Thoughts on Restomod Sequence

[Ribbedroof]

MVMA specs say 231 cars got TH250s....looks like a TH350 with an external band adjuster

Only 4.3 diesels for California got TH200s

A TH250 pan has ribs embossed in it, a TH200 pan has a very noticeable METRIC embossed on it.

 

[CaliWagon83]

I'll have to look next time I'm up at my mom's. I trust what you're saying. Either way, if new fluid & filter will do the trick rather than having to do a full rebuild, I'm all for it.

 

[Canon_Mutant]

In my case the delays have been 2 parts poor health and 1 part surprises I did not plan on. Unfortunately, I bought all the parts I needed for my suspension and brake swap so I've had $3K of parts and over $3K of wheels/tires sitting in my shop for over a year now. Now, though I knew I had some health issues, I could not have predicted it would get so bad, so quickly, nor did I expect an 8.5 442 rear end with only 28K on the clock, only 4K behind the big block, would be toast followed by realizing that my body bushing rubber is disintegrating given 24/7 garaged from day one and no bad weather, salt, or chemicals have touched the car. The bushings falling apart was merely the over 30 years of time.

Point being two things: 1) Don't accumulate more parts than you can actually get on / use up in a reasonable amount of time and 2) Plan for the unexpected especially with the new home and any surprises you will be guaranteed to find on your ride.

A third thing would be to connect with whatever shop you are going to have do the heavy lifting stuff the minute you get the ole girl running and legal. Let them give it a good going over to perhaps mitigate at least SOME of the surprises before you start the project.

 

[CaliWagon83]

Thanks for your advice, Canon_Mutant. As soon as I get the car down here, I plan on taking in to the shop I've contacted for at least an initial consultation. They seem to be booked out 6-8 months in advance, so it'll probably be a while before I can get into the calendar regardless. For what it's worth, here's the shop I'm thinking of going with: http://www.anaheimrodandcustom.com/

What impressed me is that Matt Means (the owner) responded to my email in a timely manner, and I can tell he actually read it and responded in a thoughtful, detailed reply, not just a throw-away "Talk to my receptionist" or "Sure, whatever, bring it in."

 

[Ace Burt]

Hi All. Well, as some of you may know, I recently bought a new house. This is great news, as it will allow me to FINALLY bring the Regal wagon home.

But as you also probably know, a new house comes with a lot of new expenses. Among the other projects I want to eventually do is paver stones for the front driveway area. My father-in-law seems to think it’s going to be exorbitantly expensive, in the neighborhood of $20,000+.

So some tough decisions potentially ahead. First and foremost, I just want to get the wagon running, smogged, and registered, and mechanically sound and road-worthy. I figure getting it to the point of being a fairly reliable weekend driver will be in the ballpark of $2,000.

As noted, I’m estimating the all-in figure for the full restomod will be about $30-40,000. The biggest single chunk of it will be the drivetrain, at about $13,000. I’m debating whether I should do the frame-off (reinforcement, powdercoating) separately from the other parts of the build, or just suck it up, dive in, and somehow scrape together all the money to just get it done all at once. Thoughts? I value the collective experience and wisdom of y’all.

I cant say that I can tell you the best way to do it, but I can tell you how I am doing it on my 87 El Camino. First I bought a wrecked 2013 Camaro SS package that included the L99/6L80e transmission, wiring harness, gas tank, steering wheel, shifter, gauges, brake booster and master cylinder, radiator, fuse box, converters, and all the plumbing to make it a smog legal car. Check out the pics of how it arrived to my house in the attached pic. I am in Texas so anything 25 years old is exempt from emission's testing. I actually spent some money "uncorking" it and getting rid of the VVT, DOD, etc as well. The whole package with 19k on the clock cost me $7600 delivered. Then we pulled it down just to do a visual and measure everything, and put rings and bearings in it only because we had it apart and the cost was minimal. Then the heads went to Texas Speed and performance (I live 40 miles away from them) and had the heads ran through the CNC porting process (and a little hand finishing love) and the valve train all changed out to support the new cam and get rid of the VVT, DOD systems. I went with an aggressive street cam (see cam card image) instead of a race cam because my goal is a "drive in show car" I can get in and drive across the country if I want to. Texas Speed also hooked me up with a Yank 3200 stall converter to match my motor set up. I went with a Holley hi ram intake simply because it goes with the heads, cam and valve train work I did and I wasn't too worried about it losing any bottom end on a 3200 pound total car putting 500+ rwhp on the ground. The throttle body was blue printed and the intake matched to the ports with a light swirl polish put on them. JW Customs did my trans build to Circle D stage III specs because we might do a turbo set up or a 416 package some day. PSI built me a harness specifically to put this drive train into the G body chassis with cruise control etc. Total in the drivetrain and all accessories (less a lot of our own labor) was about $20k.

Next came the chassis (see pic) . We pulled the body off and then put the chassis on a frame jig to maintain dimensions. Then we boxed, braced, notched (narrowed rear end section), and re-welded everything and media blasted it before having it powder coated. Quick Performance built a Ford 9" rear end for me to spec. Its an eaton tru trac with 31 spline axles and a 3:70 ratio that bolted right up to the chassis. It has QA1 coil overs all the way around and QA1 front control arms and belltech 2" drop spindles. The rear has Metco billet lowers and adjustable upper arms. Wilwood 13 inch front and 12' rear brakes and all spohn front end parts and racing sway bars. I bought a complete muscle rods kit that puts the drive train into this chassis to avoid any issues of trying to mix and match parts. Total on the chassis build less a lot of our labor was about $15k.

I have a new interior for it, roll pan and front end with spoiler set up and a 4" cowl hood sitting in the shop as well. Right now we are dropping the body on the chassis with the motor and trans in it to do a final mock up, cut the hole for the Camaro shifter and make sure we have enough transmission clearance. Then the body goes to the shop on the rotisserie where it gets blasted and bedliner sprayed on the bottom to seal everything. The body shop will set the body on the chassis and align everything and prime it, then we get it back to finish the car before it will go back for final paint. My project is a bit extreme but I plan to keep it for a long time and have some fun with it so I built it the way I wanted it. I have owned some very high end Porsches and done my share of laps at a track and even though this car will never be on one, I wanted the feel of a competent car that I could still haul my motocross bike in. I have a ton of pics, info etc if I can help you with anything I learned from the things I did good, and where I caused myself some grief as well. Good luck and enjoy your build, making it "mine" has been the best part of this project for me personally. When I am done I suspect I will have +$60K in it, but there wont be another one like it in the world. Please click on the pics.....sorry I was struggling with getting them to display full size

 

[REGAL8r]

Rust free solid wagon frame blasted,notched,boxed and dipped in chassis saver,w/ blazer brake upgrade and rear ls1 brake set-up with 373 posi—-4700.00 delivered.pm me if interested.

 

[CaliWagon83]

Ace Burt, thanks for the tips and encouragement. Unfortunately, California is very strict in terms of allowable modifications. That's why I think I'm probably going to go the E-Rod route, even though it's pretty expensive, certainly a lot more than if I built up a salvage engine. First things first, just want to get the car down here and running. Once it's here, I'll figure out a longer-term gameplan.

 

[81cutlass]

My best reward for the time/dollar updates have been suspension, brakes and wheels and tires. Some 15" or 17" wheels and tires makes stuff look good, new shocks (because every old shock i've ever removed is trashed) and sway bars and better brakes.

New kyb shocks can be bought for under $150 or bilstein for a hundred more, both take an hour to change.
Wheels and tires are expensive if you go non factory or over 15" but they bolt on and off so it's an easy change. 14's that are 10 years old ride poorly or are out of balanced or dry rotted or something.
Brakes if you go blazer kit are around $350ish or if you can do it the cheap LS1 brake upgrade way and run 16" wheels or larger can be had for $200 or so depending on how handy you are.
F41 front and rear swaybars or fast ratio steering boxes go right on in no time at all.
If the front suspension is tight or you are going to put aftermarket control arms and stuff in a front suspension rebuild can possibly wait but they always seem to be worn when you take them apart.

You use your brakes and suspension every time you drive. You only use more than 100hp less than 5% of the time. Although my 500hp t56 2+2 is more fun than my 100hp th350 wagon I have only thought "I could use more power" like a half dozen times in my wagon in the 10k miles roughly that ive put on it.

 

[CaliWagon83]

81cutlass, the difference is, when you're only using a fraction of the available power, it makes for a much more enjoyable driving experience than when you're having to use 90-100% of the power most of the time. I'm sure I'll be able to hobble along with the 231 V-6 for a while, but I live in a very hilly area, so I may be inclined to do the engine swap sooner rather than later!