For those of you who do not get the GS X-TRA this is an article I did for the them....hope you enjoy.
The GNX changed my life.
Growing up in the Detroit metropolitan area cars were always talked about and instilled in the framework of our society. I too was pulled into this culture. When I graduated out of HS I thought I would go into the printing business but found a job working at a small automotive prototype company becoming a bench hand and a welder. After knocking around a few other jobs I ended up at ASC in 82.
At the time ASC was just getting into second stage manufacturing of convertibles. I was hired to work on the J Body convertible program (Cavalier). I worked on fabrication sheet metal components and support structures for the program when it was in the prototype stages. I also did some work on show cars……..Then the GNX Program arrived.
The GNX program was a collaboration with Buick, McLaren engines and ASC. It got off to a rough start, it stopped and started several times. McLaren worked on the engine and transmission modifications as they were very instrumental in the redesign of the engine compartment. They worked on the conversion of the hot air vehicles making the changes to add the intercooler components so they were very aware of the base vehicle. ASC was doing the manufacturing along with engineering the wheel flares, louvers, badging, instrument cluster and maintaining the bill of material among many other things. The entire program consisted of many people from all of the companies involved. I started out as a fabricator involved in making some of the parts. I began working on the program on the body revisions needed to accept the new 16” tire and wheel combination together with the new rear suspension. At first our engineering team got off to a rough start as the body cut line was, let’s say, a little off. A colleague of mine then went through the rear suspension and found that when you took it through the jounce and rebound travel of the suspension that the pan hard rod was too long, pushing the wheel into the quarter panel. Once the revisions were made to the pan hard rod, we determined the new cut lines needed to clear the new tires and wheels. The engineering department agreed with our changes. Many of the components were what we called reverse engineered. The technicians fabricated parts and those parts were given to the suppliers in order to make the production parts. The only drawings required were what we call “dummy drawings”. These drawings consist of a part number and material specifications on a blank sheet of paper.
The first vehicle we worked on was a Grand National but most of the remaining prototype vehicles for testing were T Types. I remember taking off the Header Panel Ornaments and throwing them in the trash. The GNX was going to be de-badged and only have the new GNX badging.
One of the first things we worked on was the wheel flare clay modeling. After the clay models were sculpted we made sure the RH and LH parts were the same. We made templates to check both sides and made some minor changes. We then made molds of the flares and created several sets of prototype flares out of high temp epoxy.
My involvement with the sheet metal components included making the brackets for the flares, working on the brackets for the transmission cooler and fabrication of the upper front wheel house patch that allowed more clearance to the new front tire and wheel combination. Along with fabricating and assembling of the prototype vehicles I worked on fixtures for the front wheelhouse extensions among other things.
I remember building several vehicles and cutting the sheet metal using templates and measurements. Later I would use these templates and measurements in order to make the production fixtures.
I was asked to show the employees at the Livonia plant how to build the cars along with an employee at McLaren. I concentrated on the body revisions and he worked on the transmission and engine changes. During the beginning of the production build we experienced a few start of production issues. First the front fender vent duct would not fit properly due to the production build variation. Second when the car was going 45 MPH we had a speedometer vibration issue. We changed the design on the bracket to fix the vent issue and we changed the routing of the speedometer cable to fix the vibration issue. This speedometer issue required me to test drive the first vehicles assembled to verify the fix worked. It was a rough job but someone had to do it! I worked at the plant for several weeks before returning back to the tech center at ASC.
Working on this program brought me to really like the GNX and I could not afford one so I decided to build my own. I had most of the production parts and some prototype parts at my disposal and I did not want to make a clone that everyone thought was a real GNX, so I decided to build a white one. Everyone knows all GNX‘s are black so white would be perfect. I even came up with (what I thought was a cool name) X Ray as it would be a reverse image of a GNX. I built the car in stages doing all the exterior modifications at my friend’s body shop, then installing the turbo and intercooler at home. Then I finished up the suspension back at the tech center at ASC along with painting the bumpers white. The transformation only took a few weeks. I since removed the original engine and transmission (that I still have) and updated them along with adding some additional performance components, but all these changes can be brought back to stock as I did not make any alterations to the base GNX configuration. I like driving the car and taking it to an occasional show, but driving and watching people turn their heads is the best.
In conclusion, I love these cars! Also, to be lucky enough to work on the GNX program and to have been a part of Buick History is a privilege that I am very grateful to have had!