99 Regal GS Build

[dtrombley]

Hey guys, long time lurker, but I finally had the chance to build my regal a little bit. I know it's not a grand prix but, pretty much the same thing.. just a little cooler right?

Anyways this started with just some some basic stuff like headers, intercooler, and rockers, but once I took the lower intake off and saw the coolant ports almost completely sludged from the stupid dex-cool, I had to take the heads off and it kind of snowballed from there. Heads are being done by Impastato Racing in MI, as I couldn't find a decent machine shop to do a basic head job that sounded trust worthy around me.

So far what I have is:
AGX struts
Dorman 33mm sway bar with poly link pins
all poly motor and trans mounts
yella terra 1.6 rr for less friction in the valve train
vs cam
wbs fuel rails (used)
42 lb injectors (used)
zzp stage 2 intercooler w/ ported manifold (used)
LS6 valve springs
manley Ti retainers and locks
Pushrods (I have a set that came with the yella terra's, and I have a set that of Intense Oil Restricted push rods from before I planned on putting the cam in, which ones should I use?)


Still need:
Headers (I've had 3 different sellers back out on me now)
Lifters (I hear stock are the most reliable? Mine had a lot of wear)
255lph or 320lph fuel pump? (I don't know for sure but I have a really good feeling I'll be maxing out the stock one)
N* throttlebody and LQ4 MAF (Or should I go with a different set up?)
Supercharger pulley (no clue what size I should go with though)
PCM tune (but of course waiting until I know what all my mods will be)


Would love to get (for the right price):
Meziere EWP
140 amp alternator (didn't the bonne's come stock with these?)
8 rib pulley kit

Now for pictures!!

IMG_0788.jpg
Forgot to take a starting picture, so this is what it looked like originally, just imagine the belts ignition system and throttle body and air intake are still on there

IMG_0785.jpg
So disgustingly cluttered, it should look a lot cleaner when I'm done. This is originally as far as I was going to tear into it, idk if you can tell from the picture though, the coolant ports in the heads were way more clogged up than I was comfortable cleaning out with them on the motor. The back head was a lot worse than the front, and when i took it off, turns out my head gasket was going anyways.

IMG_0787.jpg
This sensor with the ziptie around it looks like a MAP sensor to me.. but for some reason I didn't think our cars had MAP sensors. Can anyone confirm this for me?

IMG_0786.jpg
I really let this engine compartment get way too dirty in the first place. Not this time! Here's all the sludge and crap left over from when I did the lower intake gaskets and also rebuilt the supercharger, but left the case bolted to the manifold and let that nasty oil drip everywhere

IMG_0781.jpg
Why waste time wiggling the motor and trans out the top when you can just drop the whole cradle?

[BillBoost37]

Looks awesome.

Bonnies 92-99 came stock with a CS144 style case alt which was 140 amp.
2000+ SSEi's and PAU's came with the right case style for 99+ W body bracket and it was a 125amp.

Ziptie is the map. Our cars def have map.

Having had an EWP, personally I'd say don't do it. It does have more flow at idle, but less at higher rpm. A buddy in AZ has to swap his off each summer to have reasonable cooling while highway driving (3.69 gearing and highly modded). Plus.. there's the potential for belt slippage because you are not wrapping the crank pulley as much.

As for taking it out the bottom. I can think of two reasons. Alighment and lack of lift.

[dtrombley]

Wow, these pictures are coming out really small.. anyone know how i can change that?

Thanks for the advice Bill, I was just thinking about doing it to clean up the engine bay a little more and to make it more efficient. But if there's one thing I can't stand on my cars, it's cooling issues.

So then I should be able to go to the junkyard and grab both of those alternators and swap the right case on? or should I just get/make a bracket to adapt the 140 amp?

As far as pulling the cradle, it sure would have been nice to have a lift, but we made do with a cherry picker and something like 8 jack stands haha. And the struts are getting replaced anyways so either way I would've needed an alignment.

[dtrombley]

More pics to come, we've made a lot more progress than this, but I'm apparently over my attachment quota at the moment.

[Scottydoggs]

welcome regal guy.

click the 3 rd icon from the right, click the url tab, then paste the link in the line, then un check the box for a full size image like this.

[dtrombley]

Hmm.. something seems to be missing.


Cradle before any cleaning or painting


Motor, trans, and steering/suspension off of the cradle


Almost done cleaning and sanding


Ready for paint


All painted (we somehow managed to drop it moving it into the garage, that why the rear driver's bushing is missing some paint. luckily that's all the paint that came off)


Painted with the new control arms, dorman sway bar and poly end links, and poly motor and trans mounts


This is how nasty the knuckles were when they came off.


After some good cleaning


Knock Sensor before


Knock sensor after wire wheel


Motor really didn't look half bad after some cleaning, still had the original bar codes on it



Motor after paint, for some reason the paint sprayed really weird on the oil pan. Yes that is the same paint on the oil pan as the block, sprayed at the same time, same way.


Friendly reminder, when you're spray painting, make sure you're pointing the nozzle at what you want painted. Not yourself


Trans all painted



About halfway through cleaning


All these little bends and corners and crevices took longer to clean than both the block and trans


Old cam and new cam


New cam in the motor


Mating up the motor and trans. We set the motor down onto a wheel dolly that way could line em up and just roll the motor into the trans.



Front


Rear

I have more pictures kicking around somewhere, I just need to find 'em.

Since this we've gotten the starter, knuckles and power steering rack and lines all cleaned, painted, and mounted.
We've also gotten the timing cover and oil filter adapter painted and torqued down, and the power steering pump cleaned and mounted. I'll keep ya'll updated.

[BillBoost37]

I like what you did there..kinda wondering why you didn't take the axles out. Did you not drain the trans?

I'm a fan of wiping the paint off the freeze plugs. Makes it look that little bit factory IMO. Surprised you didn't drop in an aluminum subframe

[98buicksupercharged]

That's gonna look really clean there guy. Good luxk

[BillBoost37]

You know..I like to clean a bay when the motor is out. Cleaning the motor etc as well ... you are going to be able to do your install etc in white gloves if you wanted to.

[REDCRAPGP]

Yea only thing different I would of did was just swap to a aluminum subframe and call it a day

[BillBoost37]

FWIW Having an 00, I have the same bracket you do. I used this bonne ssei alt and called it a day. You can't put the 140 guts into an 125 case. You'd want an F body alt bracket that works for the CS144 case if you went 140



I went from this goopy mess




To this




Trans cleaning came later

[dtrombley]

98buicksupercharged: Thanks! I want it to be as clean as possible. I keep telling everyone that next spark plug change I do I'm gonna do in a tux

You know I was actually thinking about painting the freeze plugs silver like the trans, but the tape wasn't sticking too well and I was frankly just tired of taping and painting since it was like midnight at the time.

At that point i hadn't drained the trans yet, and it kinda seemed like more work than it was worth to take out the shafts. I did drain the trans later on and paint the pan black and the bolts silver though.

I considered an AL subframe, but seeing as I sometimes like to take my car down some two tracks that generally only trucks go down and based on the dents in the steel one, I was worried about cracking it (AL subframe also mean AL oil pan doesn't it?). I also wanted that extra little bit of weight over the drive wheels since I had a hard enough time not spinning the tires when it was stock. That does look really good though Bill.

I may just stick with the 125 amp alt then, I guess we'll see what I come up with when I head down to the junk yard.

As far as the MAF, everything I can find seems to be telling me the LQ4 MAF and N* tb will be the best, am I right in thinking this?

Any clue as to what pulley size I should start with once I get this all together?

And the fuel pump, should I just go with Intense's walbro kit with the rewire?

I really appreciate all the help

More pics!

Super rusty front bumper (We've also got pretty much a frame up going on on this ranger, as well as a brand new short block and a gen 3 m90 to fab on top)


Looks much better in truck bedliner (I'm kicking myself in the ass for not thinking of doing this with the cradle)


Taping the valve covers (painted black, they'll get red stripes on em)


Wiring harness that really needs to be cleaned up, and organized a lot better.


Oh and don't forget the red blower! (I'm thinking Black striping on the fins here to contrast the valve covers)

[dtrombley]

Oh and also, if anyone's got any of the items I'm looking for just floating around your garage or something and you're looking to get rid of em, shoot me a pm with a price.

[REDCRAPGP]

Your not going to crack a aluminum subframe and no you don't need a aluminum pan with it unless you want one. Issue I see is when something will eventually spring a leak all that beautiful paint especially on the subframe will fall victim and look like poo. and gravel/rocks etc will play it's part.

[BillBoost37]

The AL pan is actually structural and stronger than the steel. The steel is one step above tinfoil or a beer can. I've heard of guys making big power cracking the AL frame and it would dent easier than the steel.

For traction, what you can to keep weight transfer down and you'll stick much better.

[dtrombley]

Yea that's why I said I was kicking myself in the ass for not thinking of the truck bed liner for the subframe. I know the paint will eventually fade, chip, etc. especially with it being a daily driver, but it should look good for quite a while as long as I clean it every once in a while.

[BillBoost37]

Did you consider getting the AL bumper? IIRC it's from a Walt White car.. Aztek..that's the one.

[dtrombley]

Well, may be time to do some more in depth digging at a u pull then. So it doesn't need the al oil pan, but it does need something different then doesn't it? A different trans mount?

[16MustangVet]

Damn cant wait to see this all together looks great!

[BillBoost37]

Nope.. mounts stay the same. The engine mount in the AL pan/frame years was taller by about 3/8-1/2 inch. I'd recommend doing the AL pan, just for the fact that you no longer have oil pan gasket leaks. Mount changes are easier and if you ever had to pull the pan..it's super easy.

Since the engine is still out, you are doing the rear engine cover gasket. I'm not asking....I'm saying if you don't, it's one of the bigger mistakes you'll make on a 3800. They leak, it's a given. TurboChargedSBc400 and I are always talking about it in threads.

On the freeze plugs....spray brake cleaner on a rag and wipe the paint off them...they'll come nice and clean.