My 83 Regal Wagon project

I did not do a proper intro when I jumped in asking for some info earlier today. So here goes....

I was looking for a G-Body Wagon to use as a daily driver. I need to haul my two boys to their sports practices and games. Often this also includes their friends. We also take Buddy, our two-year old Golden Retriever with us as much as possible.

The car was found on Craigslist last August but I didn't jump on it. I really had only just started looking. But I knew it would be a good buy for someone.

The body came from California and had a V6 originally. During it's trip to Ohio, the V6 blew up. The owner was just going to scrap the whole car when his friend intervened. The friend bought it for a song and dance with the plan to turn it into a hot rod for his 18 year old son.

The had an early 80s Chevy 350 rebuilt for it along with a fresh turbo 400 trans. They swapped in a limited slip 8.5 rear. They had a custom bent dual exhaust system, x-pipe, and Flowmaster mufflers installed. They half installed a pair of bucket seats and cut a hole in the floor for a floor shifter.

The car ran and drove but not very well at all. The son decided that he didn't want to go to school, nor get a job, so the father washed his hands of the project and wanted it gone.

Weeks after it vanished off CL, I gave him a call to see if it was still available. It never sold but he decided that he wanted to keep it for himself. But when I got to talking to him about it, he agreed to let me come and look at it. I called him two days later to do just that and he changed his mind again... wanting to keep it. I told him to keep my number.

He called me again a month later just as I was about to head out of town on a business trip. He agreed to wait one more week until I returned. That was Thanksgiving week, I went and looked at it and made the deal.

Most of what I've done since then was reverse many things that he had done.... poorly. But the way I saw it, it was basically rust free, and he already had all the hard and expensive work done.

I cleaned up all the wiring in the engine bay, re-ran all the underhood plumbing, swapped to an extra Edelbrock carb I had since the Q-Jet was beyond rebuildable, remounted the radiator and shroud... correctly, swapped to a clutch fan and added an external trans cooler. I also went through the shocks and brakes and fuel system.

I picked up a split bench seat to replace the half mounted buckets and also because I could use the extra seating position. I'm going to reconfigure the floor shifter, clean up the terribly dirty interior, add some aftermarket gauges, and a decent stereo system.

The Camaro wheels on it don't fit right even with the spacers. They'll get replaced with one of two other sets that I have. The previous owner included the missing bumper fillers, new door locks, and a tilt steering column.

The body has more minor dents than a golf ball, but no real rust. Just some spots where the paint blistered. The roof rack was missing and the holes sealed shut with silicone. I have another rack that I'll put back in place. It will also get a trailer hitch as this will be a true utility vehicle. The rest of the body will just get a good cleaning up and a cut and buff.

It's going to end up with a bit of a weathered look and I'm just fine with that. I have a shop full of cars (4) that I have to "worry about" every time I take them out. This one will be a fun driver that will get used... A LOT, and I won't be worrying about it.

The pics are as I got it. The work I've done so far is mostly unseen. But I'll post more when I get it the way I want it. Thanks for reading.

Project update:

I kept the floor shifter but updated it to include a neutral safety switch for when Junior drives this thing. I also switched over to a cable linkage since the rod the P.O. was using interfered with the speedometer cable and he didn't have it hooked up.

I added a cheap tach I had laying around. It serves two purposes: it's intended purpose but also to hide the hole left in the column when I trimmed off the bung for the column shifter. Part of that process included replacing all the burned out bulbs in the instrument panel while yanking all the idiot lights that I don't need after going with a trio of aftermarket gauges. I also yanked the check engine bulb since that was on all the time.

The gauges caused me fits. While mocking them up, I could not get the lights to come on with the dash. Test after test revealed the same problem. After changing out the bulbs and still having the same problem, I bought a second set of gauges. STILL having the same problem, I was on my last straw when I figured out that one of the jumper wires I was using to test with was bad. :gaah:

I yanked the carpeting for a good cleaning and to allow for welding in the inner seat mounts for the split bench seat.

I dug out a pair of sport mirrors I saved from my '84 Olds Delta 88 that I parted out and plan to use them on the doors. I'll install those along with the new door locks that the P.O. gave me.

I've been researching, trying to figure out what the rear axle is that is under this thing. Tag is missing. P.O. said it was an 8.5", limited slip, with 3:73 gears out of an Olds 442. Working underneath, I found that the rear wheels spin in opposite directions telling me it's not a limited slip. If it is, then it's in need of a rebuild which I will do. It could still have the 3:73s. But I'm not planning to keep those. I need better mileage out of this thing and will likely step down to a numerically lower ratio since I'm not running an overdrive trans. I'm going to open up the cover for a closer inspection soon.

Last, I cut down the extended wheel studs the P.O. installed and fitted up a pair of Billet wheels I had off another project. I'm a bit "old school" and have always liked the big 'n little look. The fronts are 14X7 with 225/70/14 tires. The rears are 15X10 with 275/60/15s. They just barely fit. But I'm in the process of rolling the rear fender lips for piece of mind.

I'm going to hold off on another round of pics until I have more of the interior back in. I also want to set it back on the ground to see how the wheels fit with all the weight on the chassis. If the rears do rub, it will only be the raised white letters on the tires that are turned inside. I hate white lettered tires.

I haven't removed the rear cargo side panels yet. Can anyone tell me if there is enough room in the tops above the wheel wells to cut holes for and install a pair of 6X9" speakers similar to what the Malibus have that I've seen? Thanks!