Well guys I picked up an 83 Buick Regal from a buddy of mine back in June or July. It has your typical sbc 350 swap out of a 90's Suburban (not Vortec unfortunately) and a TH350 trans. It's pretty much stock and runs great. The car is all original as far as the body, suspension and interior goes. It is currently my daily driver (not for too much longer), and since it is, I am getting typical wear and tear on it and will soon need a tune up, brakes, tires, etc. It will soon no longer be my every day driver and be the occasional daily driver/weekend toy. I do not plan to go radical as far as a track car of any sort (drag or auto x) and want to keep form and function a top priority as far as reliability and be practical with it. Pretty much I do not need to put the highest performance suspension on it if I am not going to use it at its fullest potential (such as a track). I would like to push quite a bit more power out of it since it's a stock 350 with old center bolt type heads and only has a Performance aluminum intake. Goal is roughly 380HP which I think is doable with the correct head, cam, intake and gear combination.
My very near future plans are to get wider rims and tires in the rear to fill the wheel well as much as possible, all new suspension (the shocks are old and worn out), run a bigger and better front and rear sway bar, F41 bracing to stiffen up the frame, heads, cam, intake, headers, dual exhaust, nicely built 200/4R trans, and if I get bored enough a pro charger or such. :wink: I'd love to get some opinions and answers to some questions from you guys if at all possible.
I have nice and rebuilt Vortec heads with upgraded springs in them that I was thinking about running but not sure if I should sell them and go with an aftermarket aluminum setup or not? First on my list in the next few weeks though are shocks, new radiator (mine is pretty rusty looking inside and I have a feeling the PO ran plain water instead of distilled and not a proper 50/50 mixture of antifreeze), electric fan and switch, and new wheels/tires. I have a few questions before I make the jump to purchase this stuff and yes I know they have been asked here before most likely but figured these would pertain to my application specifically...
1.) Hedman headers seemed to be the better of the cheaper option as far as full length headers go about 3 years ago when I had my El Camino... Is this still the case or is there better out there for under $300 now?
2.) I want to run dual exhaust and plan to go with Magnaflow mufflers or similar with a medium growl at idle but loud when you get on it (not a huge fan of Flowmaster). What I want to know is which muffler(s) is the best performing (good flow) for street setup with a medium growl at idle but louder at medium and higher RPM? I am sure there are a few out there so curious as to what are my options?
3.) For street setup with a decent street cam, Vortec heads, etc, what is preferred as far as X pipe vs H pipe goes? I am looking for function rather than just sound.
4.) As I stated, I have Vortec heads already that I was going to swap onto this 350 block of mine that was pulled from what I guess is a mid 90's Suburban (currently has center bolt heads but not Vortec). Should I run them or go aftermarket of some sort? My goal is to ultimately get 380HP or so if at all possible.
5.) Since I have read about all G Bodies not being the same as far as rear width of tires go, how wide of a rim and tire (with offset) can I go on this 83 Buick Regal? I currently run 15" torque thrusts but would like to either keep 15" and run a 9 or 10" wide rear if at all possible with the muscle car look, or go 17" all the way around (pro touring look) with 9" and as wide as possible with no clearance issues in the rear. Any suggestions? If I have to roll my quarters a little bit or very slight trimming, that is okay too.
6.) Currently I have a plastic tank radiator and a single electric fan that is ran straight to power since the cheap fan switch burnt up. I am now in need of a new radiator due to rust and may as well run a proper and good fan and switch setup on it. Champion is the cheapest option it seems but I am afraid that it's too cheap and do not want issues. At the same time I do not want to spend $350+ on a radiator if I can help it. Options here? What about fan and switch combo?
7.) I plan to have the car lowered 2.5 inches in front over stock and 3-3.5 in rear. What is my best option as far as shocks go? Seems KYB's are popular amongst G Body guys... Anything else out there? I want good handling but again, I am not tracking this thing, just want something far superior over stock setup.
8.) I was looking at Hotchkis, UMI and Spohn suspension kits as far as drop springs, front and rear sway bars and rear arms. Are they equally all the same as far as quality or is one better over the other?
Sorry for all the questions guys. I just want to make sure I make the correct purchase the first time before running into any issues and wasting money! I appreciate any help/information here!
My very near future plans are to get wider rims and tires in the rear to fill the wheel well as much as possible, all new suspension (the shocks are old and worn out), run a bigger and better front and rear sway bar, F41 bracing to stiffen up the frame, heads, cam, intake, headers, dual exhaust, nicely built 200/4R trans, and if I get bored enough a pro charger or such. :wink: I'd love to get some opinions and answers to some questions from you guys if at all possible.
I have nice and rebuilt Vortec heads with upgraded springs in them that I was thinking about running but not sure if I should sell them and go with an aftermarket aluminum setup or not? First on my list in the next few weeks though are shocks, new radiator (mine is pretty rusty looking inside and I have a feeling the PO ran plain water instead of distilled and not a proper 50/50 mixture of antifreeze), electric fan and switch, and new wheels/tires. I have a few questions before I make the jump to purchase this stuff and yes I know they have been asked here before most likely but figured these would pertain to my application specifically...
1.) Hedman headers seemed to be the better of the cheaper option as far as full length headers go about 3 years ago when I had my El Camino... Is this still the case or is there better out there for under $300 now?
2.) I want to run dual exhaust and plan to go with Magnaflow mufflers or similar with a medium growl at idle but loud when you get on it (not a huge fan of Flowmaster). What I want to know is which muffler(s) is the best performing (good flow) for street setup with a medium growl at idle but louder at medium and higher RPM? I am sure there are a few out there so curious as to what are my options?
3.) For street setup with a decent street cam, Vortec heads, etc, what is preferred as far as X pipe vs H pipe goes? I am looking for function rather than just sound.
4.) As I stated, I have Vortec heads already that I was going to swap onto this 350 block of mine that was pulled from what I guess is a mid 90's Suburban (currently has center bolt heads but not Vortec). Should I run them or go aftermarket of some sort? My goal is to ultimately get 380HP or so if at all possible.
5.) Since I have read about all G Bodies not being the same as far as rear width of tires go, how wide of a rim and tire (with offset) can I go on this 83 Buick Regal? I currently run 15" torque thrusts but would like to either keep 15" and run a 9 or 10" wide rear if at all possible with the muscle car look, or go 17" all the way around (pro touring look) with 9" and as wide as possible with no clearance issues in the rear. Any suggestions? If I have to roll my quarters a little bit or very slight trimming, that is okay too.
6.) Currently I have a plastic tank radiator and a single electric fan that is ran straight to power since the cheap fan switch burnt up. I am now in need of a new radiator due to rust and may as well run a proper and good fan and switch setup on it. Champion is the cheapest option it seems but I am afraid that it's too cheap and do not want issues. At the same time I do not want to spend $350+ on a radiator if I can help it. Options here? What about fan and switch combo?
7.) I plan to have the car lowered 2.5 inches in front over stock and 3-3.5 in rear. What is my best option as far as shocks go? Seems KYB's are popular amongst G Body guys... Anything else out there? I want good handling but again, I am not tracking this thing, just want something far superior over stock setup.
8.) I was looking at Hotchkis, UMI and Spohn suspension kits as far as drop springs, front and rear sway bars and rear arms. Are they equally all the same as far as quality or is one better over the other?
Sorry for all the questions guys. I just want to make sure I make the correct purchase the first time before running into any issues and wasting money! I appreciate any help/information here!
