When converting a regular Regal....

[Turbo1dr]

nobody answered the question about why you have to swap out the tail light harness and dash harness? I still don't see the reason for this.

The harness that goes to the rear has the electric fuel pump power feed in it I believe. I think he will also need to swap that unless he get's an hot wire kit that by-passes it.

When I swapped the turbo v6 in my Malibu I swapped EVERYTHING that I could unbolt and bolt back...right down to the steering column, windshield wiper motor, A/C harness and controls. You never know what headache you'll end up with when mixing two wiring harnesses together from two different vehicles.


Great work BTW to the original poster. Looks like progress.

 

[RATROASTER]

Thanks for the compliments. I don't have a choice but to swap the under dash harness for my digital dash option. I've got a hot wire kit and the rear wiring harness so I do have options back there. I only have a few parts that I need yet, a hood, fan, fan relay, inner cooler fan to name a few.

 

[RATROASTER]

Solution for another problem

I went scavaging at a local junkyard to find the soluting to my AC box problem. Since the NA Regals have a larger AC box than a TR and the AC box from my donor car has some bad breaks, I pulled a non AC box out of a severely wasted 80's El Camino. I also grabbed the interior venting and controls, but I find I need to go back for the blower motor as the impellor on a non AC blower motor is smaller than on a AC car.

 

[wagon]

Since you are going back anyways, get the glove box too. The non AC ones are shallower.

 

[RATROASTER]

Oh yeah, got the non AC glove box and at BPG Nats I picked up turbo hood and power fan assembly. I've had some setbacks with my job situation. I'm hoping to take the NA motor out by the middle of next week.

 

[RATROASTER]

I finally started back to work on my NA conversion car today. I swapped fuel tanks, swapped the tail light harness, and removed the NA exhaust. I had a little trouble with the fuel tank strapps. There are 1 inch spacers on the back bolts of the tank strapps that the NA cars do not have (due to the lack of the rubber insulation pads). I had to go back to my turbo parts car and grab them.

 

[RATROASTER]

Motor is out

 

[RATROASTER]

.......and the dash too!

 

[RATROASTER]

A very bright day! You can see I've installed the non AC box. I'm still fabricating the underdash ducting as I am missing a critical piece.

 

[RATROASTER]

Wired and ready for a motor!

 

[RATROASTER]

Another shot of the non AC box.

 

[JC Turbo]

Dave where are you doing all of this?

 

[d0n_3d]

I just wanted to say I read this entire post and it takes quite a bit of guts to convert a regular Regal to turbo after the accident. I don't know what I would do with myself if my car got wrecked. You are doing an awesome job and keep at it...before you know it, that car will look awesome and drive great. I keep telling myself this everyday. I have my car down to the frame rails up front. Everything is out. I'm in the process of replacing pretty much everything. Some days I think I'll never finish this but I'm making good progress. Only been at it a little over a month and I'm getting to the point of putting all the new parts back on. I'll be watching this thread for updates! Cool project! Just be extra careful of the idiot drivers out there when this thing is done!

 

[chopped39]

Dont forget heads on that 3.8 na engine. turbo castings:biggrin:
you are doing a great job . Im going to be parting out an 87 we4 t-top car in the next couple of weeks. im installing drivetrain in a 89 formula for my girlfriend. that should be fun. good luck with your car and keep posting . Im digging that 455 car. very cool.

 

[RATROASTER]

Thanks again for the motivating comments. I had to take a little time off from the project as I lost my job and my shop, but I'm back at it. I knew the lay off was coming so I was prepared for it. Its more or less a Godsend at this point as I can work all day if the weather cooperates and spend a week and a half doing work that might otherwise take 2 months. Also my brother allowed me to use his driveway in Clarion to do the work. I just have to add useless parts to his "scrap pile" next to the car!

I added some interior pics. I don't have a finished shot, but the first pic gives you an idea of the simplified non-AC controls. The second pic is my modified ductwork through the glove box hole. I missed a critical piece of non-AC ductwork out of the El Camino. I had to make some modifications for my defroster and upper heater vents. I used the gray piece of pool vacuum hose for the defroster and a piece of dryer vent hose for the upper heater vents. I did loose the usage of my window side passenger dash vent. If I get the chance I will return to the salvage yard to see if they have not crushed the El Camino.

 

[RATROASTER]

Here's a gas tank pic......not the best one because I was tired of jacking the car up. I used hammered silver paint to give it more of a natural steel finish.

 

[Joe Kelsch]

That car looks damn good sitting in my driveway. We'll have to work on the funky white like hood, but it'll all work out in the end.

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

Man that car is coming along sweeeetly:smile:

Keep up on the pictures, its like watching chop cut rebuild on TV

BW

 

[RATROASTER]

I'll keep the info and pics coming. I mentioned that I needed a spacer for the back bolts of my fuel injected tank. The turbo cars used the same tank straps, and used two pieces of rubber to insulate the straps, hence needing spacers on the rear tank bolts. The NA cars did not have the insulation on their tanks. Here is a pic of the factory spacer. As you can see it would take a large amount of washers to acchieve the space required.

 

[RATROASTER]

Question

Do I need to swap the detent cables for the 200R4 or can I use the detent cable from the 200C? Is there a difference? Anyone