Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

David, You've got a lot more weight to add, judging by picture.
Don't do anything until the car is in running condition. Then bounce it up and down with no shocks and bushings loose. See what you've got then..Report!



Lone Pine, Ca.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

If he removes the power brake booster and cast iron master cylinder he will have to reset the ride height....

Bob

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

I don't really plan on changing or cutting springs until after I make a couple of check out passes. Or at the very least get it all together. Just speculating...

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Yesterday I spent a lot of time adjusting the fenders. Got the right side pretty good. Left side is not as good, but it's better than it was, and both doors open without scraping the fender. I think it'll do. Then I went through tightening all the fender bolts and adding the lower front braces.

Next I got into installing the fuel regulator. I never liked removing and replacing the mounting screws underneath if/when I need to remove it in the future, so I worked out a system on my Camaro that I duplicated here. I built a plate as an intermediate bracket. The regulator screws to that, and that in turn screws to the bracket from the top where it's easy to access.

http://i.imgur.com/ra8phIB.jpg

This also mounts the regulator with all four screws instead of just two as with the supplied bracket. Then I worked out the shape of the bracket with a cardboard template and then cut it out from an aluminum sheet.

http://i.imgur.com/1bMox9K.jpg

Here's the bracket installed and the fuel line trimmed.

http://i.imgur.com/arR1P8c.jpg

Then I installed the regulator and a vertical brace to stiffen the assembly. Now it's just a matter of removing three screws from the top to remove the regulator.

http://i.imgur.com/Iq800xS.jpg

Finally I added the sending unit for the pressure gauge and the fuel sample valve. I just need a little section of rubber hose to connect up the sample line. And I also added the starter solenoid as well.

http://i.imgur.com/sUX6XCT.jpg

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

I have the pro forged uppers in my 1970 Chevelle
They appear to give more positive camber in my car fooling it thinking it has tall spindles. That is what it looks like to me. Car will be fully on ground this week front and back. I got urethane upper control arm stoppers to put in frame under upper arms as I have cut in half ones in car now. Car also had da thug springs so I look forward to see how it sits too. I think the tall upper ball joints add substantial front suspension travel so I have to make sure my afco shocks will work. Just a heads up from one Chevelle to another. I really enjoy reading your build thread and passing on what i am seeing. Chris

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Well, it doesn't look too dramatic, but I did get a fairly full weekend of garage time. Mostly doing wiring and plumbing around the engine bay. This included about half of the under-hood wiring, the thermostat, part of the throttle linkage (I'm just waiting on bushings) and I fabricated a bracket to anchor the return springs. I also got all of the gauges set up except for the electrical connections for lighting, plus power for the electric gauges.

http://i.imgur.com/FJ1Mi0Q.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/6vDfXSo.jpg

I also installed the headlights, which I was a little concerned about. As indicated by the first picture in the thread, none of those parts were installed when I got the car; they were in a cardboard box in the trunk. So I had never seen how it all goes together, but fortunately it was straight-forward enough that even I could figure it out.

http://i.imgur.com/OqGly7K.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/bMb5XNJ.jpg

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

I got a little bit done this weekend. I had to extend the fan shroud that came with the radiator to get it to work. Did that, mounted the fans and wired them.

http://i.imgur.com/Zt15o4n.jpg

Then I put the fan/shroud assembly into the car. The radiator overflow is also in at this point, it's the universal one from NAPA.

http://i.imgur.com/sgc8oPw.jpg

Then I mounted the relay and fuse and wired them up. The only thing left to do is to extend the white wire into the interior to go to the fan switch.

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

Today and tomorrow I'm cleaning up and installing the grill. Maybe this weekend the bumper and hood will go on.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

And now the grill is on (sorry, no steaks on it...).

But tell me, how you could not love that face? :)

http://i.imgur.com/kAov5Mq.jpg

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Dave been watching your build since the being and I have to say I can't wait for it on the track at Wild Horse... plus running the divisional NHRA stuff will open a bunch more racing for you... Keep up the garage time... :)

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

The Car is really looking good Dave. Nice work!!!

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Thanks, guys! I keep on keepin' on, one of these days it'll actually make it to the track.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Nice build and good attention to detail! :) -Al

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

I was out at Dave's home last saturday and I must say his car is looking really good.He was wet sanding his car in 100 deg heat. Ugh. Tough Guy!! He loaned me a bunch of painting info so I car get started on my car. Thanks Dave.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Yeah, I wish it was only 100 degrees!

I hope that stuff helps some, Rob. And thanks for not looking too critically at the paint! I still have to re-do a few small areas on the paint tomorrow, then I'll break to head out to Wild Horse with the Camaro. On Sunday I hope to apply the polymer sealer and start putting on the moldings and emblems.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Progress is really slow at this point. Mostly my accomplishments in the garage are inversely proportional to the temperature.

I did manage to do another round of sanding and buffing, and now waxing the paint as well. So having that completed now I'm adding emblems and moldings. The trunk also opens via the key now, although that wound up being more of an adventure than it should have. Seems like nothing fits easily on this car.

This Sunday I tried installing the front bumper. I was having some trouble getting things to line up (of course!) but the thermometer had no trouble at all getting to 114 degrees about the time I gave up. I must confess I could also sense All Access calling me! Now that I know how to get that on the wife's Roku I can see that nothing is going to get done around here on Labor Day weekend!

Anyway I'll try again this coming weekend. I may have to do some hacksaw and welder work on the brackets to make up for earlier damage from a mild collision.

http://i.imgur.com/40CuG3b.jpg

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Don't beat yourself up, Dave. I am pretty sure that most people would not see any progress in the kind of heat that has been out your way lately.
"It's not just a hobby, it's an adventure!"

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Great build. I really like that year.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Thanks, guys. The encouragement helps keep me going forward.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

I'm sure slow progress will be the theme for the next couple of months.

This weekend I got the rear bumper installed. That was easier than the front. I only had to cut, bend and re-weld one cross brace. The front brackets, I decided, just weren't worth the trouble. They are twisted and pushed almost an inch to the left side. I ordered new ones.

The taillight bezels are only in here for a test fitting. I have to remove the corner pieces to get access to their mounting screws. But I did also get the trunk weatherstrip installed.

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

The challenge with those taillight bezels is they use weird captured nuts that, as far as I can tell, are only available if I buy new bezels. But I think I can fabricate some using sheet metal, tin snips, a drill and self-tapping screws. I do have two of the eight nuts so I have an idea what they're supposed to be like.

Meanwhile I found that I have three door handles. Unfortunately only one fit properly, the other two have much longer actuating rods. It does seem like the one that I need will fit after cutting the rod down. I ordered the rubber gaskets for those, they should go in when those and the bumper brackets come in. I'm hoping by the holiday weekend, but probably not. Restoration suppliers aren't all that fast.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Sometimes I think my build is slow going, there are a hundred little details I haven't even gotten to yet, but at least my car was mostly assembled other than a powertrain when I started so I had the benefit of seeing how everything fit together. Yours, being a basket case when you got it, has got to be twice the headaches. The taillight fastener and bumper bracket snafus are about typical of what you run into when you get it in pieces.

But it's looking real good Dave, just keep hammering away at it a little at a time. It will get there.
Behind you all the way!

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Thanks, Pinballer.

I am very fortunate to live just two miles from Space Age Paint, where they have all sorts of specialized hardware for old cars. They didn't have the nuts I needed to mount the taillight bezels, but they did have others that were usable after applying pliers and tin snips. So now the rear trim and taillights are done.

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

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Well the temperatures dropped a little but the humidity went up a bunch. Hello Monsoon Season! But I've been able to put in a few hours each day this weekend.

First the bumper brackets came in, and wow, what a difference! A couple of bolts required a little tweaking because the bumper is kinked just a little, but on the whole the installation was pretty easy.

http://i.imgur.com/y5lwirH.jpg

I also got the door handles, rocker trim and one of the door locks installed. I'm waiting on a part for the other lock.

http://i.imgur.com/wt8NAD7.jpg

I also did a little welding. If it were cooler I might have also done the small piece that needs to be added on at the bottom, but not today. That was enough welding for now.

http://i.imgur.com/1SKQbjz.jpg

Now I'm doing some more wiring: headlights, parking lights and tail lights.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

I like it when they get to this stage...things start rolling. :)

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Remember when you first brought the car home and was trying to envision what it might look like done? Are you seeing it now Dave?
That is going to be a gorgeous car, and in my all time favorite 60's blue.

Still cheering you on from afar...

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Having built five Chevelles in the last 22 years, I know how much fun this has been for you.I can't seem to stay away from car projects even now. Isn't it rewarding to see it come together in the later stages like that? The really fun thing happens the first time you take it out and race it. I've followed your project since your first post, and you've made really excellent progress on it.
I just got hold of a '71 Monte Carlo, red with black vinyl top,black interior, and am doing it. It was a car I got in 1983 with a wrecked front end. Frame was OK,engine and trans were good, so I hit the self serve auto parts places and got a hood,a core support,a grille, a new radiator, a front bumper, and reconstructed it. It had been hit in the rear once before, it had a rechromed bumper and a different deck lid replaced previously,and about two weeks after we started driving it, my wife got hit at the bottom of a freeway offramp.New bumper, a tail panel, deck lid, and a bunch of aggravation. CHP wouldn't take a report because it happened on the offramp,not the actual freeway, city police wouldn't make a report because it wasn't on a city street,but on an offramp.We fixed it ourselves and had my painter friend paint it to match.The car got away from me, we made it into a bracket car, it sat about 20 years in a storage building, I just got it in May and went to work on it. It's going in for paint as soon as I fix the rust in the front fenders. It will be cranberry red,black top and interior,new bumpers and trim, can't wait to finish it and run it again.
Again,great Chevelle, fun project, this motivates the rest of us.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

As always, I appreciate the encouragement!

Bringing a car back from the dead like this certainly isn't for everyone, but I have really been having a blast with this. I had expected that after nearly two years of spare time went into the project that I would be getting burned out. The closest I came was when the body work was about 3/4 done. It was really starting to get tedious! Plus I had only expected to spend half as much time on that as it actually took. But as it's starting to look like a car I'm getting excited, and it's more fun than ever.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Progress continues to inch along until the world cools off.

One thing that has been bothering me is the fit of the left door. When I was assembling the body I just couldn't get it right, and finally settled for "good enough". But today when I closed it it looked like the door moved up just as it latched. I loosened and lowered the striker and now it fits perfectly! Turns out I had the hinges adjusted correctly all along.

I also replaced the "Super Sport" dash plate with a "Malibu" one, and in the process discovered that my new lock for the glove box is broken. Explains why that never worked quite right. Hopefully a replacement lock will fix it.

The only thing that might be worth a picture though is the brace I added to the battery tray. With that on there the stock clamp holds the battery really well, and I don't think I'll bother fabricating any other system for it. I also added the battery cables, the local O'Reilly had them in exactly the right lengths.

http://i.imgur.com/M87kceT.jpg

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

You know I will want to see it when I come down for the Finals.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

It's Christmas in August!

http://i.imgur.com/zXKO2ka.jpg

A while ago it occurred to me that I should keep an eye out for a used engine just to have a spare. First time I checked the listings I found a 283/220 stocker engine for sale. It took a while to work out the logistics but it has completed the 1500 mile or so trip South and is in my garage. Thanks to Mike Graham for getting it to Tempe, AZ, via Mike Loge, and to Mark Yacavone for setting up the whole shipping deal.

http://i.imgur.com/849XGc0.jpg

In order to be able to easily differentiate the engines when talking about them, I have named them "Johnny Red" and "Johnny Black".

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

And in a moment of whimsy, I ordered some license plates. This was about the cheapest and easiest way I could think of to get the car's name on it:

http://i.imgur.com/wdV3NqC.jpg

And while I was at it I got a plate on the original Captain Zoom as well:

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

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

I'm glad you finally got the motor home! If JoAnn and I would have driven anything but the Mini Cooper to Portland we would have brought it home for you.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Things are still going slowly, and the heat hangs in there. Last weekend was a wedding in Buffalo, NY. There will be two more cross-country trips in the next couple of months plus the Summit Division Finals taking a chunk of time. But inch by inch I keep moving forward.

This weekend I got the valvetrain completed other than adjustments. It's getting time to see about the shifter and getting a driveshaft made. Might have gotten more done but my bracket car insists that I pay attention to it.

http://i.imgur.com/g7xzute.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vzgZlt1.jpg

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Are you going to use a sway bar out back Dave? I have a Spohn atm, but may be swapping it out for one of these... http://www.hrpartsandstuff.com/ (#1451)

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

I got a good deal on a used HR Parts bar a while back. It's on the car now, and I'm very glad that it is!

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

David, I've got a solid lifter down there somewhere to double check the lift with, when I get back down there. If not , Tibor's got one I'm sure.
Might want to just set the intake back in place for a few more months.

Looks like it's set up to run the PCV out the back..That's fine too.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

I have a solid lifter or two for just that purpose also. I do plan on checking it later.

At first I was a little baffled by that setup in the back of the lifter valley, I guess I never ran a small block that was quite that old. But that's what I was figuring, put the PCV back there.

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

Or a road draft tube. . .

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

a note of trivia about PCV & road draft tubes.

Through the 1962 models Chevrolet had a "road draft tube" for crankcase ventilation. It was a long tube about 1" in diameter connected at the opening you see at the rear of the block, it routed downward slightly below the bottom of the oil pan. It was cut at an angle and in theory "road draft air pull air through the crankcase" Again, in theory, air entered through the front breather and exited the draft tube.

Under some ideal condition with a well sealed engine it may have done so. Mostly, smoke and oil exited both breather and tube :) And as miles and sludge accumulated that breather/baffle in your photo would become plugged with sludge. Then the only crankcase vent was the front push on breather.

Beginning with the 1963 models the famous/infamous PVC emerged. At the rear block opening formally attaching the draft tube, Chevy installed a small adapter with a 3/8" hose nipple. The PVC valve was in-line of a length of of 3/8" fuel hose that terminated at a fitting in rear of the carb.

Thus, "positive crankcase ventilation" PCV

About this same timeline all other manufactures changed from draft tubes to PCV

Another piece of trivia, California was ahead of the curve. Some years before 1963 that state began retrofitting PCV systems to older cars.

If you happen to remember the old Popular Hot Rodding magazine Project X It was a 1957 Chevy, in some of the original photos of the car before the magazine began any work there is a photo of the un-touched, original engine. The photo shows a California retrofitted PVC system.

That concludes today's trivia lecture :)

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

True enough.
I had a 61 Imp HT from Cal. , with a PCV valve that appeared to be original, and the supposedly lighter one piece bumpers

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

In 1965, I drove my 1962 Corvette from Brooklyn, NY to the San Francisco Bay area of California because a job relocation......

When I went to register my car in California I had to install aftermarket AC brand CV & KV kits....

It was a replacement for the road draft tube and a plate for under the carb for a vacuum source.....

Still have the car and I might still have the kits...

Bob

Re: '66 Malibu N/SA
 

That round canister looking thing in the rear of the lifter valley is a baffle to prevent engine oil from exiting the engine through the draft tube.It used to plug itself solid with sludge. Any time I built a stocker motor using a small journal 327 block,I put a brass freeze plug in the hole at the top of the block behind the intake,dispensing with the baffle altogether. It would have been in the way of the valley tray anyhow. I use later valve covers with PCV grommets in them, and use a dual PCV valve system,using the OEM vacuum fitting on the carb base. I use a screw on oil filler cap,non-vented. This depressurizes the inside of the engine and helps in both ring seal,and eliminating any oil misting or leakage. They do stay dry this way. The PCV first came out in 1961 on California cars, 1963 nationwide. PCV was great to keep condensation out of the oil, and blowby fumes out of the air.Pulling the vacuum out of the valve covers seems to be a better way to circulate air through the top of the engine.