Author: Dave Williams; dlwilliams=aristotle=net
Back in October of 2002, a friend of mine gave me a 1980 Malibu wagon he'd acquired as an abandoned car. It had 62,000 miles on the clock... with service papers in the glovebox showing 59,000 in 1984. It had the 229 Chevy V6 and T200 three speed. The engine had a knock, which turned out to be loose bolts on the crank pulley. I put in new fluids, filters, shocks, belts, plugs and wires, cap, rotor, radiator and heater hoses, and so forth, "just because".
I'd never thought of myself as a station wagon sort of person, and felt embarrassed at first, but the thing is fun to drive. The little 229 is okay as long as you don't expect much of it. It has the usual rear main seal leak common to 1978-1984-ish Chevrolets. They changed rubber compositions or something, and the seals turn rock hard and crack, and oil runs out the back whenever you take off. The seal is $3, but you have to pull the engine to change it, and if it comes out... it's not going back. I have a Buick Grand National turbo V6 and 200-4R to install when I get a little extra time.
The wagon is nice, the air conditioning works, and it has a radio; I decided it will become my tow car for the race car and trailer. That's what I bought Thunder for. The wagon is light and underpowered, but I don't pull the trailer often. I've upgraded the suspension substantially, and added a 5000# Class IV trailer hitch.
Driver's side. The dents in the driver's door are about the only damage the
car has. When I'm ready to paint it, I plan to just replace the door with a
straight one and avoid bodywork.
You can see the trailer hitch under the back. I also found a heated rear
hatch in the junkyard and swapped it for the original one.
Front view. The chrome is perfect, as are both bumpers.
In the parking lot at the local parts store. The wagon actually rides
noticeably higher than stock, with the heavy duty springs and air shocks. But
it looks petite parked between a pair of Detroit's machismo machines.
With the 5660 springs in front and Monte SS springs in back, the back actually
sat lower than stock, and the front maybe four inches higher! It
looked ridiculous. I took the SS springs back and ordered some variable-rate
"cargo coils" to replace them.
Gas door is open since that's where I put the air shock filler. What bozo at
Chevrolet decided to hinge the freaking door at the TOP, anyway?
Passenger side with the cargo coils and air in the air shocks. Still doesn't
sit quite level here. After 5,000 miles or so, the front settled almost an
inch, so it is level with 70 PSI or so in the shocks.
The problem with the 5660s up front seems to be that most of the people who've
done it had later, heavier cars with V8s, so they don't sit up like a four
wheel drive with the 5660s. I'm going to have to pull them and cut a coil off
to lower the nose some.