78 Century

[Rus]

That's a nice car. I have a 4 door and 2 door myself. The aluminum parts were used as part of weight savings for fuel economy. Both mine came with aluminum radiator cores, aluminum bumper supports and one even had the one user only aluminum bumpers. My 2 door came with the 301 Pontiac and my 4 door came with the 231 Buick v6. Our headliners, 2 door and 4 door are different than coupe g bodies. My 4 door is in middle of an ls conversion. I had a stage 2 455, 200-4r transmission and 3.89 ford 9 inch in it. My 2 door has a built Buick 455 with 200-4r transmission and 355 rear. Good luck on your new find. These cars can have many mods done, both body and mechanics.

 

[TonyO]

I’m in the US, and I believe this car was sold in the states. I thought I have read that they had Buick V8s in them, but I honestly don’t know. I noticed it has a factory aluminum intake which I thought was cool.

I have always been told the 200r4s were good transmissions, the turbo Buick guys all stick with them for a reason. I thought they were kinda hard to source though? What axle ratios were put in these cars? I have no interest to ever run this car at a track, just haul the family in and drive to work. I’d be ok with some airplane gears to help with the th350.

The rear filler panel between the deck lid and bumper is completely gone. I figure it was urethane like all the 80s GM cars had? I highly doubt anyone sells reproduction ones? A friend did just buy a set for his 80 riviera so I shouldn’t rule it out.

I would like to get a oil pressure water temp gauge for the cluster, was there a factory gauge that I could use in that spot on the right in the cluster? I hate to say it but I may cut the radio bezel up for a single din radio, I’m not a fan of the post style modern radios. That or hide a JL Bluetooth receiver under the dash and leave the stock radio alone. I’ve seen pictures of people mounting 6.5” speakers flush in the kick panels and I like that idea.

I have a LM7 stashed away but I’d like to keep this one more era correct. I have a l31 with fast burn heads and a roller cam that would go nice with this. Maybe a stealth ram with megasquirt on it. I also have a Buick 4.1 that I’ve always wanted to turbo and throw in something. For now it should stay stock.

Those are sharp cars Rus, what wheel/tire combo do you have on the 4 door? Is it lowered? Wow a stage 2, that’s big money isn’t it?

Thanks for the replies!

 

[Rus]

Motors were Buick 196 and 231 v6. Pontiac 301. Oldsmobile 307, Chevy ,305. V8s. Gear ratios were 2.41, 2.73, 2.91 and optional 3.08.
The 200-4r is a great transmission. They can handle a lot of torque, when built right. Out of the box they could handle a stock small block v8, similar to one in your car.
The rubber piece between the bumper and rear deck lid is not repo'd but the 80 regal will work-related with slight mod and they repo those.
My. Car is lowered one inch. My tire setup is 255/70/15 on rear on 15x8 steel wheels. The fronts, 216/65/15 on 15x7 steel wheels. I have 1950 Buick hubcaps on it as cheap baby moons. I run weld aluminums sometimes as well.
You can add high performance 3.5 inch speakers in the dash and 4x10 in the rear deck.
The radio bezel is up to you. They do make a double din for the latter regal g body's that could be utilized.
I have a custom tach in place of the right spot in the dash. They do make a five window dash spot with factory amp and temperature gauges or could customize your own. I had custom,170 mph Speedo made also.
I added a factory sport coupe hood and rear spoiler to give sportier look and a factory repo GS hood tach.
The stage 2 setup was a pricey setup and was fun. I run 3 inch mandrel bent exhaust all the way to the back in the 4 door. 2-1/2 inch mandrel on the 2 door.
If have 301 Pontiac, you can swap in a Pontiac 400/455 pretty easy. Did that with mine before I went to Buick 455.

 

[PBGBodyFan]

What’s the vin say it would of come with? I thought aluminum intakes were added to SBC’s in the early 80’s, but very well could of been done earlier. Looks original under there but maybe couldn’t rule out a swap either early in it’s life.

 

[Rus]

What’s the vin say it would of come with? I thought aluminum intakes were added to SBC’s in the early 80’s, but very well could of been done earlier. Looks original under there but maybe couldn’t rule out a swap either early in it’s life.

He should be able to get the info from the decal on his radiator shroud. The emission decal looks to still be there.

 

[ssn696]

I see what looks like a distributor cap behind the air cleaner, and an oil fill cap on the driver's side valve cover. Pretty sure that's a SBC. Please report the 5th digit of the VIN. That will nail it from afar.

 

[pagrunt]

Hate to say it but if the shop can't tell the difference between a Chevy & a Buick it might not be a good idea to use them.

 

[TonyO]

The 5th digit of the vin is U. I was unsure myself if the later Buicks had the distributor in the front or the rear. I know the earlier Buicks v8s and the V6 s had it in the front.

The cars still parked at the junk yard, I only have a handful of pictures of it. Once I get it to my shop I’ll sort out everything. I like having a good game plan before I start.

 

[pagrunt]

The 5th digit of the vin is U.

That's the LG3 305 with a 2 barrel carb.

 

[Rus]

The 5th digit of the vin is U. I was unsure myself if the later Buicks had the distributor in the front or the rear. I know the earlier Buicks v8s and the V6 s had it in the front.

The cars still parked at the junk yard, I only have a handful of pictures of it. Once I get it to my shop I’ll sort out everything. I like having a good game plan before I start.

I would get it in my possession before someone else grabs it.