It's a drag, writing off your classic wheels
Fortunately, their friend had a big-block-powered drag car tucked away in his garage
Don Yewish with his 1978 Malibu.
It's got a 496-cubic-inch big-block Chevy stroker motor under the hood
A large part of this great classic and collector car hobby is the wonderful people you meet through it.
Don Yewish of Winnipeg and his wife Elizabeth not only enjoy it, they immerse themselves in it.
Longtime Sunday Cruise Night regulars with their 1986 Pontiac Trans Am, things went well until an unfortunate circumstance resulted in Autopac writing off their car in 2003. Now, losing your special-interest car is a bit tough to get over, but, while looking for a replacement, Don decided to stay connected to the hobby by taking photos of vehicles at Cruise Night and other automotive events, hooking up with Ray and Gerald Henry at autoclubs.ca.
"I like taking photos and promoting the hobby," says Yewish.
A year and a half passed and the couple were no closer to finding the mid-sixties Nova or Camaro they had wanted. "Most were priced too high or they were just junk," says Yewish.
The next step was to open up the search to include vehicles that may not have been mainstream collectibles, yet were unique enough to really stand out at a cruise night or show. About that time, their friend Glen Novakowski asked if they might be interested in the car he had in his garage.
Novakowski had tucked away a 1978 Malibu rolling chassis. Previously a big-block-powered drag car from Michigan, it had been brought up to Canada and raced for a couple of years at Gimli Dragways and was now minus its engine and transmission. A full race car with back-half frame to accommodate large drag slicks and a twelve-point roll cage, Yewish thought it would make one wicked pro street machine. With its purple and black tearaway paint scheme, rear spoiler and side-exit exhaust, it was certainly unique. All it needed was a powertrain.
First, a full cleaning of the underside of the car and chassis was needed to remove all of the years of dust, dirt and rubber that had accumulated from racing. Marnix Thenpondt and Dave Dickson at Unicity Paint & Body then repainted the hood and engine compartment. Yewish, Novakowski and Lucas Mlinar began converting the car back into a street car with a new custom wiring harness and full Auto Meter gauge package.
A 496 cubic-inch big-block Chevy stroker motor was chosen and supplied by Hultgren's Engine & Machine in Hallock, Minn. With JE 13.2:1 high-compression pistons, H-beam connecting rods, Brodix aluminum cylinder heads and intake manifold, it runs an all-Crane full roller camshaft and valvetrain. Topped with a 950 CFM Holley four-barrel race carburetor and fired with an MSD crank-trigger ignition system, it's all business.
Dual 12-volt batteries supply the cranking power, while a 12-gallon fuel cell and Mallory electric fuel pump keep the engine supplied with high-octane racing fuel.
Cooling the big engine is a CSR electric water pump, Griffin aluminum radiator and dual Flex-A-Lite electric fans. Exhaust is handled by a pair of Hooker Super Comp ceramic-coated headers leading to Magnaflow mufflers. Installed by Keith Relf at Extreme Performance Automotive, the four-inch custom dual-exhaust system required the fabrication of a new transmission crossmember to accommodate the oversize unit.
Backing up the engine is a 4,100 rpm hi-stall torque converter leading to a race-prepped Turbo 400 automatic transmission with a reverse full manual valve body, trans brake, line-lock and B&M Pro ratchet shifter. Wesley Machine custom built a thick-wall steel driveshaft leading to a narrowed and cross-braced 12-bolt rear axle housing with C-clip eliminators, 33-spline Moser axles and a full spool turning a 4.56:1 ratio gearset.
There's disc brakes up front with Competition Engineering race shocks and large drum brakes in back with Koni coil-over shocks controlling the ladder bar rear suspension. Tying it to the road is a massive set of 33 by 18.5-inch Mickey Thompson ET Street tires mounted on Weld Racing Aluma-Star II wheels.
The competition look is carried over inside with lightweight black vinyl bucket seats from Jeg's, five-point safety harness along with the factory three-point belts. Tinted glass and dual side view mirrors round out the optional extras.
Throughout the entire build, Jason at the Auto Parts Center helped in choosing and supplying many of the parts required to complete the transformation from an ex-racer to a ground-pounding pro street machine.
"I continue to take photos at the events for autoclubs.ca and Elizabeth and I really enjoy the shows and cruise nights with the new Malibu," Yewish says. "So the next time you see an 800-horsepower Malibu pull into a cruise night parking lot, smile for the camera -- you're about to become part of Winnipeg's cruise night history.
Beginning tonight at 6 p.m., you can see the Malibu in the Drag Racers Association of Manitoba exhibit along with 100 other great custom and performance machines at Rondex Rodarama, Manitoba's premier rod and custom car show.
Presented by the Manitoba Street Rod Association, the show runs all weekend at the East End Arena, 517 Pandora Ave. East. Show hours are Friday 6 p.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-10 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. The entry fee is $7 per person. See you there!
Post Your Comment