I'm not sure if this is more of an introduction or a I'm back sort of thread... Once upon a time long long ago I had registered on the forum using one email address or another I no longer remember (or have) with a user name I couldn't even guess at... So, today I made up a new account.
I'm hoping you guys may enjoy seeing my latest car being brought back from the dead so to speak. I'll try to keep it up to date from time to time with pictures of the progress, my goal is to take what was once a very nice and well maintained car and rescue it from the fate it was consigned to when it was headed to be a parts car.
As a teaser, here are a couple initial pictures:
I am now the third owner of the car, and it has a clean title. I forget the mileage off the top of my head, but, it is original and under 100k... I want to say it was 60-80? Something around there followed by a zero at any rate. The first owner was an older woman in either North or South Carolina. I forget, but the sticker is still on the windshield from her inspection in 2004. At that time, it was a 20k mile car per the prior owner. For those first 20+ years of its life, it was that true little old lady car (thus the colors/options) that went to church and the grocery store and never left town. The second owner bought the car when she could no longer drive after entering assisted living, then went through it to make sure it would be reliable for his own mother out south of Atlanta. After addressing the various seldom-use issues that popped up over the preceding 20-something years, the car went on to serve that purpose alongside a v8 1986 Regal he also redid and left for her to drive. Then in 2013, the previous owner's mother passed away and the car saw less use again. When his brother needed transportation for a bit, this car was loaned out. As you can see, in December of this past year it was wrecked in the front. He had no motivation to fix it himself, and was ready to see it move on somewhere else by that point although he later told me he at least talked over and priced out having some work done.... Ultimately it sat for over two months and was nearing a fate of being a parts car when I rescued it. (which itself was a story and adventure of its own for another time)
So what is it? As the title says, a 1983 Regal Limited. Somewhat of an odd option list: base 3.8 v6, a/c, tilt, cruise, power locks, manual windows, no rear defog, am/fm only radio, appearance pkg with wire hubcaps and chrome lower moldings, and that is about it.
I've already gotten the core support and inner fenders for the car, all rust-free parts as it would deserve. Picked up a hood locally that was in a garage for the past 15 years after a turbo hood conversion was done on a car, and still have an outer passenger fender from an old project that may wind up on the car.
I would actually prefer to find a good rust free dent free pair of fenders from a car with the cornering lamps to possibly swap in as a modification, but, would settle on the plain fenders for now in the interests of cost. You see, I envision the car as kind of a factory-resto-mod type project. Its been wrecked so it will no longer wear original paint on the front end, and although the title is clean, I'm sure the history report will address the incident. So, I will add certain GM options using original parts that this car did not have, while bring it back to a reliable drivable condition. When I'm done, I hope that it will look once again like a clean recently off the lot car that it would have been prior to being hit. Besides, I'd like it to serve as an occasional driver to work and on errands as well, something to enjoy when it is done, not really looking to flip or sell it...
To keep the cost down I will probably (eventually) break out some of my stash of used spare and leftover parts to sell or offer as trade bait for the little bits and pieces that become necessary. It would be interesting to keep track of 24-hrs-of-lemons style and see what the final tally wound up being to bring the car back while recycling bits I don't need...
That said, on with the project!
I'm hoping you guys may enjoy seeing my latest car being brought back from the dead so to speak. I'll try to keep it up to date from time to time with pictures of the progress, my goal is to take what was once a very nice and well maintained car and rescue it from the fate it was consigned to when it was headed to be a parts car.
As a teaser, here are a couple initial pictures:
I am now the third owner of the car, and it has a clean title. I forget the mileage off the top of my head, but, it is original and under 100k... I want to say it was 60-80? Something around there followed by a zero at any rate. The first owner was an older woman in either North or South Carolina. I forget, but the sticker is still on the windshield from her inspection in 2004. At that time, it was a 20k mile car per the prior owner. For those first 20+ years of its life, it was that true little old lady car (thus the colors/options) that went to church and the grocery store and never left town. The second owner bought the car when she could no longer drive after entering assisted living, then went through it to make sure it would be reliable for his own mother out south of Atlanta. After addressing the various seldom-use issues that popped up over the preceding 20-something years, the car went on to serve that purpose alongside a v8 1986 Regal he also redid and left for her to drive. Then in 2013, the previous owner's mother passed away and the car saw less use again. When his brother needed transportation for a bit, this car was loaned out. As you can see, in December of this past year it was wrecked in the front. He had no motivation to fix it himself, and was ready to see it move on somewhere else by that point although he later told me he at least talked over and priced out having some work done.... Ultimately it sat for over two months and was nearing a fate of being a parts car when I rescued it. (which itself was a story and adventure of its own for another time)
So what is it? As the title says, a 1983 Regal Limited. Somewhat of an odd option list: base 3.8 v6, a/c, tilt, cruise, power locks, manual windows, no rear defog, am/fm only radio, appearance pkg with wire hubcaps and chrome lower moldings, and that is about it.
I've already gotten the core support and inner fenders for the car, all rust-free parts as it would deserve. Picked up a hood locally that was in a garage for the past 15 years after a turbo hood conversion was done on a car, and still have an outer passenger fender from an old project that may wind up on the car.
I would actually prefer to find a good rust free dent free pair of fenders from a car with the cornering lamps to possibly swap in as a modification, but, would settle on the plain fenders for now in the interests of cost. You see, I envision the car as kind of a factory-resto-mod type project. Its been wrecked so it will no longer wear original paint on the front end, and although the title is clean, I'm sure the history report will address the incident. So, I will add certain GM options using original parts that this car did not have, while bring it back to a reliable drivable condition. When I'm done, I hope that it will look once again like a clean recently off the lot car that it would have been prior to being hit. Besides, I'd like it to serve as an occasional driver to work and on errands as well, something to enjoy when it is done, not really looking to flip or sell it...
To keep the cost down I will probably (eventually) break out some of my stash of used spare and leftover parts to sell or offer as trade bait for the little bits and pieces that become necessary. It would be interesting to keep track of 24-hrs-of-lemons style and see what the final tally wound up being to bring the car back while recycling bits I don't need...
That said, on with the project!
