New GN owner question,What do i have?

NHunter

Proud New GN owner
Joined
Apr 24, 2014
I have always wanted a Grand National so i finally made a deal and traded around for one. Beautiful 85 T-Type , the guy i acquired it from did nothing to it after he traded for it. Supposedly all i have is what the previous owner told him , and i am not greatly familiar with these cars so thats where i need help! What i was told and what i can visually determine are as follows. The car was running and driving until the guy did an 87 engine swap with intercooler , it looks to me as if he left the 85 harness in the car and spliced the 87 connectors onto it to connect the sensors on the motor. It has a new crank pos. sensor and instructions to 102060 CCCI Ignition harness assembly from caspers electronics in the glovebox .I dont know if he changed out the computer or not, the only numbers i see on it are NUMBER: 7-7148 Calibration Code :0402CD. I had the car on the lift and noticed 4.1L stamped on the lower rear of the block next to the trans. I can try to get the casting number off the back of the block if its relevant. If this is a decent setup i would like to keep it but if i have to go buy a harness , ECM, and keep troubleshooting this engine i will do the LS swap i had intended for my Chevelle. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!! This is her after i found some wheels instead of the chevy rallies it had on it when i got it.
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Post a pic of the engine. I'm curious if an intercooled conversion replaced the stock 3.8 hotair
 
If there's an intercooler, you might have a pretty hot engine or at least some good building blocks.
 
So you have a 4.1 intercooled swap. The 85 harness is pretty different from the 87....and did not have provisions for the electric fan, look at how that is wired and you could tell better what harness it is.
 
You do have a cardone ECM. 77-7148 is a good number is just a remanufactured one 1227148 is the OEM number. Car looks good btw.


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What a strange engine build.. If that downpipe is mild steel I'd take that diaper off the exhaust housing yesterday.

It looks like someone started off building a nice 4.1 IC engine to do an upgrade. Then when it got down to the final install was in a hurry to finish it and didn't worry about the details.

Might not be a bad idea to drop the pan and see what you're working with as far as crank, rods and pistons.
 
are there any clamps holding that upper radiator hose together?

Nice car btw and good luck.
 
1 holy mother of Zeus what is going on with that exhaust wrap? 2 please for the love of all that is holy do not put a v8 in it.
 
are there any clamps holding that upper radiator hose together?

Nice car btw and good luck.

At first I thought the same about the radiator hose. It appears to be a larger diameter piece slipped over the actual hose for rub protection.

And yes, I second your comment on it being a nice car.

RemoveBeforeFlight
 
Heat wrap gone.I will try to get some more pics up. The fans are hard wired in , not connected to the wiring harness. I notice alot of sensors are brand new also.
 
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please for the love of all that is holy do not put a v8 in it.
+1 on that! LS swaps are cool and make great power but there are plenty of pedestrian G-bodies to do that to. Folks need to stop ripping the hearts out of these Turbo Regals. o_O

That's a sharp car you've got. Take some time and iron out that V6. There's plenty of help here.
 
Where you located? Maybe someone can take a closer look and let you know what your dealing with. Looks like you may have some potential if there is not too much hackery.
 
^ Yep. someone local that knows these cars could months worth of work for you in about an hour.


also, one thing to keep in mind.... 'new' does NOT always mean 'good'. :D
 
I know y'all are gonna freak out and I understand why.....BUT this car might be perfect candidate for an LS swap.

My reasons are: It already has a swapped motor. It didn't come with an intercooler and a 4.1 anyway. That wiring situation has nightmare written on it. I think if the LS motor has a turbo, your still in the same spirit of forced induction for massive power. It would be worth the investment because the car looks straight and clean.

I just got back from the Mecum show here in Houston and the most popular cars there were late 60's early 70's cars with totally modern engines and drivetrains.
 
I would love to keep this setup, i guess im just wondering where to start. The guy told me the coil pack was not getting fire ,
1st main question Will the computer that i have work with this setup?
2nd question what differences in the harness besides electric fan?
Are the sensors different from 85-87?
Is my best bet to buy an 87 harness and start from there or do i even have 87 top end

My plan this weekend is to check the grounds and see if its getting fire and fuel.
 
The 4.1 engine was not turbocharged originally. They can be converted successfully. The swap seems to be rather sloppy so there is no knowing if the 4.1 is built right to be turbo'd. It's quite possible there are issues with that wiring harness as well. You might want to put a post up for someone in your area to take a look at what you got. You could be wasting money and time on a bone or with some reconfiguring have a nice strong car.
 
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