BUILD THREAD 1986 Regal Project by 565bbchevy

565bbchevy

Geezer
Aug 8, 2011
9,590
12,612
113
Michigan
I have had my Monte for many years now and although it is a brutally fast fun street car it lacks two things that I want which is AC and Overdrive.
I had a Regal before I bought my Monte and decided last year I wanted to build a nice cruiser that would eventually be nice enough to go to the local car shows the difference being I want to do this on a budget so it will not compare to the Monte in that aspect.
I originally bought a 85' blue Regal in March 2015 with a half vinyl and manual sunroof that had a rod knocking v6 and I still have that car but I ended up buying the 86' Regal in July 2015 that had a decent running 307 Olds and a perfect shifting 200r4 plus it was already a hardtop car and I wasn't really all that fond of the manual sunroof anyways.
So my plans are to make the 86' into something of a T-Type look-a-like and I will black out all the chrome except for the bumpers and the "T" in the grill.
The 307 Olds will stay for a while and I have almost everything for a SBC install other than a finished shortblock but if I run across a 350 Olds at some point I will definitely consider building that instead.
My main goals right now are to get the body done and ready for paint.
So far I have rebuilt the entire brake system and completely rebuilt the front end with all new replacement parts.
The rearend I changed the fluid and installed an aluminum rear cover, UMI sway bars and rear lower control arms.I will replace the upper control arms after I cut out the stock single exhaust system to give me room to work.
I switched the header panel, rear bumper and decklid with the blue car because they were cleaner and the header panel fit better.
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565bbchevy

Geezer
Aug 8, 2011
9,590
12,612
113
Michigan
The seats in the burgundy interior were pretty faded (1st picture) so I changed the seats to brand new "comfy" seats that are both power along with new matching GM carpet.
I still have to do a lot more in the interior like headliner and making front and rear upper door panels and matching the plastic and vinyl parts to the color of the seats.
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I also installed a Grant steering wheel I bought used off Ebay and added the Buick horn emblem.
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565bbchevy

Geezer
Aug 8, 2011
9,590
12,612
113
Michigan
The aluminum ARE wheels are 15 X 8 all around and I bought them used for $150 for the set.and then installed Cooper 275/60 and 235/60 tires on them.
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I put the fender on I bought from lilbowtie and will be doing mock ups for the hood scoop from Lauren Engineering and also the aftermarket GN rear spoiler.
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The front bumper fillers are from Goodmark and fit perfectly
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565bbchevy

Geezer
Aug 8, 2011
9,590
12,612
113
Michigan
I also made some brackets to relocate my driver's seat a few inches farther back since I am relatively tall and the new seats have so much padding on them it was not a comfortable driving position even with the seats all the way back. I made these using 1/4" plate with 3/8" grade 8 bolts welded in.
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85442/86buick

G-Body Guru
Feb 12, 2013
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Perth Country , Ontario
Really like the seat relocation bracket idea.....being 6'3" myself i can feel your need .

your plans for this car , are very close to mine with my 86 Regal.... a T-Type Clone but i thinking a Buick 350 to replace the 3.8 V-6.

thank you for the inspiration to get off the couch
 
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565bbchevy

Geezer
Aug 8, 2011
9,590
12,612
113
Michigan
Here is a shot of the front suspension and brakes completely rebuilt with all new parts, the front sway bar is a solid 1.25" bar I bought locally for $50.
The biggest issue was finding new splash shields for the front disc brakes and I ended up using some later model ones that were identical other than they had ABS sensors on them, so I ground them down and made gaskets for the backside.
The shields are Dorman 970-098 and 970-097 if anyone wants to go this route, both to my door was $50.
I also installed the jounce bars from my Monte since I made new thicker ones awhile back for that car and I will also be making a GP bar for the Regal.
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After grinding them down.
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CWPottenger

G-Body Guru
Oct 9, 2012
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The biggest issue was finding new splash shields for the front disc brakes. The shields are Dorman 970-098 and 970-097 if anyone wants to go this route

That is the one part I could not find either. I was forced to just clean and paint mine. Wish there was a source for new Gbody brake splash shields
 

565bbchevy

Geezer
Aug 8, 2011
9,590
12,612
113
Michigan
Mine were not usable and I did find one guy that was selling them but for $120 plus shipping but that was way beyond what I was willing to spend.
 

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