What a dilemma: Woe to the conversion bug

[grnadnasty84]

Ok, so the Gn is in bad shape, motor wise. I'm about to pull it and do a rebuild. I have been going over and over whether or not to convert it over to the 86/87 setup. It's and 84 Gn with t-tops, so I know it's rare. I don't plan on selling it now and hopefully will never have to sell it.

So that's it: I have to pull the motor for a rebuild. I need more speed and I just don't have the kind of money it takes to get a hot air into the 10's or probably even 11's. I also don't have the money to up and buy a new Gn. I love driving a rare car, and I must admit I am afraid of ruining any legacy by changing the basic original design.

If I do the conversion, am I going to regret it? I would just like to hear your take on the situation. I know there are a few die hard hot air guys that hate when these get converted over, and I'm sure there are some who have done the conversion and are wondering what’s taking everyone else so long.

If you have done the conversion, I would like to hear how it's going for you. What kind of results did you expect, and did you reach your goals?

As for the die hard hot air guys, what advice can you give me on beating the conversion bug. Any words of encouragement are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for those of you who took the time to read and respond to this, without you guys this whole thing would fall apart. I'm grateful for the turbo Buick community out there, keep on spreading the knowledge.

 

[tb3]

i personally am skeptical on how much more "astronomical" the cost of trying to get a hot air to go faster is. alky, chips, headers, downpipes are all available for our cars now. biggest hangup is i would guess now is carbon seal backing plate for other than stock hot air turbos.

reality its probably worth more in parts with bad motor. too bad you can't sell and buy a intercooled car. heck, if you must convert it. keep everything so you can take it back to stock. even though you probably never will :frown:

if i was in the same boat, would probably convert it if i had access to reasonably priced intercooled setup

 

[conn84gn]

IMO rebuild the HA motor leave it HA
Depends on how much you want to spend
I went IC in the end and could have bought a REAL nice 86/87 with the money I spent

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

i personally am skeptical on how much more "astronomical" the cost of trying to get a hot air to go faster is. alky, chips, headers, downpipes are all available for our cars now. biggest hangup is i would guess now is carbon seal backing plate for other than stock hot air turbos.

reality its probably worth more in parts with bad motor. too bad you can't sell and buy a intercooled car. heck, if you must convert it. keep everything so you can take it back to stock. even though you probably never will :frown:

if i was in the same boat, would probably convert it if i had access to reasonably priced intercooled setup

Arron I agree with you 100 percent on your comment. I should have converted to the IC side years ago but stupidity kept me here, I actually have my hot air really moving fast and thought of doing an IC job on my car makes want to puke. My wallet is empty-car runs really good- I will not F**k with it anymore, My 2 cents. Brad

 

[novaderrik]

look at it this way- for the cost of upgrading to the later setup, you could keep the car stockish and go just as fast.
it's not like people are giving away all the parts to convert it for free.

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

look at it this way- for the cost of upgrading to the later setup, you could keep the car stockish and go just as fast.
it's not like people are giving away all the parts to convert it for free.

I agree. Amen. My car is done and finished. I only have left is a bumper filller to replace and a little tuning. Take care- brad

 

[turbonut85]

I say keep it H/A. Everyone and their dog has an IC car...the H/A cars are a dying breed. Owning a TR is not ALL about how fast they are. If we aren't careful, most of the Buicks on the road today will be nothing but thrashed heaps of junk cause everyone "wants to go to the 10's". Just my .02 ---Keith

 

[Jerryl]

Here is my $0.02

Keep it a HA, and later, sell and buy an IC'd car.
The fact that you have an IC'd car, does not mean you will run 10's or 11's.
It takes $$$$ to do it reliably, and even than, there is a lot more to it.

I can tell you one thing for sure;
If you currently do not have the $$ to buy an IC'd car in this market, you do not have the $$ to convert and run 10's.

Don't be fooled by people posting 10 second time slips.
Those people know these cars, and are in the minority (% wise).

Buy the twin turbo car from Turbofabricator.
That car is a steal. and will run 10's reliably.
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/cars-sale/279853-1987-t-type-twin-turbo-11-000-a.html

Good luck.

 

[conn84gn]

Well said
Everybody thinks low 11's-10's are easy
Takes a slug of money and time to tune
And breaking parts along the way
That you haven't upgraded / or spent the money on
The faster you go the more $$$ you spend

 

[grnadnasty84]

I know the cost of converting it over would be expensive if I purchased each part separately, but I have seen someone on the "parts for sale" section of this site that sells "everything you need to convert an 84/85 to 86/87" and I think the last price I saw for that was $1,600.00. That would be just the stock parts and would give me only moderate gain in power I'm assuming. The upside though is that I can later, when more money comes in, swap the intercooler, turbo, and headers. Downside is its 1600 and I know I could get an alky kit for 500, and those new 3" DP for 5-600. Add on a larger turbo later and I've trumped the gains achieved by just converting it over right?

Now what’s the downside after all that, is that the end of the more important mods for a streetable HA? And what does a conversion do to the re-sale value of a car as rare as this?


Thanks again for giving the .02 cents.

 

[Jerryl]

I know the cost of converting it over would be expensive if I purchased each part separately, but I have seen someone on the "parts for sale" section of this site that sells "everything you need to convert an 84/85 to 86/87" and I think the last price I saw for that was $1,600.00. That would be just the stock parts and would give me only moderate gain in power I'm assuming. The upside though is that I can later, when more money comes in, swap the intercooler, turbo, and headers. Downside is its 1600 and I know I could get an alky kit for 500, and those new 3" DP for 5-600. Add on a larger turbo later and I've trumped the gains achieved by just converting it over right?

Now what’s the downside after all that, is that the end of the more important mods for a streetable HA? And what does a conversion do to the re-sale value of a car as rare as this?


Thanks again for giving the .02 cents.

Hope this helps.

 

[Dwayne]

I can tell you one thing for sure;
If you currently do not have the $$ to buy an IC'd car in this market, you do not have the $$ to convert and run 10's.



Good luck.

Good piece of advice right there !

 

[Dwayne]

..........and 1,600 for everything to convert from HA to IC........hhhmmmmmmm.........I'm raising the BS flag on that one.......been there, done that....1,600 would be a good start tho......

 

[conn84gn]

Up to $1800.00 I believe
And remember that your buying 20 plus year old parts
I bought a Running T Type rust bucket, Took what I needed and parted it out $4000.00 right there
Will not get you 11's without throwing more money at it.
Ask me how I know
That $14,000 is a real number Ive got all of that and more in my setup

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

..........and 1,600 for everything to convert from HA to IC........hhhmmmmmmm.........I'm raising the BS flag on that one.......been there, done that....1,600 would be a good start tho......

There is no f**king way in hell you can convert a Hot Air to an IC car for $1600. Wake up, smell the roses and die right, keep your money in your wallet. Some people must be on drugs here. Think three times-price it three times-Think again three times before you open your wallet. Remember- What is your gain? y 2 cents worth. Brad

 

[grnadnasty84]

I'm not saying I've called the guy who offers the conversion, but I did find his post on here again. It's posted by a guy named Intercooled88s and I guess he raised his price to 1700. The guy has a huge parts list and I'm assuming he has been doing this for a while. http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/parts-sale/272437-big-parts-list-new-years-update-more-parts-added.html. And again, I know just converting it won't get me into the 10's or 11's, but it will give me that option down the road. Has anyone used Intercooled88s conversion? That would be really helpful.

by the way, thanks Jerryl for the post, that does help a lot.

 

[Rob_85Ttype]

1) Keep it hot-air or 84-85 intercooled. I can't tell you how much I wish I had kept mine 84-85 but modified.
2) If you must convert to 86-87, buy a donor engine.
3) If you convert piece by piece, you will spend a fortune and it will take forever.

 

[Boostnitup]

$1,600 to intercool a car?

Why not?

One of you "CREATIVE members" can either pay, or beg and borrow... another Hot-Air converted member's car so you can have piping and an intercooler copied.

I see Intercooler cores going cheap enough.


It would be far more accurate to state; "You won't be able to PAY someone $1,600 to build it for you."

You should be able to get an intercooler into the car for well under $1,600 if you are creative and can cut, slice, weld, and bend things into position. You can put together a Ford Powerstroke front mount intercooler conversion in the car for well under that amount.

If you are into this car for the dream of making $$$$$ on it - you are into the wrong car. There is no money to be found in these cars IMO. Those who know about them are located in the rare side of the equation where everyone knows about the legendary GNX and could care less about anything else. They are just not worth what the factory intercooled cars go for... swallow your pride and just learn to accept it.

 

[Boostnitup]

Intercooled conversion

Suggestion... EBAY

Think outside of the box.

:biggrin:

 

[Boostnitup]

There are other options...

TA33C - $900

90 Horse Dry Shot $450

Upgraded Fuel Pump

Drag radials


:biggrin: