Need Informations about 1981 Regal

**JFKen** · 07-23-2006, 04:15 PM

Hi all !

I am french, so I'm sorry for my imperfect english. I'm 24 years old, living in south of France. I love all old car (from any brands) and american car in general.

I'm going to buy a 1981' Regal with a V8 engine but i need more informations about this car. This car is originally powered by the V6 Turbo. The body style is, I think, a T Top (glass in two parts on the roof, I love it !!). The body and chassis look very good (no rust, just the paint is decolored and apply like a viking).

I try to find american (or canadian) site talking about car (mecanical reconditioning, etc...) but my searches keep in vain.
So, I need maximum information about this wonderful car (it isn't ?) and the V8 engine (i don't find any schema by the internet

). I think the motor references are 305ci LG4, but I'm not sure at 100%.

Thanks in advance for any help !!

Long life to yours cars !!

**bob k. mando** · 07-23-2006, 04:48 PM

just the paint is decolored and apply like a viking

hahaha. i have no idea what 'apply like a viking' means but it sounds funny as all get out.

a 305 is a Chevrolet engine design so your engine compartment has been modified a bit from it's original factory configuration. if you want a power upgrade it would probably be very easy and cheap to drop in a Chevy 350 at this point.

by 1981 all of the Buick design v8's had fallen out of production (except for those 215 aluminum v8's being used by Land Rover). you could replace the Chevy motor with a Buick 350, a Buick v6 (turbo or non) or a Rover engine and have the engine compartment pretty much back to the original setup. the Buick v6 was based on the Buick v8 small block engines.

you can use this thread to verify that the 305 is actually what you have: http://www.teambuick.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9402

**JFKen** · 07-23-2006, 09:58 PM

Originally Posted by bob k. mando

i have no idea what 'apply like a viking' means but it sounds funny as all get out.

Old painting was not sandpapered and new painting was not adapted for the car. Imagine paint your car whith a bathroom paint

Thanks a lot for the link ! I'm going to see the car in details soon.

Do you think I can find mechanical/technical/repair book for this Regal or engine ? I don't see anything on eBay but maybe I used bad keywords

Thanks again for help !!

Oh, one question again : what do you think about this car ? What is the appreciation and reputation of the 80's Regal in USA ? I find nobody on the french's US Car forum who drive whith a Regal (but one guy got a 79' Skylark, with the 4 cylinder block ).

***JFKen***

**bob k. mando** · 07-24-2006, 02:01 PM

What is the appreciation and reputation of the 80's Regal in USA ?

well, the late 70's and early 80's cars are pretty much the low point of both performance and styling for US cars. the emissions regs had really kicked in and Detroit was still trying to get by with carburetors or mechanical fuel injector systems. we still hadn't ( haven't?

) gotten the hang of making light weight, tin can cars and if you don't have power in the engine you've gotta have a light car to get decent accelleration.

engine displacements had collapsed after ~75 with pretty much all big blocks being relegated to heavy truck applications.

there are some performance and styling exceptions but for every 78 Trans Am Super Duty you've got 10 examples like the Mustang II.

by the mid-80s you start seeing things like the turbo Buick Grand National and the Mustangs making a little bit of a comeback.

so basically, the late 70s/early 80s cars don't have much of a presence in the collector market place ... and i don't expect that to change. one good thing about this though, you can usually get one of these cars cheap and then swap in a late 60s/early 70s powerplant with hardly any problem. really good, cheap 'sleeper' car.

that's actually what a lot of guys are doing with the 80's Regals, swapping in Buick 455s.

Do you think I can find mechanical/technical/repair book for this Regal or engine ?

hell, if you've got a Chevy engine you'll have a hard time NOT finding web sites or books on it. look for Chevy or Chevrolet small block.

as for a repair book, try finding a web page for a major US auto parts store like Pep Boys, Napa, Autozone or something like that. most auto parts stores carry repair books for a broad range of makes and models. check www.amazon.com as well.

**roadmouse** · 07-29-2006, 05:59 AM

bonjour,
lets do this in english instead of french as a curtacy to our host. (and because my french is rusty as hell!)
There is a man in la douce paris who is specialized in period manuals I'll try to find ya his adress, I know i've had it somewhere, trouble is, where!
another thing what might be helpfull is there is a book called "rebuilding the small block chevy" this book has been translated in french, I dont know if its still in print but its worth looking out for it.
one more thing, there is a haynes manual for your regal, I have an adress here in belgium from a seller of these manuals, if you need the adress, write me a PM.
see ya
ton voisin belge
Alain

**JFKen** · 08-05-2006, 04:52 AM

Hi all !!

I inspected the car in detail this morning.The chassis is healthy, the body as well as the interior too. The car is a 1980 model, no 1981. It's a Coupe Sport Limited version.
I noted these informations found on the plates in the engine compartiment :

Type : 4K473
V.N. : 812
P.E. : 2119
Serial Number : 4K473AH154230
Pont : PT
Transmission : TH350
Year: 1980
PTC : 2T168 (Total weight authorized in load, in metric system)
PTR : 3T075 (Travelling authorized total weight, in metric too)
Chassis Number : AH154230

I didn't find the Engine Serial Number, so I don't know what kind of motor it is. It's a 305ci or 350ci Small Block, if you have any tips to recognize the difference, tell me how !
Can these informations indicate something to me ? If so, what ?

Thanks in advance for the possible help which you could bring to me !!

Betters greetings from France

**JFKen** · 08-06-2006, 07:55 PM

Nobody can help a french american car lover ?

**guyopel** · 08-07-2006, 05:32 AM

Sorry ,but your Vin number is different from what we use here in the US . But looks like you have a code "H"
eng. I am still checking my info. for your numbers , I would not want to give you the wrong info.HTH "Hope This Helps ".

**JFKen** · 08-08-2006, 04:13 AM

Ok, thanks to you for help

RoadMouse : je ne peux pas t'envoyer de MP, problemes de privileges apparement....

**bob k. mando** · 08-09-2006, 01:11 PM

i don't have a book with the 1980's VIN codes but if i use the standard decoding for 1979 this is what i get:

4 K 47 3 A H 154230
4 = Buick
K = Regal Sport Coupe
47 = 2dr coupe
3 = 4v turbo 231 v6
A = 1980?
H = Flint, MI
154230 = sequential production code

sorry, i don't have anything better for the block id than trying to find casting numbers from the head or block.