ATOMIC ORANGE - Carlton Thornton

The Chevy Malibu belongs to a long list of models on the General Motors platform they referred to as the G-Body.

Like the Fox Body Mustang from Ford, the architecture has a solid straight-line potential, albeit a bit on the heavy side. Produced as a “family car”, the two-door models have similar dimensions, and suspension configurations as a Mustang and the drag racing community gravitated towards them for strip use, making them a hot commodity these days.

A Harwood hood and fiberglass bumpers compliment the original G-Body steel. The Malibu’s Atomic Orange paint pops in the sunlight and the hand-painted faux vinyl roof was a combo job with Tony Miller painting the roof and Jimmy Riddle hand painting the trim pieces.

Atageten,Carlton Thornton’s need for speedwasalready firmlyestablished... and demonstrated.

The Malibu sits perfect with 17” wheels fore and 15-inchers wrapped in Mickey Thompson 10.5s aft. Although it was originally to be confined to Index and Bracket duty, it has now become the latest Grudge car in the Thornton’s lineup, which explains the big nitrous kit under the hood and parachute out back!

Carlton Thornton grew up around his father Wayne’s 1970 Chevy Nova; “It was a stock 307 with 4.56 gears and posi. I think it only ran 16s, but did the best burnouts!”

Thornton said with a smile.

Lucky for Carlton, his dad moved on to a 1979 Malibu (the car they now call “Death Row”) and frequently attended street nights at a local drag strip. At first, the Malibu took its share of losses, but as the upgrades became more serious, the wins soon followed. Although Carlton enjoyed going to the track with his father, it wasn’t until he saw a young girl testing in a Jr Dragster that he fell in love with drag racing. At age ten, he made his first pass as a bracket racer and after a few challenging months, Carlton won his first race, which happened to be for an IHRA Ironman.

Mission Control

The Death Wish cockpit boasts technology, function and even a touch of style for good measure.

A cool blend of factory inside the Malibu includes door panels, console, carpet and plete rear seat. The dash may look stock but it is an aftermarket unit painstakingly painted with factory features. Electronics are meticulously laid out on a custom passenger firewall and floor area.

and the compainstakingly hand custom panel in the

With that confidence boost, he became no stranger to the Winner’s Circle, moving on to winning two more Ironman awards, one Wally in NHRA, one Iron Eagle, and twenty other significant events. As soon as Carlton got his license, they started the search for his very own Malibu and found the 1979 Malibu that they now call “Death Wish”. Thornton would run the car in brackets before stepping into the

heads-up and grudge world where he found himself a new home.

Purchased as a roller, Carlton was able to add his own touches including having Tommy Miller tackle the custom vinyl roof, bring back the eye-catching Atomic Orange paint and have Jimmy Riddle hand-paint all the trim pieces. A 6” Harwood fiberglass hood and fiberglass bumpers from Down Right Racing complement

the otherwise all-steel body and are painted to match the car. In addition, he brought a modern look to the classic Malibu by going with 17-inch front runners and 15-inch wheels in the rear. RC Components Torx with M&H skinnies reside up front, while 10-inch single beadlocked RC Components Hammers fill up the rear wheelwells. Aftermarket disc brakes and a single ’chute aid in stopping after a hard pass.

There are tons of suspension parts available for a Malibu and Carlton chose to stick with the stock-style system with replacement parts from TRZ Motorsports. The rear upper and lower arms are adjustable along with the anti-roll bar. QA1 adjustable coilovers handle movement on all four corners. Unfortunately, Chevy dropped the ball when it came to a durable rear axle in the G-Body, so a 12-bolt rearend (yes, we said 12bolt…no Ford parts here!) was used and fortified with Moser 35 spline axles, spool, and a 4.10 gearset.

Carlton with his dad Wayne, who is responsible for not only Carlton’s love of horsepower but also his addiction to GM G-Bodies! The pair built the car for Carlton to hone his flexibility as a driver in bracket, index and

NoFordpartshere!

Carlton’s dad has always been a nitrous guy; so naturally, Carlton wanted to go that direction with his build and is thankful for his dad’s hand in developing the motor and transmission combo. The basis for most nitrous assisted motors starts with more cubes, which is what they got from the Dart “Little M” block. A Callies stroker crank, longer Eagle rods, and oversized Diamond pistons take the short block out to a roomier 414 cubic inches. A large nitrous cam finishes out the “big” small block. More cubes means there’s a need for more air so a set of Brodix Track-1 heads top the short block complete with Comp valves and springs and Jesel shaftmount rockers.

Induction and fuel delivery wise, while many use all the technology they can these days, Carlton and his father prefer doing it old school, using a Holley 1050

The Thornton’s stuck to their GM blood and swapped a heavily modded 12-bolt with Moser 35 spline axles into the Malibu hung by a TRZ-equipped stock-style suspension. The big tube full exhaust makes for great street driving, too!

A Dart Little M block was used as the base for the 414-inch carbureted stroker small block Chevy. Carlton doesn’t mind sharing what the Malibu can do on the motor while running soft in bracket and index racing, but under full power with lots of nitrous, well those numbers are not public knowledge.

Carlton Thornton’s 1979 Chevrolet Malibu

Body & Paint:

Color is Atomic Orange. The “Vinyl Top” was a combo job with Tony Miller painting the roof and Jimmy Riddle hand painting the trim pieces. Riddle also painted the fiberglass dash to appear realistic.

Chassis & Suspension/Modifications:

Stock-type suspension with an Anti –Roll, adjustable uppers and lowers out back and coilovers up front.

Engine:

Dart Little M Block, now 414 ci. Callies crank, Eagle rods, Diamond pistons, Nitrous cam. Brodix Track 1 heads with Comp hardware and Jessel shaft mount rockers

Induction & Fuel Delivery:

Carbureted with Holley 1050 Dominator carb. MagnaFuel 500 pump.

Electronics:

MSD Grid , Edelbrock Nitrous controller.

Power Adder:

Nitrous: Induction Solutions direct port.

Transmission:

2 speed Powerglide with a 9 inch converter.

Rear: 12 bolt with a spool, 4.10 gear and Moser 35 spline axles.

Brakes: Wilwood disc on all 4 corners.

Tires & Wheels:

Black RC components on all 4 corners with 17” Torx up front and single beadlock Hammers on the rear (15 x 10). M&H front runners and Mickey Thompson Pro Bracket Radial in the rear (28 x 10.5).

Interior:

Kirkey front race seats, factory door panels, rear seat, carpet and center console. Fiberglass dash, Grant steering wheel. 12 point cage. Autometer oil and water gauges and Hurst shifter.

Thanks To:

Dad aka My Sponsor: Donated the motor and trans (and filled in the gaps as needed). Tony Miller and Jimmy Riddle: Paint. Ralph Price aka Pick: Chassis.

Dominator carburetor. An MSD Grid and Edelbrock nitrous controller have been added into the mix for reliability and consistency. A MagnaFuel 500 pump keeps the fuel system simple, and believe it or not, the Induction Solutions nitrous direct port system is only used during grudge races; for everything else, the car stays on fuel only. Behind the nitrous small-block sits a tried and true two-speed Powerglide built by Don Rudd with a 9” converter from FTI stalled for nitrous use.

The G-body’s interior screams both street and race car, retaining many factory features. The carpet, door panels, and back seat are all there; the dash is aftermarket but carries many factory gauges and Jimmy Riddle went to great lengths to make sure that it looked factory. A slew of additional gauges accompany factory working units, and the Grant steering wheel incorporates staging buttons. Carlton sits in a race seat and pulls the car into gear with a

A meticulously plumbed Induction Solutions direct port nitrous system will allow Carlton to run with the pack in small tire grudge action.

Withnitrousarmed, thisG-Body createssome serious G-Forces!”

Hurst shifter mounted on a custom plate. A 12-point certified cage solidifies the chassis and keeps Carlton safe should things not go according to plan. Passengers can ride along in their choice of the front or rear.

The Malibu was built as a bracket and index car but it remains very streetable and retains an exhaust that exits at the rear bumper. Between that and the hand-painted “vinyl” roof, Carlton can’t decide which is his favorite part of the car. Not only is he addicted to G-bodies, but it seems that all of Carlton’s cars started out as bracket or index oriented and ended up being grudge cars, and it looks as if this Malibu is headed in the same direction. As it is now, though, he runs index and brackets on motor and will add nitrous when running grudge and heads-up, but typically only through the 8th-mile. Carlton did enter a ¼-mile Index event on motor only and went 10.04 on the 10.00 index, taking home a runner-up finish.

As for passengers, since there’s not much leg room up front, there’s always the backseat!