Post by Mr.409 on Jan 22, 2020 5:23:32 GMT -5
For the past four years I had a 1st gen Chevy S10 as a daily driver. It was fun to drive, but at the same time it was a bit too new for my taste, plus it had way too many electric parts in the engine bay that made troubleshooting a real pain. Otherwise the car had been excellent... Reliable, gets a good gas mileage (cheap to drive) and much cooler than most of the disgusting new cars you see on traffic.
But in July I bought this '74 Malibu Classic STW as my new daily driver. It needed a bit of work before I could go to the mandatory tech inspection to make it legal to drive, but it wasn't too bad. It's sold as new here in Finland and used as a Hearse until 2014. These big American Wagons were popular as hearses back in the day - just take a regular STW, take out the backseat and install everything needed to carry the coffin inside.
This had some rust spots, but they were definitely fixable. Actually, there is still one or two small spots that I need to fix when the weather permits, but the critical ones are done. Also it needed some general maintenance and cleanup, plus new set of wheels and tires. It has 350 SBC under the hood with Rochester 2bbl carb. The engine is bone stock, runs and drives perfectly. So only cleanup and some routine maintenance was done under the hood.
Here it is when I bought it:
About one week after I bought it, I passed the tech inspection and the car was legal to drive. I built new exhaust pipes, figured out the problem with front parking lights and turn signals and did a couple of other smaller things. The overall look was improved a lot by a proper wheel & tire combo and a good wash & wax.
It's pretty rare to see a car like this as a daily driver around here... But I don't want to make everyday driving boring by having to drive somekind of new boring car that doesn't look or sound like anything...
But in July I bought this '74 Malibu Classic STW as my new daily driver. It needed a bit of work before I could go to the mandatory tech inspection to make it legal to drive, but it wasn't too bad. It's sold as new here in Finland and used as a Hearse until 2014. These big American Wagons were popular as hearses back in the day - just take a regular STW, take out the backseat and install everything needed to carry the coffin inside.
This had some rust spots, but they were definitely fixable. Actually, there is still one or two small spots that I need to fix when the weather permits, but the critical ones are done. Also it needed some general maintenance and cleanup, plus new set of wheels and tires. It has 350 SBC under the hood with Rochester 2bbl carb. The engine is bone stock, runs and drives perfectly. So only cleanup and some routine maintenance was done under the hood.
Here it is when I bought it:
About one week after I bought it, I passed the tech inspection and the car was legal to drive. I built new exhaust pipes, figured out the problem with front parking lights and turn signals and did a couple of other smaller things. The overall look was improved a lot by a proper wheel & tire combo and a good wash & wax.
It's pretty rare to see a car like this as a daily driver around here... But I don't want to make everyday driving boring by having to drive somekind of new boring car that doesn't look or sound like anything...
It's an interweb thing.....