Being new to the site and GN`s I know I have a lot to learn. First I here bad things about the " Hot Air " 84-85`s. Pigs,no power,problems that are hard to correct, etc. I have a chance to possibly aquire a 1 owner 85 with very low milage. It`s an unmolested car that has been very well taken care of with a ton of documentation and what I believe to be a fair price around the 10K mark. My plans would be a few maintenence items now and minor mods later. What do you experienced Turbo guru`s think ?? Thanks Dale
84-85 GN`s
- Thread starter 5Lugs
- Start date
85 will never be collectible as compared to the 87's. for $10,000 i would buy a 87.
whatever has been popular will always be popular.
parts for 85's are harder to come by and more expensive. save your money. 1/2 the time guys take the 85's and convert them over to the 87 stuff anyway
whatever has been popular will always be popular.
parts for 85's are harder to come by and more expensive. save your money. 1/2 the time guys take the 85's and convert them over to the 87 stuff anyway
Thanks, That is what I`ve been learning as I scan this site. I`m looking to build something other than another Camaro or Nova. I`ve been there and done that a bunch. I may still look at the car anyway as it`s not well known. But I may just keep my eyes out for an 86-87 and I`m not in a hurry. Thanks again for the info. Dale
these cars are truely awesome cars with some minor work, i think getting a mid 11's time slip and getting 20 mpg and having room for 5 and enough trunk for 2 slicks tools and a full size jack is great.
mid 11's can probably be done for under $3000 in new parts on top of the price of a decent running car.
the 85 in stock form is a turd. in my opinion the 87 in stock form isnt too amazing either but add those few needed parts and its a whole diffrent story.
mid 11's can probably be done for under $3000 in new parts on top of the price of a decent running car.
the 85 in stock form is a turd. in my opinion the 87 in stock form isnt too amazing either but add those few needed parts and its a whole diffrent story.
novaderrik
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 12, 2004
it would have to be REALLY nice to be worth $10k.. $7500 i can see, maybe..
Well it sounds like it is really a nice car. But I do agree about the $$. I don`t know if the owner will move much off the price. He stated that the car has been a fixture in his life since new,[ sentimental value]. He stated that it was going to be hard to sell it but he needed to let it go has he has only driven it 2 times in the last year and he was down sizing and would be losing the garage space and didn`t want the GN parked outside. Thanks Dale
If you want a nice car show/sunday cruiser, the hot airs are not a bad choice. You will get a nicer car for the money. And they can be made plenty fast, but it costs a lot more money to do so. I know of one hot air in particular that would scare the $hit outta me, but that guy has more dollars than sense LOL (still love you Keith).
I'll admit, for what I have done with my car over the past 10 years, the hot air would have been fine. Can always convert to IC later if you'd like. You won't find a super nice 25k intercooled car for 10k, but it'd still have to be crazy nice for me to pay that for it.
I'll admit, for what I have done with my car over the past 10 years, the hot air would have been fine. Can always convert to IC later if you'd like. You won't find a super nice 25k intercooled car for 10k, but it'd still have to be crazy nice for me to pay that for it.
Again thanks for all of the input !! I`m not in any hurry to pick up anything to play with but I will not pass up a deal if it drops in my lap. The 85 Gn I`ll look at still this weekend but I`m thinking around $ 8500 I might buy it. I don`t think the owner will go for that number but I`ll try. Thanks Dale
novaderrik
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 12, 2004
when you look at it, show the cash and leave your number... give him a day or two to see how much "sentimental" value it has..
Oh don`t worry !! I`ve only had about 15 Camaro`s/Nova`s in the last 2o years,[ 2 Chevelle`s also], so I do know the plan. Lol ! But of course I have been on both sides of that story !! No but I do feel the need for something different. My son has a turbo`d/intercooled 2002 SS Camaro 6 speed with 40K that do`s 10.80`s street legal and is very driveable, they just made a drive from San Antonio to Austin and back. Runs on E-85 and but he has it set up to run dual fuel 93 or E-85. Peace Dale
Well I did it. I`m now the owner of an original 1985 GN with 25,277 mi. The seller was motivated as they are about to move and wouldn`t have a place to store/park it. I didn`t steal it but gave a fair price as its very clean. It does need the bumper fillers on the exterior as they are now cracking, other than that a good clay bar and its done. Inside needs nothing as the owner had seat covers on the buckets and no ever sat in the rear. The AC needs Freon. The car has never had a tune up/fuel filter or anything. He had receipts for oil changes etc. Still on the original tires. The powermaster brake is making a whining noise so I`m sure that`ll be soon on the repair list. I`ll post pics soon. I`m sure I`ll be asking a few questions as I`m new to these and turbo cars. My son has got a list of go-fast parts already on his list for me to buy. He has a 2002 SS Camaro 6-sp car that runs 10.80`s with a 78mm turbo, Dana 60 3.73`s spool only has 40K mi. Thanks Dale
Fast is relative here James. It's all about learning on these cars and you've got to remember that there are a few "fast" HA cars out there.
If he's willing to take his time he can be as fast as most of the cars on the board since most of them don't make it into the 10's after all.Fast is relative here James. It's all about learning on these cars and you've got to remember that there are a few "fast" HA cars out there.
i guess your right fast is a relative word. but if its gonna take thousands to go as fast as a 87 whats the point i ask? i'm not trying to run 9's myself or anything but mid to low11's are sure fun with minimal money. there was a real nice looking 85 ha car out in norwalk this summer but he had ton of money in that car it was obvious. but it was a 10 second 85 tho
My point is you don't need a ton of money, you need to do a lot of research and figure out how to do it.
Most guys are bolt on bozos and just want to go as fast with the mods as they think the car will go. We've both seen them on the board. "I did xxx work and xxx mods and now my car's only in the 13's???? WTF???" LOL It really boils down to how much you're willing to do as well as how much time you're willing to spend on understanding how everything works.Thanks for the comments. I understand the $$ price of go-fast parts. I`ve purchased more than my share for some of the Chevy`s I`ve built. As for as the GN at this time I`ll stick to the basic bolt ons. I`m not worried about it being really fast I just something nice to drive that`ll look kool and run decent. Plus since its low mileage I want to keep it clean and basically unmolested. I will look into the brake conversion. Thanks Dale
novaderrik
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 12, 2004
if nothing else, upgrade to the 87 ecm from a junkyard (they are really common and cheap, since they were used in pretty much any fwd car that came with a 3.8 in 86 and 87) and order a TurboTweak chip for it... it's unbelievable how much more "Buick like" my car ran and how much faster it spooled up after doing that to mine. well worth the total of about $120 and about 5 minutes of my time.
for a couple hundred more, you can order the bigger injectors and get the TT chip burnt for E85 and gain a ton of power, but then the fuel pump becomes the real limiting factor..
for a couple hundred more, you can order the bigger injectors and get the TT chip burnt for E85 and gain a ton of power, but then the fuel pump becomes the real limiting factor..
