My 76/77 Buick regals going to the darkside!

I have two Regals. Granny's 76 non-running and a 77 regal running(EDIT- I realized that the 2nd regal is a 76 also. Anywhere you see something about a 77, realize that it should be a 76. ). I bought the 77 to swap parts to build a tribute to my Granny, my aunt and my uncle. Granny died of Leukemia when I was in 5th grade, Aunt Cindy died many years ago from a drunk driver. Uncle Eric died in the Marine barracks in in 1983. All three were taken too early. I have not the strength to get rid of the 76 because it still smells like it did when Granny was alive.

In 2017 I purchased the 77 on Aunt Cindy's birthday and have been driving it whenever it decides to start. I finally got tired of the pump, pump, start, pump pump pump start and rev. I realized that although it would be nice to keep the Regals all original, it just is not working out with the carbs. (you know where this is going...)

So I began to research. Months go by and I have a crapload of organized videos, web pages and notes. Finally, this week I began to execute the plan.

It's LS time!!

I found a motor and trans from a 2010 express van 3500hd with 109k miles and removed it from the back of the truck last night. I will be swapping the L96 (6 liter LS) motor and 6l90e tranny (Big MOFO) into the Buick with a cam swap, headers and some other parts to freshen it up. The car has about 140 hp at the engine from the factory with the 350 buick in it now. The new motor and tranny will turn it into a rocket!I should have about 440hp at the wheel! Yeah, Im going to have roughly 3 1/2 times the power and torque. Then going from a 3 speed to a 6 speed is going to do even more to make it a beast! Maybe I will boost it in the future too!

While I know some people are against this trend, I can no longer deny it. I realized that I could have spent a small fortune on 350 upgrades or a 455 swap...or...I can very reasonably swap to new tech and have a vehicle that I can daily drive anywhere I choose. It became a no brainer. I watched all these guys grinning from ear to ear after their swaps and watched these dudes auto-crossing heavy trucks and can no longer resist. I want to be able to drive the 190 mile trip to my current military installation without having to worry about a tow truck.

In just a while, I will have a fire hot 1976/77 regal with all the modern amenities and finally be able to fulfill my promise to stop buying modern day cars. I am going old school from here on. The car manufacturers are simply ripping us off these days and I am done.


So for all those that will shake their heads and look at me in shame, Sorry buds. I just want to enjoy driving around while remembering those that I lost that were linked to this car. Better to have the Buick on the road being admired by others than have it always sitting in the garage rusting away and broken. So yes, the LS bug has claimed another victim but who cares. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff!

For anyone that is into high fidelity car audio, I have a long list of equipment ready to go into the Regal too. I am into Audiophile stereo systems and have been stockpiling the equipment to match the competition level system in my current 2013 Jeep Srt. Maybe I will include those details here that I have posted on my audio forum too.

 

Please post pics of your car when you can

 

Nice, LS swap is a no brainer when it comes to affordable/reliable power.

 

Attached a few pics. 77 is in front and 76 is on the side of the house. Threw a halloween pic in too. I must do this to keep up the trend on Halloween. Im that "car with smoke in the lawn guy". A legend in my neighborhood of sorts. Lol!

76 had red interior 77 had ugly tan. 76 has the floor shifter 77 has column shifter.

 

The running 77 has started to show signs of rust so now is the time to fix it all. Heres a pic of the future midbass location. The best part is that the door panel is two halves so I wont have to modify the original. You can see the mold growth that I am going to be resolving. I had to give the car a distilled white vinegar bath and slowly I am brushing all the mold away with simple green type cleaners. I will be reupholstering everything though. I added a random pic of one of the firestone airsprings that will eventually occupy the control arms.

 

The 77 is sharp.

 

I've got a hook up on LS swap harnesses if interested,..much better than retrofitting a stock harness

 

Thank you. For some odd reason these have not been as popular. Probably due to the whole EPA tightening associated with these years. I think they are awesome cars. With new tech, I am guessing I might change some minds too. They are comfortable vehicles and just cool in my opinion. I honestly like them more than G-bodies.

Not sure yet. I have a dude that helped me make some decisions with this motor/trans and due to his superb customer service I want to buy one of his harnesses. I was a non$$$ caller and he took more than enough time to help me out. I was so pleased that I vowed to put my dollars in his hand.

Now that said, This is not going to be the last LS swap that I do. I need a truck and I figured I would build a nice C10 with the same exact setup after I am doe with this one. So please pass that hookup info to me if you do not mind.

 

I am 100% on board with this idea. While deployed overseas, I had a long debate with some young troops and they were all like "LS Swap The World"! I argued with them and put up a good fight. In the end it seems they were right. I just cannot deny that this LS swap thing is so freaking amazing. The way I see it, I have an older house and am constantly updating it. I put newer tech and appliances in it all the time. I am not one of those "keep it historically accurate" type of guys. Most people are the same way. Stainless appliances, flat screen TV's and all kinds of other stuff everywhere in homes. Modernizing is a huge industry. So why cannot our old cars be the same? Once I learned the phrase "Resto-mod" and learned what it was all about, I was hooked!

Your wish has been granted!

 

Got the wiring harness intake and almost all accessories off before running out of light tonight. Should have taken off the fan first but oh well. Not to difficult at all. Next I will remove the water pump and tranny. And start ordering some parts. Definitely doing LS3 intake. This truck one looks aweful!

 

All accessories have been removed from the new motor. The tranny has been removed and now it is time to start ordering parts. I figure the motor mount, cam, and vvt delete are a must asap. I would like to get the heads off and back on as quickly as I can.

I think the harness should be after the cam then headers. Hell, I better just order everything.
Im getting excited

 

Slowly coming along. Used my shop press to press the slip yoke out. Also got a great deal of labeling going on the factory harness. Got the dirty dingo slider ls mount adapters in and the obd2 port.
Gotta get the oil pan, cam, vvt delete kit, fuel pump and so on ....

 

The ls3 intake is a square port,..you have cathedral port,..my suggestion is a Holley Sniper for the money they are nice pieces,..look great and make good power,..tq will suffer a little

 

Nope. My L96 has the same heads as the ls3. That is why the l96 and ly6 6 liters are so popular. The most popular thing to do with these is to swap for the ls3 intakes and cam these suckers. Boost is the next step.

 

Oh yea the l96 those aren't that common,..the g8s have the ly forgot about those

 

The Gmpp cnc square port head is a very nice bang for the buck,..especially when you sell the stock heads to offset the cost

 

This a 66 chevelle im swapping,..383 LS1 should make 600hp. The VS racing turbos are gaining major traction in the budget boost world,..very cost effective way to get a billet wheel turbo with alot wheel/housing combos. A 72mm with a .91 AR would be a good compromise for the street

 

Radiator and fan shroud removed revealing a bout 8 inches from the fan and the ac condenser. The plan is to move the motor 3 inches forward to allow for the 3 inches difference between the new 6l90 and th350. Hopefully I wont have to cut the floor. I would like to ..."try"... to do this with the same driveshaft too if possible but I know that is stretching it.

Ordered the holley 302-3 oil pan today and am about to finalize a new fuel pump. Im debating if a new tank is really needed but will probably just buy one. Will most likely be a tanksinc pa-5 for the future ability to boost the motor. Found an old wrench under the radiator.

For the record. I am now getting nervous. I recently got a quote to have someone do the swap for me and I have now spent over half of what they wanted. Now I do not suspect I will ever reach that persons number but I am just hoping that this goes well since I could have had someone to bitch at if they screwed it up rather than having to cuss myself out if I screw it up.
I suspect that I will be in about $6k by the time I finish. I could have saved some cash though by getting a 5.3 or even finding and pulling one myself. I really wanted that 6.0 though. We will see if It all works out as planned in the end.

 

Ordered a tanksinc pa-6 fuel pump. Next up, fuel tank from O'Reilly.