82 Grand National, IT'S ON FINALLY!!!

turboclam3 said:
Is it a column shift car? It has the gear indicator in the instrument panel. My 83 was not like that. Fill me in...
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I just dug through the pics of the 82 GN that I found and it also had the shift indicator with a floor shift. So I guess it'd be correct, but goofy.
 
INEEDAGN said:
I just dug through the pics of the 82 GN that I found and it also had the shift indicator with a floor shift. So I guess it'd be correct, but goofy.
Click to expand...

Lots of quirks can be found on '82 GNs, as they weren't all optioned the same. They were picked off the line randomly and sent to Cars & Concepts for conversion. Most were Regal Coupes (4.1L V6), and a few were Regal Sport Coupes (carbureted 3.8L turbo V6). Some of them were Limiteds, and they still had the Limited emblem on the sail panel behind the quarter window. Some of them had the analog clock in the instrument panel while others had a Grand National emblem there. The few turbo V6 cars that were produced had a "TURBO POWER" gauge (boost gauge) in place of the voltmeter. It was zoned off with green, yellow, and red areas that ranged from "ECONOMY" to "POWER" instead of showing the actual boost pressure numerically. The exterior red pinstriping and silver paint was found to differ from car to car, depending on who was doing the painting on that particular vehicle at Cars & Concepts. The placement of the "BUICK" decal on the quarter panels also varied slightly. One major item that seemed to be consistent between all of them is the fact that they all had T-tops.
 
usetaboost said:
don't worry about that 7.5 rear, it should hold up fine with a girdle. Look at it this way, the ls1 fbodies have them-no reason it should gernade right away
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:eek: :eek: UUUUHHHHH NO LOL i dunno how the f body guys are doin it but every g body ive ever seen that has a 7.5 blows it to pieces as soon as they try to put a tire on it ur fine as long as you got street slip n slides with no traction:biggrin: :biggrin: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
i was glancing at the pics and i saw your gear indicator is the sames as mine. hmmm well they are both 1982s but here a ??....my indicator on the panel always show me being 1 gear up. sooo im in drive but it show netural. not my shifter on the floor is right drive = drive. jus wondering if your having that problem. than again im pretty sure it does that bc i have a rebuilt turbo 350 tranny with a shift kit. :biggrin:
 
HA that is funny i should take a pic and use that for my pic in my sig HMM?? I like that!!! YES!! I really do have a hot air tubo charged GN gocart! I took it to the drag strip about 7 years ago but the new carb had a float problem and i never got to run it! They were actually going to let me do a 1/8 mile run!! It has been in storage since then with a divorce and new company. I am giving it away this Xmas's to a fellow club member if he thinks his son is old enough to drive it. I used the smallest turbo made from a rice rocket and made my own header and even a mini THD style downpipe and made it look like a single exhaust system like ATR old exhaust. Funny thing is at #5 boost the motor smooths right out and just flew down the street! I should have used a RJC boost controller and cranked up the boost but was afraid of the head lifting :tongue: :eek: Had many go cart people tell me it couldn't be done or i was lying HMM?? About 50 people in my Buick club and all at Sac race track that day could prove there wrong. It is refereed to around here as the Mini GN SMILE!!
 
uhave any extra parts i need logov6 on the dash let me know


charlief1 said:
As some of you know I just got my 82 GN from 82grandbeast in Fort Worth. She's home now and after a couple of days I finally got out in the heat to get a better look at her and it doesn't look to bad. I'm sorry guys but it won't be a true restoration it's going to be a resto-mod car. She started life with a 4.1 in her and it may go back in but for now it will be a 3.8 carb/turbo set up I have been working on.
I already have my plan in mind so don't try to talk me out of it, it won't work. I have a complete 83 T Type that was going to take a lot of work to make it drivable so it's now my parts car. After I get what I need of the 83 parts will be sold off to help with expenses as well as get some more parts out there for the rest of you so you can put what you need for your toys.
The plan as it stands is the frame of the 83 will go under the 82 so I have the 2004r as well as the 3.42 posi rear. Granted it's a 7.5" rear but for now it's enough. I do have an A body rear that might go under her later but the main point is to get as much together as quickly as possilbe. Since the 82 has t tops I will be boxing the frame for more stregnth so the chasis flex is less. It will only qualify for bracket racing instead of a "stock" class but as it stands there is no calss the car can run in right now.:mad:
The rebuilt engine will be torn down this week so I can see if the rebuilder did it right or not. From what I've seen so far it looks good but I haven't taken it apart yet so we'll see. The cam I've chosen is a 204/214 grind and I have brand new KB 1.6 rockers as well. I've got 1 good turbo, 1 that needs rebuilding, and 1 that I'm modding for better boost. I'll start with the stock one for now so I have a better idea of what mods I'll have to do when I put the bigger one on.:biggrin:
Here's some of the pics I have so far. She is better than I thought since it has the dreaded t tops. I haven't taken the frame out to check underneith but I put my fingers up in some of the holes to see how it feels and there's very little damage, but I'll know for sure when the brace comes out.There is some rust holes in the passenger floorboard but none of them are any bigger than the eraser on a pencle. compaired to the 83 I have a LOT less work to do, thank God. :biggrin:
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For some reason I'm not getting any notifications. We started building an addition to the shop which will make into a a 6 car with a lift on the outside. That means that we will be able to work on enough cars to make some money. I've been so busy lately that I only get time in the evenings. It's taken me 2 months to finally get the heads rough ported but the car is sitting right now until I can get the engine paid for along with the fabrication of the turbo and pipes. I did score an external gate down and up pipe so that should make it easier at least.
 
Update!!

Finally got the 83 into the shop and started on fixing the rear pannels.:biggrin: She's gonna be the proving ground for the 82 GN but it's been a looong 2 days. Got the lowers cut out and partially fitted for now and I'll be able to get more done Friday I hope. Here's some pics of what I've done so far.:biggrin: I also got a floor pannel to replace the rusted ones but I haven't had time to remove them yet. My bud Greg is letting me have them for free so I don't have to cut up the 83 to fix them.:cool:
 

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