I'm finally getting around to rebuilding our 86 GN which has basically sat for 4 or 5 years. First my disclaimer: I am not a GN expert, most of my experience is with Fords, so ... sorry 
Also, this is a budget build ... although I've found I'm not sure that's very possible with a GN; everything is pretty expensive. Just putting it out there that I'm not interested in a 1000 dollar set of headers or anything like that, I've got plenty into this already and want to save $ anywhere I can. For some more background, the usage of the car is going to be mostly street and some strip. It doesn't seem to take too much to run in the 12s even with stock components, so I'll say horsepower goals may be in the 350-400 range, might be dialed down a bit for street use and up for strip use.
First, where I'm at, then on to some questions. When we got the car, it ran (surprisingly,) but you could tell it was lacking power. Here is why. The block survived and is now .030 over, the heads did not (both cracked) so I got some replacement stock ones that were cleaned up, 3 angle valve job, and new springs, seals, etc. The bottom end is just a Summit-sourced forged piston rebuild kit. The balanced rotating assembly is in and torqued down, same with the heads and pickup, and oil pan is on for paint. Painted the pan, block and heads, and powdercoating just about everything else. For a cam, I got a 206/206 kit from gbodyparts. I threw out the rope seals and got neoprene ones for the rear main and timing cover. Also have a biggere fuel pump going in.
Ok here is where I am looking for a little input.
Turbo: The stock one had quite a bit of play when I got it, so I rebuilt it and it's nice and solid, only problem with it really is you can see the fronts of the impeller blades are a little worn, but I don't see any housing contact. I would like to get the TE34 - inexpensive, nothing wild, quick spoolup. However, I'll probably use the stock one for a while to save cash, it would be easy enough to bolt on a new one later.
Injectors: I had a turbotweak chip in there and it's simple and seems effective, so I was considering their 42# injector and chip combo, and saw on their site they do an "upgrade" from your old chip to save a few, so I thought that might be a possibility.
Headers: This is one I am having a tough time deciding. I really don't like the idea of reusing the old ones. I welded them up once, but they just are not in that great of shape, and I really don't want to have to keep welding them. I'd also like to do them before the engine goes in to make it easier. 600 is a lot for headers, but I think this is one thing I'd like to go for. I've looked at GN1's KB and Gbody's hye-tech. I can't really decide? Both are the same price, the hyes are ceramic coated, and I think the KBs are bare. Any thoughts on these (quality, fitment,) or maybe there's something else I've missed in the same price range?
Exhaust: Particularly downpipe. I thought there used to be a no nonsense 3" stock style one in the 200-300 range, but I haven't been able to find that. For the rest, I was pretty much just thinking of fabbing a very simple single 3" past that with a "cat" and a dynomax bullet I have.
Rockers: roller (tips) would be nice, but I haven't really seen any of these that are any kind of affordable, most are high-priced-complete-with-shaft setups, not sure if there are any rocker replacements out there.
Throttle body: I'd like to powdercoat it, but the bearings are a little different than the regular roller bearings I've pressed out of other throttle bodies before. Any tips on removing the bearings without destroying them?
That's it for now I think, thanks for any input and extra tips
Also, this is a budget build ... although I've found I'm not sure that's very possible with a GN; everything is pretty expensive. Just putting it out there that I'm not interested in a 1000 dollar set of headers or anything like that, I've got plenty into this already and want to save $ anywhere I can. For some more background, the usage of the car is going to be mostly street and some strip. It doesn't seem to take too much to run in the 12s even with stock components, so I'll say horsepower goals may be in the 350-400 range, might be dialed down a bit for street use and up for strip use.First, where I'm at, then on to some questions. When we got the car, it ran (surprisingly,) but you could tell it was lacking power. Here is why. The block survived and is now .030 over, the heads did not (both cracked) so I got some replacement stock ones that were cleaned up, 3 angle valve job, and new springs, seals, etc. The bottom end is just a Summit-sourced forged piston rebuild kit. The balanced rotating assembly is in and torqued down, same with the heads and pickup, and oil pan is on for paint. Painted the pan, block and heads, and powdercoating just about everything else. For a cam, I got a 206/206 kit from gbodyparts. I threw out the rope seals and got neoprene ones for the rear main and timing cover. Also have a biggere fuel pump going in.
Ok here is where I am looking for a little input.
Turbo: The stock one had quite a bit of play when I got it, so I rebuilt it and it's nice and solid, only problem with it really is you can see the fronts of the impeller blades are a little worn, but I don't see any housing contact. I would like to get the TE34 - inexpensive, nothing wild, quick spoolup. However, I'll probably use the stock one for a while to save cash, it would be easy enough to bolt on a new one later.
Injectors: I had a turbotweak chip in there and it's simple and seems effective, so I was considering their 42# injector and chip combo, and saw on their site they do an "upgrade" from your old chip to save a few, so I thought that might be a possibility.
Headers: This is one I am having a tough time deciding. I really don't like the idea of reusing the old ones. I welded them up once, but they just are not in that great of shape, and I really don't want to have to keep welding them. I'd also like to do them before the engine goes in to make it easier. 600 is a lot for headers, but I think this is one thing I'd like to go for. I've looked at GN1's KB and Gbody's hye-tech. I can't really decide? Both are the same price, the hyes are ceramic coated, and I think the KBs are bare. Any thoughts on these (quality, fitment,) or maybe there's something else I've missed in the same price range?
Exhaust: Particularly downpipe. I thought there used to be a no nonsense 3" stock style one in the 200-300 range, but I haven't been able to find that. For the rest, I was pretty much just thinking of fabbing a very simple single 3" past that with a "cat" and a dynomax bullet I have.
Rockers: roller (tips) would be nice, but I haven't really seen any of these that are any kind of affordable, most are high-priced-complete-with-shaft setups, not sure if there are any rocker replacements out there.
Throttle body: I'd like to powdercoat it, but the bearings are a little different than the regular roller bearings I've pressed out of other throttle bodies before. Any tips on removing the bearings without destroying them?
That's it for now I think, thanks for any input and extra tips
