Need upgrade help!

[buicktom61]

Hi,

my name is Thomas and I live in Germany. Since July I own a 1986 Grand National. Since a week it it is in Germany. I picked it up in Bremerhaven and drove it back home. Car runs very good. At home I checked what upgrades were made in the years before. Engine was rebuild 2500 miles ago:

Diamond pistons .030 over
new bearings, new timing chain and sprockets
Comp Cam 980-12 (212/212) with valve springs
Heads are rebuild with new springs and seals but not blue printed

Turbo Garret A/R .60 TB 0348
stock exhaust manifold
Downpipe 2.5" stock
Cold Air 3" with 4" KN filter
MAF 94202 stock
Stock Throttle body with plenum
Chip TT 5.7 6889 28# 20°-18° 15-17psi

stock intercooler

Transmission Th 2004R with shift kit and upgraded D-5 converter

That's what I have.

Today I striped the engine from a above for cleaning, because everything is dirty and oily.

Now I am thinking about some upgrades before I put everything back:

Bigger injectors, bigger turbo, 3" downpipe, bigger intercooler or stock upgraded with Duttweiler neck, other chip, fuel pump and pressure regulator????????????

There are so much parts you can buy, but I don't know which.

My preferences:

near stock look
good mileage
streetable as everyday driver
11s

I need your suggestions.

Greetings from Germany

Thomas

 

[GKNY]

there are definitely guys on here that will point you in the right direction. Very cool car (awesome to see a GN in Europe!!) I am in the same boat as you. I recently acquired my first GN. The first thing I have done performance wise was go with a bigger intercooler (RJC 325 front mount). The next thing I am looking for is a bigger turbo as I am running a stock one. I am looking into bigger injectors, and the FAST XFI system to get it tuned right (also i think if you go that route you wont have to change chips all the time). I am a total newbie and I could be off mark. But that is my approach so far. Just wanted to give my 2 cents from one new guy to the next,

Also what happened to the front air dams? Do the euro spec cars come without them?

 

[buicktom61]

Thanks for your answer. It is a US model. The new air dams were in the trunk. I will install them in the next weeks.

I have the scanmaster. It came with the car. But I know that the Fast XFI is totally different.

 

[GKNY]

I just bought a scanmaster. You are right they are used for two different results. Scanmasters don't allow you to tune the car they pretty much allow you to see what is going on with your car. The scanmaster 2.1 actually is made to be compatible with the fast xfi system. The fast xfi system allows you to tune and tweak your car for maximum performance including boost control. The coolest part in my opinion is "XFI™ features revolutionary Qwik Tune™ technology that lets you preprogram up to four different EFI profiles. Then — with the flick of an in-car switch — you select the power characteristics you need!"

Check out the links

http://www.hartlineperformance.com/fast.html

http://www.fuelairspark.com/

 

[buicktom61]

No help? No ideas?

 

[Raeban]

If you are new to the Buick crowd and isolated from hands on assistance I wouldn't go with the FAST. To the OP I think you have the right idea for the most part. A fuel pump upgrade with hotwire harness and fuel pressure regulator would be a good place to start considering your existing modifications. The stock MAF is going to give you issues eventually so I would look into a MAF translator. Bigger injectors will require you to get a new chip and I wouldn't make the switch until you drive the car some yourself unless you suspect the injectors are original. If that is the case a new set of injectors and chip from Turbotweak would be the way I would go.

 

[buicktom61]

Thanks.

I have the original injectors. Changing should be the best way. What do you think about a Duttweiler Neck for the stock intercooler? Or do I better buy another one in future?

 

[Raeban]

Dutt neck is a nice upgrade but I would save the money and put it towards an alky kit from Julio at alkycontrol. The alky will meet your goals and allow you to run pump gas which I imagine is a necessity over there.

 

[TTA308]

Dutt neck is a nice upgrade but I would save the money and put it towards an alky kit from Julio at alkycontrol. The alky will meet your goals and allow you to run pump gas which I imagine is a necessity over there.

Good advice..

 

[DMan]

I am going to date myself but there are a lot of 'performance recipes' on the old gnttype.org website, as well as a TON of basic information that will be useful for a new owner. In the tech articles section.

http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/recipes/recipe.html

Many of these recipes are quite old now and did not take advantage of things like alcohol, front mount intercooler, big throttle bodies etc. But they are not bad for reference to create a starting point.

Put a list together then 'update it' to 2014 standards - instead of 1992..wow I can't believe it's been that long.

Does this board have a performance recipe page?

Sent from my Q10 using Tapatalk 2

 

[buicktom61]

That's a great link. I will help a lot.

Thanks

 

[hensleyt]

stock ECM TT chip with 60s will go 11s
Duttweiler neck,I have heard will go 11s
I went 11.8 stock heads & intake 3 in down pipe with a 5857BB , 49#injectors but took ALYY and 25#boost
My new engine went 11.8 at 20# boost
parts have to work together I believe 58mm turbo is the biggest you can go with D5
love my 5857
Keep searching it helps