1996 Buick Regal - Saved from the junkyard UPDATED PICS

[GM Collector]

My girlfriends sister had a 1996 Buick Regal sedan with 140k on it. She bought a new car and was trying to sell it. Someone comes and looks and it is leaking coolant. Not interested. So she was going to junk it. I threw her a few bucks for it and now it's mine. I determined that the lower intake gaskets were failed, what a surprise! This particular car has the 3100 V6 engine that is notorious for this problem. The outside color is a dark red and so is the cloth interior. There is some rust on the lower rocker panels but they are not completely gone. The tires were shot. I had a 1997 Oldsmobile 88 with like-new tires and alloy wheels. The motor had some serious issues and the body was damaged. This Regal had bald tires with belts showing on steel wheels and no hubcaps. So I swapped the wheels, sold the 88 to a junk man and bought the Regal.

Now I will bring it back to life and get it ready for any potential buyers.

Here are some before shots of the engine bay before I started the work.





I am going to clean each piece I remove from the engine before I replace it and the engine bay itself.

Upper intake and valve covers removed.



Leaky gaskets. Coolant was actually pouring out of the other side.



Lower intake removed.



Just as I suspected, the gaskets are shot!



This intake reseal job is now complete. I also took the time to replace the air filter, plugs (AC Delco), wires, serpentine belt, PCV valve, valve cover gaskets, thermostat, put in fresh coolant and changed the oil.

I spent a few hours buffing the paint bringing some of the shine back. The paint is original and is loaded with scratches. There are a few interior pieces that need replacing. It needs screws for the window switches, the passenger side vent surround and a hood release cable. The interior also needs detailing which will be done soon.

I don't have any shots of the car itself yet I'll get some tomorrow. Thanks for checking this out.

[BlackHawk99]

You positive that's not a Century? As far as I know, the Regal never came with the 3100.

[GM Collector]

I own the car, lol, it is a 1996 REGAL. Regal's came with 3100 and 3800 as engine options.

[ChilinMichael]

Blackhawk this is a 1996, before the newer style. You're probably thinking of 1997-up which just came 3800

[petraman]

Engines
1988-1989 2.8 L (170 in³) V6
1989-1996 3.1 L (191 in³) 3100 V6
1990-1996 3.8 L (231 in³) Buick V6

[BlackHawk99]

My bad. Sorry! Jeez....

[ChilinMichael]

Once Petraman posted the Wikipedia, I started to feel bad like we pounded you too much for not knowing

It's ok, we're only human, can't know every aspect of every car, plenty I still don't know...

[wake]

i was about to jump on him too..could thing i didnt..pour blackhawk :sad5:

GmC:

looks good bud..i wanna see some more pics of the car :D

[GM Collector]

I took a few pics today of the engine bay cleaned up. Like I said, I spent a few hours buffing the paint bringing the shine back. I don't have any before pictures but in the few years the previous owner had it she washed it maybe 3 times. I still have some interior cleaning/repairing and touching up the engine bay to do, then it is hitting craigslist.

























Window switches need securing and it's missing the vent trim on the passenger side.











I would like to add that not only did I do the intake gasket and add the wheels/tires I did the following:

- Upper and Lower intake gaskets
- Valve cover gaskets
- Air Filter
- PCV Valve
- Serpentine belt
- AC Delco spark plugs
- Wireset
- Thermostat
- Coolant
- Oil and filter

[turkeykiller]

YA that doesnt look like a junk yard car any more. Pretty nice under that hood. Nice job

[GM Collector]

thanks!

Here is a link to the listing if anyone is interested in reading it.

http://providence.craigslist.org/cto/1782594370.html

[wake]

makes me miss my 95 regal ls coupe..(it was the canadian version with a swapped over cluster..L27 couple oh man was that thing nice

there truly awesome cars...yours turned out great