Saying Hi and start discussion

[gnmaverick]

Hey everybody the name is Garrett. I'm 30 and I live in mid Michigan. I have an 87 GN with a story behind it (of course).

It was my dads, he bought it brand new in 87 while working at Buick; he walked it down the line and drove it out of the factory. It only has about 30,000 miles on it and still smells new. We had some fun with it back in the day, doing some drag racing - put on slicks and we were running high 12's in no time! Its a great car, he hadnt been paying much attention to it over the years and it mostly sat being driven a few times every summer at best. Well I had been living out of state for a long time and now that I am back my dad would like to give me the GN. I know for most of you this sounds like a godsend. He always told me it would be mine and now that time has come. His garage is full and he would like to sign it over to me and keep it in the family instead of sell it.

That being said I need some convincing to do this from you guys (and non biased if possible). Since I moved away to college and then moved out of state I formed a love affair with german auto's (VW/Audi) to be exact. I love the fit/finish, handling and look of them. Now I have always loved the GN ever since I was a boy. But driving it last summer I realized, it handles like crap unless you wanna go in a straight line. And it really isnt as fast I remember it.

I currently drive a 2002 Audi TT quattro (AWD Turbo 4cyl) and I could sell it for more than I paid and have money to create the GN of my dreams (while still keeping it relatively stock). What I need to know from all of you is:

1. Can you set up a suspension to make these things handle well? I want to go fast cornering not just in a straight line.
2. Can they be lowered with a good suspension system not cut springs and other junky methods? I think every car looks good lowered
3. Is it possible, with marginal modification, to have a car that is putting down 400ftlbs and 350hp (those are general numbers of course) at the wheels without a complete overhall?
4. Is there good aftermarket support for these for people who arent just concerned with going super fast in a straight line?

What I am looking for is creating a GN with a euro feel but still keep its apperance the same. I have always wanted a super car and I thought that german engineering would get me there. What I want to know is can I get there with a GN and keep this car rocking for a long time to come.

I apologize for the cheesyness of this post but its my first and these things have been weighing on my mind for a long time.

 

[Gary Wells]

Welcome to TurboBuick.com, the biggest & the best of all of the turbo Buick forums / sites anywhere. & welcome to the Darkside, too.

 

[Pittsburghkid]

Hey everybody the name is Garrett. I'm 30 and I live in mid Michigan. I have an 87 GN with a story behind it (of course).

It was my dads, he bought it brand new in 87 while working at Buick; he walked it down the line and drove it out of the factory. It only has about 30,000 miles on it and still smells new. We had some fun with it back in the day, doing some drag racing - put on slicks and we were running high 12's in no time! Its a great car, he hadnt been paying much attention to it over the years and it mostly sat being driven a few times every summer at best. Well I had been living out of state for a long time and now that I am back my dad would like to give me the GN. I know for most of you this sounds like a godsend. He always told me it would be mine and now that time has come. His garage is full and he would like to sign it over to me and keep it in the family instead of sell it.

That being said I need some convincing to do this from you guys (and non biased if possible). Since I moved away to college and then moved out of state I formed a love affair with german auto's (VW/Audi) to be exact. I love the fit/finish, handling and look of them. Now I have always loved the GN ever since I was a boy. But driving it last summer I realized, it handles like crap unless you wanna go in a straight line. And it really isnt as fast I remember it.

I currently drive a 2002 Audi TT quattro (AWD Turbo 4cyl) and I could sell it for more than I paid and have money to create the GN of my dreams (while still keeping it relatively stock). What I need to know from all of you is:

1. Can you set up a suspension to make these things handle well? I want to go fast cornering not just in a straight line.
2. Can they be lowered with a good suspension system not cut springs and other junky methods? I think every car looks good lowered
3. Is it possible, with marginal modification, to have a car that is putting down 400ftlbs and 350hp (those are general numbers of course) at the wheels without a complete overhall?
4. Is there good aftermarket support for these for people who arent just concerned with going super fast in a straight line?

What I am looking for is creating a GN with a euro feel but still keep its apperance the same. I have always wanted a super car and I thought that german engineering would get me there. What I want to know is can I get there with a GN and keep this car rocking for a long time to come.

I apologize for the cheesyness of this post but its my first and these things have been weighing on my mind for a long time.

Welcome to the Buick board first and foremost. I'm kind of in your situation but in a flip flop kinda way. I have an 87 T-Type set up with an 87 drive train and i love my car. I'm in the process of picking up an 02 audi S4 for a daily driver so maybe you can help me out in my process with that car. now as for your case there are more people committed keeping these cars on the road and race track then you would beleive. If you look at the main turbobuick page there are many vendors that have parts to get the performance out of you car that your looking for.

1. suspension - Trying to get this car to handle like an awd audi isn't going to happen because the car just wasn't made to be in the autobahn. However you can make it handle very well. You want to get yourself body braces for support. You can do springs to lower it but if you don't like smaller springs like you say you can get drop spindles for the front but springs to drop the rear is really your only option. To help with body roll you can replace any and all bushings involved in the suspension. Yes 30k isn't alot of miles but 23 is alot of years. Also you'd want to get bigger front and rear sway bars and some new shocks. Billsteins are the way to go. To save weight you could do upper and lower tubular control arms and new boxed control arms in the rear for strength. All of this is a start and depends on how much money you want want to put in to the car because your into thousands already and i havent even touched performance.

2. perfomance - You can easily get your car into the 11's without any internal mods. Your best to start by getting enought fuel to the engine with bigger injectors. For bigger injectors you'll need a Turbo Tweak chip to compensate for the higher doses of fuel. In order to get enough fuel to the injectors you'll need a bigger fuel pump and especially a hotwire kit to get enough voltage to the pump. Now that the car is getting the fuel it needs you'll want to give it enough air for good combustion so a 3" maf pipe and open air filter would be optimal but not 100% necessary. Now with the added fuel the engine is getting you can turn the boost up however in order to make sure the engine is turned properly to handle it without creating knock you'll want a scanmaster to moniter what the engine is doing so you don't blow it up not to mention a boost gauge and fuel pressure gauge atleast on the fuel rail with an adjustable fuel pressure regulator. BTW you won't be able to turn up the boost and make more power without an adjustable actuator. At this point you have most of the "IN" takin care of you need to take care of the "OUT" such as a larger diameter downpipe and exhaust with a dump pipe should you want to actually take it to the track. You could do a Front mount intercooler but it's not required but just one of those i have some extra cash upgrades. You'll want a 160* thermostat and possibly dual fan setup. An alky kit is a safety and very helpful upgrade if you don't want to have to run race gas which again isn't necessary til you start pushin over 18lbs of boost. You can upgrade turbo's to a point til you have to get a stall converter or you'll have some serious turbo lag.

Your best bet is to research this board extensively. Most of your questions have already been answered in other posts but if you can't find it just ask. All of the people here are happy to lend some knowledge to a fellow TR lover. The question you asked in this post would be best suited in the general turbo tech section as more people will see it there and chime in the specifics such as sizes, names, brands, etc as i have just givin you a base of parts to look at upgrading with out any specifics as to what to upgrade to. Sorry to be so long winded but there's so much out there that's available for these cars. I hope a helped and good luck.

 

[boostfreak]

As far as aftermarket, I think it's one of the best out there. It may not be as large as mustang or ls1 market, but the people that make parts for these cars REALLY know what they're doing. Check the vendors section. Welcome to tb.com.

 

[mat231v6]

welcome to turbo buick

 

[gnmaverick]

Thanks Pittsburgh! That is a lot of helpful information. I havent been on here in a while I know but I just sold the Audi and am currently driving a 96 Tacoma for a DD. I am also in the process of making room in my garage for the GN so I can get that over. I appreciate the input and will look into the other forums and see what I can find. I am hoping to find a cool environment like I always had with the VW/Audi scene. So far I only find guys my dads age who could care less about my influences or direction with the car. They cruise the A&W on wednesdays and go to sleep at 9! Haha

I am hoping to find a younger scene that isnt full of street racer types that actually appreciates the car and the younger enthusiest who apprecaites it!

Thanks again guys.

 

[turbo39151]

Welcome to the Darkside...

Here's what I can tell you from my experience after having owned all of the brands you've mentioned.

1. Buick will not have the fit and finsih of the Audi or VW. It's a 20+ year old american car.

2. Buick will not handle like Audi or vw. (You can make a buick handle ok but from what I've seen it is not cheap to do so)

3. Buick is easier to work on.

4. Buick is cheaper to work on.

5. Buick can be made to be very fast fairly cheaply (unlike Audi or VW)

5. Buick is WAY more fun. I guarantee it.

Enjoy your stay here.

 

[Junior Samples]

Congrats on moving out of Michigan:biggrin:

 

[Pat Adkins]

nothing wrong with wanting the car to handle well, I agree with pittsburghkid on the mods.
a quick spolling turbo would make the car alot of fun on an autocross.
dont let anyone deter you on how you want your car to perform for you.

 

[gnmaverick]

Congrats on moving out of Michigan:biggrin:

Actually I just moved BACK to MI after having left 7 years ago. Louisville was awesome and will always be missed but there are some things I definitely missed about Michigan.

On the car note. I am still on the fence about this whole thing. I guess I just need to get the car over and DRIVE IT. I need to see if I fall in love with it the way I did with VW/Audi all those years ago. That will bring on the inspiration.

I do like the challenge of making the car handle better. I think with some QA1's, control arms (F/R) sway bars and brake upgrades it may be pretty good. I do not like the Automatic trans though. I love stick shifts I just feel more connected with the car. Also every great car I have ever driven was a stick shift.

 

[Rebel]

Put a manual valve body to it, it's not a stick but it has it's advantages. I like your last comment: see if you can fall in love with it?... It's a whole nother car with it's own set of high points. I can guarantee you, park the car at your local Sonic or whatever, shine it for all it's worth (a strawberry blond on your arm makes a nice touch) and you'll have way more admirers than any tuner car out there. The car's a legend in itself, nobody can change that. Make your Dad proud, enjoy and take care of the car.