After nearly twenty years of waiting; it's time to turn the keys over to my only son, Joshua. So here she is, his first borne!
This is of course the most recent shots; she wasn't always this sweet-a-ride! The first thing we did was to procure the bold-on body pieces. The nose is a ChooChoo Customs piece from the original El Camino SS molds while the hood is standard fare 2" Cowl Induction piece (fiberglass). We used the 16"x8" aluminum wheels from a 1987 TransAm GTA and the rear spoiler was complements of a 1984 Firebird.
The second area we worked on was the Drivers Side Door. The first order of business was to replace the worn-out electric window motor. Then we stripped down the jam area to expose the rust that had occurred since she was painted some sixteen years ago. We wire brushed the surface areas down to the bare metal. Then we brushed Rust Mort (Acid Based Neutralizer) on anywhere there appeared to be signs of rust. Afterwards, we sanded all of the areas smooth again, resealed all of the seams with 3M Seam Sealer and covered it all with self etching primer. After we filled in the holes and smoothed all the surfaces we laid the paint. While the jams were drying we rebuilt the hinges with new bronze bushings and hardened steel pins. Finally, we reinstalled the doors, connected all the wires, and attached the inner panels. Beautiful!
The third area we worked on was the Passengers Side Door. Although the window motor was in good shape the door had much more rust in it. We ran though the same process on this door but with a bit more elbow grease. Good as new!
After the door jams were done and the doors mounted and aligned, it was time to turn our attention toward the motor. It is of course all new, but the fuel injection just is not working out. We had installed a Holley Projection 4, 900cfm; a good piece for all out racing but we could not dial it in well enough to run on the street. So we pulled the system, wiring and computer. After that was done we pulled the electric fuel pump that was mounted aft the differential along with the return line; which ran the full length of the car-doghouse to the fuel cell in the trunk. We plumbed in one of the racing filters in the rear, just below the fuel cell, and ran new fuel line front and rear. Finally, we installed a factory Corvette mechanical fuel pump, hard feed line, and a Holley 650 Double-Pumper. After some tweaking she purred like a mountain lion.
During a break-in run we ran into a problem with a couple rocker arms coming loose. As it turned out, the studs for the number three hole had pulled out. We've never seen this; as a matter of fact, no one we spoke to had even heard of the factory studs pulling out of their bosses. However, that being said, we are running a hotter cam along with its matching valve springs; which may the culprit. So we ordered up a stud puller/guide tool and some screw-in studs--what a job! While adjusting the rockers we noticed the engine's temperature was a bit erratic; the electric fan simply wasn't pulling enough air through the radiator and across the motor. So we ordered a stainless steel flex fan and a nice chrome shroud to top it off.
After a number of starts we noticed the factory starter was beginning to drag a bit; it worsened as the day went on. Thinking it may have been a timing issue we attached the vacuum gage and timing light and readjusted the timing and the carburetor; they were nuts-on. So ordered a quality gear reduction starter; its three to one ratio will give us more than enough torque to turn our beast, it's smaller, and about half the weight. A win-win situation!
Back to the body. Before we can paint the doghouse we have to work on the alignment of the custom SS nose. The brackets that came with it were not up to par and like most aftermarket panels, neither was its overall fitment. So, we pulled the inadequate supplier top bracket and fabricated a two-piece unit out of 1/8 inch aluminum stock to better align the area just above the headlamps. The pictures here show the drivers side after we mocked it up. We will trim the top plate even with the radiator core support and paint it semi-gloss black before we were finished. In the meantime, you get the picture-no pun intended.
Latching down the hood was next. Since we have a fiberglass hood, the stock latch won't work; it's too heavy and requires the use of stiff springs at each end of the hood to open it. Our hood is a lightweight racing piece and isn't strong enough to support the springs without warping or worse--breaking. There aren't a lot of options aside from the corner pins which require lift-off of the hood (a two man process). Another concern with pins is that their easily removed allowing a prankster to set you up for a potentially dangerous situation; so we opted for a set of locking pins. These pins also allow use hinges to allow a single-man lift; we used the factory hinges without the spring tensioners. After a lot of measuring, trial fitting, and adjustments, voila! They work perfectly! After the car is painted we'll install the chrome cover plates which will give them a much more professional appearance.
After latching down the hood it was time to latch down myself and any passengers I might have; so we ordered a new set of O.E.M. retractable seatbelts.
Today marked a major milestone; we got her back from the body shop. The color looks great and all the body modifications finally work together now. We still have to shoot the mirrors and finish up the trim strips; but it's all starting to come together.
Today was a tough day for Team Malibu. We had just a few more things to finish up before cruise time when devastation struck! The number four intake valve rocker stud boss shattered, spitting out two chunks of cast iron along with the rocker stud. Unbelievable! Well, it's back to the drawing board for now; we're thinking a set of L-98 Aluminum Corvette Heads are in order.
Well, after a month of searching the Internet, newspapers, bone yards, and machine shops; we finally found a set of World Products Torquer S/R Heads. These are mild performance heads; but they blow the L-98’s out of the water. With their 67cc Chamber, 2.02 Intake, 1.65 Exhaust, and 170cc Intake Runners; they flow a whopping 221/153cfm at .500 lift as apposed to the L-98’s 196/155cfm. The only caveat is they are cast iron rather than aluminum; but the added performance will easily counter the weight differential. Installing these is major surgery; it took a full eleven-hour day to tear down the motor, clean gasket surfaces, reinstall, and torque everything back down. But it was worth it!
Here's a few shots of the undercarriage; pre-detail of course!