Thinking about dropping a V8 in it

BOP4ever

Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2007
I have a pretty much stock 60 k mile GN with a few minor mods all the original stuff stored... It needs a fresh paint job to really be show quality, but a good 20 footer... I like the car and it runs ok and I know it can run better...

I am just not sure about if I want to spend money on the V6 and run 11-12's if I can spend about the same money and drop a Small block or LSX in the thing with a 4l80 and run 9's or 10's if I wanted with the same or better driveability and reliability... The SBC seems like a easier and cheaper build and I know built right they can take some abuse...The LSx is a better platform, but you get into custom parts I think and accessory bracket mix and match... just on the fence and debating what to do...

I was thinking in either case stay with a single turbo.
 
I just don't understand.

With all the regular regals out there why are people doing this to real turbo cars??

I mean these cars are truly something special (Don't get me wrong I'm not a "purist" by any means, I'll race and modify everything I own) so why screw with that??

Or from a different point of view there are enough rough turbo cars, hot air cars, and turbo cars that are already race cars why do it to a decent stocker??
 
I just don't understand.

With all the regular regals out there why are people doing this to real turbo cars??

I mean these cars are truly something special (Don't get me wrong I'm not a "purist" by any means, I'll race and modify everything I own) so why screw with that??

Or from a different point of view there are enough rough turbo cars, hot air cars, and turbo cars that are already race cars why do it to a decent stocker??

+1

right now you have a car that people will actually stop you and want to talk about it with. If you tell them you swapped out for a run of the mill V8 many will not see that as anything special.

I would say make your GN a great running stocker....no real mods...and buy a NA regal and hot rod that.
 
This is funny I dont see any one saying any thing about people putting stage2 engine in these cars or gutting them out for tsm. Its a simple engine change and would take nothing to put a stock engine back in one. BOP4ever put a ls1 with a 76 and a 4l80e in it and have fun with a pump gas 600+hp car with a/c. I like the g body style is why I done mine and I get all kind of looks and comments on my car.
 
Don't desecrate(?) that car. As long as you keep it all BUICK V-6,no matter what you do to it, it is still special!! Otherwise, it is just another HOT ROD.
 
Thanks for all the comments... I really would like to keep the car original with the V6 Turbo... I just hate that it is slower then what you can buy off the showroom now... seems technology has passed it by at the corner stop light...

The GN has such a great rep as a fast car I feel kinda like poser I know mine is not fast enough to beat a new LSX or later Gm car or some turbo 6's and 4's or even GT mustangs on a bad day... So to cruise it and feel I am not holding up the GN flag with honor, the car has to move and move out QUICK.... just debating should I yank the 6 and store it along with all the other stock parts air cleaner etc... and do a turbo V8 and fear next to nothing and leave them with the DA*)( those Buicks are fast !!!! or roll on stock hoping to pass it off... these cars are near legendary it seems everyone I see that knows what it is say man thsee cars are fast... I always agree... but in the back of my mind I know that ss camaro at the red light yesterday would have spanked my tail if Id ran him... tired of the challenges and not having anything to answer them with.... stupid sounding ?? Maybe I should just make a show car out of it...
 
My question is how fast do you want your car to be?? Because if you're talking 11's then I think it'll be easier to do it with the 6 than go through a V8 converstion and 11's is quick enough to get respect on pretty much any street.

You need to know the goals of your car before you make any decisions, but I don't get the impression that you want a 9 sec. car.
 
Thanks for all the comments... I really would like to keep the car original with the V6 Turbo... I just hate that it is slower then what you can buy off the showroom now... seems technology has passed it by at the corner stop light...

The GN has such a great rep as a fast car I feel kinda like poser I know mine is not fast enough to beat a new LSX or later Gm car or some turbo 6's and 4's or even GT mustangs on a bad day... So to cruise it and feel I am not holding up the GN flag with honor, the car has to move and move out QUICK.... just debating should I yank the 6 and store it along with all the other stock parts air cleaner etc... and do a turbo V8 and fear next to nothing and leave them with the DA*)( those Buicks are fast !!!! or roll on stock hoping to pass it off... these cars are near legendary it seems everyone I see that knows what it is say man thsee cars are fast... I always agree... but in the back of my mind I know that ss camaro at the red light yesterday would have spanked my tail if Id ran him... tired of the challenges and not having anything to answer them with.... stupid sounding ?? Maybe I should just make a show car out of it...
Heres the thing holmes im in the same boat as you but my car has more miles..Do your research you can get 12s and 11s out of these cars for peanuts aka $1500-2000 most of ur mods being for safety and stability which youll have to do anyway aka scanmaster,fuelpump gauges etc do yourself a favor do some research and youll find that by the time you buy a v8 and hotrod it or turbo it you will have spent waaaaaaaay more $$$..Another thing is work on geting to know ur car tweaking it and driving it well all the $$turbos and v8s in the world cant help you if you arent a good driver ive handed many a mustang charger and even challenger owner thier a$$ cause they cant drive thier cars another thing let you cars evil rep preceed you its like owning a hayabusa or a ferrari or a zr1 vette you dont gotta prove its fast cause most people already know it is you can get away with comments like "im not gonna waste my gas on you " yea ill run you if you got a grand you dont mind losing " just dont do it all the time cause eventually someone will pull out a knot and ask you to back it up lol but everyones poor now so i wouldnt worry to much lmao:biggrin:
 
My dream goal would be about a 10.50-10.70 car that can go anywhere daily driver friendly.... realistically a low 11 sec car that traps in the mid 120's would be good enough for the most part... Still here to really get a lot of respect it needs to hit 10's with a power adder... the strong V8 cars run 11's on the motor and dip in to the 10's on spray... the average stock cars don't of course, but the guys at the track seem to be on top it... I used to have a Trans am it was a low 11 second NA car big block set up... tuned it form the mid 12s to low 11's timing, jetting and a cam swap.... Other then plugging in a new chip I don't see how you tweak these computer ran cars.... I am seeing some logic in the thoughts to keep this pretty rare and low mileage car complete with its original drive train though... thanks.

I just need some tutoring...
 
Haha im sorry...I don't have that dilemma I don't believe in stock!
Do with what you want to it my man...just be informed about it..Im still trying to wrap my head around this turbo thing myself! Im actually going to handle the handling,suspension, and braking first on mine..and yes im gonna mod the living sh@t outta my car! :) but hey...thats just me!
 
Haha im sorry...I don't have that dilemma I don't believe in stock!
Do with what you want to it my man...just be informed about it..Im still trying to wrap my head around this turbo thing myself! Im actually going to handle the handling,suspension, and braking first on mine..and yes im gonna mod the living sh@t outta my car! :) but hey...thats just me!
Ya fellas just do ur research its not that hard to get the times yall are lookin for just research and ask questions im learned a ton since ive been on here in the last year also check our RJC racing they are a vendor on here and they have some 9,10,and 11 second combos and a ton of parts on there..:biggrin:
 
I'm gonna put it to you a little differently. The value of the car, no matter what you do unless you keep it stock, will go down. If you keep the car as close to stock appearing as you can you still should be able to do what you want. I just got my GN and the guy that had it was going to put a 383 in it until he realized how much work it would be in the long run. I'm going to keep it a six but it will be modified to do what I want.

Write down what your goals are and start reading up so you have a better idea of what you need to do. The SFI cars are much easier to mod than what I'm doing so I've been researching it for 2 years now to get what I'm after. With the work situation right now it's on the back burner for now.:mad: That doesn't mean that I haven't stopped doing work on it but it does mean I'm doing things like porting the heads and cleaning up the block casting, ect. If your goals can be achieved and you still keep the value of the car then you're ahead in the long run. If you make a monster and you don't like it you will have trouble getting rid of it and loose money at the same time

Yes it's your car so you can do what you want but the big question is why you bought it in the first place. If you have your heart on a super fast car that's great. You can do it with what you have, but if you don't feel like going to the trouble then sell it and get one that will do what you want right now.
 
I agree with the above i dropped a v8 in mine.Its your car do what you want with it.If you want to get the most value out of your gn/tr leave it bone stock.I will never sell my car and it now has almost no value it looks like a lightly modded gn/tr i still get the same amount of looks and compliments other tr guys will hate you for it so be ready for that.U can go fast with the v6 or the v8 just depends on how you want to do it.If all you want are 11's-12's stick with the 6 it will be cheaper but if you want 120+trap speeds and mid 10's and faster the v8 will do it cheaper easier. The v6 can also do it just starts costing much more.I recently have ran as fast as 121mph with a mild bbc low comp stock heads,cheap summit cam 100 shot nitrous dozens and dozens of times the motor cost me with every last nut and bolt for less than 2k that included the nos used setup.Just an example.Since your car is stock i would sell it and get the most cash and get i plain regal and drop the v8 in it if you really want to swap motors by the time i decided to drop a v8 in mine my motor was lighly modded i had other various mods which lowered the value and over 150k on the chassis and motor everything was clean and worked fine so i decided not sell.Good luck.
 
I just don't understand.

With all the regular regals out there why are people doing this to real turbo cars??

:D Because all the regular Regal are owned by some Vato,that put 14 rims on it and 12 hydraulic switches...not to mention velour interior...
then lets talk about the others that have are riding on 22"'s...

do the LSX swap,,i am to my 85turbo T...i was a lost cause anyhow,,its a hot air..:p :p
 
To some people a Turbo Buick ( T or GN ) is a car that you should be left alone. I agree with the "It's your car, do whatever you want to it." However if it was my car.....

I would look for another Regal to do an engine swap with. These car's have a certain attitude and presence to them, with anything other than a V6 they just aren't the same.

Good luck with the swap. I have done the LSX swap in my Regal and I couldn't be happier.

Arthur
 
This thread is so funny. If some one wants to bring me a stock engine and trans I can have it back in the car and running in about 6 or 7 hours. My car is no different than a TSM car other than the engine.
 
Its your car do what you want with it.If you want to get the most value out of your gn/tr leave it bone stock.I will never sell my car and it now has almost no value it looks like a lightly modded gn/tr i still get the same amount of looks and compliments other tr guys will hate you for it so be ready for that.U can go fast with the v6 or the v8 just depends on how you want to do it.If all you want are 11's-12's stick with the 6 it will be cheaper but if you want 120+trap speeds and mid 10's and faster the v8 will do it cheaper easier. The v6 can also do it just starts costing much more...Since your car is stock i would sell it...Good luck.

That's how I see it. My white T runs 11's, gets enough looks and comments, and is a hoot to drive, but if I ever blow up the V6 (again) I will not hesitate to turbo-LS it. It will still be a T-Type! There are enough stockers out there and mine is not exceptional enough to attract that much attention. If your car is clean and worth something, sell it and buy a solid turbocar with a blown engine (god knows they're out there) to turbo-V8, without the bodywork of buying a basketcase Regal.

A few years ago I wouldn't be afraid to race anything on the street, ever. Nowadays there are plenty of 500-700hp cars out there to fear. The ante has been upped. Don't worry about the TR purists, they can kiss your taillights.

Disregard the above if you do not intend to keep the car forever. You will never get the $$ out of a V8 conversion vs. dead stock.
 
The reason I bought a GN/TR was the body style. I have had all original GN's and stage 2 TR's.
My preference was to be able to drive to the track and run 10.0s or quicker and drive home. I did that with the stage car but I always had my fingers crossed or was changing head gaskets.
My current car is a turbo s/b and I can drive to the track run low 10's 138 mph on 12 lbs boost pump gas with no worry. On the outside it looks just like a GN. At pinks a few months ago I had crowds of people around the car all the time it was parked, with the hood open and turned down several requests to sell the car.
It's much more fun to say its a v6 when you whip a trailered car, but also nice to not worry about driving home.
Others have said it depends on your goals and that's true. I also don't think a turbo v8 swap will devalue the car? If its a clean swap vs a clean stock setup you might be surprised.
 
what for. u can go low 10's on a stock block/internals for years beating the crap outta it with 150k miles on it with a good tune and good gas. dont waste ur time and keep the car a 6 cylinder. it will get better gas mileage and do more then what u want
 
:D Because all the regular Regal are owned by some Vato,that put 14 rims on it and 12 hydraulic switches...not to mention velour interior...
then lets talk about the others that have are riding on 22"'s...

do the LSX swap,,i am to my 85turbo T...i was a lost cause anyhow,,its a hot air..:p :p

dumbest thing I have heard all day. love your stereotype.

:rolleyes:A.j.
 
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