I'm looking at an 81 Regal 3.8

[jaded13640]

This is pretty generic so I suppose this is about the best place to post it.

I found an 81 regal 3.8 for a grand within 20 minutes of me. The quarter is smashed but the car appears to be awesome otherwise. He claims it only has like 55k on it and the motor was rebuilt at 40. Sounds slightly fishy unless its common for a 3.8 to die in only 40k miles. If it's very uncommon for a 3.8 to go to hell that soon I suspect it's actually got 155k on it.
I'll look it over really well, look for obvious signs of wear on the pedals and, weather checking on plastic parts, etc.
Question, in 81 the odometer only read up to 99,999 right?

Anyway, other than the smashed quarter, the car appears to be a 8 our of 10 in terms of condition.

What would the car be worth with the quarter fixed I wonder? This is assuming after the quater is fixed it's in "a step or so below mint" condition.

If the miles are as low as he says and the 10k mile old motor rebuild can be documented and it's actually a rebuild and not a swap the car ought to be worth pretty decent money.

I like it because I always have like the Regal, especially when the GN's came out.

Anyway, what is the difference is between the 3.8 in the Regal and the motors in the GN's?.
I'm talking internals, cylinder heads, compression ratios, etc. Obviosly the GN's had turbo's and all the related components.

If we're talking about bolting on a turbo and the related parts to get comparable performance...I'm very intrigued.

Thanks,

Wayne

 

[AlamoCity210]

I'm no expert but I asked roughly the same question when I first joined. And what you mentioned is pretty much it if i remember The internals of a GN block are stronger than the normal 3.8. I can't remember where but I've read about it on this site. You just have to find it.

 

[Evan11]

Yeah they roll over at 100k miles. The miles will likely read crooked if it has over 100k on it. I'd say it has 155k or 255k on it. Unless the owner was a real idiot & never chànged the oil or maintened it, I don't see the engine needing replaced at 40k. Check the rear frame wells for rust.

 

[81Regal]

There was actually two styles of GN, hot air and intercooled. The first style started in 82 and was basicly a turbo bolted on run through a blow through carb. It did have forged pistons though.
The second was in 86 when the intercooler was added along with fuel injection. This is the style most people think of when you say GN.
Like mentioned above the speedometer does roll over but the number don't line up straight. The earlier regals don't bring the money for resale that the 84-87 does, not sure why. The 84-87 has a different gauge cluster, header panel/grill, taillights than the 81-83 does.

 

[lilbowtie]

There are some low milage cars out there and it sounds as if you are smart enough to know what you are looking at. I sold one last year with 21,000 original miles. I have never had any problems with many 3.8's but know of people that have around the 50,000 mi area(early ones). I just bought a 51,ooo mi Grand Prix with a rod knock. 81 Regal touched on the GN's and it's a lot more than just bolting on some parts - The later GN's are completely different right down to the block let alone the computor and electronics.

 

[B1tchin'-Buick]

For reference I payed 2,500 For my 82' Regal 3.8 > no dents but did need paint, maybe 5 quarter sized spots with surface rust was all.....

As far as comparisons between the 3.8 In most Regals and the G.N. 3.8. Check out this link and start clicking....
Click on the home page, Scroll down and find all you want about Buicks and the birth of the Turbo 3.8

http://www.beforeblack.net/conversion.htm

<Mike>

 

[jaded13640]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your replies.

I ended up passing on the regal. The pic in the ad showed the right rear quarter smashed but the front of the car looked mint. I drove by to look at it earlier, the owner never did bother to call or email me back but the ad gave me enough info to get me close so I drove around the little area and saw it sitting out. It had actually been hit from the back and BOTH quarters were badly damaged.

The rest of the car may have been really nice but it wasn't worth it to me if I had to fix both quarters.

I've always been curious about the differences between the 3.8 in the regal and that of the GN. I'll check out those links.
I actually kinda bummed that the other quarter was so damaged. Some metal work and filler could have fixed it right up if it was just the one. But with both..the car wasn't worth 500 bucks.

Oh well,

Thanks again,

Wayne