How to tell GN from a T type

[Turbo85T]

I was wondering if there is a way to tell from the vin# if a turbo regal is a GN or just a T type painted clone. I bought a 87 GN or so I thought off a bailbonds man that he had taken as payment. The car was black but repainted and has all the correct emblems and locations. Also has the correct interior and wheels. The option sticker is missing off the inside of trunk lid. Still I was not sure till I noticed that the emblem on the dash has Regal under the word Buick. Thank's Hal

 

[gmpower]

Not 100% sure, but an for an 87 it may say Grand National on the title, I know for sure an 86 GN does NOT say Grand National on the title.

 

[ttaowner]

dash plaque should say grand national
seats should be black & grey with the power^ logo on them
bottom of console should be black
carpet should be black
lower door panels should have black carpet
the outer covering on the seatbelts should also be black with grey buckles
doorpanels front & rear have a diffrent grain on them than regal/t types
rear spoiler
from my experience 87 gn's have steel bumper supports and t types have aluminum
horn button should have 3 shields .t types have either a t or type on them
wheels are diffrent

these are just some of the key diffrences hope this helps

 

[machinegun]

The only real way to tell if a buick is a real grand national is to look at the trunks RPO code sticker. The WE2 will specify that it infact was assembled with the grand national package. With out this there is no real way to tell. The title will not tell you. Only thing listed would be the vin indicating it was a VIN 7 car that is a turbo power plant was installed. You do need to be careful as these become more popular, I beleive we may see more fakes. I have actually found 2 fakes over the last 5 years trying to be sold as real

 

[TurboRegal84]

Sometimes taped behind the drivers door panel you can find the original build sheet for the car. It is worth a look!

 

[87lightweight]

and doesn't the cowl tag tell the paint code?

 

[turbofish38]

and doesn't the cowl tag tell the paint code?

We have a winner! The only real correct way to tell what MODEL of Turbo Regal you have is by the codes on the cowl tag. The GN uses a specific set of trim codes compared to the T-Type or what other model you are looking at. While every label on the car can be peeled off or removed the cowl tag and VIN tag are usually the only two pieces of metal that are left on the car to ID it. If the cowl tag is missing than I'd run far away as there should be no reason to remove it. While it is still possible to swap cowl tags and make a T-Type(or any TR) a GN(or vice a versa) assuming the VIN was a turbo to begin with you should be able to spot the inconsistencies if you have been around these vehicles. Another way to spot tag swapping would be to check the build date against the VIN. You shouldn't have an early build with a late VIN sequence.

Post up the codes on the cowl tag and I'll tell you exactly what you have. Make sure the VIN is a legit turbo Regal first.

 

[TURBOV8R]

Turbofish is the De-code king!My title came up as a regal,I think grand national has it's own VIN # for the titling process.You may also have a WE4.(Hopefully,it is black!)....Get the cowl codes

 

[turbofish38]

I might also add that a 84-86 GN comes up as a Regal T-Type if you do a title search or CarFax. The GN was an option on the the T-Type. Only 3 Regal models in those years. Regal(4GJ47), Regal Limited(4GM47) and Regal T-Type(4GK47). I'm not sure how an 87 GN comes up as they weren't a seperate model until a few months later after the 87 models were released. Technically only 2 models in 87. Regal(4GJ47) and Regal Limited(4GM47). These are catalog numbers and not VIN sequence numbers.

 

[aminga]

I might also add that a 84-86 GN comes up as a Regal T-Type if you do a title search or CarFax. The GN was an option on the the T-Type. Only 3 Regal models in those years. Regal(4GJ47), Regal Limited(4GM47) and Regal T-Type(4GK47). I'm not sure how an 87 GN comes up as they weren't a seperate model until a few months later after the 87 models were released. Technically only 2 models in 87. Regal(4GJ47) and Regal Limited(4GM47). These are catalog numbers and not VIN sequence numbers.

So if it is an 86 is there an option identifying it on the Cowl tag?

 

[turbofish38]

Yep. The quick way is to confirm the trim codes used exclusively on the GN. This is for the 85-87 GN and GNX.
19L=Black Paint-Lower Body
19U=Black Paint-Upper Body
82C=GN Interior-Black/Gray Seat,Black Carpet
AR9=Bucket Seat
Here are the codes for a 84 GN.
19L=Black Paint-Lower Body
19U=Black Paint-Upper Body
60H=Light Sand Gray Interior(GN only)
AQ9=Lear-Siegler Bucket Seats

Since we know the GNs are special cars, they have special codes which are not used on the T-Types or other TR models. Only the black paint codes could be used on black non-GN cars.It's just much easier to ID the car as a GN rather than a Black T-Type because of this. The real fun starts when you try to decypher if a 87 Regal is a real turbo as only the GN/GNX used the W11 code on the cowl tag.

BTW. Every Regal cowl tag has the model 4GJ47. Basically the cowl tag was the information that Fisher Body provided when the body was shipped over to the appropriate GMAD(GeneralMotorsAssemblyDivision) for final assembly.

 

[Turbo85T]

Thank's to everyone for the help. The cowl plate look's like it was never removed and reads 4GJ47 19L & 19U W11 in lower left corner. Still wonder why it says Regal on pass. dash plaque. Thank's again Hal

 

[turbofish38]

If it's an 87 than the trim piece over the dash has been replaced with the wrong part. These square headlight light cars from the 80's, especially the TR can be a real pain to get the correct parts for. More so if the parts guy isn't into them. If you were to open up the 44W Parts Catalog to the dash section all you would see is codes,codes and more RPO codes. It takes somebody who gives a chit to weed through what fits a NA Regal and what fits a GN,WE4 or Limited.

 

[asrnj77]

The Code BY4 on the RPO sticker is for the Grand National trim pieces on the fenders and trunk lid. If you have that in your RPO, I'd say you're good to go