plain jane 1987 regal differences

[m.$terner]

Ok so ive basically come to terms with myself that i cant afford a real 86/87 turbo buick.but hey im only 18 and ive got 3 other cars so hey maybe one day.lol anyways ive been searching around and ive found a 1987 regal in my price range.not turboed or anything just the plain 3.8 motor.trans is going bad but the car itself is all there and in good condition.so whats the real difference between this and lets say a t-type or GN? i basically want to clone the car image wise to look like a black grand national while using the lt1/4l60e motor trans set up that i purchased a few months ago from a wrecked 95 camaro.ok so i know that the wheels are different, it doesnt have the spolier on the back, and of course no bulge in hood =(, but other than that what else would be different? is the trim the same, how much work do u think it would really be to do what i want to do? and has anyone on here ever used the lt1 /4l60 e set-up, how much work is that to install and get to work properly in a regal? sorry for so many questions but im trying to give the guy an answer asap if im going to buy the car but i want to make sure its worth going through with before i start spending the money .thank you

 

[TurboRegal84]

With all of the time any money you invest you could purchase a nice 84/85 Non-Intercooled car.

 

[Rubicon 327]

Unless you REALLY enjoy doing the kind of work you are talking about doing, you will be far better off to save up for the real thing!

You will be better off in the long run!

 

[sugarandopium]

With all of the time any money you invest you could purchase a nice 84/85 Non-Intercooled car.

+1
or possibly even an 86-87 non-gn turbo regal and paint it black.

going to be alot of work and alot of money.

 

[InHock]

How much is this guy asking for the regal? Sell the other parts you have and if you all ready have 3 cars as you said, sell one or two and by then you should have enough cash to purchase a real GN now with the economy the way it is. Look on this site and on e-bay some pretty nice GNs have sold recently around the 8k to 10k mark and you wont have to spend all the extra money and time modin you regal. I figure you will have more in it than buying a GN ready to go.

 

[m.$terner]

+1
or possibly even an 86-87 non-gn turbo regal and paint it black.

going to be alot of work and alot of money.

well this car isnt a turbo but it is an 87 regal.here is a picture below.the trans is shot but i have access to gnx/gta wheels as well as gn seats (ok condition), steering column ,wing for trunk lid, and a full dash for a very very cheap price.and i have a full set up to do painting.primer, sand paper, a few hvlp guns,large air compressor, DA, etc so painting isnt going to be a big price issue, still think its not worth it? im figuring around a $1000 doing the work myself minus a replacement trans.i just dont see any 84 or 85 buicks or GN/T-type rollers,or non intercooled buicks going for anything in that price range

 

[m.$terner]

How much is this guy asking for the regal? Sell the other parts you have and if you all ready have 3 cars as you said, sell one or two and by then you should have enough cash to purchase a real GN now with the economy the way it is. Look on this site and on e-bay some pretty nice GNs have sold recently around the 8k to 10k mark and you wont have to spend all the extra money and time modin you regal. I figure you will have more in it than buying a GN ready to go.

the guys looking at about 500 for the car.and i can get an 86 t type(no motor trans or rear) for around 200 but it does have the gnx/gta rims on it.at $700 i can combine the two and paint myself.i dont think at that point id be going over $1000.i would need a transmission of course or use the lt1/4l60e set up i have. but at $1000 i dont see where i can go wrong especially considering the left over parts from the 86 GN that i could sell too

 

[coach]

As a guy whos already has too many cars, listen up. There is nothing wrong with doing a plain regal in to a blacked out ride. Doing just the outside would only require a grill and painting the trim. The hood can be done later and the rear wing is easy enough. The interior is what sets a GN apart from a regular regal. The 2 tone color of the interior was only done on a GN. Every T-type was one color as well as the regular regals. If this car is solid enough to use the chassis and sheet metal, go for it. This will allow you to make your own car. You will not be stuck with asking yourself about mods that will hurt collectability. You will be able to do what you want. As for your choice of drive train, If you watch the for sale thread, you will find motor/trans/harness deals for 2500 -3000 every now and then. You could pick one up when ever you save for it. I am looking for a plain regal myself to mod the hell out if. Roll cage, frame notch, trick suspension, custom interior, etc. The sky is the limit. I would never do this to my GN, but a reg regal, look out.

GO FOR IT.
Coach

 

[Squid4life]

Sounds like you have one heck of a plan, and access to most everything you need. I would say go for it, regardless of the interior or engine choice.

 

[m.$terner]

ok.just wanted to make sure it was worth it before i got in over my head . i thought it was but for others to think so too is a big help.im gonna go buy it on saturday.ill keep u guys posted.thanx

 

[Squid4life]

Early congrats on the purchase! Keep posting up pics as you get it, paint it, work on it, etc.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

I was in your boat once. I had a NA 83 Regal that I was going to do the swap on as well.. and let me tell you. It's a long process.
If you're stayin NA, then fine, you actually have it better, since it's an easier way to do things in my opinion. More options too.
If you don't mind all the tedious changes, then go for it. Though, the paint flaking off your aluminum trim is going to make you mad in about a year.
The rims, very easy to find, and cheap.
T type interiors. You can sometimes find them cheap as well, though I must admit, ALL 80's gm interiors were only one of 3 colours. Shlt brown, shlt red, and shlt blue. The only normal colour was grey, and good luck finding that in one piece, and then good luck affording it.
The spoiler and hood. Cheap and easy enough to find.
And you got lucky with the non landau regal you found. Most NA, and some turbo regals had the landau top, which looks like shlt. Taking it off and making it back to normal is a total pain in the arse.
Gotta find a non ''3 on a tree'' column, and a t type centre console.. and now you gotta re-route some stuff, to make it a ''4 on the floor'' car.

It's going to be a long and tedious job. But if you can work on it a little each weekend, you should keep a little sanity. Good luck.

p.s. you'd be a little farther ahead, if you bought an 84/85 rolling chassis, or a NA t type, and went from there. na t types are ultra rare, but you can find them)

 

[turboc87gn]

If you wanna do it easy do what i did or am doing lol take a na regal and screw the lti setup they are too finiky and have too many expensive lt1 specific parts take a use a carburator.. all the wires you will need are on the driver side of the car the you can rip out the caburated computer and wiring harness then to install your motor use all monte carlo ss parts from your local auto parts place everything can be had fairly cheaply and youll be on the road and enjoying ur car way faster vs all the headache of installing the fuel injection harnesses fuel system and trans harnesses etc etc etc..Plus you can mod the $hit out of it and if you crash it at the track or cage it etc its not a big deal... talk to some of the guys on here sellin the trim pieces if you wanna black out all the chrome that or rip all urs off and have it powder coated if you want bucket seat interior i have one ill sell ya cheap its still in the car and its doo doo brown it needs a lil help...since you can paint its an easy conversion to do and you can stack the $$$ you save and buy a gn ..thats how i ended up with 2 cars i was doing what you are doing and a deal came on a real gn from a guy i knew that let me give him payments for a year and a half after i paid him half i took the car and when i paid him off i got the title and the second set of keys...just my .02 Oh yeah p.s. youl have to buy a rear end either way too cause youll pop the 7.5if you got any kind of tire on the car makin power....

 

[m.$terner]

As a guy whos already has too many cars, listen up. There is nothing wrong with doing a plain regal in to a blacked out ride. Doing just the outside would only require a grill and painting the trim. The hood can be done later and the rear wing is easy enough. The interior is what sets a GN apart from a regular regal. The 2 tone color of the interior was only done on a GN. Every T-type was one color as well as the regular regals. If this car is solid enough to use the chassis and sheet metal, go for it. This will allow you to make your own car. You will not be stuck with asking yourself about mods that will hurt collectability. You will be able to do what you want. As for your choice of drive train, If you watch the for sale thread, you will find motor/trans/harness deals for 2500 -3000 every now and then. You could pick one up when ever you save for it. I am looking for a plain regal myself to mod the hell out if. Roll cage, frame notch, trick suspension, custom interior, etc. The sky is the limit. I would never do this to my GN, but a reg regal, look out.

GO FOR IT.
Coach

Thanks for the support, and ill keep an eye out for another plain jane regal for you to mod the hell out of.lol

 

[lespaul59]

I have a some what similar question. I have a 1977 Olds Cutless that has a 3.8L in it that runs but the car it's self isn't much. I'm not sure the car is even worth trying to save. But I also have a 1986 Pontiac: Grand Prix that I'm thinking about fixing up and this is where the 3.8L comes in to play. Will the 3.8L out of the Olds mount directly into the Pontiac:GP? I think the transmission is a 400T, I'm not good with remembering transmission models. By the way the 3.8L is a Buick motor, I'm just not sure if it's an even fire or odd fire. Also would it be worth modifing it with a Turbo? My main goal is to have a street car with great performance. Thanks for any help.

 

[charlief1]

lespaul you need ot find out whether it's an even or odd fire. They mount in simular places but the work a little different as far as the way they fire. Look at the timing cover and see if the timing indicator is cast into cover or bolted on plastic. The other diff is the heads. 77.5 to 78 have crap heads that don't flow and earlier than that nothing will work.

 

["Turbo-T"]

so whats the real difference between this and lets say a t-type or GN? i basically want to clone the car image wise to look like a black grand national while using the lt1/4l60e motor trans set up that i purchased a few months ago from a wrecked 95 camaro.ok so i know that the wheels are different, it doesnt have the spolier on the back, and of course no bulge in hood =(, but other than that what else would be different? is the trim the same, how much work do u think it would really be to do what i want to do? and has anyone on here ever used the lt1 /4l60 e set-up, how much work is that to install and get to work properly in a regal? sorry for so many questions but im trying to give the guy an answer asap if im going to buy the car but i want to make sure its worth going through with before i start spending the money .thank you

Main difference is:

GN/T type (after '83) had the 8.5 rear axle; yours most likely has the 7.5 which is also what your donor Camaro has. Which is a ticking time bomb.

GN/T-type has the bulge domed hood; yours has the standard smooth hood

GN (after '83) were all black on the exterior, to include all the trim and bumpers: T-types could come in any color and had chrome bumpers....some cars came with blacked out grilles, tail lamp bezels, head lamp bezels....while others were chrome.

GN/T-type (after '83) have fuel injection; most likely your car is carbureted...which means if you want to use your LT1 V8 you're going to have to swap out your gas tank to one from a fuel injected Regal. Or run an aftermarket external pump.

Only GN's had spoilers; T-types never had them stock...neither does your car.

GN's used an aluminum 10 fin rim until '86 then they went to a steel rim while T types continued to use the 10 fin aluminum rim. In 84-85 the T types used a different rim.

GN's used a grey interior with bucket seats, some black pieces on the lower door panels and black carpet; T-types mostly used one color and were avaliable with either bench or bucket seats and also were avaliable with column or floor shift models.

Yes your LT1 will fit, not sure about front room clearance sit the LT1 has that darn opti(fail)spark in the front. converting a Regal to a Chevy V8 means using all the parts for a Monte Carlo SS....motor mounts, radiator, front coil springs, etc....HOWEVER most on here would agree a Buick 455 would be a better engine in your car.

Not sure about your 4L60E though....I'm sure it could be made to fit....but a 200-4R would be IMO a better choice since they were offered in the Regal which means really no mods to install it.....just that if you wanted to reuse the Camaro's ECM it may not work with the 200-4R....again not 100% sure....but you could use what you have if you wanted.

So there you have it....a Buick 455 and a 200-4R would be ideal for your car....but the LT1 and 4L60E could work too, just might have to do some modding to get it in there.

Then paint the whole exterior black, add the chrome GN rims, then put in a grey interior with black/grey GN buckets, black carpet, GN leather 3 spoke wheel, grey door panels with black lower end, grey GN console....and you pretty much have the GN clone you want. Just don't tell anyone it's a "rare V8 optioned" car.

 

[Dennis Kirban]

kirban 2 cents worth

first I like to be 18 again...

second....as most above stated stick to the appearance look anything deeper requires alot of work and time by someone and you never get out of it what you put into it.

Three cars already is a lot to keep on the road insured....

whatever you decide good luck.....

Helps to have an understanding girlfriend.....also

kirban

 

[sugarandopium]

might wanna check the montecarloss.com board too.
they have a ton of info and threads for v8 swaps into a very similar car.

alot of LT/LS powered montes out there too, so they might have more info on it.
can't see there being much difference in dropping an lt1 in a regal rather than monte, so they might have better answers and more archived info.

 

[WH1_T-Type]

Only GN's had spoilers; T-types never had them stock...neither does your car.

Not true!! WH1 T-type came stock with a spoiler