Thread: 2000 Regal

I've talked a bit about how the car looked when I got it. A recent thread made me think..I'll show how bad things were when I bought it.

I was looking for a 2000+ Regal, criteria, L36, not black or white, has sunroof and folding rear seat. Max contacted me about a white, l67. Well the body was right. I hopped on it. It was filthy, needed suspension and brakes, had 160K on everything.





Had a few lights on


Avg mpg of 16...lol


Like the cupholder? (note no seat heaters)


Hvac dim


Water stains on both sides of the headliner


Passenger seat had newspaper print on it


Glove box wasn't connected properly


Drivers mirror was bad


Most of the stock chromies leaked


Enough of the bad

Out came the pressure washer



The interior got stripped. Trunk and all were matted with stuff from second skin audio. Inside the doors and trunk lid were sludged.




Pulled out the stock monsoon audio system, amp, wiring, headunit. In went a Pioneer HU, all new wiring, Boston Acoustic 5 channel amp and Boston speakers all the way around including a sub. Backup camera and all goodies.
Amp wire run through the boot and to the battery





Added turn signal mirrors and puddle lights


Power washed carpet, cleaned the seats, added heaters to them with stock switches, good cupholder, HUD, extra power outlets.

Changed the mirror to a Nissan/Maxima one with Homelink

Suspension:
All the rear stuff was swapped out. Toe, lateral and drag links. Upgraded calipers to the 08 ones with ebrake on caliper, GMPP sway with ES urethane bushings, Moog endlinks






More to come

Amazing what a little TLC will do for a car

SS brake lines all the way around, vogtland springs

Pulled the front subframe, mount, oil pan and replaced with aluminum pan, it's mount, aluminum subframe, new controls arms, GMPP sway, ES Urethane links and bushings, f body brakes with R1 Concepts rotors and pads
It was time










Going back together and coming along well


Poly mounts all the way around




Backup cam


Sequential tail lights

Lucerne 18" rims


Goodrich RE AS960PP tires 245/45/18


125amp alt with rewire


Homelink mirror


Did an SIP, FP, seal and wax on the exterior


The power outlets in the console


Projector headlights, BMW drivign lights instead of fogs with HID bulbs.

Viper 5901 1 mile remote starter/alarm installed

Then a turkey came out and wiped out the mirror on the driverside


Fixed that
Put on winter tires at the right times
Trans was built and installed at 186K miles
Engine hung a valve around 205K and was replaced with an NA motor


LED lighting throughout the entire car

Nice buick trunk liner (heavy plastic)

Recently I decided to change up the shifter. Grabbed a Caddy shifter, pulled out the welder, cutting tools and started fabbing. Need to finish it up, here's the current status.



Stay tuned

Sludge? What is it & where/how exactly did you put it in the door? I noticed the previous owner to me put loads of styrofoam in the doors for sound. Sounds good but I hear that styrofoam squeak now & again.

How long ago did u pick her up? Looks great

SecondSkinAudio.com sells a spray called Spectrum and with an additive it turns into a peanut butter thickness. I spread it with my hands.

Originally Posted by marines542

How long ago did u pick her up? Looks great

last night and she was fun for about 2 hrs LOL oh wait you mean the car?

Looks great. I'd like to see pics of the stuff. Looks like maybe you posted wrong links

i want those lateral arms...

I've seen better work.

I picked this car up almost to the day ... three years ago. I think it was May 5, 2010. Bought it at 160,xxx and currently have 216,xxx.

I'll try and list all the mods:
Drivetrain
L26 50K miles put in at 215K


4" intake with K&N
Braided fuel lines
Poly front mounts
Perf trans installed at 186k


125A Alternator
Alt rewire
Wideband O2
Plog
3" DP into GP dual exhaust
High flow bullet catalytic
ZZP aluminum trans pan
F body calipers


R1 concepts front rotors and pads
Rear knuckles and brakes from 08 GP (Ebrake in caliper)


Braided brake lines



Suspension
Aluminum subframe


Vogtland springs


Anti Pogo washers
Rear STB (front was stock)
GMPP sways front and back
Energy suspension urethane bushings and endlinks on sways


Moog rear end links
18" Lucerne wheels
Bridgestone tires
HT Motorsports (westshorefabricators.com) tubular, greaseable and urethane bushing rear trailing, toe and drag arms.

Not really mods: control arms were new, GR2 struts were new, strut mounts were new, one new wheel bearing (moog) in front and both in rear (SKF)
Black McGard lug nuts

Interior:
HUD
Door lights (on door, 2000+ GM stopped putting them in, I added them back)
Pioneer AVH- BT3200P HU (DVD) Modded for a USB out the back. This gives me hidden iPod in the center cubby


Phone dock (since it has been retired)


Homelink mirror (Maxima Murano)


Boston Acoustic speakers and crossovers, plus 10" BA sub
Boston Acoustic 5 channel amp. Mounted upside down on rear deck lid
Wiring KnuConceptz 3 sets of RCS'a, 80 feet of their speaker wire, and amp kit
SecondSkinAudio matting throughout car, sludge in doors and trunk lid
Carpet power washed and from a different car
Headliner from a different car
All bulbs are LED
Intrigue/Aurora power outlets added to console
All window regulators removed and lubed
Tint 35%
Custom box for sub
Fixed cupholder
Heated seats (GP elements, stock Regal switches)
Gated shifter
sub control in console cubby (totally hidden)
Viper 5901 1 mile remote start/alarm
Soon to add the autodown windows (for Viper)

Exterior:
BMW driving lights instead of fogs
Projector headlights (projectors from RX330)
LED bulbs in almost everything
LED turn signals behind mirrors
Sequential turn/stop signals
Dual GTP exhasut and SLP fasicas

Pretty sure I forgot a bunch of stuff.

At this point I have 56K on most of the stuff and it's all doing extermely well. The brakes are holding up amazingly, wheel bearings etc etc have all been good. Most of the time I just drive.

One issue with the whole car, you know what it is lol

Me?

no not at all, i would put you on my car anytime. lol Its the hud switch in the ashtray. Damn think irks me. You know everything and take the easy way out on the switch? C'mon lol

With the cubby door closed, it's hidden. Doesn't fit into the dash and in a nicer car like the Regal, there's no need to have something you don't need to be visible.

That was a great thread. I've seen firsthand all the work that went into the car and can say that I was impressed. I liked the way that all the mods were made to look like they came from the Factory. Oh, and the brakes...they were....okay I guess. Hahahahaha!!!

I've ridin' in this car, it will rip your face off when you brake LOL

Originally Posted by Lishap

Great looking Buick. Curious as to how you modded the head unit to have the USB out of the back? ( I have the same HU and the wire out the front annoys me.)

Well I'm completely with you on the annoyance, the Regal has a huge cubby area right below the HU/HVAC. First you hit the store and buy a big ole can of courage and a USB cable extension. You cut the non-used (male) end off the cable and grab the radio out of the car. Open up the cover and pop the face off. IIRC this was the hardest part and I think I found a google post by a guy that did the same thing which confirmed it for me. Find a good hole in the back of the radio to feed the cable in then strip the cable and the four wires. I used a multimeter to confirm which wire was in which position and then soldered the wire to the dot on the backside of the front panel usb.



See the bracket that is kinda bent up. IIRC that was in the way and needed to be bent to solder, then bent back down. I was gentle yet firm.

Oh..BTW..the custom sub box. I made sure I left the ability to hook/unhook the cargo net.