If you love LS swaps, burnouts, G-bodies and turbocharged cars, you’ll love this Malibu! Owned by Josh Korsower at Three Pedals, this ’78 Malibu has not one, not two, but at bare minimum, three tricks up its sleeve!
You see in addition to the LS3 powerplant under the hood, it’s also backed by a Tremec T-56 gearbox. In addition, it’s also boosted. Not in the typical way you’d expect; there’s no supercharger under the hood, no nitrous and no turbocharger running off of the header or an exhaust manifold. It is turbocharged, but it’s mounted in the last place you’d ever expect to find it; the rear floorboard!
No, we’re not confused, nor are we making things up for clicks…
Three Pedals managed to utilize the STS rear mount turbo system (available through Holley) for their Malibu.
However, instead of mounting it near the rear bumper, where you would typically find it when applied to a C5, C6 or C7 Corvette, it’s mounted just before the rear axle, on the passenger side, taking up residence roughly halfway through the floorboard. It’s certainly different, that’s for sure, and knowing how the car will ultimately turn out in the end makes us really excited for this project from them.
While we were there in the flesh, grabbing shots of this car hugging the corners on the autocross and drift around the dedicated area at LS Fest X, the Three Pedals team actually had a camera guy tagging along, capturing the footage right alongside us!
If you want to learn more about the car, be sure to head directly to the official build thread on their website. If you or someone you know is looking to 6-speed swap their ’78-88 G-body or ’77-96 B-body, be sure to order up a set of the Three Pedals clutch pedal kits!
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of GMEFI Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the brand’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next modifications for his own cars.
