V8TV adds another project car to the stable – this time it’s a 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu. We’ve picked up another project car for the V8TV stable, a 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu 2-door hardtop. We’ve got plans for this car, but we’ll start off with an overview of what we’ve got to work with.
This 1965 Chevelle Malibu 2-door hardtop started life with a 283 V8 and a 2-speed Powerglide transmission. We decoded the trim tag and learned it was originally white with a turquoise interior with 14-inch wheels.
Today, it’s a dark maroon with a black re-stitched interior, and there have been several upgrades made over the years.
Under the hood lives a remanufactured 350 Chevy V8. It’s topped with an Edelbrock carburetor, and the previous owner added a GM aluminum manifold but painted it orange. He also completed an HEI electronic ignition conversion to get rid of the old points-style distributor. This car also has a turbo 350 3-speed auto transmission for better drivability than the old 2-speed ‘glide.
The most notable upgrade is a power front disc brake conversion and 15” rally wheels. The car stops pretty well, but one of the first modifications we’re going to make is a 4-wheel disc upgrade from Stainless Steel brakes, so look for that on V8TV soon!
Inside, the car had an interior job done by a local shop. The original bench seat is really comfy, but we’re going to bring the interior back to an original pattern with some reproduction parts on an upcoming show.
The dash Bezel has been painted black, and the heater controls are pretty messed up… it looks like this car had an add-on air conditioning unit installed at some point. We’ll have to fix all that.
The body on this car looks pretty good at first glance but closer inspection reveals that it got hit in the driver quarter panel, which will need replacement. Someone also dropped in new trunk floors.
These cars were notorious for leaking around the windows, so we’re assuming that’s what rusted the trunk floor. We’re going to show you the right way to fix all that when we re-do the paint and bodywork on this car.
Our plan is to make a pro-touring style cruiser out of this car… maybe an LS1 conversion with an overdrive transmission, tubular suspension parts, the big brake swap, but an original style envelope. We’ll be wrenching on this car for a long time, so keep watching V8TV and follow the rebirth of this project ’65 Chevelle!
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