Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

And today I sprayed the rest of it. I think I moved the sprayer too fast on the last coat of clear, resulting in lots of orange peel. A couple of other flaws as well. But with three coats of clear I think it ought to sand and buff out okay.

If I get a mirror finish, it'll only highlight the flaws in the body work anyway!

http://i.imgur.com/jdO9jUL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/tBz84pe.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/MCrw02f.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Ad67JhF.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/DHNMhaL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/rSsvNJl.jpg

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Good job Dave! I sprayed today as well...feeling fortunate I had only one small run and it was in the second coat of base. :)

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Looks great Dave,
With my car I just painted, Contingency decals and lettering to cover up spots I don;t like~!

Will Lamprecht
65 Impala I/SA in progress

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Our Camaro needs lots more decals lol...

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

You know, that's funny, I was just thinking about what I could get lettered on the trunk to hide a couple of bad spots there!

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

I haven't gotten to the fenders and hood yet but the rest of it is now sanded and I just finished the first round of buffing, with coarse compound. It already shows the beginnings of a shine.

Now it's time for beer and wings, and watching guys give each other concussions.

http://i.imgur.com/ZJtzb3Q.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/mrprxIg.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/LNYVcwY.jpg

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

It's nice to finally be back to doing some mechanical work.

After taking care of a few details like a timing pointer:
http://i.imgur.com/uAy63AR.jpg

And a pulley for the water pump, which had to be cut down for clearance:
http://i.imgur.com/31nuzvY.jpg

I always fabricate a jumper to the solenoid and run a Ford-type solenoid on the inner fender. I hate the idea of having a cable with live 12 volts next to a hot header:
http://i.imgur.com/jpu7xHi.jpg

Finally I installed the engine and transmission:
http://i.imgur.com/C9G6Mtl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/r6P0LC7.jpg

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Theres a new dyno testing facility coming to North Phoenix, you might want to consider some dyno testing.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Very likely I will down the road a bit. It's been in the back of my mind.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

A big part of why I like projects like this is working through all the little design issues, even the trivial ones. Like mounting the line-loc solenoid.

I've always mounted them on the inner fender in the past, but this time there were a couple of happy little bolts by the master cylinders saying "Use us! Use us!"

So I did, starting out by making a template:
http://i.imgur.com/1ivY9RD.jpg

Then cutting it out from a 1/8" sheet of aluminum and drilling it:
http://i.imgur.com/Y5VVjah.jpg

Then I mounted the solenoid and bolted the plate in place.

http://i.imgur.com/0ExtYto.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3LJs1P8.jpg

Now all I have to do is bend the existing lines slightly and they should line up with the fittings that I'll be adding shortly. The only new line I need to fabricate is a short one to the solenoid inlet.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

I may have to copy that idea on the El Camino Dave. ;)

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

X2

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

I don't envy all of the work you're doing, but it looks great!
I have to ask, why power brakes?

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Why power brakes?

#1 - because they're there already.
#2 - because I'm not sure I can hold the car on the line without a trans brake otherwise.

Both mostly because of #1 combined with the fact that I've already exceeded my budget and I haven't finished the rest of the project yet. :)

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Dave you dont need power brakes to hold, just good ones. Mine holds at 4200 on a two step with manual brakes(mopar style cylinder).

Also for the record Dave's Car is NOT the car running at the Division 4 race in Baytown this weekend! MINE is! LOL
Dave your build has gotten alot of attention and I have been asked at least a dozen times "Is this the car from class racer?" "How did you finish it so fast!?"
Mine is Pictured below and they are VERY different. Thanks for understanding.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Somehow I missed this post!

Your car looks great! But given that it's a different color and an SS, I'm a little surprised that people would have that confusion.

And I'm a little surprised that so many people are paying attention to the build. But I guess I shouldn't be, given the "views" count.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Dave here is mine after a couple coats. I painted to wet and have runs. Sanded them out and doing 2 more coats of clear today.

http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/v...&1457633588084

http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/v...&1457633588088
http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/v...&1457633588089

http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/v...&1457633588090

http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/v...&1457633588091

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Looks good!

I avoided runs pretty well, but at the cost of the paint being too thin in some areas.

I think I will re-paint some very small areas soon to fix the worst of my mistakes.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Since this post did nothing except mention a Kirkey seat's arrival, and I can't find the picture that was posted (not even on Photobucket) I just deleted it all.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Very Nice work.........great combination

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Loaded up the car on the trailer this morning so I can take it into a shop for suspension work on Monday. Bushings, ball joints and the Santhuff springs are all in the cab. This is also the first time that I've used this winch. Worked out pretty well for something I bought for little more than loose change at Harbor Freight. I'm doubtful if it'll last but we'll see.

Here I am posing with the car:

http://i.imgur.com/f7wZDv8.jpg

And here's my son posing by it trying to make it look like he's the one that did all the work:

http://i.imgur.com/x138FA0.jpg

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Good to see you are making progress. Keep up the good work. Congrads on your Sportsman win last week!!

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Thanks, Rob!

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

If anyone's wondering what's been happening with this car, the answer is not much. I have been sick much of the time for the past two months. Every time I started feeling good for a couple of days I'd turn around and get something else. Two colds followed by bronchitis. But I'm starting to think that I'm out of the woods now.

While I was still sick I had a day where I felt good enough to go out in the garage a bit, so I installed the alternator. I was originally going to build my own bracket but I decided to spend some money to save a bunch of time, and I think it may have been worth it. This is a really nice setup.

http://i.imgur.com/yAUlh5g.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ywLvjdq.jpg

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

That last bit of work was done about ten days ago. But today was the first day I felt good enough to put in a reasonably full day in the garage. My son came over to give me a hand putting the front end sheet metal together.

It's amazing how much pushing, pulling, prying and even hammering it takes to get all these bolts to line up, but it finally came together. The alignment is still off, as I couldn't find the shims. I'll get some new ones and tighten everything up in a few days. On the other hand I was able to greatly improve the left door alignment, so I think that will work out okay.

Tomorrow I think I'll just do some more sanding and buffing on the paint. It still needs a lot of work. Then I'll get into the fuel lines and regulator next. Maybe mounting the seats will follow.

http://i.imgur.com/s9CmNNk.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/YMYGGEj.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Y7Lm2DP.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/fjAIzoJ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/XB2y99v.jpg

Hopefully I can figure out how the headlight buckets and grill attach. This car was a basket case, and I've never seen them together. But the exploded view in the body assembly book I have should help.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Hope you get feeling better soon Dave...I've been fighting respiratory problems this year also and it's been tough.

Do you mind me asking who's alternator bracket you used? I may need one as well for the '67 shortly. I had to assemble my front-end by myself and know exactly what you mean with the fighting lol. The grille on my '67 attaches underneath the fender...it appears on a '66 it bolts in on the exterior which should make it a bit easier.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Looks like the Eastcoast kit. 2407
http://www.ecae.com/alt-kits.html

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Yes, it's East Coast Electric.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Do you remember the kit # Dave?

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

I didn't actually buy the kit, I think the kit had some minor hardware I didn't need and cost more than the total of the parts I did buy. Here's what I got (Summit part numbers here):

ECA-2025 Alternator
ECA-2233 Bracket
ECA-2251 Pulley
ECA-15265 Belt

While the belt they specifiy does work, it's really a little short. I bought a 15270 from the local auto parts and it's perfect. I'll keep the short one as a spare, it'll work in a pinch.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

2407

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

I surprised to see harbor freight sells a container full of body shims. All different sizes.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

What would a race car build be without a few glitches?

This one is pretty trivial. I decided yesterday that it's finally time to install all four Pro-Stars and get rid of the junk tires and wheels the car has been on. But then I found this oddity. This is like "Sesame Street".

"One of these things is different from the rest, one of these things doesn't belong."

http://i.imgur.com/JCd93Pu.jpg

I know it's a little blurry but if your eyes are sharp you might notice a 1/2" lug nut among the 7/16" ones. Summit is shipping out a new set.

A bigger issue is the line lock. It seemed like the master cylinder would be way out in the clear, but it turned out to be a lot closer to the inner fender than I thought:

http://i.imgur.com/ZSkjoKu.jpg

So the next task is to relocate the solenoid to the inside.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

The fix seems pretty straight-forward. I moved the mounting plate over...

http://i.imgur.com/Ujz5GZj.jpg

And mounted the solenoid right back up:

http://i.imgur.com/yAkPfu4.jpg

From here I have to swap around the 90 degree fitting and bend the brake lines a bit. I might have to replace one of them altogether. But it looks like this will be okay after all.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

And here's the car finally sitting on the correct wheels and tires.

I strongly suspect that I'm going to have to do some cutting on all four springs. And that's after having already cut off a substantial amount from the rear springs.

http://i.imgur.com/rfkiZmD.jpg

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Dave PM me about the spring set up DONT cut anything you will regret it later. Plus do yourself a favor and get REAL eyebolts for your tiedowns not the soft hardware store ones you got there. It would be a shame for all your nice work to get ruined having it come off the trailer!

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Busy as a bee this weekend Dave...looks good. Do you already have taller upper ball joints?

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Yes, I do.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Which brand did you use Dave? I was considering the RideTech for the El Camino...don't know who manufactures it for them. http://www.jegs.com/i/Ridetech/029/90000894/10002/-1

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Sorry it took so long to get around to this.

They are from Proforged Chassis Parts.