I
bought this 1978 Malibu in 1986. Through the years
it's had many different engine combinations from a
200 Chevy V6 to a 350SB, 400SB, 402BB and even a
fuel injected 454BB. But even the mighty 454 can not
compare to the one resting between the fenders
today. I've finally found an engine combination that
out performs all the others...a V6! It's not a Chevy
V6, it's a Buick 3.8L V6 from a 1987 Buick Grand
National. I chose this combination because it gives
me the best drivability, the best economy and the
best performance! On a 1500 mile trip (750 miles one
way) the Malibu averaged a best of 24.8mpg cruising
at 70-75mph! This car has NEVER done that with
any of the other engine combinations listed above!
It was back in 1997 when I swapped in the Buick
Turbo V6 drive train. I chose to transfer everything
from the donor car... the complete engine/trans/rear
and the entire Turbo Regal wiring harness!
There is no wiring in the car that is still from
1978. To service the electrical system you have to
use a 87 Turbo Regal manual! The swap was
basically a bolt-in with two minor exceptions. One
of them was that the computer harness from the
engine side needed to be fed through a hole drilled
under the a/c box on the right side . No problem at
all for a hole saw and a little measuring to get it
centered correct. The other was another hole needed
to be drilled under the brake booster to feed the
cruise control wires through. Again, no problem.
Some will say I done it the hard way but when you
factor in the cost of an "add-on" engine harness
I'll gladly use some labor time and save the cash
for future upgrades.
After a few years of drag racing and not driving it
very often I wanted to revive my interest in the car
again. So in 2004 I decided to paint the car yellow,
take off the Choo Choo Customs (Monte SS) nose and
add a lot of additional options. Most of the options
are from a wrecked 84 Buick T-Type. I know a lot of
people like to strip their cars to make them lighter
but I've chosen to go for a fully optioned car that
happens to be fast also. Running 10's is no easy
task! With the extreme torque of the turbo V6 adding
all those options shouldn't make a huge difference.
Don't take this wrong... I like a fast race car but
a fast fully optioned street car is more impressive
to me!
I
guess by now you're wondering what this car has
actually run on the drag strip. The best time so far
is a 6.53 at 107 in the 8th mile! That's a mid to
low 10 in the quarter at 130mph! Pretty good for a
car that gets 24.8mpg on the interstate while
cruising at 70-75mph? Plus, this is no light weight
gutted car...just look at the options listed below.
There's plenty there to make it an everyday touring
coupe!
Pictures of the past...
This picture was taken in 1987. I owned the car for
about a year and I didn't have a great paying job so
that's why those hideous white wall tires were still on
the car...lol!
Unknown year when the
picture below was taken but I'm guessing somewhere
around 1989.
The picture below was
probably taken around 2001. I had a "fender bender" in
1991 and chose to install a Choo-Choo Customs nose
instead of the original 78 front end.
The animated gif below is
from when I made a replica of the car for the video game
"Need for Speed - High Stakes". It's pretty cool to be
able to race with your own car...lol! If you want the
files I have them on another page for downloading.
It's came a long way to look like does today. Lots
of time and money.
