(5 years later) Man - I'm so dejected right now I don't know what to do

[440]

That was the idea, find a radiator out of a junk yard and other bits and pieces just to get it going for now, but if I can find the right parts and only have to do it once I'd rather do that.

Yeah, PWR make radiators and said a custom one for a Chevelle will run about $2k. There are also cheap chinese alloy radiators on ebay for $255 which is dirt cheap and have a better chance of fitting ok, if it lasts 2 - 3 years it may just be worth it, lol.

[JR]

I have to say, that's what I'd do. A running car will be much easier to work on and deal with, as opposed to a 4000lb brick you have to push everywhere.

You can always swap out for the correct parts later.

Just curious, what's it like driving an American muscle car in Aussieland? How do they like your rides?

[Fred]

Well, after 5 years from being shipped out here I've finally looked under the hood, and for the first time in 13+ years I've seen lights. I bought it in 04 without engine and trans and nothing else in the engine bay.

I will try to fire it up pretty soon but unfortunately I never planned to move to Australia so I didn't get or care about a few crucial parts that I needed. They are readily available in the US but impossible to find here and shipping really puts a brake on things.

Since we are moving soon I thought I'd get it going so it's easy to move around under its own power, might have to Jerry-rig something from the junk yard just to get it going.

Still, it's pretty exciting considering.... Just gotta squirt some oil in the cylinders and turn it over, find a radiator, radiator hoses, power steering hoses, trans lines and she's ready to fire.

Whoopie! 

[440]

Just curious, what's it like driving an American muscle car in Aussieland? How do they like your rides?

Australia has a massive car culture but it is quite a bit different to America. There are TONS of cars around but you don't tend to see them very much, only really when there is a show or cruise on.

Australia is also extremely strict on cars and modifications, sort of like California and smog. While there is no emissions testing they frown and poo poo if you have a modified car. You can get modifications engineered so they're legal but basically anything that alters a car from original is illegal unless ADR approved (Australian Design Rules). The "hoon" laws are pretty tough here.

[440]

I dug out my old B&M ratchet shifter and cleaned it up a bit which came up pretty good considering. I pulled all the crap out of the front seat to make room to install the shifter and had an "oh shit" moment when I found out there was no gas pedal in the car. Luckily to my relief while digging for parts I found all the bits - the rod, pedal, pin, spring, special cable retaining bushing etc.

Next week I will order one of those chinese alloy radiators which will be the biggest expense of getting it going. I measured it up and it looks like it should fit pretty good. They are about half the price of a normal OEM style radiator. It turns out my work colleague bought one for his RX-7 and it's not too bad actually, been on the car for about 3 years trouble free so far.

There wasn't a power steering pump on the car but I managed to find an early Saginaw steering pump (keyed double pulley) which wasn't the one I had on the car. I may try to find a later model one (press on single pulley) in the wreckers since I can't find mine. Luckily I also found the power steering brackets to mount the pump.

My buddy in the states is going to collect a few parts like radiator hoses and such to save on shipping. Trying to order one or two things here at a time is a joke.

Getting closer......  

[Fred]

Just curious, what's it like driving an American muscle car in Aussieland? How do they like your rides?

Australia has a massive car culture but it is quite a bit different to America. There are TONS of cars around but you don't tend to see them very much, only really when there is a show or cruise on.

Australia is also extremely strict on cars and modifications, sort of like California and smog. While there is no emissions testing they frown and poo poo if you have a modified car. You can get modifications engineered so they're legal but basically anything that alters a car from original is illegal unless ADR approved (Australian Design Rules). The "hoon" laws are pretty tough here.

Saw about 50 or so Holdens while out cruising today. Must be a gathering somewhere.
Actually we see lots of cars out and about on a Sunday. I guess it's the day for cruising.

[440]

I was going through some older photos and found some of when I originally bought the car. This is from the previous owners garage when we went to look at it.

Last one is right after I installed the Global West conversion in 2005.

[440]

My ebay radiator came and it actually looks pretty good, apparently they fail and leak where the tubes join at the edge of the core.

Radiator is mounted in the car, shifter is installed and adjusted. My Saginaw pump had a dent/tear in the reservoir so I flattened it out and will braze the hole up. I cut the double pulley down to a single and will put a rebuild kit through the pump while it's apart.

The motor turns over and cranks with the key but I'd still like to prime the galleries through the pressure port in the block before I turn it over too much.

[440]

Nearly ready to fire the old girl up. I changed the oil and filter, found #1, ran the plug wires, polished up a few bits, cleaned the coil, re-oiled the air filter, replaced a flat tire with one just to roll around on. I finally brazed up the hole in the steering pump reservoir, put a seal kit through it, painted the pump and brackets and mounted it up.

She cranks and has spark, no reason it wont fire once I get all the bits to button it up.

Still waiting on an oil cooler to arrive since I don't trust the radiator, also waiting on a water and volt gauge, trans lines and radiator/power steering hoses.

And I seem to have misplaced the oil dip stick so I'll need one of those too.   

[BDF]

Nice car & way to persevere! 
                       

[440]

Thanks, it has been a real journey with this car. Sort of just forgotten about and neglected for many years, so I'm just happy to see it so close to being able to drive it.

Aside from all the bolt on stuff that I put on it's a surprisingly clean and original car. Even though it's only a base model Malibu it's a shame to drill holes in it and things like rolling the guards (which I haven't done yet)

[chapel40]

Cool thread!! So if I understand it is in Australia now, correct?

[440]

Cool thread!! So if I understand it is in Australia now, correct?

Thanks, yes it is halfway around the world. lol

[440]

Much to the complaints of my wallet I finally got some instrumentation because of course, you need this stuff to drive around the block every so often. Man s#!t is expensive over here!! The tach is overkill but since we just bought a house I splurged out for it since there will be no extra car money for quite some time to come.

Good thing I read up about these tachs again as I almost bought a fake. Pretty crappy if you ask me because they are nearly identical and if you didn't know wouldn't even question it.

Still waiting on some parts from the USA and just gotta bend up some tranny lines and we're good to go.

[440]

Gauges all in, after much back and forth I decided to mount them exactly like my old car. One of my pet peeves  are tachs that are hose clamped to the column.

[Fred]

What a buzz!   

[440]

The story continues...... My pickup truck didn't fit on the trailer so the Chevelle was next in line to get sent to our new house, unfortunately I didn't get it started in time so it was winched on. Luckily it was pretty easy and painless to load.

[Harper]

good looking car (and thats coming from a FORD/MOPAR man lol
Good luck hope all works out with it for ya.

[440]

Thanks, it gets harder and harder to move when you collect more and more crap, lol. I wasn't really a fan of the 71 at first but it has grown on me. I probably like the front of the 70 the best but the rear bumper of the 71 the most. I've always wanted to put 70 headlight bezels on the 71.

It will be better in the long run when the garage is set up and we finally move in.