70' Chevelle Malibu project ideas.....

[Nicks67GTO]

I'm probably a long ways off on actually starting in on this so I'm going to hold off on a build thread but it's probably time to at least consider the concept and maybe what direction I might go. Plus i'm kind of bored and the weather is geting crappy so I thought I would start a discussion on it and see what you all thought?? Maybe even start collecting a few parts if the deal is right in front of me while I finish up my GTO.

Iv'e got this thing laying around. It's a 1970 Chevelle Malibu. Its all there. Bone stock, 1 repaint in the early 90's. There's virtually no rot rust. Its been in the family since it was brand new. I was the last one to drive it in Highschool in 1998. 350/TH350 8.2" 10 bolt. Bench seat, column shift, AC, PS, PB rear window defog and most importantly...vintage aftermarket AM/FM Delco 8track and complimentary 3 Dog Night 8 track.









So i'm thinking i'm going to completely leave the exterior, most of the interior, sheetmetal and frame alone and build it from primarily nothing but bolt on used parts. The goal would be to build a killer handling, reliable daily driver street car on the cheap and leave the patina. CHEAP being the key word. I'm thinking like $10-12K for a hardline budget.



-I'm thinking a junkyard 6.0 with a few bolt-ons for an honest/street happy 87 octane 400hp
-Tanks inc fuel system
-700R4
-C6 front, LS1 rear brakes, 9" DD booster, 1" master
-8.5" chevy rear end with 3.73's
-Eventually rebuild the factory A/C or shoot some kind of cleaner through it and convert it to the modern refrigerant and use a sanden compressor.
-Used 18" wheels of some sort with 245/45/18 and 295/45/18 Nitto555's
-Re-do the headliner, reseal the windows, new carpet, sound deaden the interior, put a nice stereo in it, leave it column shift and bench seat and call it done.
-An entire used 68-72' chassis kit from someone on here looking to upgrade or change directions. Or piece together something with used parts. New tie rods and pieces from proforged and a JGC box swap.

Call it either project Rust-o-mod or ChevelLOL

Ideas? Thoughts? Is it do-able on $10-12K if I can find good used stuff? Am I dreaming?

Discuss....

[Bonehead]

I'm sure you could do it on the cheap if you took the time to look for and wait for the right deal. Only one bit of advice, stay away from the cheap Chinese junk. You'll end up regretting it.

Then again, its a 70 Chevelle! Throw $30-40k at it and build a nice car!

[Nicks67GTO]

I'm sure you could do it on the cheap if you took the time to look for and wait for the right deal. Only one bit of advice, stay away from the cheap Chinese junk. You'll end up regretting it.

Then again, its a 70 Chevelle! Throw $30-40k at it and build a nice car!

I have no interest in Chinese chassis parts. I was thinking I could probably do a complete UMI chassis. Their parts are pretty reasonable. I would love to throw 30-40K at it but if I do its going to be a long time before it will ever see the road.

[chevelletiger]

I think 12-15k will make it happen but only if you do all the labor yourself.

[Nicks67GTO]

I think 12-15k will make it happen but only if you do all the labor yourself.

I would be doing just about all of it myself. I'll pay for a headliner etc but I can get that stuff done cheap. If I stuck a cam and a tune in the 6.0 I would have to pay for the tune. Stuff like that. Otherwise I'm going to be the hired wrench

[silvermonte]

I think you are spot on with the 6.0,700r4, and the Tanks fuel thingy. Something you might of not thought about is where will you put the gauges to watch the oil pressure and such. The stock dash leaves alot to be desired. The clock is kinda cool but I think I would rather know my oil pressure.

[Nicks67GTO]

I think you are spot on with the 6.0,700r4, and the Tanks fuel thingy. Something you might of not thought about is where will you put the gauges to watch the oil pressure and such. The stock dash leaves alot to be desired. The clock is kinda cool but I think I would rather know my oil pressure.

Guess I haven't thought that far forward. I'll probably do the 80's esque gauge pods below the dash like I have in my GTO currently. I'm going to be doing speedhut stuff in my stock GTO dash this winter so ill probably re use those under the Chevelle dash. I know the Malibu dash isn't very utilitarian but it will stay since its kind of a nostalgic thing for me.

[regal454]

-I'm thinking a junkyard 6.0 with a few bolt-ons for an honest/street happy 87 octane 400hp
-Tanks inc fuel system

That was my exact goal when I did my LS swap. Look for a LY6 6.0, I believe the came in the 07-10 Chevy/GMC 2500's. They have the 823 L92 rectangular port heads on them. I deleted the VVT cam and timing set added and LS3 intake and a 223/230/.601 lift cam and headers. It makes and easy 400+ horsepower and the 9.6 compression ratio is happy on 87 octane. The engine has a great street manners!

[Nicks67GTO]

That was my exact goal when I did my LS swap. Look for a LY6 6.0, I believe the came in the 07-10 Chevy/GMC 2500's. They have the 823 L92 rectangular port heads on them. I deleted the VVT cam and timing set added and LS3 intake and a 223/230/.601 lift cam and headers. It makes and easy 400+ horsepower and the 9.6 compression ratio is happy on 87 octane. The engine has a great street manners!

Excellent!