'66 Malibu N/SA

[Dave Muller]

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.

[Dave Muller]

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.



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.



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.



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

[HandOverFist]

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

[Pinballer]

Originally Posted by HandOverFist

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

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...

[Greg Reimer 7376]

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.

[Dave Muller]

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.

[Dave Muller]

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.

[Eddies66]

Originally Posted by Greg Reimer 7376

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.

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

[Dave Muller]

It's Christmas in August!



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.



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



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:



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

[RobbieRacer]

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.