That'* cool!

What engine and transmission does it have?

I would use a primer that is intended for plastic and fiberglass.

Do not use etching primer on it. It would bubble and melt the plastic. Normal primer and paint.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Carfixer007...you saved me from having a very bad day. I was just about to head to the auto parts store
to buy some etching primer. Phew! Close one.

CathedralCub...my Regal has an automatic 3 Speed, THM 200, conv clutch transmission and an 8 cylinder, 5.0L, 4BBL engine. I also
believe that my Regal and I share DNA. heh heh

That'* cool, Is it the Oldsmobile 307 or the Chevy 305?

Olds 307 CID. And oh do I miss Oldsmobiles.
I gotta ask what your rides are? I've got my drool rag ready.

The Olds 307 is a great engine, and during that era its torque peak was at like 1,600RPM. Mine came in an early-`80s LeSabre with a 250C and a 2.41:1 rear end. I had 235/75R15s on it, not the stock 205'*. At 60MPH it ran around 1,700RPM, and was still faster in a straight line than a lot of high-revving roller skates in the late `90s. It had the advantage of using first gear to get from a standstill to just over 50MPH while other cars chewed through 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and sometimes part of 4th. I parked that one at almost 300,000 miles when my mid-`80s C-30 came along. It still ran fine, but there were some little things that had added up while other facets of life took higher priority.

I have a handful of vehicles, but I tend to keep details vague so as to stay somewhat anonymous on the Internet. The project cars, one-by-one, got put on hold years ago when family and life happened, and I've been lucky to be able to hang onto them so they can have a chance at being brought back to the land of the living. This is made easier by the fact that all of them have earned their keep and survived lots of miles. Park a 10-year-old sedan with 80,000 miles, you'd approach being financially crazy for not trading that equity on the next car . . . but when it is a 200,000+-mile 20+ year old car, they don't have a lot of trade value left so they're easier to keep. The fun thing is: None of them die of a blown engine etc. it'* always little stuff (knock on wood). As they got parked and newer (but never "new") dailys came along, they've become my "hobby" for now . . . along with supporting stuff here.

We share a lot of the same philosophies. In my opinion my Regal is still a teenager with 195K miles. I've got another car that I bought for my wife....a '91
convertible. We're in the rust capital of the world. Everyone...every one! ---has told me to donate it to a charity and buy a replacement. It'* my wife'* "baby." So against many learned mechanics who have told me "she ain't worth fixin'" (the car, not my wife) I would far rather spend the money on making it roadworthy again rather than see the painful look on my wife'* face when I suggest we scrap the car. The engine runs strong and it'* only got 110K miles....so in my mind its only an adolescent. We priced used convertibles all summer long and discovered we'd have to pay what we're spending on having brake lines, fuel lines etc etc etc replaced on buying the unknown commodity of a used replacement car for her. Besides she loves the car and it means a lot to her and that'* worth a lot too. I'm also a "never say die" kind of guy and get a degree of satisfaction when I can reclaim a Phoenix from the ashes.

The thing I like about my Regal is that that Olds engine never seemed to have to "work its heart out" to achieve power whereas newer cars I have owned and rented often feel like their engines and transmissions are somehow connected to pinball machines slipping in an out of gear and revving painfully.

I know there comes a time when a car is too tired but the whole throw-away society I am observing around me is a pathetic waste of otherwise perfectly functional things that have a lot of service life. Our washing machine is one that a neighbor threw out. It didn't work and the local appliance dealer told him it was a goner. I dragged it home and found it was nothing but a flaky Sta-Con connector on a wire. That was 18 years ago and its still washing the garage dirt out of my clothes today.

I am sure you've got tons of similar stories.

Where I live we had baseball size hail that took out the windshields and caused 8 to 10 K in bump and paint to the average car. I was driving a 2011 Elantra and was looking for something a little bigger and better riding and this sped up my look for a new car. The insurance company gave me 7K for my Elantra which was more than I expected. Three weeks ago I found a 2001 LeSabre with 89K on the clock. It had just been listed on FaceBook Marketplace a few hours earlier with a price of 2K. One owner but it needed a bit of work. He mentioned it made a buzz when rolling. Bad front hubs. ABS light/ SES light both on. Rear window was held up with tape. I scanned it and we had WSS codes and Evap codes. This thing sounded like a turboprop airplane while driving . I figured the hubs would take care of that. Cruise didn't work, not related as it needed a new on/off button, purge valve needed wire repair, vent valve was clogged. Window needed a new regulator.
After checking it out with the guy I said 'This thing need quite a bit of work". He jumped right in and said, "I've talked this over with my wife and we will take 1500 for it but no less". I wasn't trying to talk him down but he made that point and I grabbed my wallet and gave him a down payment.
Took about 9 hours of work but I get it all done and with a total of less than 2500 including the purchase price and I have a nice old Buick with low mileage and a bullet proof platform.
God is good.

LOL yes tons!

I love to hear of this. Too many folks scrap them.

It'* a cruel irony that just as we get cars with high-reliability low-maintenance standardized parts that are not an artform to replace, society at the same time decides that everything is throw-away. Now you have a LeSabre that with a few nickels and dimes will happily reach 300,000 miles.