'66 Malibu N/SA

[Dave Muller]

Lest anyone think there's been no progress at all lately, here are a few new pictures.

Here the fuel cell is in.



Here's the underside, with the fuel pump and filter. The main fuel line is installed, but it's clear that I need a 90 degree AN fitting to run to the fuel cell, so that will be a few more days before that's done.




Next I'll be putting the axles in and checking tire clearance prior to buying the wheels and tires for the back.

[Dave Muller]

I'm inching along a little further, the vent tube is ready once I get the correct fitting, and the line from the fuel cell is in. I will trim off the vent tube so that about 1/2" protrudes, then the four bolts hanging there will attach straps that capture a rectangular piece of foam to protect the vent from any debris going in. Probably overkill, but I prefer it that way.


I also measured for tire clearance. It looks to me like either 5" or 5.5" backspacing would work for a 10" wheel (assuming a 9 x 30 tire), but I think 5" will center the tire better. On the other hand if I start with 5.5" backspace I can always use spacers to adjust. So I'm still on the fence a bit there.

I tried installing the rear sway bar, it's a 1" bar of the general sort the factory used. It's a UMI Performance piece, same company as made the control arms I'm using. But it doesn't seem to quite fit, it appears to be about 5/16" too wide. I'm leaning towards just returning it and getting the H and R Parts sway bar. It's more expensive (that's why I originally went with the stock type) but it should circumvent the current problem, and it sounds like they work better anyway.

[Dave Muller]

After three weekends with races, plus getting sick in the midst of it, not a lot has gotten done the last few weeks.

I did send back the stock-style rear sway bar that didn't quite fit. I plan to use an H&R Parts bar.

This weekend my schedule was finally clear enough, and I felt well enough, to dig back in. So here we go with my first attempt at a proper rust repair.

Here's what I'm starting with:


This is what I found behind it:


Here's the quarter panel after some wire brushing:


Here's a first fitting, with some trimming still needed:



I think I have the trimming very nearly done (not as seen in that picture, I worked on it more after that). It fits well enough that I could go with it, but I'll tweak it a little better before trying to weld it in.

It should be better than the fix I did on my first drag race car. It was a rusty '69 Camaro that I got for next to nothing in 1979. It had several small rust holes, but I just sanded them down, covered them with aluminum tape and bondo. It actually looked really good, and still did several years later when I sold it. But I'm sure when it was re-done later they got a laugh at the hack job some idiot (me!) did.

Meanwhile I should get my backing plates back momentarily, modified to fit the Moser rear, and I should be able to put the axles in and install the drum brakes in the rear.

I also have three more very small holes to fill in the body, just a few square inches total. It looks like someone drilled a bunch of holes very close together to try to pull out a small dent in the front of the hood. There's also a very small square missing from the bottom of one fender where I'm guessing there used to be a rust hole. What's left seems clean and solid though. Plus there's the hole for the antenna. Front there it's just bondo, primer and block sanding. It won't be close to being a show car, but it should look okay on the track.