1986 Short bed 2WD

[MalibuSSwagon]

Thought I'd just take a few mins to show off my ride.

1986 Custom Deluxe shorty 2WD.

Factory ordered options:
305 V8
SM465 4 speed
Power steering
2.73 gears
Deluxe Instrument cluster

I added:
Galant bucket seats to replace the aweful plastic seats
Hella Driving lights on the front pushbar
Factory front sway bar
CD player
Receiver hitch
88-94 Steering wheel

I've had this thing July 09, haven't done much besides maintenance and fix things the PO did. Replaced the overkill double pumper with a 1406 Edelbrock, tuned it, new balljoints, shocks, rubber cab mounts. Its low mileage, 93K now, and no rot thru, just a lot of surface rust to take care of. Thing tow awesome as well! Love the four speed.

Also the glove box was signed by Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Not too bad for free, huh?

When I got it -






It came with these sweet racing seats



I switched them for these seats I had laying around





Hurricane wheels my pops gave me, used to be on his old 84 20 yrs ago. They have sat in storage since, have all new center caps for them too.


Stock caps I found


As it currently sits






I'd like to do a 5.3 LS swap in the future, some OEM buckets, new carpet, and a paint job of course. Paint job is getting done this spring.

Enjoy

[DriverDown]

Originally Posted by MalibuSSwagon

I switched them for these seats I had laying around



Hurricane wheels my pops gave me, used to be on his old 84 20 yrs ago. They have sat in storage since, have all new center caps for them too.


Enjoy

Those seats look like they fit well - and would be awesome if they were recovered as low back buckets. Did you put together some custom brackets for those?

Also, those wheels look good... can't wait to see them on the truck.

[MalibuSSwagon]

The seats do fit pretty good, not happy with the brackets I made, thinking I should re-do them. My buddy gave me the seats, he didn't want them for his car anymore.

The wheels are super nice, need some refinishing on the clear coat,but they have only had 1 set on tires ever mounted on them. Plus being discontinued makes them extra special.

[Altec]

Missing a mud flap?

[MalibuSSwagon]

With gas prices going up by the minute, I dont think I can afford to not do the LS 5.3L swap. 13 mpg vs 20-22, no contest. Plus the ease and reliability of the newer engine makes this a more viable backup vehicle.

[Pop's C-10]

I like tha look of tha caps & steel wheels..that push bar is cool too..

[MalibuSSwagon]

A little while ago I blasted the worst rust off the drivers side.



Then hit it with some etch primer.



Yup I did the whole bedside at one point, removed the rear bumper and all. Then I spraybomb'd it flat black, yeah I know, but guess what its already scratched up from being used as a truck should be used. At least it has rust no more.

Also picked up a dual headlight core support for $15, its got a little rust.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Fed up with the carb. Pulled this out of storage. 86 TPI system, 1985 Z28 Valve covers. Needs some cleaning



Figure this will hold me over until I have the time and space to do an LS swap.

[manimal]

Nice truck! Looks SO MUCH BETTER w/o the visor and roll bar.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Originally Posted by manimal

Nice truck! Looks SO MUCH BETTER w/o the visor and roll bar.

Thanks man


Found a 1227730 ECM today, need to go back to the junkyard tomorrow and pull an 87 truck TBI harness to re-pin for TPI. Will be alot easier than rebuilding the 85 TPI harness I have and fitting it to the truck.

[MalibuSSwagon]

raw materials for new EFI harness.



1985 Z28 TPI harness. 1990 speed density ECM, with connectors. Various extra connecters.

Progress



Modifying for stand alone connection. Stripping out unused circuits, Will be adding a fuse block for fuel pump, power, etc.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Harness done. Hope it works!

My Dad is telling me to install a new cam while the truck is apart. Not certain it's worth the money as I am planning on a 5.3 swap in a few years.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Well pulled the dashpad and glove box to start running wiring.



Then decided it was a nice day to go to the car wash and powerwash the engine.



Also finished up the harness.



Waiting on parts to come in, new EFI tank, sender, Z28 hi pressure fuel pump.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Just ordered Melling RV cam, Speedpro lifers, and double roller timing chain.

[edge]

Those 10 spoke aluminum wheels look like "Western Bullets". Always liked them back in the day. I put that Melling cam in a 4x4 a few years back, did good.

Just a thought if you planning on putting the EFI and cam in at the same time, you might want to put the cam in now and get it broke in first; then put the efi on. Just so you know you have something reliable to start up good to break the cam in.

Got a picture of the glove box door?

[MalibuSSwagon]

I'm gonna break in the cam on the EFI, shouldn't be too bad. I have a base tune to run it on.

[MalibuSSwagon]

New 16 gal EFI tank, coated with bedliner for extra weather resistance



Intake soaking in hot Purple Power bath

[Gordonr1973]

Lots of work done so far, looks really good!!

[MalibuSSwagon]

After the bath, cleaned up and painted the intake. Duplicolor Graphite wheel paint with a nice clear coat on top. EGR valve flat blacked



Aww yea



New Melling MTC1 RV cam, Speed Pro lifers, double roller timing chain.



Mr Injector fuel injector rebuild kit for Bosch injectors. Highly recommended, he includes an extra set of parts in case you break something. In my case I destroyed a pintle cap.



I cleaned the injectors by soaking them in fuel injector cleaner, the type you dump in a tank of gas. They came out squeaky clean after an overnight soak. Flushed them out using compressed air, then rebuilt them using the new parts. This is a very helpful page if you are looking to save a few bucks doing this yourself. http://www.rowand.net/Shop/Tech/DIYF...orCleaning.htm


Done!



------------------------------
Pulling the patient in for surgery.



First of all, we need to shed some light on the subject here. I found this worked out very well. Used some stiff wire to make loops to hold this light up.



Old and busted



Good bye carb! Hopefully I do not have to deal with you again.



500 lb intake gone! that was painful to remove.



Hot tip for those removing the cam from your square with the engine in. GM put this bar down the exact middle of the core support, conveniently in line with the cam.



Great design GM, thanks. I hammered the bar forward just enough for me to be able to angle the cam out of the block. Putting in the new cam was a similar story, but with sticky assembly lube.



Double roller chain on! The original GM chain was worn to hell, I believe I was the source my the stumbling issue the engine was having. Also the fuel pump lobe was completely wiped off the cam. Wowzers.

Valley cleaned up, new lifters in!



Shiny fuel pump block off installed!



Moving along in the reassembly phase, lower intake manifold and fuel rail in.




Lets pause for a moment and reflect on why it is great to work on a truck in a crowded garage.




Got lucky at the junkyard and scored full length braided GM fuel lines off a 91 TBI pickup. Got all this line and an S10 throttle cable for $10.



Getting closer - distributor stabbed in, Wiring harness run and mostly wrapped.



Awesome.



Fuel line routing is coming along.



And we are at today.

[cable666guy]

Good progress! What's gonna go in the wagon now??

[Zebb]

Looks great! I always wanted to do that back in the day when those injection systems were all over the place but never did.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Originally Posted by cable666guy

Good progress! What's gonna go in the wagon now??

Oh don't worry, I had a spare TPI system I picked up for cheap off c-list. The Malibu's TPI is being worked over now.

Originally Posted by Zebb

Looks great! I always wanted to do that back in the day when those injection systems were all over the place but never did.

I love the look of these Tuned Port intakes. Thanks! Your truck looks great, it's going to be another year at least until I can completely redo my truck.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Well its pretty much all together and ready to fire up, except for a couple wires.

I did a little pondering and searching around, figured out my truck is equipped with a 42 amp Delco 10SI alternator. Well thats barely enough to run a carb'd vehicle, never mind a fuel injected beast towing a trailer with electric brakes. So picked up everything I need to convert to a CS144 140 amp alternator and upgrade the electrical system.



CS144 from a 93 Caddy Fleetwood, pulled the battery cable from the car for kicks. Buss bar from a TBI truck, couple of fuse holders from TBI vehicles, 6ft of 8 AWG wire from the Home Depot, bunch of ring terminals and resistors from a local electrical supply house. It was a good day.

[MalibuSSwagon]

CS144 checked out good at the parts store!

Engine bay as of today.



LC-1 connected and ziptied in place. Also you can see my sweet fuel pump relay/ESC module bracket that i snagged from an 86 Trans Am.



Wiring is done, time to fire it up!

[manimal]

You've done a very nice job! I like that graphite paint on the intake.