Kirbans Korner

Little6pack said:
I know NJ is one.

I figure another fruit loop state must be the other. I been to Cally & you can pump there

I will go with oregon or hawaii
Click to expand...

kirban 2 cents worth

Oregon & New Jersey is correct unless something changed recently. I know New Jersey for sure since I travel frequently in that state. I know Oregon is the other unless they changed the law.

Still no one has figured out the single digit question. I hope that does not turn into another Ford Fairmont question! Some of you may remember that from a trivia question I did over the summer that went on several weeks before someone hit on the right answer.

denniskirban@yahoo.com
 
Ok lets try for the part number question..

I am going to say the CLOCK?????

Maybe because of your hint "the clock is ticking"
 
Dennis When Pronto came to buy his NH bound Turbo T. You should us a White TT with blue inside. Where did that one go?
 
Little6pack said:
Ok lets try for the part number question..

I am going to say the CLOCK?????

Maybe because of your hint "the clock is ticking"
Click to expand...

kirban 2 cents worth

Good effort however still wrong besides a clock shows digits that are not all single digits....keep thinking....

as to your question on the white T with blue gut....tell me more about the car so I can pin down the time period...did it have a sunroof? If so that one went to Hawaii.

If it had a grey interior that went to California I think but first I trailered it to Richards to get the GNX suspension installed.

The two I mention here were super mint examples. What year we talking about?

I did buy one car out of New Hampshire.... Guy lived along side a 7 mile lake. Can't member the town.

New Hampshire is one of the states that no title is required on older cars correct? SImply a bill of sale? Is that still true? Makes it next to impossible to register in my state unless owner has the title.

denniskirban@yahoo.com
 
Dennis Kirban said:
kirban 2 cents worth

Good effort however still wrong besides a clock shows digits that are not all single digits....keep thinking....

as to your question on the white T with blue gut....tell me more about the car so I can pin down the time period...did it have a sunroof? If so that one went to Hawaii.

If it had a grey interior that went to California I think but first I trailered it to Richards to get the GNX suspension installed.

The two I mention here were super mint examples. What year we talking about?

I did buy one car out of New Hampshire.... Guy lived along side a 7 mile lake. Can't member the town.

New Hampshire is one of the states that no title is required on older cars correct? SImply a bill of sale? Is that still true? Makes it next to impossible to register in my state unless owner has the title.

denniskirban@yahoo.com
Click to expand...

Member Pronto bought a silver T we came down on AMTRACK which broke down. I think it was 6 years ago. We drove silver T home to NH.

Anyway the T was white with Blue inside. It was absouletly A knockout
 
Dennis 15 to 25 years old NH has no title requirements..

But you can get one before 15 years or after 25 years. I will be applying for one in 2012.

That 7 mile lake was probably WINNIEPASUKIE.
 
kirban 2 cents worth

While some of the younger readers of this thread may think the dual gate shifter is a fairly new option it was first introduced to the masses by Hurst back around 1962-63 in the Pontiac Grand Prix's. They also made this to work in other applications as well. Later it would become an available option in the Pontiac world on a new turbo transmission used in the 1967 GTO and was also available as an option in the 1968 GTO. The earlier GTOs did not have a turbo transmission. It was not a factory Pontiac option after that time frame. Oldsmobile had a similar design only difference I believe was one make used a straight stick and the other GM car line used a curved stick.

Course today many manufacturers the automatic stick is not that fancy you simply click it over to the side or click it down to hit the lower gear.

This early design Hurst dual gate used a key to lock out that new down shift feature. What you are viewing is a hand drawn sketch on the left and the actual finished printed magazine ad on the right. Way way before digital photos and computers etc.

denniskirban@yahoo.com

Comments or questions are welcomed!
 

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theamcguy said:
kirban 2 cents worth

While some of the younger readers of this thread may think the dual gate shifter is a fairly new option it was first introduced to the masses by Hurst back around 1962-63 in the Pontiac Grand Prix's. They also made this to work in other applications as well. Later it would become an available option in the Pontiac world on a new turbo transmission used in the 1967 GTO and was also available as an option in the 1968 GTO. The earlier GTOs did not have a turbo transmission. It was not a factory Pontiac option after that time frame. Oldsmobile had a similar design only difference I believe was one make used a straight stick and the other GM car line used a curved stick.

Course today many manufacturers the automatic stick is not that fancy you simply click it over to the side or click it down to hit the lower gear.

This early design Hurst dual gate used a key to lock out that new down shift feature. What you are viewing is a hand drawn sketch on the left and the actual finished printed magazine ad on the right. Way way before digital photos and computers etc.

denniskirban@yahoo.com

Comments or questions are welcomed!
Click to expand...

It should have been called HERS & HIS Since His was on the right.:biggrin:

I loved bracket racing my 68 GTO with the HH shifter.

Hey my Friends dad owned Kolligian Rambler in Sommerville mass. I got a ride in the 2 seater AMX & the REBEL MACHINE :)
 
Little6pack said:
It should have been called HERS & HIS Since His was on the right.:biggrin:

I loved bracket racing my 68 GTO with the HH shifter.

Hey my Friends dad owned Kolligian Rambler in Sommerville mass. I got a ride in the 2 seater AMX & the REBEL MACHINE :)
Click to expand...

kirban 2 cents worth

I flows better saying his & hers....but never looked at it that way....the key idea was a gimmick that was short lived.

The Rebel machine was a pretty neat car. In my area a few show up at local car shows that and the Scrambler.

denniskirban@yahoo.com
 
kirban 2 cents worth

Here is a bit of info on them years ago, when our company had the original Packard date coded plug wires done for the GTOs, I discovered that the AMC cars had the exact same wording as Packard did them as well. I did the hot years for the AMC cars as well meaning the 1968-1970 years as they were the collectible ones.

Only did them for a short time as the demand was not great. I think at the time there was like two major players we sold to one company was I think in Ohio at the time.

Since you had a 1968 GTO one of the MC cars Mr AMC I am sure would know which one or possibly two models had a similar style hood tachometer.

That is about the extent of my knowledge on those cars....never owner any AMC cars.....

denniskirban@yahoo.com
 
kirban 2 cents worth

With a nod to Lettersmans Top 10

Below I have listed the Top 10 things that "Irk" the Typical Turbo Regal Owner.

Once you review the list name the one that above all others has bothered you the most. It need not be one of these I listed.

10 The constant fear when I hit the brakes I will see the brake lite come on.

9 Seeing another new oil spot on my garage floor

8 Wondering if Buick used sighted employees to align the fenders and the hood?

7 Similar to number 8 but getting the alignment of the trunk lid and the spoiler to look even with each other.

6 The frustration of having the dash panel crack in the ribbed area when no one in my car has even so much as touched it. Adding to the grief is the fact its $170 for a new one, you got to paint it, and unless the windshield is out of your car need special tools to remove it!

5 Whoever designed the door pull straps secured by a single phillips screw. No way did they test opening and shutting the doors 1,000 times.

4 Looking at 10 cars and seeing 9 with a dent in the crown area of the hood.

3 Having the power antenna fail within the first six months of ownership.

2 The lack of any intelligent turbo buick mechanic within 100 miles of where I live.

1 How the paint can look so different on certain panels and even from one side to the other!


I have listed ten.....

Lets here your top one pet peeve or something that irks or frustrates you about your Turbo Regal. I know it will be tough to curb it to just one answer!

denniskirban@yahoo.com

enjoy
 
Dennis Kirban said:
kirban 2 cents worth

With a nod to Lettersmans Top 10

Below I have listed the Top 10 things that "Irk" the Typical Turbo Regal Owner.

Once you review the list name the one that above all others has bothered you the most. It need not be one of these I listed.

10 The constant fear when I hit the brakes I will see the brake lite come on.

9 Seeing another new oil spot on my garage floor

8 Wondering if Buick used sighted employees to align the fenders and the hood?

7 Similar to number 8 but getting the alignment of the trunk lid and the spoiler to look even with each other.

6 The frustration of having the dash panel crack in the ribbed area when no one in my car has even so much as touched it. Adding to the grief is the fact its $170 for a new one, you got to paint it, and unless the windshield is out of your car need special tools to remove it!

5 Whoever designed the door pull straps secured by a single phillips screw. No way did they test opening and shutting the doors 1,000 times.

4 Looking at 10 cars and seeing 9 with a dent in the crown area of the hood.

3 Having the power antenna fail within the first six months of ownership.

2 The lack of any intelligent turbo buick mechanic within 100 miles of where I live.

1 How the paint can look so different on certain panels and even from one side to the other!


I have listed ten.....

Lets here your top one pet peeve or something that irks or frustrates you about your Turbo Regal. I know it will be tough to curb it to just one answer!

denniskirban@yahoo.com

enjoy
Click to expand...

That is just like a MONTE CARLO is my pet peeve & many others here
 
The pull straps by far. Big heavy door, a mile long and someone thinks that two cheesy #8 sheetmetal screws are going to stay put for more than a few years. GNs aren't the only car either. GM used this cost saving method from the 80s into the 90s. I have a 1996 Buick Roadmaster Wagon, top of the line model, stickered out at over $38,000 and yep same two cheesy #8 screws holding on the door pull strap. Look at a car from the 60s nice light doors and the arm rests are held on with 3-4 #12 Phillips screws an inch a half long. The plastic on the arm rest will break before those screws will pull out. Bean counters ruined GM. Engineers know better but the top of GM was stocked with former bean counters in postion of authority from the General Manager on down. When GM was on top all of the top positions were held by ex-engineers and designers.
 
Well, I can thank Dennis Kirban for my early entry into the turbo Regal world. I'll explain it in a few minutes.

It was August 1986 when I had my first taste of turbo madness. I had just taken delivery of a Mustang GT convertible and thought it was just so fast and fun to drive (I have always driven Mustangs and fast Fords up to this time - well, except for my 1984 Monte Carlo SS). Anyway, I was reading C&D, and noticed the heading "Darth Vader, your car is ready". Reading on, they were talking about the GN. Just as I put the magazine down, my buddy comes to my office and says he was considering leasing a GN. I talked him into it, citing the article in Car and Driver.

Once he took delivery, I had to take it for a drive. Well, you know. So we staged my 'Stang against his GN. I lost miserably. That was the hook. (Footnote, I purchased his car from the leasing company in 1989 for $7850 with 41,000 miles on it).

I was employed as an electronic product designer and was always playing with wires and chips and so forth. This electronically controlled GN was way too cool to leave alone. And the EPROM fascinated me from a technical standpoint, and presented a challenge from a hacker standpoint.

A couple of weeks later, I was reading Hot Rod and there was an ad in the classified section from a company called "Chips R Us", touting a package of ten chips with the "try before you buy" pitch, for $199.95. It was essentially ten clones of the current performance chips then available, for a fraction of the price. My curiosity killing me, I tried to talk my friend into buying the chips. He was too cheap, so I stepped up and spent the $200 - for HIS CAR.

We proceeded to run the ass-dyno on each chip. But I had a problem. In order for me and my buddy to test each of these chips, we had to pull over, disconnect the battery, unplug the PROM and put in the new PROM chip. To me, that took too much time to do. I guess I'm basically lazy. So, I devised a simple switcher that enabled me to copy each PROM program, place them into a much larger EPROM, and use the switch to select any one of the programs. Now, we can run the ass-dyno on the fly...made it much easier. In the meantime, I began "hacking" the programs on the ten chips I bought, taking notes on which one ran the best and so forth. Soon, I had maybe 30% of the data code nailed down, enabling minor tweaks to timing and boost to be done. I still had a long way to go though.

Anyway, I soon discovered I had a marketable product when I sent Dennis a letter describing it (Dennis at the time had just developed Grand News newsletter and product listing, and was advertising in Hot Rod magazine). He immediately responded that he'd be definitely interested in a switchable EPROM as a new GN product, and the Ultrachip was born, with progressive timing and boost in each setting.

This was Caspers Electronics first any only product in late 1987-early 1988, and the rest is history. Working with Dennis was a terrific experience and we have been good friends for many years, feeding each other with new ideas and products for our turbo cars.
 
A little different story

I wasn't interested in the turbo side of the Buick V6 originally. My first car was a Vega. I had a friend that had one and we had lots of fun in his GT but it never seemed to have enough power to me. I bought my first H body car and was looking to do some sort of power upgrade but didn't want the normal SBC in it. I did find one book about building a Buick V6 and putting it in a Vega so I started reading more. I looked for a donor car and found a 76 Skyhawk to take parts off of. My mom liked the body better than the Vega so I got the Skyhawk running and got rid of the Vega as a trade in for an 86 GMC 1500 with a 4.3 and a granny 4 speed. I liked the idea of the V6 engine so I kept going with it.:biggrin:
I did a bunch of reading on the Buick and Chevy V6 cars and even have one of the Car Craft mags where they did a malibu Chevy V6 with a blower in it. I fell in love with the idea of getting the performance of a V8 out of a V6. The Skyhawk had a TH200 in it and it sucked so I switched to a 4 speed saginaw to get better times and feel. I was into road racing and was in with a guy that had a GT1 vette that I got to drive once in a while on the track. I wanted to do something like this so I went out and found an even fire block but the heads were cracked. I got a good set of matching heads and ported them, a 4.1L intake, and a Shelby cam. Then I got the KB 1 & 5/8" headers to go with the car.
Rhere and Morrison were doing the Indy blocks at the time so I decided they were going to do the block for me. At the time, $600 to bore a block seemed like a lot but their machinist Oley knew what he was doing so I left it in his hands. I put the car together and blew the head gaskets right away. All this time the GN was being put in all kinds of mags and I just drooled when I saw one.
I decided to see if I could find some sort of SFI I could adapt to the car (you know how that went in the mid 80's) And found an intake to figure out how to make it work. Never did do it though. I bounced from job to job and got the chance to go to TSTI Waco in the AUT program. Got my AAS and started working. The Skyhawk fell to the way side I'm sorry to say.:redface: I didn't do to much on the performance side of cars for many years. I tried to get my BS at MTSU and ran out of money. Times in TN were good but I got totally out of cars and into guns. Started a machine shop service and gunsmithing business with a "friend" and got royally screwed in the process. Left TN and moved back to TX in 05 and got hooked again on the car bug.
Looked around for a Regal and found one locally. Got her and started gathering parts to go back to a road car. Was looking on evil bay one night and found an 83 T Type for $500 with the reserve not met so, what the heck, I bid $500. The guy offered it to me at the starting bid and I went to Kansas to get her. Started to change my plan a little. I got intrigued by the lack of info on the carb/turbo cars and it kinds stuck with me.
I did lots of research on the draw through design and got more intregued with it. Some one up in Fort Worth joined the board because he'd bought an 82 GN so I tried to help him find parts for it. A few months later he posts that he wants to sell the car and I pretty much blow it off. A couple of months later he posts the if someone doesn't come get it he's going to send it to the crusher. I finally get hold of Eddo and get the car. I now have an 82 GN and lots of work to do but it's the same year that I graduated HS and I've always wanted a Regal but never figured it would be a GN. We'll see if I can make it the fastest non SFI turbo car when I get done with her but for now she's still my favorite car.:biggrin:
 
GNVenom said:
Well, I can thank Dennis Kirban for my early entry into the turbo Regal world. I'll explain it in a few minutes.

It was August 1986 when I had my first taste of turbo madness. I had just taken delivery of a Mustang GT convertible and thought it was just so fast and fun to drive (I have always driven Mustangs and fast Fords up to this time - well, except for my 1984 Monte Carlo SS). Anyway, I was reading C&D, and noticed the heading "Darth Vader, your car is ready". Reading on, they were talking about the GN. Just as I put the magazine down, my buddy comes to my office and says he was considering leasing a GN. I talked him into it, citing the article in Car and Driver.

Once he took delivery, I had to take it for a drive. Well, you know. So we staged my 'Stang against his GN. I lost miserably. That was the hook. (Footnote, I purchased his car from the leasing company in 1989 for $7850 with 41,000 miles on it).

I was employed as an electronic product designer and was always playing with wires and chips and so forth. This electronically controlled GN was way too cool to leave alone. And the EPROM fascinated me from a technical standpoint, and presented a challenge from a hacker standpoint.

A couple of weeks later, I was reading Hot Rod and there was an ad in the classified section from a company called "Chips R Us", touting a package of ten chips with the "try before you buy" pitch, for $199.95. It was essentially ten clones of the current performance chips then available, for a fraction of the price. My curiosity killing me, I tried to talk my friend into buying the chips. He was too cheap, so I stepped up and spent the $200 - for HIS CAR.

We proceeded to run the ass-dyno on each chip. But I had a problem. In order for me and my buddy to test each of these chips, we had to pull over, disconnect the battery, unplug the PROM and put in the new PROM chip. To me, that took too much time to do. I guess I'm basically lazy. So, I devised a simple switcher that enabled me to copy each PROM program, place them into a much larger EPROM, and use the switch to select any one of the programs. Now, we can run the ass-dyno on the fly...made it much easier. In the meantime, I began "hacking" the programs on the ten chips I bought, taking notes on which one ran the best and so forth. Soon, I had maybe 30% of the data code nailed down, enabling minor tweaks to timing and boost to be done. I still had a long way to go though.

Anyway, I soon discovered I had a marketable product when I sent Dennis a letter describing it (Dennis at the time had just developed Grand News newsletter and product listing, and was advertising in Hot Rod magazine). He immediately responded that he'd be definitely interested in a switchable EPROM as a new GN product, and the Ultrachip was born, with progressive timing and boost in each setting.

This was Caspers Electronics first any only product in late 1987-early 1988, and the rest is history. Working with Dennis was a terrific experience and we have been good friends for many years, feeding each other with new ideas and products for our turbo cars.
Click to expand...

kirban 2 cents worth

Great story John I am sure readers enjoyed your history related to how you started making parts for these cars. We have see the ups and downs. Funny I had a 5.0 Mustang also but also leased the GN in 1987 and did not trade in the Mustang. My payoff was $5500 at the end of the lease.

Keep them stories coming...

denniskirban@yahoo.com

Could have the makings of a book!
 
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