2001 Regal turbo and 2002 Sierra Denali

Hey guys.  It's been a while.  Sold the Riv a few years back and got into a 2001 Regal.  I've since done a lot of work to the Regal and picked up a truck for a DD.  Pics of both below:  















The Regal has a Stattama turbo kit with a 6766 Precision BB turbo.  It has too much power TBH.  Definitely gets some funny looks.  The turbo gives 3800 exhaust a very nice tone.  Much more burbly.



The Sierra is mostly aesthetic mods.  It has all the Escalade upgrades inside.  All lights have been converted to LEDs (including all the marker and cab lights).  Performance is limited to full exhaust, intake and tune.  The LQ4 sounds pretty gnarly.  I like it.  

Couple vids.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUN95vK6csU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x75W4WAtP4

Hope to frequent this board a little more nowadays when I have time.  It's probably been almost a year since I really was over here last.  

I was wondering, just the other day actually, where you had been! Good to see you still have the Regal! Ive seen a video or two of yours doing some pulls lol. Great sound...

Im not really a truck person but it's black, and you did it RIGHT!

Thanks!  

This is actually a different Regal from the one I had previously.  I got to a point where the old setup was maxed out.  I just wanted to get out of it.  Held onto the Riviera for a bit then stumbled into the 'new' Regal.  

When the 2001 showed up on CL, I couldn't say no.  The body was mint underneath - had no rust.  Under 100K miles and only $1800.  I had a few spots re-sprayed and did the typical aesthetic mods (SSC/AGX combo/a-pillar gauges/projector retrofit/LED lighting all around including the cluster/etc).  The dary gray interior really is to die for compared to the light gray one.  





 

Two winters ago, I took the motor out and did all the gaskets.  Threw heads and cam in it.  Ran around NA for a year.  Then decided to put the turbo kit on.  The kit wasn't nearly as plug and play as one would think.  I spent almost 3 months picking away at it.  All kinds of stuff had to be re-routed (ABS, trans wiring, AC components).  Been working the bugs out for the past year but it seems to be running right where I want it.  The turbo that came with the kit was junk.  It was an old Turbonetics model that had a little play in the shaft.  I replaced that with a JB Comp 6767.  Although a nice turbo, I decided to upgrade to a Precision 6766.  

The truck is fun.  A buddy of mine grabbed a Sierra Denali and as soon as I got to drive it, I was hooked.  The AWD and 4WS is incredible.  It has so many options that were way ahead of their time.  Also has magnetic ride control so you can toggle between firm or loose setting with push of a button.  



At this point, I'm still hunting around for another Riviera.  They are just really darn rare around here.. don't see many examples floating around anymore.    Wish I could find my old one.  Not sure what came of it.  Gotta figure I sold it at least 4 years ago.

That turbo regal sounds really good Rick! It seems like the stattama exhaust manifolds always make a nice engine noise at the end
I'm very curious to know how fast you can get that down a 1/4 mile. That much torque coming on with throttle being more of a suggestion than fine control is really rough to deal with for the critical start. James and kevin haven't gotten anywhere near the potential out of their turbo regal but hoping to tame it with a progressive boost controller.
TBH i didn't give that sierra a second look and then I saw that back wheel cocked over and went "what the hell??" I didn't know they could be had with 4ws and magnetic shocks - that's awesome!

2 awesome rides. congratulations.

Thanks guys.

The Regal will be a bit of a bear to launch. The runs I've been doing have been rolling into it in 3rd gear. I tried launching with it in 1st and it literally blew one of the IC pipes right off. It was hilarious how quick the boost came on. It went from 0-15psi in like a second - which I'm sure the transmission loves too. hahah

Funny note about the Regal and what it can do: I was merging onto the local interstate a couple months back. There was a line of cars in front and in back of me. The person at the front of the ramp was driving a Tercel or something and going excruciatingly slow. As we got closer to clearing the ramp, I heard a bit of turbo sound and throttle a couple cars back. Saw a newer STi shoot over the solid line and try to pass prematurely on the left. I wasn't having it and decided to see what the Regal would do. At 60% throttle I kept the car in 3rd and let it build boost. It went from 35mph to 115 in what seemed like no time at all. Honestly, I had no idea how fast I was going until I looked briefly at the speedo. The STi was buried. Considering he had the jump and was almost at my bumper, I had to laugh that the Regal put about 4 buses on him. When I slowed down to 70mph, he just paced me. Not sure if he wanted another hit or was just a little curious at whatever my car was. Wish I got the whole thing recorded because it was pretty glorious.

The Denali got so many stupid options for a truck back in 2002. The magnetic shocks are great but replacing them is a pretty penny (which will need to be done soon.. ugh).

Rack took a dump on the Regal.  So I replaced that.. along with aluminum subframe install.  Still buttoning it all up but about 80% there now.  





Replaced the rear upper ball joints on the truck yesterday. Feels so much better.

Keeping things moving in the right direction.

🍻🍻🍻😎

Woah, Aluminum subframe! Did you fab that up yourself?

Those Sierra gauges are sweet.

Some 04+ w-bodies got aluminum subframes.  About 20 lbs lighter.  Looks nicer.  It was free.  Figured why not.  



Got the rack connected to the steering shaft and pump installed yesterday.  Just need to connect the lines to the pump and button everything up around that.  Then alignment, of course.

Whole thing was a good learning experience.  If anyone ends up needing to do a rack on their car, it's not horribly difficult.  It just looks a little overwhelming at first.

what cam you have in there I am looking at snagging a turbo gp with a xp and turbo and I cant for the life of me find idle or track time videos.

S1X which is basically the same. Works fine with the turbo. You could get a specific turbo cam or custom grind but this one does the job. That, along with heads, really wakes these cars up

the car is fully built ported heads and xp cam and built trans for less than a built trans cost I cant say no

Yeah I'd jump all over that

Got it buttoned up and bled the steering. Unfortunately, the car has some kind of vacuum leak now and wanted to stall out after being on for 10 minutes. I'm at a loss on that one.. need to tackle it tomorrow.

And she's alive!! Well.. better than before.

I replaced all the vacuum lines (easy enough fix) and the car runs solid. Need to get it aligned. Unfortunately, the weather will be crap from now until forever so we'll see when it gets over to the shop. On the bright side, the 18s are getting refinished while the car rests. So things should hopefully get really fun in about a week or two.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

Car is aligned, not perfectly (tire shop isn't always the best at centering the steering wheel..) but the main message is that the car works perfectly after all the steering components were replaced so I did it all correctly.

Aluminum valve covers going in tomorrow. Not sure how that bolsters performance but the stock plastics weren't too hot. They crap out on the valleys and with the turbo setup being as hot as it is, I think the aluminum VCs was a good idea.

18" wheels getting re-done now. Hopefully, their completion will dovetail with the seasons getting better. In New England.. see how that goes.

Hopefully some vids soon. This car should be so damn stupid and piss off a lot of people who didn't expect it. And that exactly what I hoped for.

Quick update:

Had the car re-aligned by a better shop. They noted that the caster on these cars is wonky so that the car may have a tendency to want to pull the the right. Still, the steering wheel is almost straight now when driving down the road and the car doesn't really pull like it did before.

Ran into a snag with the aluminum valve covers. They were pissing out oil both front and back. I needed to go back through the tapped fittings for the oil catch can that I ran through the caps. Now it seems fine.

I took the car for a longer drive yesterday and it felt really damn good. However...

Two more goofy snags that may just be nothing.

1. There may be a coolant leak from the lower radiator hose because I saw a few drops coming from it yesterday. Annoying but an easy fix.

2. This power steering pump seems to be a little loud. Not so much on turns but when the engine reaches a certain rpm, I get the whining and groaning coming from it. Will continue bleeding but if the sound doesn't go away, i will swap this one out for another.

Vids to come soon.

A changing of the tide. Rick did a phenomenal job of this car, and I couldn't be happier to take ownership.    

Nice meeting you Jordan. Very excited that that the car seems to be everything you wanted and also happy that this car is going to a good home. Please post up pics of progress as you continue to customize this Buick.

People have been discarding chrome designs in their cars since 2016. I'm amazed, I thought the black trend had just happened during the pandemic. I really like the glossy black wheels on both cars -- it reminds me of the KMC wheels district model.

Calvin90 wrote:

People have been discarding chrome designs in their cars since 2016.

That just means those of us who hold onto our chrome will be ahead of the curve - eventually.

Jack the R wrote:

Calvin90 wrote:

People have been discarding chrome designs in their cars since 2016.

That just means those of us who hold onto our chrome will be ahead of the curve - eventually.

Right on Jack