If You Could Do it All Over Again...What Would You Do?

Anywho...

If I was to find a clean 84-85 turbo regal for cheap, say $4k and it is the color combo I want (brown with tan int). Would it be worth it to put an 86-87 engine in it if my goals are to have a mid 11 daily driver?

Seems like a decent 86-87 car will cost me close to $10k these days so that would give me $6k to play with for motor/upgrades.
 
Anywho...

If I was to find a clean 84-85 turbo regal for cheap, say $4k and it is the color combo I want (brown with tan int). Would it be worth it to put an 86-87 engine in it if my goals are to have a mid 11 daily driver?

Seems like a decent 86-87 car will cost me close to $10k these days so that would give me $6k to play with for motor/upgrades.


If that were the plan why not find a regular regal for $1500-2k and do the full I/C'd swap. That would be even cheaper. Probably $6k total.
 
trying to minimize the work needed. The hood, transmission, console, little things I'm not smart enough to think about might be worth it. Just curious if it is a horrendous project or not all that bad.
 
Depends on if you have a healthy intercooled complete engine and intercooler.
 
would you have skipped some steps that got you to where you are now?
probably not because those steps were vital to put the car where it is now.i did a lot of r&d work on my own and turned some wrenches and with the help of some real good people got a good TR education and don't regret it.
 
probably not because those steps were vital to put the car where it is now.i did a lot of r&d work on my own and turned some wrenches and with the help of some real good people got a good TR education and don't regret it.


x2, Mike.

Lou da man.

Nick, what a guy........

I'm so lucky!
 
I have spent my entire life working professionally in all fields associated with vehicle repair (hands on and management).... mechanical, electrical, A/C, paint and body (heavy collision) and so on. Point is that I can do anything that needs to be done myself and if I were looking for a TR today It wouldn't be a "fixer-up-er". A nice clean original car will be a much better investment and if it's clean enough it will hold it's value.
 
Get a late model 6.2 LS from a vette or truck, 8 speed swap, and twin turbo that. Probably cheaper than rebuilding my 109 every 5 years since 2000.
 
Guys a little off topic but ive been researching trying to get a plan put together on my next TR. What exactly all does a FAST xfi system replace? I'm crunching the numbers and looking at cost difference between going FAST vs chip.

from what ive gathered...Chip, MAF, translator, WB02 (since a sensor is included with the kit), what else? Is an audible knock detector still needed with FAST? well, I know its not needed at all but I liked having on one my old car.
 
Guys a little off topic but ive been researching trying to get a plan put together on my next TR. What exactly all does a FAST xfi system replace? I'm crunching the numbers and looking at cost difference between going FAST vs chip.

from what ive gathered...Chip, MAF, translator, WB02 (since a sensor is included with the kit), what else? Is an audible knock detector still needed with FAST? well, I know its not needed at all but I liked having on one my old car.

Chip, maf, translator, WB02, powerlogger, all that, probabyl 750+ easy, also, weld in the WB, it's a bit of work and relying on a 30 yr old computer essentially, not that powerful compared to the latest and greatest. Install PL by disassembling and scraping goo off a 30 yr old ECM... I would go XFI, it's next on my list. Get in touch with Don at cruzperformance.com for a great price on XFI.
 
Chip, maf, translator, WB02, powerlogger, all that, probabyl 750+ easy, also, weld in the WB, it's a bit of work and relying on a 30 yr old computer essentially, not that powerful compared to the latest and greatest. Install PL by disassembling and scraping goo off a 30 yr old ECM... I would go XFI, it's next on my list. Get in touch with Don at cruzperformance.com for a great price on XFI.


Thanks man. It was coming down to fast xfi vs SD2+PL. The SD2 route would be around half the price but i get what you are saying...when these cars came out a floppy disc was cutting edge technology lol. Right now I am strongly considering an 84-85 regal and going turbo LS. I wouldn't do it to an 86-87 car but looking at the numbers i could dang near buy a hot air car (around $3500) and have a road ready turbo LS setup for what it would cost me for a decent 86-87 starter car. And i would still need to mod it quite a bit for my goals.

I've been hanging on to that idea of whooping ass in a big heavy car with a 30 year old V6 but the more i think about it the more i feel like "whats the point". The end goal is to go fast (for me), reliably daily driven, in a clean g-body, for as little money invested possible. Good clean hot air car + Turbo LS seems like a good idea to me.
 
I know man, not trying to be so back and forth but damn theirs a lot to think about with this stuff. I appreciate your info.
 
No problem... Lots to think about and it never ends. Looks like your on the right path. Good luck!
 
Top