83 Buick Regal Estate Wagon 5.3 LS, bagged
- Thread starter vandall
- Start date
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Hey guys, thanks for the great replies! It's highly motivating. Unfortunately, no updates as of yet, but I do have some parts to install and then get it out to rip around this weekend. Ill take some nice pics if so. I was hoping to at least post up a few photos of the LS Fest but haven't even had a chance to go through those yet.
Robert, maybe we can talk more once it's ready to go
Hell, maybe I'll drive it to LS Fest in KY and then drop it off with you! Haha
Robert, maybe we can talk more once it's ready to go
Hell, maybe I'll drive it to LS Fest in KY and then drop it off with you! Haha
Here are some photos from the LS Fest West show if anyone cares about that stuff 🙂
The Car Craft Malibu was at the Three Pedals tent... unbelievably I only saw a few g-bodies the entire time. Really sad!
This was one of the other ones.. a lowrider Cutty. Confusingly, it was closed up almost the entire time - I never got to see the engine bay. Maybe the owner just got in to the Show and Shine to get great parking?
Bobby Unser was there in his kick *ss Nova II
Definitely one of the more interesting vehicles, this small truck (Mazda?) had a twin turbo set up and a lawn mower and weed whacker in the bed! So cool.
The early attendees cruised out to Hoover Dam on Thurs night. Pretty awesome sight
The absolutely amazing "Fairway 55" was in attendance part of the time. It's an immaculate and crazy build from Ironworks
Another Ironworks build - this Impala has an incredible Ferrari-esque LS twin turbo set up
My personal favorite - the Squarebody Syndicate crew was there with the amazing "Series 01" truck. So incredibly clean and a perfect blend of stock look with integrated technology and performance
The ShiftBang.com guy was there for the weekend. Here he is interviewing the autocross winner and that's Mike Dusold in 2nd on the right with his crazy Camaro
Another of my favorites was this AMX pro tourer. Really incredible car from what I could see - he was racing most of the time
I have a ton of photos, it's hard to choose. Even though the turn out wasn't great, I hope next year is better and plan on attending. I really hope the G-body crowd steps up to the plate! We gotta represent!!
The Car Craft Malibu was at the Three Pedals tent... unbelievably I only saw a few g-bodies the entire time. Really sad!
This was one of the other ones.. a lowrider Cutty. Confusingly, it was closed up almost the entire time - I never got to see the engine bay. Maybe the owner just got in to the Show and Shine to get great parking?
Bobby Unser was there in his kick *ss Nova II
Definitely one of the more interesting vehicles, this small truck (Mazda?) had a twin turbo set up and a lawn mower and weed whacker in the bed! So cool.
The early attendees cruised out to Hoover Dam on Thurs night. Pretty awesome sight
The absolutely amazing "Fairway 55" was in attendance part of the time. It's an immaculate and crazy build from Ironworks
Another Ironworks build - this Impala has an incredible Ferrari-esque LS twin turbo set up
My personal favorite - the Squarebody Syndicate crew was there with the amazing "Series 01" truck. So incredibly clean and a perfect blend of stock look with integrated technology and performance
The ShiftBang.com guy was there for the weekend. Here he is interviewing the autocross winner and that's Mike Dusold in 2nd on the right with his crazy Camaro
Another of my favorites was this AMX pro tourer. Really incredible car from what I could see - he was racing most of the time
I have a ton of photos, it's hard to choose. Even though the turn out wasn't great, I hope next year is better and plan on attending. I really hope the G-body crowd steps up to the plate! We gotta represent!!
Sorry it's taken a while to update, the parts and garage time has been trickling in. I got the heater core, air line fittings and bumper fillers installed. Still needs a little buttoning up and the electric fans need troubleshooting because they aren't kicking on. I did replace the thermostat when I noticed it wasn't opening even when pushing 216*. Swapped in 5 minutes and it worked fine.. so it's circulating, just not kicking the fans on at temp.
I still need to decide and get a new dash cluster (really don't like using my phone), ponder a new rear end, install some bracing I got in part trade for the old transmission, and then polish and wax the paint and detail it out. Pics!
the first I got from NAPA was wrong, which is rare.. they were by far my favorite parts store and now they closed North Seattle branch! 😱
remember to reinstall the retainer before you close the core box! oops
had to pull the manifold out from the tire well, which is a huge pain, to replace and test new fittings
new fittings have the silver metal bodies, old ones have plastic. Cheap upgrade, I should've fully tested and improved the system prior to installing in car
the passenger side bumper filler was a real b*tch to install, mainly because there was a lot of excess material and it was tough to line up on the side holes
badda-bing
I also messed it up.. I took a bunch off the inside to line up with grill properly, but then went too fast and thought that upper corner needed removal, but it didn't
you can see how the side kicks out which I think is by design. I had to drill the lowers to use the stock bolts, and had to get longer upper screws because the material is thicker
really ties the room together
i scraped the hell out of them trying to fit the bumper (no big deal, just has some rattle can white on them). I still have to work on the PS filler to get the fit perfect. I'm wondering if you are supposed to install them after bumper is on? Is so tight you have to loosen one side or both to fit it on
I still need to decide and get a new dash cluster (really don't like using my phone), ponder a new rear end, install some bracing I got in part trade for the old transmission, and then polish and wax the paint and detail it out. Pics!
the first I got from NAPA was wrong, which is rare.. they were by far my favorite parts store and now they closed North Seattle branch! 😱
remember to reinstall the retainer before you close the core box! oops
had to pull the manifold out from the tire well, which is a huge pain, to replace and test new fittings
new fittings have the silver metal bodies, old ones have plastic. Cheap upgrade, I should've fully tested and improved the system prior to installing in car
the passenger side bumper filler was a real b*tch to install, mainly because there was a lot of excess material and it was tough to line up on the side holes
badda-bing
I also messed it up.. I took a bunch off the inside to line up with grill properly, but then went too fast and thought that upper corner needed removal, but it didn't
you can see how the side kicks out which I think is by design. I had to drill the lowers to use the stock bolts, and had to get longer upper screws because the material is thicker
really ties the room together
i scraped the hell out of them trying to fit the bumper (no big deal, just has some rattle can white on them). I still have to work on the PS filler to get the fit perfect. I'm wondering if you are supposed to install them after bumper is on? Is so tight you have to loosen one side or both to fit it on
Forgot to mention earlier I got a vintage plate to put on this car. When I went last year to re-register it - thank god there are some decent folks working at my local DOL - the guy told me save the extra cost and run new plates until it comes up to get new tabs. Well, thankfully I went in before the deadline because it ended up costing me only $45 as opposed to like a hundred more.. and with this plate I never have to pay for tabs again. Just a tip for people in WA or states that allow this.
Some pics of the car in the Greenwood car show which is the biggest in Seattle. It's more like a huge party, 15 or 20 blocks of nothing but cars and people. Thankfully (due to the fan issue) it's right down the street from me. Met my buddy early and hauled *ss down there.. the car feels great but it's almost violent when you give it some throttle. I really need to get it tuned next.
Also, yesterday when I was pulling it out of the shop the pre-pump filter hit the floor and it started leaking.. so I'm going to order parts for a hard line set up ASAP. I knew that was a terrible idea to have that hanging out there, esp under the tow bar.
it's funny the lady at the DOL took forever because having the year 2000 tabs really threw her.. i told her i could just scrape them off until i hit 1983 lol
i like the front end
it was funny bc like 99% of people would give it a glance and keep moving.. a few gave the regular wagon comments. But then a handful of people were super interested. Two guys came up at one point and said "an LS swapped Regal wagon! This is by far the coolest car here".. that made my day!
I like this low angle shot
I should've joined the G-body group but had to park with my friend and his 48 Chevy truck
Some pics of the car in the Greenwood car show which is the biggest in Seattle. It's more like a huge party, 15 or 20 blocks of nothing but cars and people. Thankfully (due to the fan issue) it's right down the street from me. Met my buddy early and hauled *ss down there.. the car feels great but it's almost violent when you give it some throttle. I really need to get it tuned next.
Also, yesterday when I was pulling it out of the shop the pre-pump filter hit the floor and it started leaking.. so I'm going to order parts for a hard line set up ASAP. I knew that was a terrible idea to have that hanging out there, esp under the tow bar.
it's funny the lady at the DOL took forever because having the year 2000 tabs really threw her.. i told her i could just scrape them off until i hit 1983 lol
i like the front end
it was funny bc like 99% of people would give it a glance and keep moving.. a few gave the regular wagon comments. But then a handful of people were super interested. Two guys came up at one point and said "an LS swapped Regal wagon! This is by far the coolest car here".. that made my day!
I like this low angle shot
I should've joined the G-body group but had to park with my friend and his 48 Chevy truck
Looks bad *ss, I am a fan of running bigger wheels but can't blame you for liking the sleeper look of what you got
liquidh8
Comic Book Super Hero
Thanks! The wheels are one of the most critical parts to me.. I felt with this car the stock wire hub caps look pretty good, esp with the white walls. I had thought about getting wheels like the Astro Supremes for that mild custom look, but would probably have kept the white walls too.
Big wheels look amazing, check out StayTrue28's wagon, it's the same car but sitting on some 18" Centerlines(?)
https://gbodyforum.com/threads/83-buick-regal-estate-wagon-on-air.59405/
Big wheels look amazing, check out StayTrue28's wagon, it's the same car but sitting on some 18" Centerlines(?)
https://gbodyforum.com/threads/83-buick-regal-estate-wagon-on-air.59405/
BLACK FRIDAY SPECIAL. Thru 12/2 Everything (Including Calendars!!) in the shop is 20% off. use code BLACKFRIDAY24.
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