New here and new to a Turbo Regal

[corey331]

Hi, my name is Corey and I am from the not so great state of Ohio(too dang cold right now)

Anyway, I just recently acquired my first Turbo Buick. An 87 Grand National with 42,000 miles on the odometer,and t-tops. I got in it a trade for my old baby that I built and raced, a 93 Mustang GT vert(went high tens on spray and Drag Radials). I had that car for 11 years, it was very hard to get rid of, but hey, a Grand National has been one of my dream cars since I was a little kid... so here I am.

I'm still trying to learn the in and outs to these cars, and figure out what I really have. The car is not stock by any means, but if it really has all that the previous owner says it did remains to be seen. Here is what I know for sure about the car mods wise,

-42# injectors
-3" downpipe
-Exhaust cutout
-Alky Control alcohol system
-LS1 maf with translator
-Front mount Intercooler
-ScanMaster
-Some sort of aftermarket upper plenum, not sure what brand
-Centerline Telstars with Mickey Thompson Drag Radials

The things i know it has, but what I am trying to figure out is mainly the turbo. I was told it had a PT60 turbo or something like that. I am new to this turbo thing, so I am not really sure, but I do know its not stock. The exhaust side is Precision and much larger than stock, and I'm still trying to decipher the numbers on the intake side.

Since I got the car in October I have taken out the old aftermarket gauges, which only half of them worked, and replaced them with Autometer Nexus gauges. And the car is currently sanded down in preparation for new paint(it came from New Mexico and the factory paint is FRIED!!!).

So basicly i joined this site to learn more about what I have and how to make it better!! And hopefully in the process I can make a contribution myself, but that is going to take lots of learning.

I will post pics as soon as I make enough posts to be allowed too.

 

[turbopete]

Welcome!

Welcome to the world of turbo cars. There is a wealth of information here, as well as many very smart and fast guys. Someone on here has dealt with all the "issues" at least once.
Learn the car, do the research, tune it well, turn up the boost and hang on.
You will enjoy the ride.

P.S. If you can make it, the TB.com Nationals are in North Carolina in late March, and the Buick GS Nationals are in Kentucky in May. Try to make at least one of them, if you can.

 

[CST 03]

Welcome Corey, I have relatives that live in Vandalia. Its a very nice area.

Your in the right place to find out more about these awesome cars. I used to have one and miss it dearly. I am in the process of looking for another. I too am also a Mustang fan, I've got an 03 Cobra (see sig) that runs almost as good as your Stang did. Its got the juice but i haven't used it yet.

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

Welcome to the site, there is alot of information here.

Try pulling the intercooler hose off the compressor housing outlet side, normally the model is scribed by hand on the bottom side. NOT the stamped number on the side of the turbo.

Head over to tech, and post the pictures, use photobucket and they will show up.

I am a moderator for that section, if you need some advice, just let me know.

BW

 

[Gary Wells]

Happy New Year, welcome to TurboBuick.com, the biggest & the best of all of the turbo Buick forums / sites anywhere, & welcome to the darkside.

 

[O SO LO]

Welcome to the dark side... Lots of good people on here that will help you out and do lots of reading and maybe create your own computer files- you'll be glad you did some day...

 

[corey331]

Thanks for the welcomes guys!! As far as the dark side, I'm already hooked! I did get to drive the car for a couple of weeks before the winter weather hit and absolutly loved it!! I alrady have my dyno time scheduled to get this thing tuned in and on more boost than just 15 pounds.

I am going to plan on going to Kentucjy this May. My parents live on a lake down that way so free place to stay!!

I found some numbers on the inside of my turbo, I'm going to head to the tech section and see what I can find out about it.

Thanks again guys!!!

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

Are they stamped numbers, as in cast into the compressor housing, or are they scribed, as in hand written?

Stamped numbers really do not mean much.

If it has a inlet bell that bolts on to the front of the turbo, that is the TA series.

If it has a 3" inlet with nothing bolted to the inlet, that is the TE series.

BW

 

[corey331]

Yeah, the inlet does not bolt to the turbo. And the number 60 looks like it has ben scribed or stamped on the inside of the turbo where the intercooler pipe connects. So would I be correct in assuming that its a TE60?

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

Nope! Normally it is HAND written on the outside.

If that inlet bell does not bolt on, at least we have narrowed it down to a te series turbo.

Do you have a camera and a way to upload a picture of the compressor wheel.

BW

 

[corey331]

Yep. I will snap a few pictures when I get home from work and post them up. I will do some more inspecting to see if I can see any numbers written on it. Might just have to take it out of the car.

 

[justin84]

Welcome man, for sure post some pics of the new ride!!!

 

[corey331]

Ok, so with some further inspection, I did find the number 60 written on the outside of the turbo outlet with a scribe. So, i'm going ahead and saying its a TE60. Now, off to do some research on what that will get me. Hoping for low 11's. I really don't want to make this a racecar.... thats what my next project will be.

Oh yeah, here are a couple of pics from the day I got it. You can see how bad the paint is, but hey, gives me something to do this winter!! I will post more pics after it gets done and as I upgrade some stuff like my gauges. These autometer Nexus gauges look sick in this thing!!!