Now i understand how it feels to own a turbo buick!

V

Vampire

Up all night
Joined
Jul 31, 2010
Well my long search for the perfect Grand National finally paid off and I'm in love with the car I purchased. It was a sometimes frustrating route to finally find the right one, but I couldn't be happier with what I got.

Its an '87 with under 38000 original miles, a mint interior, and a lot of money invested in all the right stuff. It drives like a dream and totally hauls ass when I get on it...I've had fast cars but this one is downright scary. You guys know what I mean...:biggrin:

I had it shipped on an enclosed trailer and it finally arrived in front of my Dad's house late last night. It was a thrill to see it for the first time as the transporters unloaded it. They obviously thought it was a cool car, because they kept talking about how interesting it was...they said they had never seen a GN as long as they've been transporting. I told them "don't worry, you'll see more coming..."

When I got the car home I opened up all the boxes that the seller shipped with the car like it was Christmas morning...all the stock parts wrapped nicely, the whole set of Kirban's books on GNs, and a fat envelope with all the service records, receipts, and the original window sticker. Then I took my wife and son for a ride around town to "show 'em what it could do..." and they both had a blast. I had a hard time getting the kid to bed after that!

I drove the car to work this morning and it rides so nice on my commute, you would never know it was a 500+HP muscle car. I just set the Cruise Control, put on the radio and coasted to work, barely dropping the needle on the fuel gauge. Driving a car with such good road manners that is such a beast when you hit the throttle is such an unusual (and incredibly welcome) feeling. The two compliments I got before 6 AM weren't bad either :cool:

Thanks to a great seller that gave me even more than he promised, to my family for totally supporting my endeavors (even when they don't get them) and to my Dad for helping me get a car I've been dreaming about since I was a kid. I feel so lucky to have a family that is just as happy for me as I am about accomplishing this goal. I couldn't be happier, and I'm really looking forward to my long friday afternoon Los Angeles commute. I LOVE THIS CAR!

My first Fill-up! (I know, bad cell phone pics)
GNgasstation1.jpg


GNgasstation2.jpg


Better pictures coming...
 
Nice GN. You should be commended for having such good taste in cars. The fact that it is already modded has saved you a bundle. Having the stock parts is a bonus too. I hope she is good to you. Once you have one, it's hard to be without. Congrats.
 
Congratulations!

Nice Car!

Welcome to the dark side!

These cars are so addicting- as you shall see!

;)
 
WLDWST said:
Nice GN. You should be commended for having such good taste in cars. The fact that it is already modded has saved you a bundle. Having the stock parts is a bonus too. I hope she is good to you. Once you have one, it's hard to be without. Congrats.
Click to expand...

Why thank you, I take that as a compliment!:)

I've been mesmerized by Grand Nationals since I was at Pomona Raceway 10 years ago, I had just graduated high school and gotten a WS6 Trans Am (loved that car) that I wanted to run. I didn't know a damn thing about racing and pulled a crappy time, and pretty much just sat around bored while my friends ran their cars and picked on me. :redface: At the very end of the day I saw this blacked out, limo tinted Regal and I was like, "What the hell, why would you race that? (Common first thought about Grand Nationals, as I would later find out.) The car ran a blistering 8.8x and all I heard was WHOOOOSH. I was totally hooked, and been on a mission to get one "someday" ever since. Well "someday" finally came!

My car had a full engine rebuild with high-quality everything a couple thousand miles ago. It was never dynoed after the build, but I spoke with the builder and he estimated around 575HP. Just by the seat-of-the-pants test, I can say that's gotta be about right. Its insane.

Besides the build, here's the other stuff. FEEL FREE TO CHIME IN WITH OPINIONS OR ADVICE. I'm totally new to these cars, and I did a ton of research before buying but that's no replacement for the experience most of you have.

Champion ported and polished heads
H206-206 roller cam
Wiseco pistons
Precision 6131 turbocharger
RJC deep oil pan
Art Carr deep transmission pan
Rebuilt transmission with billet parts
Vigilante 3200 stall torque converter
Bilstein shocks, heavy duty springs
GNX wheels with new Goodyear F1 tires
2 extra GNX wheels with new Mickey Thompson Drag radials mounted
ATR heavy duty sway bar
GSCA club stainless steel dual exhaust with Magnaflow mufflers
Kirban brace kit/Trunk brace kit

I'm a happy camper :biggrin:
 
Thats definately sounds like a 500+ HP build at high boost, Goodluck have fun with it. What are you running the boost at right now?
 
Make sure you you never leave it unattended for long or it will gone. Get some kind of kill switch or fuel cut off. Thieves tried to steal mine twice but they could not beat my security although the window, steering column and weather stripping took a beating.
 
krom said:
Make sure you you never leave it unattended for long or it will gone. Get some kind of kill switch or fuel cut off. Thieves tried to steal mine twice but they could not beat my security although the window, steering column and weather stripping took a beating.
Click to expand...

I have heard these cars are criminal-bait...that really sucks. I'll be going out of my way to make the car as theft proof as I can and I have several ideas I plan to incorporate to make a great anti-theft setup (and I'm NOT talking about an alarm!), but I am still very worried about it.

As for the boost, I believe it is running at 24-25 PSI now but I cant say for sure. The car actually came with multiple chips set up for different boost levels etc., so I am trying to get all that figured out also. The car has alcohol injection, I forgot to mention that, and I have 2 chips burnt by TurboTweak for the current setup. I'll be looking for a dyno-tune in the next couple of months to get everything optimized.

I have a lot to learn about these cars and I'm just getting started understanding it all. The ScanMaster in particular fascinates and confuses me...I know its a great piece of gear but I have never seen anything like it lol! Yeah, I'm a newbie, ok...:redface:

All I know for sure right now is
1) The car is fast as hell
2) The car gets a lot of attention

:cool:
 
ralphsmith_jr said:
NICE RIDE!!!!! Ok I am sorry but I have to do it, my curious side has got the best of me....HOW MUCH $$$
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Well as much I'd love to brag about my brilliant negotiation skills :tongue: the seller is another board member and we agreed to keep it between us. But I got a great deal and I'm happy :biggrin:

I've driven the car every day since I got it. The sound of that big turbo spooling and the turbo flutter is my new favorite thing in the world. I can't keep my foot out of the gas because of it. It may become a problem...
 
Hey thanks for all the compliments on the car guys!

Sadly, the car had a problem with the lifters ("clicky Comps") and one of them failed soon after I got the car and I had to have them replaced. So with ordering parts and all the car's been down for a few weeks. Apparently the problems with Comp products for our cars has been well documented and I'm not the only one who has had their parts fail, so I'm actually a little relieved that those are going bye-bye to make way for new Morels.

By the way someone asked about the boost...its set at 22 lbs. now, but I am told it can take a lot more.

Also, the car was never dyno-tuned after the build, so I'll be looking to do that as soon as she is back up and running healthily. Then off to the track...:cool:

Funny side story...I really got a feel for how much attention the car gets while in a flatbed on the way to Lou's Auto Service...random people were riding alongside staring, and even taking cell phone pics the whole ride down. I heard GNs get attention, but geez...I think I'm gonna name my car "Ego Boost" :biggrin:
 
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