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TC member #1898I bought my 65 Chevelle Malibu station wagon about 15 years ago from an ad in the local newspaper. The car was pretty original with only 65,000 miles on it. It had a little rust on the rear quarters, the paint and chrome were shot and the interior was pretty worn, but everything worked and it ran great. My original intent was to use the car as a beater, drive it until it dropped and then part it out or junk it. After I purchased the car I was looking at Chevelle convertibles to restore when my 11 year old son's logic made sense: "We already have the wagon, why not restore IT?" We pulled the front clip and drivetrain in a weekend and I remember staying up all night worrying how I was ever going to get it back together again.
The wagon was literally a "little old lady car," a one owner gem that was driven back and forth to work until the owner retired. It had been parked in her yard for a few years and then her friend sold it to me. The car was built in late August of 1965 with some rare factory options including an AM/FM radio, air conditioning, tilt steering wheel, and even a passenger side rear view mirror. I added a few more factory options including a wood grain steering wheel, gauges, a tachometer, rocker panel moldings, dual exhaust, and heavy duty springs. I wanted to improve handling so we replaced the front stabilizer bar with a fatter one from an Olds 442; adding a rear bar and boxed rear control arms as well as replacing the original drum brakes with power discs up front and adding a quick ratio steering box from a later GTO. We replaced all the plumbing and wiring and added a set of later model rally wheels. I had a friend help me with the body work and he arranged to have the car stripped and painted.
Over the years we've managed to score numerous new old stock parts at swap meets and e bay to improve the restoration.The final addition came last year when the original rebuilt 283 V8 dropped a valve and toasted itself. Rather than go the rebuild route again, we opted for a new GM Performance Parts 330 horsepower 350 engine with a four speed automatic transmission and converted the old multiple belt pulleys to a single serpentine belt with a new a/c compressor. We switched to a Vintage Air system to replace the ailing factory setup, and added an aluminum radiator and electric cooling fans when the old Harrison started springing leaks all over the place. We completed the interior restoration last fall with new headliner, carpet, seat upholstery, reupholstered door panels and cargo area. The only item left to rebuild is the rear end with new gears and a limited slip differential, but that will have to wait awhile.
All in all it has been a great project for me and my son, James who is now 25. He and I have learned a lot while spending time working together. When he was a teenager and there was nothing else to talk about or say there was always "the car" to discuss and the talk always led to other interesting conversations. It kept us close at a time when parents and children always have a hard time relating to one another; I have fond memories of the conversations we had while we were working. We spent time at swap meets, cruise nights and car shows searching for parts and looking at other restorations. I was able to keep tabs on the kinds of friends he had while we hung around the garage and he worked on his and their project cars.
The Chevelle had a great impact on James. It gave him something to occupy his time and interest during high school, and that definitely kept him out of trouble and away from drugs. It fueled a passion in him to get a formal vocational education and he now is doing what he likes best: working on Chevrolets at a local dealership.
For me, the Chevelle has become a driver that I use whenever the weather is nice; it has modern handling and stopping performance with muscle car power and I continue to enjoy working on it and driving it every chance that I get.
Photo Backgrounds of Jim's 65's are available here.
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