I'm finally a turbo buick owner

[pro69]

So I've been a member of this board for years. Over the years I've gotten the bug to get a turbo buick,then things in life happened and I wasn't able to buy one. Now I was in a good position to buy and was relentlessly searching for the right car. I originally wanted a slightly modded 87 GN,but after going to the Kirban show and seeing some of the other turbo buicks, I started to rethink what I wanted. Then I started to think I'd rather have a stock or close to stock car rather than a modded one, because I don't need 2 "race" cars, already have a nice street/strip 69 chevelle. Then I found Joe Saggiomo's 87 Turbo T car for sale. For those that don't know it, it's SUPER clean,unmolested with just a couple minor things done to it, and only 20,8xx miles. So we made the deal and I picked it up yesterday.

 

[fast86gn]

Very nice looking car. Congrats.

 

[seedling]

Congrats man! Beautiful car! Very, very nice find!!!




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[LIVE4RDO]

Looks like your patience paid off. Awesome car!

What was done to it? Even completely stock car should be "updated" to improve drivability and motor safety: valve springs, fuel pump, injectors, chip, hotwire kit, few Caspers gadgets (field fix, volt booster, maybe new injector harness). Factory radiators are usually toast after 30 years, my suggestion is to re-core the original one with wider tanks.

I would take it a step further and do an Alky and TA49.

Car will still be stock enough but helluva more fun to drive.

 

[626gn]

Very sharp! Love the black and chrome.

 

[pro69]

Looks like your patience paid off. Awesome car!

What was done to it? Even completely stock car should be "updated" to improve drivability and motor safety: valve springs, fuel pump, injectors, chip, hotwire kit, few Caspers gadgets (field fix, volt booster, maybe new injector harness). Factory radiators are usually toast after 30 years, my suggestion is to re-core the original one with wider tanks.

I would take it a step further and do an Alky and TA49.

Car will still be stock enough but helluva more fun to drive.

This is from his ad for the car, what he replaced.
1- 02 sensor
2- IAC
3- Fuel filter
4- 160 T-stat
5- Alternator
6- Water pump
7- Rear main seal (original rope seal was leaking)
8- Oil pan gasket
9- Valve cover gaskets
10- Engine mounts
11- Trans mount
12- A/C relay
13- Heater core
14- All hoses
15- Serpentine belt
16- Intercooler hoses (have originals)
17- Timing chain and gears (still have original and is in good shape, only changed due to age)
18- Heater control valve
19- Trans filter and gasket
20- TA-49 turbo (original had shaft play)
21- Replaced the sagging head liner with a new ABS one (have extra material)
22- Astroroof seal
23- Walbro Fuel pump with a hotwire kit
24- GN1 stainless exhaust
25- Turbo Tweak street chip
26- vdo boost gauge
27- vdo oil pressure gauge
28- vdo temp gauge

 

[BuickMike]

Smart man! If I had to do it all over again, I would go with a very low mile hard top car that is stock. My buddy Sean bought a beautiful '87 GN with 10k miles. It was absolutely perfect, except for the running like crap part. We did the following:
Spring cleaning
Adj wastegate actuator
TT chip
#42 injectos
Adj FPR
Fuel pump and hotwire
cold air intake
test pipe with WB02 bung for dialing in WOT
1 step colder plugs
New wires, connectors, hoses, etc

After this, the car was amazing! This is the sweet spot as far as I'm concerned. Then he sold it because he didn't want to put miles on a low mile classic.

 

[pro69]

Smart man! If I had to do it all over again, I would go with a very low mile hard top car that is stock. My buddy Sean bought a beautiful '87 GN with 10k miles. It was absolutely perfect, except for the running like crap part. We did the following:
Spring cleaning
Adj wastegate actuator
TT chip
#42 injectos
Adj FPR
Fuel pump and hotwire
cold air intake
test pipe with WB02 bung for dialing in WOT
1 step colder plugs
New wires, connectors, hoses, etc

After this, the car was amazing! This is the sweet spot as far as I'm concerned. Then he sold it because he didn't want to put miles on a low mile classic.

I'm torn at doing a few mods, like 3" downpipe,bigger injectors, and alky kit.

 

[TURBO 6]

Sweet car, your patience paid off. Not many in that condition exist.

 

[Frederickdav]

Like others have said, nice car. If it were mine, I'd leave it as is. As time goes by, original examples of these cars will be harder to find.

 

[pro69]

Yes, I realize the value of this car and it's condition. I really like the idea that I have a collectible car in this condition with such low miles with all the documentation since new. I really don't think I'm going to mod it. Like I said I have a nice street and strip Chevelle I can race. This car is for cruise nights and car shows.

 

[TR Custom Parts]

Nice buy! Stock cars are nice but hard to resist modding! Oh and don't park so close to the curb, don't want to scuff those wheels! Enjoy!

 

[BuickMike]

Yes, I realize the value of this car and it's condition. I really like the idea that I have a collectible car in this condition with such low miles with all the documentation since new. I really don't think I'm going to mod it. Like I said I have a nice street and strip Chevelle I can race. This car is for cruise nights and car shows.

It is already modded with what is in it. Turbo and exhaust are not stock. I would finish it up with the following though:
Get bigger injectors if they are not already swapped. I find it hard to believe the stock ones are still good. You will need a new chip for that. Check first though as they are most likely not stock.
Get an adjustable fuel pressure regulator. That is a must with a chip so you can set static fuel pressure properly.
Get a good cold air intake. The kind that pulls air from behind the headlight. That airbox is really restrictive and you will want to save the stock turbo to MAF pipe.
If the stock cat is in there, swap it for a test pipe.
Get a scanmaster to log the car.

I would personally stop there. You have the rest of the supporting mods to keep the car healthy. You will be really happy with it at that point.

Only other things to watch for are the cam #3 exhaust lobe going bad. Make sure to use oil with plenty of zinc and phosphorus. Lots of opinions on this, but Valvoline VR1 is a good store bought option. I've also use the ZDDP additive as well.

Also factory valve springs are notoriously weak. You can change them on the car.

Cheers!

 

[LIVE4RDO]

It is already modded with what is in it. Turbo and exhaust are not stock. I would finish it up with the following though:
Get bigger injectors if they are not already swapped. I find it hard to believe the stock ones are still good. You will need a new chip for that. Check first though as they are most likely not stock.
Get an adjustable fuel pressure regulator. That is a must with a chip so you can set static fuel pressure properly.
Get a good cold air intake. The kind that pulls air from behind the headlight. That airbox is really restrictive and you will want to save the stock turbo to MAF pipe.
If the stock cat is in there, swap it for a test pipe.
Get a scanmaster to log the car.

I would personally stop there. You have the rest of the supporting mods to keep the car healthy. You will be really happy with it at that point.

Only other things to watch for are the cam #3 exhaust lobe going bad. Make sure to use oil with plenty of zinc and phosphorus. Lots of opinions on this, but Valvoline VR1 is a good store bought option. I've also use the ZDDP additive as well.

Also factory valve springs are notoriously weak. You can change them on the car.

Cheers!

What he said!

There is a scanmaster in there already, can see it in his interior pictures.

Yes, definitely high zinc oil. i use Valvoline VR1 20/50 and still add one can of ZDDP. Don't use any lighter oil, unless you drive in the winter. I do, so I change my oil before summer and then before winter.

 

[seedling]

I'm torn at doing a few mods, like 3" downpipe,bigger injectors, and alky kit.

Those are all things you can take off! Just save all the parts in a big box! I just got my alky system on need one last jumper so I haven't been able to test yet. Therefore, I can't say for sure, but, everybody says alky is da chit! So, we will see!

Very nice score man! Awesome low Mileage example that you can enjoy for years to come!!




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[Turbo Keith]

Congrats on a very nice car , but beware , the spending and upgrades never stop trust me , buts its a whole lot of fun

 

[BuickMike]

What he said!

There is a scanmaster in there already, can see it in his interior pictures.

Yes, definitely high zinc oil. i use Valvoline VR1 20/50 and still add one can of ZDDP. Don't use any lighter oil, unless you drive in the winter. I do, so I change my oil before summer and then before winter.

And what he said for oil weight. 20W50 for sure. I used to add one bottle of ZDDP to the VR1, but somewhere I saw an article that showed how much was a safe level and how much was too much and could do damage. I could be mistaken, but I thought it came from Richard Clark. Looking at what is the sweet spot, I think either stick with VR1 alone or add 1/2 bottle of the ZDDP. Wish I knew where to find that.

 

[BuickMike]

Alky could be fun, but after learning the hard way and blowing a head gasket, cracking a valve, and cracking a piston skirt due to alky issues, I'd say play it safe if you already have a go fast car. I use alky and love it, but have a little more safety with the built motor.

 

[pro69]

The previous owner gave me an extra quart of the VR1 oil. Just going to drive it the way it is for now, not to much extra money after buying it. Maybe over time for the "safe" mods. Just have to learn how to use the scanmaster.

 

[seedling]

The previous owner gave me an extra quart of the VR1 oil. Just going to drive it the way it is for now, not to much extra money after buying it. Maybe over time for the "safe" mods. Just have to learn how to use the scanmaster.

That scanmaster is a great tool, but, it sure is a pia to learn too though!

You did a great job on finding a beautiful car! And while you may have paid heavily, however, imo it will be worth it in the long run! Cause you can do a whole lot of driving and still not make it to 40-50K miles! Enjoy it man!

Really nice car!! Congrats!!


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