BUILD THREAD 87 Regal Build

[RegalRegal]

Hello, I bought my 1987 Buick Regal when I was 18. Drove it for 3 years, it was a great 1st car. It was leaking from just about every seal and gasket, still ran great but made a mess of any parking spot. After I lost reverse I decided to do an engine and trans upgrade. This was back when the internet was just getting going so getting info was not as easy as today. I got overwhelmed when talking to engine shops and parked the car. Job, Kids, house, and 20 years later here we are. Over the 20 years the car was moved to my dad's barn and what started as a front clip removal snowballed into a frame off situation. Then stripped down to just the frame. I was really good at taking things apart in my 20s. So 2020 the plan to rebuild was put in motion. Frame was at my house and it was time. I started by having the frame sandblasted and primered (so no flash) by a local industrial coating company. From there I removed and replaced the upper control arm cross member with a G-box from Wild Rides Race Cars. I also purchased a frame box and lower frame brace from Trick Chassis. I had these welded in at a welding shop to insure it was good as my welding experience is limited. So the welding shop did a great job but as they went over their quoted time they did leave some holes and gaps. I had a friend weld what was left.
I will do my best to get up to date.
https://wildridesracecars.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/G-Box-10-hole-1-scaled.jpg

 

[wingnutks]

Love the aftermarket torque box... not looking forward to installing mine with the body on the car lol. Why is there a notch on the driver side of the box so that there is a gap at the frame?

 

[mclellan83]

Looking forward to seeing more of this, just FYI you can attach the pics into your post so that they show in it instead of having the thumbnails

 

[RegalRegal]

Love the aftermarket torque box... not looking forward to installing mine with the body on the car lol. Why is there a notch on the driver side of the box so that there is a gap at the frame?

Not sure why it was notched like that.
Possibly to help with install as they were designed to install with the body on. It was fully welded before paint.

 

[RegalRegal]

2001

 

[RegalRegal]

View attachment 1905062001

 

[RegalRegal]

After all welding was done on frame, I constructed a frame rotisserie out of 2 engine stands to help insure coverage in all hard to reach areas. I then scuffed entire surface and sprayed a few coats of Por-15. Followed by 2 coats of Por-15 Gloss black 2k urethane. I sprayed with a cheap gun from H.F. and was happy with results.

 

[RegalRegal]

After all welding was done on frame, I constructed a frame rotisserie out of 2 engine stands to help insure coverage in all hard to reach areas. I then scuffed entire surface and sprayed a few coats of Por-15. Followed by 2 coats of Por-15 Gloss black 2k urethane. I sprayed with a cheap gun from H.F. and was happy with results. View attachment 190517

 

[39F]

After all welding was done on frame, I constructed a frame rotisserie out of 2 engine stands to help insure coverage in all hard to reach areas. I then scuffed entire surface and sprayed a few coats of Por-15. Followed by 2 coats of Por-15 Gloss black 2k urethane. I sprayed with a cheap gun from H.F. and was happy with results. View attachment 190517

Looks really good

 

[RegalRegal]

After allowing it to cure the paint looked good and was time to decide on front a-arm and spindel. I went back and forth between my 3 options. 1. drop spindels with stock arms with poly bushings. 2. "The Game changer" from Southside Machine Performance which utilizes stock lower control arms and comes with tall spindels, adjustable Upper A Arms, fast Ratio Steering Arms, QA1 Upper and Lower Ball joints, Moog Tie Rod Ends ,Springs or 3. AFX spindels with tubular uppers and lower control arms from Umi or similar. I decided to go with option 2 because of the cost of Afx spindels was a little steep. I will give this kit a try and review it when I'm rolling. (some day)
It took a long time to get all the correct parts sent as they sent the wrong parts twice. Quality was good, my only complaint was all the threads had to be chased with a tap because of oversprayed powder coat in threads and overall lead time (8 weeks). For the rear Wild Rides g box comes with adjustable Upper and I went with a SSM lower adjustable control arm.