BUILD THREAD 84 Regal back half/caged/mini tubbed lq4/4l80e build

[Roblq84]

Hi guys! Purchased this car last year sitting in a field. Stripped it all down, acid washed the interior and frame, welded up all the holes, por 15 sealed it all, and started going piece by peice

Engine is a gen 3 rebuilt lq4, ported 243 cathedral heads, isky 595-233 598-235 112 cam, fitech tall manifold, 55lb injectors, 102 mm Tb, tubular upper control arms, qa1 tall upper ball joints, c5 corvette accessory drive with power steering, vacuum brakes, circle D 4k stall 9.5 inch converter, rebuilt 4l80e, jegs g body conversion long tubes, summit ultimate ls fuel system using c5 regulator/filter, 20 gallon fuel cell, and going to be trying out the fitech 70051

Any questions or part info feel free to ask! Thanks for checking it out

 

[SoFloG]

Looking good. Love to see old drag cars brought back to service.

 

[mclellan83]

Looking forward to seeing it come together

 

[Roblq84]

Looking good. Love to see old drag cars brought back to service.

Going through the body and frame, every ding and dent im sure has a story, especially the hit inside the trans-driveshaft tunnel from most likely losing one on launch 🤣 it was originally a big block car, the front springs were damn near out of a bus. my goal is a subtle pro-street style build. 😎

 

[Roblq84]

20 gallon fuel cell install today, I’ve been hearing some scary stories about the fuel cell
Foam Deteriorating over time so ended up just removing it, (cheap crap anyway) going to be using -6an c5 corvette filter/regulator for a returnless setup

 

[Roblq84]

I have the fuel system 99% complete, just going to flush it before attaching the feed fitting into the rail, trimmed up the carpet to fit better around the cage, and cut the holes for seat mounting studs
The front springs that were in the car looked like they came out of a truck, if I jumped on the Front end the car wouldn’t budge, I swapped them out for a set of moog 5658s
Prepped the front radiator support for install with new mounting bushings and paint, im using a 1 inch tube 2 row aluminum radiator, with hoses both on passenger side and trans cooler on driver side, I will be making my own upper radiator hold downs and modifying the bottom of the support.
Painted the ls truck coils, and ordered a new coil bracket for a 5.3 since the original ones sat too high to the injector plugs, the coil
Behind the alternator needed to be temporarily raised because it interfered with the plug wire
Standalone ecu and harness came in, I ended up routing it through the original bulkhead hole and started laying out all The routing
Painted the roll cage and the rest of the interior metalwork
My interior is maroon and it’s all going to go black, I went through the dashboard wiring removing all the previously installed old toggle switches and wiring

Hope you enjoy the updates!

 

[Roblq84]

last 2 weeks, I’ve finished the rough wiring,
I used 1/0 power from trunk, to a 200amp breaker, to the starter, wired the fitech 70051, 4g alternator wire to it as well, ground is also 1/0 right to the block, im Using a fuel pump relay kit that’s triggered from the existing orange wire from the ecu that’s supposed to go directly to the fuel pump, but I don’t want the power coming from there, After initial fitech setup, i primed the oil, purged/flushed the fuel system of any debris and tried to fire it up yesterday, unfortunately while cranking the battery voltage was too low, it needs to see atleast 10-10.5 volts, also considering its been sitting in 15° weather haha I trickle charged it overnight, hooked everything back up, and It fired but then would die, I had the initial settings on the cam profile on 3, just going to set the iac steps, supposed to be around 4, enjoy! Any questions feel free to ask

 

[Roblq84]

moving onto the dashboard install, head/tail/brake/directions
wiring front and rear, column, fuse box, and stand alone. the original harness was completely hacked apart, I decided to wipe the slate clean and purchase a generic gm complete harness, and the fun began, surprisingly it’s going extremely well, everything works as should so far, but I’ve also planned and mapped out the wiring and connections in my head 10000 times, one bus bar for 12 constant hot, and one for keyed ignition hot, cut out almost 10 circuits such as power accessories since everything’s Manual,windows/locks, and the old choke/distributor wiring as well. I’m going to be running all the lights from the harness to the rear left quarter and use the gm standard light switch

 

[SoFloG]

That complete rewire is a satisfying job and will be super beneficial down the road. Looking good. Any E.T. goals in mind?

 

[Roblq84]

That complete rewire is a satisfying job and will be super beneficial down the road. Looking good. Any E.T. goals in mind?

I deal with vehicle wiring almost daily, and I had the biggest smile and shocked look on my face when every wire actually matched up and worked as should 🤣. The only thing i regret is wasting the time trying to go through the original harness since a lot of things loop back into eachother and go to dated components which are now obsolete.
You couldn’t have said it better as a satisfying job, and atleast knowing now from the get go wiring it firsthand where and what every single circuit, wire, and color is, but the best part of it all was the price, which was a 5th of most major brands 🍻

In all honesty, I have no idea, the car is more sentimental to me, and I’m going for the overall performance and look of what I’ve always wanted to build. The engine should be putting out right around 500, through a 4l80e, with a 3800-4000 stall, with 4.10s, with 31” tires, and a weight of about 28-2900 lbs. 60ft times should be significantly low considering the setup. as a ladder bar/backhalf Car, it should really hook well, but I would be surprised if it’s not in the ballpark of 11s, your guess is as good as mine haha