suspension except for a rear swaybar I got off of a parts car. So this is going to be an awesome upgrade I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. I've just about finished reassembling the exterior of the car and just need to put a new Landau vinyl top (I like them) back on.

The Plan:
I've got a '70 350 4 bolt engine from a C-20 that was rebuilt by my brother almost 30 years ago but never fired. According to the note on the engine it was magnafluxed and decked, bored .030, has a 3 angle valve job, double roller timing chain, ported head, and a ported intake refered to as an "inverted high rise" which I never heard of. That is all I know (or will know) about it.

I'll be installing that engine with the stock trans and rear by using the MSD prize to set up the ignition, the Flowmaster prize for the exhaust (the new stainless system coming out in a couple weeks), and the Hotchkis prize will cover the suspension and steering. Should turn out pretty cool!

Ideally I'd pull the engine apart and give it the once over with new assembly lube etc. before installing but thats not going to happen. This has to be done on an extremely limited budget and pretty quickly. I've got a few carbs hanging around and I'm hoping I can make one of them work. As it is I think I'll need to upgrade the radiator? and find a V8 fan shroud plus probably a few other odds and ends along the way. This is a grassroots type effort, no media blasting, powder coating or any other costly unnecessary expenses can be done at this time. If a hose or belt can be reused it will be. Anything that comes off that can be sold to help offset expenses will be. The engine compartment will get the infamous "Krylon Touch" to give it a neat clean appearance.

I started recieving the Hotchkis products so I figured I'd start this thread and let everyone follow along and I'll update while I progress. Here's the list of Hotchkis stuff I'll be using. And yes, I know I need to switch spindles to use the kit.

TVS kit with Extreme swaybars
Steering rebuild kit
Ball joint kit
Tubular upper A arms
Bilstein shocks
Air bag kit

Here's a few pics of the car. The dormant mouse that will be installed can be seen on an engine stand in the corner in the 1st pic.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/81Malibu022.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/81Malibu107.jpg

[NOT A TA]

After coming up with a plan to awaken the dormant mouse thats been sitting on an engine stand for almost 30 years I discussed it with my buds Stewart and Dan at "The Machine Shop" in Delray Beach near my house. They thought I was crazy and that I should just bring the engine over to the shop and tear it apart, clean out all the gummed up prelube, check over everything in the engine, then lube everything up again. I know it's the right thing to do but I can't spend anything on it. They assured me that they had extra gaskets etc. kicking around I could use to put it back together if I needed any. That was a very nice offer on their part knowing I have no money to spend. (I'll help them out with stuff at the shop so I don't feel like a user.) So I guess thats the route I'll take. It'll be a little more work that takes time and effort but it will reduce the chances of me harming the engine on start up or having to yank the engine back out. I'll get the engine over to the shop this week and maybe have time to take it apart.

One of the prizes from the Performance Therapy contest was a selection of Redline fluids. So I'd asked for assembly lube along with the rest of the fluids I'll need for this car. Hopefully the Redline products will show up this week.

[ElkyZO6]

Man that really sucks about the roll bar. I'm really excited about this build post lots of pics.

[70rs]

Hey John!:thumbsup:
Sounds like a great plan for the 'bu. I am glad you started a thread on this. I think a lot of guys doing tight budget builds can learn from what you are doing with this car. :cheers:

[NOT A TA]

Thanks Eric! It'll be fun to see what can be done with a very small budget and how much it improves the car overall. First tip for people on tight budgets. ENTER CONTESTS! You never know, you might actually win something! LOL

Here's a familiar sight in many garages. An old school engine put together for a project that was abandoned sits in a corner. This one had been assembled at roughly the same time the Malibu was sold as new!!! Luckily for this engine it may get a chance to breathe again (pending inspection). Today I got things out of the way to make room in the garage to do the swap, took a few pics, and dug out the engine hoist.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/81Malibu121.jpg

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[srh3trinity]

Are you moving the wheels from the 14 car over? Did you ever decide on which Rushforth wheels you are going with on the Firebird?

[NOT A TA]

Are you moving the wheels from the 14 car over? Did you ever decide on which Rushforth wheels you are going with on the Firebird?

I don't think I can move the wheels from the The 14 Car over to the Malibu. The rears are 315's on 11" with 6.75 backspacing and they won't fit the bu without a frame notch and a thick spacers. My welder was stolen with most of my other tools a while back so I can't do a notch.

I haven't decided on a wheel design yet for the Rushforths because there's no big rush. The Baer brakes have to be installed on the Firebird first to make sure I get the backspacing right. I'm going to try to run a 285 18 on a 10" rim on the front so I have to be exact on backspacing or I'll have problems. I don't want to risk ordering wheels without having the brakes installed to see exactly where the wheel will fit in the wheelwell.

[NOT A TA]

As I mentioned earlier one of the prizes from the Performance Therapy contest was a gift pack from REDLINE Synthetic Oil. I recieved a shipment from REDLINE yesterday with engine oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, engine break in additive, water wetter, lead substitute, and rear end gear oil as well as a T-shirt, hat and stickers! So I'm set for fluids for the new engine and also got some things I use in other cars like lead substitute. The product packaging looked really nice so I decided to set a up little display in front of the car and take some pics. Thanks REDLINE! cool.gif

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/81Malibu123.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/81Malibu126.jpg

[waynieZ]

Very nice.

[NOT A TA]

Just after my last post my home was burglarized and among the missing items was my computer so needless to say my Malibu project "Uncaged" had to take a backseat temporarily. They got about about $3,000.00 worth of stuff and I don't have regular insurance because of the last burglarly (long story) so it's been difficult getting online and getting camera issues straightened out.

Anyway, I got the engine out to bring over to the machine shop and after taking a closer look at it found it's not a fresh (older) rebuild. So we went straight to plan B! I've had a 350 4 bolt block, crank, rods, and some .040 over forged pistons I've been saying I'd get to sometime (also dragging around the country! LOL) Well now's the time! I donated the complete engine and a couple sets of heads to the machine shop. Can't believe I dragged that engine around the country for years and never looked in the exhaust ports or spark plug holes till now!

So I'm going to work part time at the shop along with the donated parts in exchange for machining and instruction on bulding the engine. I'm pretty psyched actually, because although I've been a car guy my whole life I've never assembled a whole automobile engine!

The top pic below is when I was getting ready to transport the engine and realized it wasn't "fresh". I should have pulled the rags, got my glasses, and looked inside the engine 4-5 years ago! And no, Although it looks like we might, we didn't put it in the trunk! Although, I do admit I did it in the 70's and 80's sometimes! Meanwhile another one of the prizes showed up to brighten the day! So the bottom pic is a huge selection of Hot Wheels products that arrived.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/DSCN0007.jpg

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[NOT A TA]

The Hotchkis products have been arriving. Just a few more parts and I'll be ready to start the suspension transformation. Worked on the interior today getting it back together. It's a shame the rollbar deal didn't work out and I had to cut it all out. Now I have solid back seats without a bar, not the safest combo. I'll also have to put something in for seatbelts since there isn't a harness bar anymore. I removed the last couple stubs of the rollbar tubing today and started putting the carpet etc. back in. It's been apart so long I had forgotten about the clips that had broken taking it apart. I'll have to chase down some interior trim clips screws and other fasteners this week. Here's the Hotchkis goodies I've recieved so far.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/DSCN0003-1.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/DSCN0005-1.jpg

[70rs]

Very cool John! It has to be nice to have stuff show up instead of disapear huh?

that is a serious Hot Wheels set they sent you!!!:wow:

I am happy to see the Malibu get some attention again. And glad to hear about the machine shop deal too. That should work out great!

[BigRatCamaro]

Sweet I built a 78 Bu and put the Hotchkiss stuff in it with a 9" Ford rear and a 383 sbc Turbo 350 took it to the track it ran 11:80's in Denver good luck with your build, and thats a great load of Hot Wheels:thumbsup: :unibrow:

[NOT A TA]

Yup it was nice to recieve rather than loose stuff Eric.

Big Rat, Thats a nice time for Denver. Do you have trouble tuning for the altitude?

I worked at the machine shop for a few hours tonight cleaning customers heads after they came out of the washing machine. After I was done with the regular work I gave my '73 993 castings a quick once over with a wire wheel so we could magnaflux them when we did the customers heads.

A couple of the customer heads I was cleaning up were lightweight castings which tend to crack between the middle chambers. Two of the heads had already been repaired in the past by another shop and will be repaired again. The customers heads had easily visable cracks so it made it nice for me to take pics showing how magnafluxing works.

First pic: My workspace. OK new guy, here's a bunch of heads, a drill, and a bunch of wire wheels, scrapers and other various implements to clean heads. Make um pretty! In the pic are my heads, no they haven't been cleaned yet. Just wire wheeled enough for magnafluxing in the chamber areas.

Second pic: Bad news for me. One of my heads has a small crack by an exhaust valve. The pic's out of focus but you can see the line. We'll have to make a decision to pin the crack and install a new valve seat or seek another head or pair of heads. Good thing we checked them before washing and thoroughly cleaning them.

Third pic: For those who never witnessed Magnafluxing this is how its done. Electromagnet is located so the area you want to test is located between the posts. Then some "magic dust" (in my best Cheech impersonation) is puffed ofer the area to be checked and the dust jumps right to the crack. Even if the crack is very small (like the one on my head) it will show right up. The crack in this pic was easily seen by the naked eye but it made for a nice easy pic to display the process. The lightweight head in the pic had been sleeved for the bolt hole previously so thats why theres a circle of magic dust around it. The dust knows it as a crack. This head will be pinned to repair the crack. If the opportunity arizes to get pics of "pinning" sometime I'll get some.

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[NOT A TA]

Been a while, so I'm going to bring this thread up to date. I've been working several nights a week and one or two days on the weekends at the machine shop. Learning a lot, and it helps them out to have me doing a lot of the "grunt" work.

I've been on hold with the Malibu suspension upgrade due to waiting on parts for another project that has to be done first. However I've been getting things ready to build the new engine for uncaged. I found another 993 head in the shop to use as a replacement for my cracked one and cut them both for screw in studs.


I figured I'd post up a little exercise on how to replace pressed in rocker arm studs with screw in ones that guide plates and hotter cams can be used with. I know there's lots of guys here who know much more than I ever will about this stuff but for the young guys learning and those new to the car hobby this may answer some questions.

The first step is to solidly mount the head to the drill press table so you can work on it without smashing your foot.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/81Malibu001-1.jpg

The next step is to remove the pressed in studs. There's an old fashioned tool (pictured) I'll be using, and a newer style (real expensive) power tool I wish I was using. After soaking the studs with penetratring fluid and tapping (banging) the studs with a hammer and brass drift, 2 big wrenches are used on the tool to draw the stud out of the head. Lots of muscles needed!

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/81Malibu013-1.jpg

Next the holes for oil drainback are drilled out to increase flow. No need for the holes to be perfect so just line them up pretty straight and drill. You can see the holes on the left of the pic below have been drilled and the oval holes on the right are next.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/81Malibu003-1.jpg

The next step is to get the stud holes aligned with the drill press. The stud holes need to be aligned with the drill press so the holes will remain straight and the rocker arm studs will all be perpendicular to the original stud bosses. This is done by inserting a straight rod which a level can be attached to into the stud hole then adjusting the work table till the level is correct so the hole in the head for the stud will line up perfectly straight with the drill bits and other cutting tools used in the drill press.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/81Malibu005-1.jpg

[NOT A TA]

The highest cast stud boss is located by using a straight edge across the top of all of the stud bosses. Then a tool which is set to account for the thickness of the base of the "screw in" stud (the nut part) and the spring seats is used to cut down the casting. The tool automaticly stops cutting at the preset depth. Once the first one is cut the drill press is set so that it will not allow the other bosses to be cut lower even though their original "top" is not as high as the first one is. Follow? This way the guide plates will all be level and the studs will be level. This is much more acurate than the factory setup. Below is the cutting tool used to cut the stud posses down.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/81Malibu008-1.jpg

After the bosses have been cut the remaining part used to "guide" the cutting tool must also be removed so a different cutting tool is used to remove the remaining metal till it's flush. There is no preset stops involved in this procedure. It's up to the machine operator to make it perfect. Which of course I did as shown in the photo below. LOL

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/81Malibu009-1.jpg

[NOT A TA]

Once the stud bosses are cut down the hole for the stud is chamfered with a tool in the drill press. This makes it easier to line up the tap which will cut the threads.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/81Malibu010-1.jpg

Then a tap with the correct threads to match the screw in studs is used in the drill press to cut most of the threads. After checking the depth of the stud hole we decided to cut the last few threads by hand with a bottoming tap so as not to risk injury to the heads. Both tools are shown in the pic below.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/81Malibu011-1.jpg

A screw in stud like the ones that will be installed during final assembly is used to check all the holes and make sure everything is good. Then take this head off the table, get the other one, and start all over!! LOL

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/81Malibu012-1.jpg

[NOT A TA]

Next up is some mild port work to blend in the bowls. A carbide tipped grinder is used to remove enough metal to get rid of extra material that disturbs flow to the valves under the seat area. In the first pic the intake on the right has been ground while the left is untouched. The second pic shows a closer look before a grinding stone is used to smooth out the rough surface left by the carbide bit and the original factory casting.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/006-4.jpg

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[NOT A TA]

Since I'm on a "no budget" sort of build up here, I made a deal to clean up a set of BBC headers for someone in exchange for a set of SBC headers that should fit the malibu. Both sets of headers were rusty from neglect but with some elbow grease I think they look pretty good and will work out fine for my application.

Here's "my" headers with one wire wheeled to get the major stuff off. After this pic I took them to the shop and sand blasted them to clean them up some more and get into the nooks and crannies the wire wheel couldn't get. I did one at a time so I could get pics of the full effect some cleaning and paint can have with a before and after pic at the end.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/005-3.jpg

Next up was some Eastwood stainless steel high heat paint. Choice of paint was due to it being the only high heat paint I had hanging around and the lack of a budget. Oh ya, I cleaned the insides as well with wire brushes.

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[NOT A TA]

Since I'm finally bringing this thread up to date I also got started on the crank for the 357 going in the Malibu.

In this pic the crank is set up in a machine that will slowly rotate the crank. I took the pic after I started cleaning one of the bearing surfaces so you could see the difference after a little cleaning. The crank had been left standing with no protective oil on it and started to rust. Totaly my fault, I just forgot about it the past couple years because I was busy with other things and it's humid where I live.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/machineshop001.jpg

In this pic the machine with the belt on it is used for cleaning, sanding, and polishing the bearing surfaces. In the pic there's a velcro belt on and I'm using it to clean the rust off the surfaces.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/machineshop002.jpg

This pic shows an oiling hole I've chamfered with a grinding stone to provide better oiling to the bearings. Since the oiling holes are on an angle, the hole is opened up a little on the side the oil is coming from to provide that side of the bearing better lubrication. The chamfered edges will be rounded a little more with a very small round file by hand to smooth the sharp edges before more work is done to the crank.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/machineshop003.jpg

[NOT A TA]

Sunday I had some extra time while waiting for a SBC 400 to be be readied for decking so I did mine and took some pics for those that have never seen how it's done. This is not the latest, greatest, fancy machinery but gets the job done accurately.

Anyway "decking" the block involves machining the surfaces where the cylinder heads bolt on so that it's perfectly flat. In this case I took off about 10 thousandths of an inch. This is done by having the block move back and forth under the spinning head with a cutting bit in it. The block moves back and forth because the table it's sitting on moves rather than the rotating head. The process involves about a half dozen passes. The first pass very light to allow corrections to be made followed by passes where 1.5-2 thousandths are taken off with the last pass being made at a very slow table movement speed to get a nice final surface finish. Here's the basic steps involved....

First get a bud to help heave the block up onto the machine. There is a large bar that the main bearing journals rests on which is level with the cutting head. A bracket is bolted into the deck of the cylinder bank not being machined which gets an adjustable "foot" placed under it. Then a big file is used on the surface to be machined to pick off any lumps bumps or other abnormalities.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/004-7.jpg

Next a straight edge is used to check for any warping. It's not unusual for a deck to have a bit of crown or bow but it's necessary to know before leveling the block

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/005-5.jpg

Then a very accurate level is used to level the block front to back and side to side. The adjustable foot is used for the side to side adjustment, and to make any minor front to back adjustment a piece of paper or two are used between the bar the block is sitting on and the main journal surface. There is fancy new equipment to level and rotate blocks but this is the basic old fashioned way, the new ones just make it easier for the machine operator. The block is not bolted solidly in place. It's just sitting there held only by it's own weight.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/006-5.jpg

A very light first pass is made to check and make sure the deck is square with the cutting head in this case it was perfect! You can see that the cutting tool is just skimming the surface and touching both sides of the deck or grazing the surface from side to side like between the cylinders.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/007-5.jpg

Then succeding passes are made and in the pic below you can see the bit is cutting almost the whole surface except a few small areas.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/008-3.jpg

And then on the final pass which is done at a slow table movement rate the surface is done. After the final pass you get a bud to help pick up the block and flip it 180 degrees so you can do the other deck surface and start all over. File straight edge, level, light pass etc. If we're decking a block say 35 thousandths or something to raise the compression we would drill register holes in the deck to the correct depth ahead of milling and would also mill the ends where the intake manifold would sit. With my block since I was only taking off a little bit neither of these steps were necessary.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/010-3.jpg

[deuce4935]

Now thats what I call getting hooked up!

[NOT A TA]

Now thats what I call getting hooked up!

Oh ya! I would have just kept driving the Malibu with the stock 6 cylinder drivetrain if it wasn't for the contest and the machine shop.

Had to take a couple months off this project to get other non car stuff done, but I'm back on it! Scrounged around the machine shop and put together a set of Manley valves from miscellaneous leftovers. They are 2.02 intakes and 1.60 exhaust and are the correct length. Some new and some used so I cleaned up the used ones and polished the stems. Then "cut" the valves. Since the 1.6's are bigger than stock the heads will be cut later for new seats.

Cutting valves involves grinding the correct angle on the face that contacts the seat and then chamfering the top the stem and cutting the tip flat. For this engine 44.5 degrees is the angle of the face where it contacts the seat. Here's a pic of the machine we use. It's an older machine and we rotate the valve by hand to do the seat angle and the bevel on the tip. In the pic the valve is set for making the bevel on the tip which is done dry. The 44.5 angle on the head is made with the grinding stone on the other side of the machine and is done with lube that flows onto it while grinding. Forgot to get a pic of grinding the angle on the valve heads.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/Uncaged357001.jpg

[NOT A TA]

With a set of valves ready now, it's time to check the valve guides. Shop technique for this is to put a valve through a guide and wiggle it to feel how much play there is. Then put a finger over one end of the guide, insert a valve stem till it hits the finger, then pull the valve out quickly to listen for a pop caused by the suction. After checking all of the ones in my heads we decided the valve guides wouldn't need to be replaced but needed a bit of work to tighten them up a bit. This is done with a "sipraler".

A spiraler cuts a groove into the inside of the guide without removing any metal. By deforming the metal it causes the inside diameter of the guide to be reduced and also allows path for lubrication. After the spiraler is run through the guide a ream which is the correct diameter for the valve being used is then run through the guide. Both tools are run down from the top and drop out the bottom so the head needs to be up on stands.

Pic below is a spiraler bit and a drill with a gear deduction so the work can be done at slow bit speeds. No pressure is used just the weight of the tool is enough. A couple drops of cutting lube are used during spiraling.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/Uncaged357003.jpg

In the pic below you can see the grooves cut into the inside the valve guides by the spiraler and the ream being used to make the inside of the guide straight and the correct diameter. No more lube needs to be put in before reaming, whatever's left from spiraling can stay and is fine.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/Uncaged357004.jpg

[NOT A TA]

The head I found to replace the cracked one already had stock size exhaust seats installed in it at some point so they needed to be removed before cutting both heads for the bigger exhaust seats that will be installed. Seat removal is done with a cutting bit on the drill press. The head is mounted and leveled then the old seat is cut till just a very small amount of it is left which then spins freely and can be removed.

Here's a couple pics showing the cutting bit that gets lined up on the bit guide which is inserted into the valve guide and then the old seat after cutting and removal.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/Uncaged357007.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/Uncaged357010.jpg

[NOT A TA]

Since we were out of the correct size for the new exhaust seats (and it was a holiday weekend) I jumped over to working on the block a little. I had scored a set of breather tubes for the lifter galley out of an engine I was stripping for scrap at the shop a few weeks ago. Someone had blown up something and swapped all their good parts over to a new shortblock and left the old one with the tubes in it. They're not the fancy looking aluminum ones but will do the same job so they're perfect for my no budget build.

The block needs to be threaded in order to insert the tubes and plugs so while I was at it I threaded the end holes for plugs also. To thread the holes first a tapered reamer is used on a drill to chamfer the top of the hole so its easier to get the tap started. Then cut threads with the tap. Because these are tapered pipe thread the depth is checked on the first hole and then the tap is marked and the rest are tapped to the same depth.

Here's a pic of the reamer and tap . And then a pic of the vent tube and a plug. Bottom pic is the end of the block where plugs get installed.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/Uncaged357012.jpg

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http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/Uncaged357011.jpg

[NOT A TA]

Since I was pressing wrist pins out of connecting rods at the shop I figured I'd get mine apart so they'd be ready for some work I want to do to them. The block had been bored to work with a slightly used set of .040 over forged pistons my buddy Mike at Mikes Automotive Machine in CT hooked me up with long before I moved south. It's been so long and with all the miscellaneous parts I've had and moves I made etc we figured we should double check the cylinder bores and pistons to be sure everything was going to work out cool. No sense taking the piston/rod assemblies apart if they wouldn't work. So here's a couple pics measuring things.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/001-1.jpg

The cylinders came in at 4.041 and the pistons were around 4.0398+ so we'll be right in the ballpark of the recommended .0015+ gap recommended by TRW after the cylinders are honed. For the experienced/knowledgable guys I'm aware that these pistons were prone to cracking in the skirt curves when run too loose loose back in the day before they switched to the shorter skirts and I checked these. They were a gift so although they are an older design they're waaaay better than what I would have otherwise! Thanks Mike!

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/003-1.jpg

[NOT A TA]

For those that have never seen it done, this is how we remove stock style wrist pins from piston/connecting rod assemblies. (Later on in the thread I'll show how they're installed)

The pin is fitted with an interference fit in the top of the connecting rod and it takes a lot of force to push them out so a press is used. A support is placed under the side of the piston (different supports for different pistons) with a hollow base support below that to provide enough height to push the pin down. Then a tool that fits inside of the wrist pin with a shoulder that will push the pin is inserted. The tool is smaller in diameter than the pin so it will fit through the hole in the side of the piston. In the bottom pic the wrist pin is still stuck in one side of the piston but can be pulled out by hand. The "tight" fit is in the top of the connecting rod.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/005.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/004-1.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/006.jpg

[NOT A TA]

Shops mark things that are supposed to go in a particular place,order, or match up with machined surfaces.The rods had markings from other shops on them (in this case stamped letters/numbers and indentation dots) so I lined them up in order and did them the way we do them in this shop because I may loose some of the other markings as I work on them. I zipped the lock side of each rod with a disc and etched a number in each with a dremel. You may be able to see the 7 etched in the rod on its side and dots on the bottom of some of them. After that I removed the caps and bolts so I can start grinding them.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/008.jpg

[NOT A TA]

With the rods marked and disassembled it's time to start working on them. In this first step I'm using a carbide bit to grind away the ridge in the center of the side and blending into both ends. Care needs to be taken to keep rods even when viewing the sides not being ground and also not to remove too much material. The square "chunk" of metal at the top of the rod is left alone and will be ground a couple steps from now when I "balance" the rods. The bit in the tool is used for steel, the one on the bench for aluminum. The last person who used the air tool before me had been doing some welding repair work on aluminum heads.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/018.jpg

[NOT A TA]

After grinding the sides of the rods with the carbide bit, a sandpaper roll on a tapered bit in an air tool is used to smooth the grinding marks and then the rods are glass beaded. After that they're oiled down so they won't rust. It's not really oil, but a concoction based on tranny fluid. Pic below taken after glass beading and they don't look as polished as they do before blasting. Picture quality is lower now because my good camera decided to commit suicide and jumped off a chair onto concrete damaging itself beyond use. Hopefully it's repairable but until then the old camera is back in service.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-027F.jpg

[GregWeld]

Read this all from #1 --- very fun post John...

You're doing what I always tell people I'd be happy to do - work in their shop for free. Of course the only one to take me up on that is Rodger - and he thinks it's fine for me to live out back in the dumpster - and pay him for sweeping his floors... Sadly - I had to decline. :D

[NOT A TA]

I even get paid now Greg! And I've been learning a lot more than is presented in this thread. Only thing is, being paid has seemed to slow progress on my own engine because the time I have to spend there gets used working on everyone elses projects! LOL I've got an idea I'm gonna PM you about when I get a chance to get your opinion. As far as the Malibu goes, I haven't even gotten to all the fun stuff with the prizes from the contest yet. They're all here, but I have to do the Firebird first so I'll have the spindles from the firebird that are needed to install all the Hotchkis stuff on the bu.

Anyway, I started "reconditioning" the rods for the 357 going in the Malibu. First step is to make sure there's no burrs on the sides of the big end or where the caps meet the rod by running a flat file over them. Then the rod gets clamped into a machine that grinds a few thousandths off of the flat surface where the caps meet the rod. Then the caps are also ground flat on the surface that meets the rod. Here's a pic of one of the rods being ground. The rotating stone wheel is stationary and the rod is moved past the wheel while clamped square to the wheel in an arm thats moved by hand. I couldn't hold the camera far enough away while operating the machine to get the whole machine in the pic.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/MVC-018F-1.jpg

[NOT A TA]

I cleaned up the rod bolts on a wire wheel. Next step is to reinstall the bolts for the caps. They are an interference fit so they need to be pounded into place. We have an aluminum block that gets mounted into a vice which has holes for the bolts to slide into. Then the bolts are installed with a 2 lb hammer and a large drift.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/MVC-018F-2.jpg

Once all the bolts are installed the caps that correspond with each rod are installed. The nuts for the caps need to be torqued to 45 lb. ft. so a special rod vice is used to hold them. The rod vice has wide machined flat clamping surfaces so no damage will be done to the rods working on them.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/MVC-019F-1.jpg

[NOT A TA]

Once all the caps are torqued the sides of the rods where the bearings fit in are block sanded with a coarse and then fine paper to remove any small burrs that have formed where the mating surfaces were ground and make sure the sides are nice and flat where the caps meet the rods. Then the rods are blown off and cleaned to remove any particles.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-040F.jpg

Once the rods are clean it's on to the honing operation! Since the mating surfaces of the rod and cap have been ground the hole for the bearing is now smaller than stock. This allows us to hone the bearing contact surface while opening up the hole to the correct diameter while being sure the enlarged hole is perfectly round.

Usually specs are checked (in a book) to determine the correct diameter of the hole needed for the rod bearings and then the gauge on the right side below is set with a micrometer. Because this is a commonly used size we have a SBC connecting rod we know is at "0" to calibrate the gauge instead of using a micrometer, just saves setup time. The hole will be made to stock size and the bearings will be ordered to make up the difference needed if the crank is turned down.

The size of the hole is checked on the gauge in the pic below where the rod is hanging. The hole is honed by stones spinning on a shaft while oil drips on them. The bar on the left holding up the horizontal rod keeps the rod stable while it is slid in and out (by hand) on the spinning shaft with the stones. Technique is required to get an even finish and desired crosshatch. In this case I'm opening the holes up until they are still a thousandth undersize and will take out the last thousandth after balancing and when the rods are cool so the measurements will be precise.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-041F.jpg

[NOT A TA]

Time to "balance" the rods! This is done after honing because the weight of the big end of the rods may have changed depending on how much material was removed grinding the mating surfaces and then honing the end.

Each end of the rod is weighed using a digital scale and the balancing apparatus shown below. An adapter that closely matches the diameter of the big end is used on either the stationary pivot or the floating pivot on the scale depending on which end you're weighing. The weight of each end is marked on every rod.

Starting with the heaviest "big end" rod the square chunk of metal on the end of the rod is ground down on the rods that are heavier than the lightest one. After they were all down to the weight of lightest one I examined to see if they could all be lightened a bit more without sacrificing durability and took a couple more grams off of each one. The same procedure was then performed on the small end of the rods.

They're now all at 414 and 169 grams. Not super light "race weight" but now they're lighter and equal weights. Less weight allows the engine to "rev" more quickly. Do I really need polished balanced rods for this engine? Probably not, really. LOL But it's cooool!~ AHAHAHA And I have a full shop at my disposal, so why not? As with anything, different customer requests, applications, and products may use different procedures so YMMV.

It was about 3 AM when I was doing this and I forgot to take lots of pics, so the first 2 showing the equipment used are pics I had from other peoples projects lready completed and the second 2 are my rods.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/006-1.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/002-1.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-042F.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-044F.jpg

[GregWeld]

Kool stuff John!

When I had the 427 SBC rebuilt - the builder talked me into using "honda" rod journal size on the crank...

Got to tell you -- you take weight out of the reciprocating assembly and she'll rev quicker than you can imagine! I was shocked at how quick this motor (now a 406) rev'd when on the dyno!

[NOT A TA]

Yup! You're right about the weight deal. Gotta look around the shop for a 6" harmonic balancer because they're lighter than the 8" truck ones like this engine probably had when new. Almost ready to get the rotating assembly balanced!

Had a few minutes last night after decking blocks so I got my pistons out and weighed them for balancing. They ranged from just under 752 to 754 grams (with corresponding wrist pins). Tonight I ground away some material by the wrist pins on the heavier ones to bring them down to 752. I could have milled the inside of the top of the piston to remove the weight but for this engine the extra time and effort required isn't worth it.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-032F.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-034F.jpg

[OLDFLM]

Very cool post my friend!! :thumbsup: Keep the pics of the progress coming!

[NOT A TA]

Thanks Ty! I've been building a workshop and doing a garage makeover so progress is a little slow on the car but now I'll have more space to work and be more organized. Today I got back to part of the interior that needed attention. And I got to use my NEW work table (not finished yet) for it's first project.

After 30 years the package shelf like many other original ones in G bodies looked really bad. It had warped, been repainted with vinyl dye, faded, had speaker holes for 6 X 9's hacked, couple different sets of speakers with different mounting bolt patterns and looked bad. The dark window tint kept it out of plain sight for the most part. Then Ralph the "expert" roll cage installer put another hole in it finishing it off. So I decided to make a new one.

A while back I picked up a sheet of white hardboard at Home Cheapo for 6-7 bucks or something like that. traced out the old rear shelf and cut the hardboard with a skillsaw.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-018F.jpg

Since I don't have any extra loot to spend on the car right now I've been keeping my eyes open for some black rug raterial to work with for the shelf. A couple nights ago There was a black sub box out for junk at the repair garage next to the machine shop so I gave it a quick look in the dark and took it home to examine in daylight.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-026F-1.jpg

In daylight it looked like there would be enough usable material if I could peel it off. It must have been part of a "Custom" 80's-90's install complete with sheetrock screws and fiberglassed to the floorpan!

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-031F.jpg

So I chiseled the material off with a painters scraping tool and razor blade. Turned out to be enough material as long as I put a slice (not by me) over a speaker hole.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-035F.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-024F.jpg

Cut the material out and made small version of the speaker holes for referance. Then figured out where I want the speaker covers. I'm using an old set of covers for a retro backdated appearance that will be mounted to the package shelf with the speakers mounted by themselves. I've spent enough time screwing around with shelf 6 X 9's to learn my lesson and am eliminating the sandwich mounting where the bolts that hold the speakers also hold the covers. Next I need to find my glue, some fasteners for the speaker covers and make a vinyl rollover for where the shelf meets the backseat.


http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-025F-1.jpg


http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-027F-1.jpg

[NOT A TA]

The last prize shipment for the Malibu from the Performance Therapy contest arrived!! Each company asked me to "make a list" of what I wanted from their company for the project and so I'd given MSD a list of things I wanted for the new engine, nitrous control, and a shift light. Here's what I recieved! Sweet deal eh? THANKS MSD!!!!!

Pro Billet Distributor
Programable 6AL-2 box The new model that gets programmed with a laptop and has dual rev limiters.
Blaster 2 coil
8.5 Superconductor "make your own" wire set in black.
6' Pro boot guard Headers and wires always seem to be a sore spot for me with a lightning show on occasion.
Shrinksleeves
Wire number set I'm getting old, don't want to make a mistake in the dark in the pits checking plugs or something. LOL
Timing tapes for the balancer
RPM activated window switch Module to control nitrous eventally
LED stand alone shift light
2 sets RPM module sets one for nitrous activation switch, and one set for the shift light
Plug wire holders

My car didn't have a factory tach. I've got a couple old aftermarket tachs (without shift lights) and I'll see if I can get one hooked up, so combined with the MSD shift light I should be set there. I had the nice MSD terminal crimp tool already so I'm set to make a custom wire set.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-031F-1.jpg

[NOT A TA]

I didn't have a long enough piece of vinyl to make the rollover without a seam. Hand stitching the center seam came out fine so I test fitted the pieces and clamped them in place with paint sticks so I could see the material would lay when finished. The original vinyl piece and padding were sewn to the cardboard shelf. Thats not going to be possible with the hardboard so I've got to try and figure out a good way to bind them. Will test on scraps.

One of the guys at the machine shop gave me a nice straight stock timing chain cover he'd sandblasted and primed but never used. It was from an engine with an 8" balancer and I'm using 6" so I ground off the spot welds for the pointer to remove it and will use a bolt on pointer. A little more grinding to smooth the welds, bead blast a bit, and it'll be ready for the Krylon touch!

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-021F.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-016F.jpg

[Evan Iroc-Z]

This is a fantastic thread. I love the detail you are paying to each and every step of the process. I am really excited to see how the car comes out! Good luck with the rest of the budget build!

[NOT A TA]

This is a fantastic thread. I love the detail you are paying to each and every step of the process. I am really excited to see how the car comes out! Good luck with the rest of the budget build!

Thanks Evan! A lot of stuff in this build is kinda "basic" for this forum but not everyone can drop big loot on a build, and for many of us, it's a case of money when there's no time and no money when there's lots of time. Not having a big budget at any given point never stops me from playing with cars, I just modify the gameplan. With this car I'd originally just planned on repainting it again and putting it back into DD status until I won the contest. If it weren't for the additional expenses incurred by installing the prizes from the contest I probably would have just bought a reproduction package tray, or just kept running the original 6 cylinder engine etc. The prizes changed the plan this time! LOL

I tried a few ways of making the vinyl rollover using various materials and tools available to me already and here's what I came up with.

1. Tack vinyl with trim adhesive to the edge of the shelf to keep it from moving.
2. Tack 3/8" batting with adhesive along the edge of the piece with about 5/8" on the shelf.
3. Separate batting in the middle along the 5/8" wide section. (I cut out the upper part of the split batting in the pics below so you can see what I'm doing.)
4. Tack paint sticks cut down to 5/8" width on top of the batting with adhesive.
5. Use A type spring clamps to hold everything tight.
6. Drill 13/64 holes through everything for pop rivets.
7. Install 3/16" medium length aluminum pop rivets.

When I do the shelf the sub box material will already be on it and there will be a thin layer of the batting on top of the paint sticks. When the seatback is slid down to lock it in position in the car, it will pull the vinyl rollover down.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-014F.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-015F.jpg

[NOT A TA]

Rear shelf project is on temporary hold waiting on a saw to cut the speaker holes nicely. Meanwhile I finished up the rods and I've been working on the heads for the engine. I cut the heads for installation of hardened exhaust valve seats. Installed the seats (they get pounded in), made a bowl blend cut, then 3 angle cut for both intakes and exhaust while checking heights. Next was a cut around the edge of the chamber to unshroud the valves. You can't get the full effect of running bigger valves without unshrouding the edge close to the side of the chamber so they can breathe. Good camera's still dead so I can't get really good pics of the bits used because the picture definition isn't good enough.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/MVC-030F-4.jpg

Cutting the edge of the chamber to unshroud the intake valve in this pic. Chamber on left is done, right is still stock. Unshrouding exhausts gets done next.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/MVC-010F-2.jpg

[NOT A TA]

I keep spending a little time on my own heads at the machine shop. Funny, but hundreds of heads have passed through my hands at the shop while mine sit on a shelf next to me! I've been there a while now and learned a lot, also realize how much calculating, measuring, machining, parts matching, etc. goes into the building of performance engines. I work on mine an hour or two here and there after I work on other peoples stuff. Kinda like a roofer with a leaky roof. Everybody else comes first. LOL Soooo.... almost all the work on my heads gets done between 11PM and 2 AM! AHAHAHA Last night was no exception and I stopped working on my heads about 1:30 AM. Here's the latest update.

To measure the valve stem height while cutting the valve seats a special gauge is used. The base of the gauge is held against the spring seat and then the valve to be used for that chamber is inserted and pressed tightly against the seat. The valve stem pushes against a plunger in the gauge which measures how far the stem protrudes. As each valve seat is cut the stem height is checked occasionally so the stem heights will be very, very close when done and the seats are cut to a almost equal depth. A procedure later insures all the stem heights are exactly the same.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-025F-2.jpg

As a young man I always thought a multi angle valve cut required separate steps for each angle, however they're done in one step. The tool for cutting the valve seats cuts all the angles at the same time. The cutting blade is adjustable and is set for the diameter of the valve, then a pilot is inserted into the valve guide of the seat to be cut. The head has been leveled to the drill press and the pilot keeps the cutting tool straight with the valve guide. There's a spring that gets slid onto the pilot that pushes the cutting tool up away from the valve seat until the drill press pushes it down. The seat is then cut and intermittantly the stem height is checked, once the stem height is correct you're done and move on to the next valve.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-026F-2.jpg

Because the cutting tool needs to be moved out of the way to constantly check the stem height etc. the tool is not mounted in the drill chuck but rather an attachment with a notch in it is mounted in the drill press and the tool slides into it as the press is lowered. A small bar on the tool fits in the groove which spins the cutting tool.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-027F-2.jpg

[NOT A TA]

Had an opportunity to show a main cap with oil passages opened up next to my untouched cap before opening up mine, so one more thing's done and here's pics.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-010F-1.jpg

My cap isn't finished in the pic below but I was waiting for the compressor to catch up because a couple of us were using a lot of air so it was a good time to take a pic.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-011F.jpg

Kinda out of the normal order of procedures but I had some time, so I did the grinding to blend in the bowl cut with a stone on a grinder. Now the bowls are opened up with a nice radius to the exhaust seats.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-013F-2.jpg

[NOT A TA]

When I left off on the package shelf I was waiting for a saw from a buddy. I could have chewed the speaker holes like a beaver by the time I got the saw! Anyway, I got it this week and got right on the shelf.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/dustshield002.jpg

With the holes cut I moved onto getting the pieces ready to create the rollover to the rear seatback. I cut down paint sticks with a utility knife against a straight edge, then pinched them all together and sanded them all to the same width. Not really the optimal way to do this but the paint sticks were free and already here so....

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-020F.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-021F-1.jpg

Next I drilled the holes for the speaker grill screws then used 3 M spray adhesive and stuck the speaker box material to the hardboard shelf.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/rearshelf003.jpg

Then the time consuming process of attaching the rollover. I decided to rivet the strips to pinch the vinyl rollover and carpet material. Holes through the paint sticks were drilled. The pieces were clamped in place and the holes for the rivets were melted with a mini soldering iron through the vinyl and carpet. This prevents the material from wrapping up on the drill bit. Then the holes were drilled through the hardboard. Once the holes were set I inserted rivets in each to keep the pieces aligned while I pulled each rivet and used washers on the backside so the rivets wouldn't pull through the hardboard.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-001F.jpg

A section of padding was glued to the rollover similar to the original and gives the rollover a factory look. The rear seatback holds the rollover down when it's installed in the car. I left extra material on the ends and will trim to fit when I put the shelf in the car.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-002F.jpg

I looked around for some black machine screws for the speaker grills but didn't have any so I splurged and bought some new ones for a whopping $1.88 LOL The only cash spent to build the shelf was 6-7 bucks for a sheet of hardboard and the screws. With the speaker grills installed the shelf is ready! I may use some dum dum or other deadener to be sure the rivets or speaker grill bolts don't rattle when it's installed in the car.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-004F.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-006F.jpg

[WSSix]

Thanks for posting all this John. I don't have time to read it all now since I don't have internet at home (I'm hanging at McDonald's right now, lol). I intend though as I also intend to keep the costs down on my LT1 build by building "smart" instead of just throwing every part I can find at the engine. Keep up the good work sir.

[NOT A TA]

Thanks for posting all this John. I don't have time to read it all now since I don't have internet at home (I'm hanging at McDonald's right now, lol). I intend though as I also intend to keep the costs down on my LT1 build by building "smart" instead of just throwing every part I can find at the engine. Keep up the good work sir.

My pleasure Trey, glad to see you're enjoying it!

Three words for this thread update.... GRAND NATIONAL REAR. For a mild build G-body this is the affordable bolt in holy grail of rears. For years I've been outbid on Ebay, missed ones on CL and in local traders, looked for cars with them I could part out etc. etc. etc. I spotted a listing on a forum for a rear when I was taking a break while working online last Sat. and picked it up today.

So now I've got a 8.5" housing, axles (and spares), posi unit, yoke, and most of the brake components to work with including.... (insert drumroll here) ALUMINUM DRUMS! (+ a spare) The aluminum drums have a lower MOI so they speed up quicker as well as lowering unsprung weight. Hey, I need all the help I can get to make this car go! ahahaha So now I need to find a set of gears, and a rebuild kit etc. and then I'll have a rear that should hold up behind the 357 I'm building that I can put in while I'm doing the Hotchkis suspension install. Here's a pic of the parts I got. In the boxes are a brake hardware kit and new wheel cylinders Dan included above and beyond the deal.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-016F-1.jpg

[70rs]

Nice score on the rear John!
Do you have a date in mind for completion? Any events you may run it at?

[NOT A TA]

Nice score on the rear John!
Do you have a date in mind for completion? Any events you may run it at?

Thanks Eric! I think I should have it together sometime in the fall. I'll take it to local Auto-X and dragstrip test and tunes and it'll be my DD again. No road track stuff or LSR events because I don't get to run those as often as I'd like in my Firebird as it is, so the bu probably won't see those types of events.

[NOT A TA]

I should have mentioned the "deal" on this rear in my last post. Right now I have no disposable income for cars. The rear was listed on Maliburacing.com for $350.00 and seller offered to deliver within 100 miles for additional money. I contacted the seller and he offered to meet me half way (we're a couple hundred miles apart) for $50.00. I told a bud about the rear who knows I've been scouring the earth to figure out an inexpensive way to get a rear that will hold up. He offered to pay for the rear and the extra $50.00 in exchange for me doing a brake upgrade/repair and aftermarket AC install on a car. So no out of pocket expense for me.

Picked up a set of NOS chrome steel aftermarket valve covers posted in the for sale section of another forum so there's one less thing I need now! They have just the right plain, old school look. So for 25 bucks including shipping they're the "big expense" out of pocket so far, and arrived today.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/MVC-011F-1.jpg

[NOT A TA]

As often happens with projects Uncaged got shelved for a while (over a year) while I concentrated on working on others cars to build up a good customer base. So now my "regular" job is working on other peoples cars like ours as a traveling mechanic.

Although I wasn't working on the Malibu I slowly continued to collect parts I need/want for it. I got back to porting the heads a couple weeks ago but caught a piece that flung out of the grinder right in the eye even though I had glasses on. Luckily, a gentleman I'm building a car for is an eye surgeon and fixed me up immediately even though it was late Sunday night on Labor day weekend.

As for an update, I've also gotten started on building the rear. A few weeks ago I took all 4 axles to the machine shop I still work out of part of the time and checked them out after putting them in the washer to clean them up. The outer bearing surface was scored on one and a dial indicator showed one as slightly bent so the choice of which 2 to use was a no brainer. I bought a set of new Richmond 3.73 gears from a member on another forum and ordered a complete rebuild kit from Ratech for bearings, shims etc. The previous owner of the rear had cleaned up the rust on the outside of the housing and hit it with some POR 15 or something but because I want to weld the axle tubes to the center section the paint needed to come off that area. I figured I'd just clean and smooth the whole housing so I started stripping it.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/001-2.jpg

[NOT A TA]

Once the paint was stripped I prepped it for welding the tubes to the center section, additional spring perch welds, and also ground out some questionable factory welds on the lower link brackets to be rewelded. Had my bud Rick I work with (who's a better welder than I) weld it up for me. Yes, I checked to be sure the axle tubes were straight before welding. I will be taking the car to the strip and running it on sticky drag tires and plan on some auto X action with A-6's so hopefully the extra welding will help things stay together and straight.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/001-3.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/002-2.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/007.jpg

[Radlark]

Whatever happened with this car did you ever finish it?

[NOT A TA]

Whatever happened with this car did you ever finish it?

I can't finish this car until I finish my Firebird. Some of the pieces from the bird are going on the Malibu. As an example the front spindles from the bird are needed to install the hotchkis front suspension and the rear brakes from the bird are going on the bu. As soon as the bird is done I'll be working on this car again but I have been collecting parts and working on the rear.

As you could see in the pics above the axle tubes were pitted. Since I'm a PT kinda guy I used Ospho, sanded, shot with DP 74 epoxy primer, smoothed pitted metal with filler, and then shot a coat of K 38 high build sandable primer on it. Some more smoothing and it'll be ready for final paint! Will it make it go faster corner better or stop quicker? No, but sometimes mission creep takes over.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/001-4.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/002-4.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/003-3.jpg

[NOT A TA]

I hate doing things twice but sometimes you have no choice. Something caused the paint to lift in the corners, nooks/crannies of the Malibu rear I had in primer. I suspect it was caused by laying a coat too thick/wet.

In any case I stripped it down of all paint in affected areas and prepped/primed/smoothed/primed/sanded till I had it looking the way I wanted to spray it gloss black. I don't usually do my own cars gloss underneath but all the new Hotchkis suspension components are powder coated gloss black so I figured I'd make the rear match.

I used PPG K38 high build primer and PPG single stage acrylic enamel.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/004_zps9ac6aafb.jpg (http://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/81%20Malibu/004_zps9ac6aafb.jpg.html)

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/003_zps6a2d82be.jpg (http://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/81%20Malibu/003_zps6a2d82be.jpg.html)

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/008_zps4ad695cb.jpg (http://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/81%20Malibu/008_zps4ad695cb.jpg.html)

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/81%20Malibu/011_zps28079d78.jpg (http://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/81%20Malibu/011_zps28079d78.jpg.html)

[WSSix]

Nice duck! :lol:

The rear end looks brand new now. Good job.

[Evan Iroc-Z]

Nice duck! :lol:

The rear end looks brand new now. Good job.

Not worth typing it twice, what he said!

Love the duck! He must be a PT fan.