Extreme budget GN build thread

[BuickMike]

The uppers cost about $130 or so if I remember correctly. They are powder coated and have solid bushings. The ride feels great. Nos issues with the bushings. Just need to remember to grease them about every 5k miles. They accept early 80's Chevy C10 upper ball joints, which are 1/2" longer than stock, beefier, and have the same taper at the end. It's kind of nice to get longer ball joints and still have an off the shelf part. I could get -3 camber out of them if I wanted and 5+ degrees of caster. Call UB machine and ask for the upper control arms that Michael Crawford at Hellbilly Hotrods designed.

I got my S10 brakes super cheap too. I think I paid like $50 for the hubs, rotors, calipers, and pads. The pads were brand new and the rotors were perfect. It was half off day at Ecology.

I got the Grand Prix brace off of a Grand Prix in the junk yard. I can't count how many were missing this brace before I found them. I finally got lucky. Not sure how much it helps. I did a ton to the suspension all at once. You can just make a brace out of square tubing and just bolt it to the bumper shock mounts on the front of the frame too. That's what I will eventually do on the rear. I still need to find or make some Grand Prix upper fender braces.

 

[charlief1]

Thanks for the info on the arms Mike. I was going to go with a set from Speedway but I like this option better for what I'm doing. Very close to the same on the suspension as well but with a few different things being done to mine.:biggrin:

 

[BuickMike]

Please share your ideas once you get things put together. Once I get my car on the road and test it out I will post up in the Suspension forum.

 

[charlief1]

Please share your ideas once you get things put together. Once I get my car on the road and test it out I will post up in the Suspension forum.

Already did this for the B4black guys.:biggrin: It isn't finished yet because of several issues I've encountered but I'm still plugging away on little details that aren't gonna be posted. Don't want to let all my secrets out after all.

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/be...2115-finally-got-some-time.html?daysprune=100

 

[Pronto]

Very nice. What turbo/converter are your running with it?

 

[BuickMike]

So here's my whole combo:
stock block .030 over
Stock rods and crank
ARP fastners
Wiseco forged pistons
Sealed Power rings
Cam Motion 212 / 212 flat tappet cam
TA Performance Adjustible rockers
TA Performance HD rocker shafts
RJC rocker shaft braces
Champion Iron heads
Ported stock intake
TE-44 with precision housing
3200 Vigilante 5 disc lockup converter
60lb injectors
TurboTweak Alky chip
Alkycontrol

 

[BuickMike]

I built this combo with going to a larger turbo in mind, but I've been told by several people that having my turbo with my current heads / cam / converter combo will make a very fun street car. I can already tell that this thing wants to spool unbelievably quick and I like it that way. I will be sacrificing some top end though. Not a big deal since I am not building a track car. I'll report on how it runs in a few months once everything is broken in and tuned.

 

[BuickMike]

More updates:

I got my car through emissions no problem!!! So now its back on the road. I am absolutely loving how this thing drives. I can't wait to get some miles on the motor and get it fine tuned. In a couple weeks I should have everything I need to start working on the interior. I will post up once I get to that point. In the mean time, I got a good deal on some new wheels / tires for the GN. I put on some GTA rims. The fronts are fronts and the rears are fronts that were widened to 8.5". The fronts have 245/50/16's and the rears have 255/50/16's. I also have a set of 275/55/16 M&H DR's that I will be mounting on a spare set of GTA fronts.

Here is my GN with the convo pros:

Here are the new wheels. I'd like to see some opinions on the new look.

 

[T- Type Tim]

looks good! i like the convos a little more , but they both look nice

 

[BuickMike]

The convos are not as common as the GTA's, but I'm sick of having skinnies in the front for regular driving. I will keep them around for possible track rims.

 

[HUMBLE-U2]

looks sweet with the the GTA wheels.mike you really did a nice job on youre ride!

 

[696]

Watch for rubbing on the rears. I put my M&H's on and drove it a few miles. No sounds of rubbing but when I took them off I saw a LITTLE bit of frame rub. Switched to alum drums and was good. My $.02

 

[Goat]

Ill give you a grand to let me borrow the tail pipe for a few minutes...

 

[BuickMike]

Watch for rubbing on the rears. I put my M&H's on and drove it a few miles. No sounds of rubbing but when I took them off I saw a LITTLE bit of frame rub. Switched to alum drums and was good. My $.02

I have aluminum drums so maybe I'll be ok. The fronts rub at full lock, but barely. I need to take care of that, but it's not critical right now.

 

[Red C5]

Looks great with the new wheels.

 

[Pronto]

Mike, I have a few questions on the header and turbo coatings you used. What did you use on the headers, Satin Black? How much was needed? How about the turbo housing, is that TurboX? The downpipe is silver colored, what is that? Did you tape off the flanges so there would be no coating on the mating surfaces? How bad did it smoke or stink when it cured on the car and lastly, how is it standing up? Oh and how does it look after it's cured on the car?

 

[wmerrell]

Nice job.

 

[BuickMike]

Mike, I have a few questions on the header and turbo coatings you used. What did you use on the headers, Satin Black? How much was needed? How about the turbo housing, is that TurboX? The downpipe is silver colored, what is that? Did you tape off the flanges so there would be no coating on the mating surfaces? How bad did it smoke or stink when it cured on the car and lastly, how is it standing up? Oh and how does it look after it's cured on the car?

I used Caswells Exhaust coating for everything. I used the satin black coating on the headers, crossover, and turbo. I use the stainless coating on the DP. You just sand blast the parts, spray them, and use the heat of the motor to bake them. There was no smoke or funny smell. The black held up great and looks pretty much the same. The stainless flaked a little around the wastegate pipe. It is most likely my fault. I wasn't supposed to use my break in procedure as the first heat cycle. I can just sand and respray it. I still need to polish the DP. I coated the flanges too.

Caswell Inc. - Tech Line Coatings

 

[Pronto]

I've read a couple of posts on other boards in regards to the Satin Black turning an ashy flat black color. I'm glad yours have not done that. I'm thinking seriously of trying that stuff out.

 

[BuickMike]

Its cheap. I went halves on the 12oz of the black with a friend and after 2 cars we still have more left. The black changed slightly. When we first applied it. it had a semi-gloss appearance. It dulled up a little and now looks like you would expect a satin finish to look. I used a 4oz bottle of the Stainless and still have some left too.