Nothing new for Regals, but it'll be new for me. I thinking of putting a 4.3L diesel into an 86 two door Regal. The car was mine, then I sold it to my brother. Now it's shown back up on my doorstep. The 3.8L is pooping, so I figure it's prime for a motor swap. The diesel I plan to get is in an 84 Regal 4 door. I would be getting the whole car (for $300), so the swap wouldn't be all that hard. The guy who has the car isn't sure of the tranny, but I think it's probably a TH-350 or a lesser version. I would rebuild my BRF TH-200-4r the right way and with the 2.56 gear in the rearend I'd have a mileage master on my hands. He said when he was running it here and there he was getting upper 20's for mpg. He never had it on any long trips so he isn't sure of the highway mileage. Though, I'm sure on the highway I'll get that and maybe into the lower 30's. I thought about sticking one of my Buick 350's in there with the tranny I mentioned above, but I figure that'd be too easy. If I do the swap with the diesel, I'm guaranteed to be the only one around. I don't think the General ever put a diesel in a 2 door Regal. Should be fun. Any input is appreciated.
I remember diesel cutlass's but never regals. Our local sherrifs dept. had diesel squads back in the day, you know you really can outrun a motorola when its in a diesel :grin: Good luck with your project.. dare to be different I always say :beer
Wow, cool. I never knew the diesels came in anything smaller than a B-body. I hope it works out, Joe! :TU: It would be cool to stick a turbo on there, too! That'd make for quite a different Turbo Regal.
My cousin does have a turbo...it's from a Mack, though. The motor probably won't make enough air to spin it. However, I do have a rebuilt stock turbo that I took off my T-Type. I'd have to do some fancy plumbing.
A turbo on most any GM diesel of these designs (4.3, 5.7) likely means one thing. Failure of the crank and/or rods. Spectacular failure, but failure. Rods and cranks were the seriously weak link in these designs. I suppose if you didn't run more than 2-4 PSI you might get away with it for a short time though.
That hardly seems worth the effort. Maybe I could do it, then grenade the engine and stick a 6.5L in there as a replacement.
There is an article in either Popular Hotrodding or Car Craft about a Chevelle with a Duramax. Pretty cool car though if the mag is right about what it cost, prohibitive bucks.
It is Pop Hotrodding. If the number he submitted for cost of build is true, it ruined his lo-buck deal too. $250k :dollar:
I keep thinking I want to do it, but I just got told by the dentist that I need 2 crowns because my fillings are breaking apart. And then he said he's not replacing those fillings with new ones, since they will weaken what's left of the tooth. $1200 a piece is making me think I need to keep my $300 and stick a 350 in that regal instead.
Dentist expenses! :eek2: :dollar: :af: Wife's full mouth extractions and dentures costs enough I could have likely finished my GS. Close to $8k now. I'd rather she didn't have to have it done but it wasn't optional. I'm just thankful we were in a position to take care of it. Go for that 350. It should be a weekend swap kind of thing using manifolds rather than headers since about the only serious change will be connecting the exhaust system. Most everything else is a bolt in deal. That is actually my next project, a 350 Regal with a real snotty cam and automatic.
Yeah, every time I go to the dentist I've been bummed out except the two times before this last trip. They even took xrays during the last one. You'd think they could of seen it coming, but I guess the fillings were still stable at that point. I've had those fillings for over 15 years so I guess I should feel lucky they didn't fail earlier. One of the 70 350's that I have still has the y pipe attached. I'll use that and plumb it into the exhaust that's already on there. It's a 2bbl motor, but I have a 4bbl manifold on the other 70 350 that I have. Too bad its so easy. I was looking for a challenge. Though cutting two inches off of that fan shroud straight should be challenging. We'll see. I still have to get my 99 Regal GS back on the road.
Wish that 84 Regal 4 door was close to me and for sale. There is a fairly big dollar diesel race at Beech Bend soon and me and my buddy been trying to find a cheap diesel car to run in it.
That Engine just plain sucked. Its the converted Olds V8.. I worked for Pontiac back then and I bet I swapped 100 of them all under warranty.. We had a waiting line for these create engines...What a nightmare!!! If the customer was out of warranty he took it to a local shop and they would swap a Olds gas engine into the car... The stock V6 would make more power and get just as good fuel mileage as that boat anchor GM called a diesel...lol
Too true. My dad had an Eldorado with that engine. Cadillac really took care of him, put a new crate engine in it at about 50k, new glow plugs two or three times, a new transmission once, the works. I figured, hey if Caddy took that good care of him, I shouldn't be so afraid of that engine. I bought a Chevy wagon with the 5.7 diesel. First time I took it to GM, they said "Mr. Slater, your car needs glow plugs, a rebuild on the injector pump and the oil cooler lines replaced. It will take us two weeks and be about $1200." I nearly died! Did the work myself and saved about $800. Super easy to work on. That thing went through head gaskets, injector pumps and other stuff. I finally told my wife at the time, next time it breaks, it's gone. Swapped it for a gas Olds 350 in a weekend. Literally a bolt in deal. All the brackets, exhaust, everything bolted right up. Course, being in California, it wouldn't pass smog any more. :rant: :blast:
Joe, did you figure on putting a 350 in yet? Like you were saying earlier, you could make this a fuel mileage challenge car. 2bbl, overdrive, long gears... might be fun to see what you could squeeze out of it. :TU: BTW, how's the tranny swap going on the '99?
That tranny swap got put on hold for a bit. My grandmother died and the BG trip came about. I'll get back at it sometime this week.
