Hello SWF folks! For those members in the US, Happy Halloween! I had the front ride height on the Malibu wagon lowered in the spring when I had a shop install coilovers, but I decided to return to a more stock setup, so now the front and rear heights are even. I’m liking the look and the handling of this arrangement. Still able to drive the wagon to work (as I did today) with no worries about salt on the roads. I intend to take it out, dry roads permitting, in each season. It seems the more I drive it, the better it drives. And, though a bit early, wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to the US members and a peaceful fall/winter to everyone. Keep on wagon-ing! Owen
That does look great, especially with the tires and wheel covers you're currently running on them. Do you feel both more comfort, as well as better steering control, over the wagon?
Thank you STH! Behind the 1976 model year wheel covers (found at least on Malibu Classics and Caprices, and I think also on Impalas) are 15 inch Chevrolet slotted rally rims, in case I wanted to remove the covers and add trim rings and centers to change up the look at some point. I probably won’t, though, as I really like the platter look of these wheel covers. The tires are about the biggest you can put on a 15 inch rim, 235/75 R15’s. The Chevrolet variable ratio steering is one of my favorite aspects of the wagon. So effortless without feeling like you’ve lost touch with the road, and for a big car, quite nimble and not too much body roll. This was something that Chevrolet engineering really put some effort into in that era and it holds up beautifully. With the previous lower stance the handling was perfectly good also. I just believe there must be something better with the physics/mechanics of it all to have the car at the ride height that it was designed for. Also, I was starting to not like the bottomed-out look that the nose had from certain angles. I know that these colonnade-style Chevelles in 1973 and 1974 originally came standard with 14-inch rims, which, to my eye, look terrible on such a big vehicle. And if you read the whole post before falling asleep, thanks!
I'm just winding down now. Okay, so steering alignment and effort were the same lowered as now? Got it. But I would have thought hitting the jounce stops more easily might've thrown some harsh feelings into the steering; I'd also think that doing so for the feel of the ride would make the ride less comfortable.
Yes, I already had front coilovers at the lower ride height and the ride quality was not hard at all. I don’t know much about the settings for them but the shop that installed them must have optimized them for daily driving comfort. And as I mentioned, the comfort is great at the current ‘correct’ ride height and I just like the look so much better.
Looks very nice. Very traditional. It's nice to see a car that used to be so ubiquitous, but has virtually disappeared from the road, looking just as I remember.
