413turbo - 1986 GN Project

[413turbo]

my project car: i wanted to share

i forgot to get pics of it in storage, and when it first came off the trailer, so i'll start here. this is with the new street tires and plug wires.

at one time this was a real GN, but it was stolen and stripped in '97- since then i've had it in storage and have been slowly buying parts for it. i got an '85 regal as a donor car. the only orginal GN here is the drivetrain (dirtbags didn't touch it), the driver fender, and the 1/4 & roof panels - everything else was taken. so from the donor car i used: the body panels, bumpers, full interior, glass, etc...

 

[413turbo]

first thing is to get baby running, i had a cracked injector so i decided to go fuel system first. new pump, injectors, chip, filter, and hotwire kit. Eric and Jenny at turbotweak got the order for the fuel system. the car had an old kenne bell "red" chip in it- that had to go too (old tech). i could find a made in usa fuel filter from any store, so GM (3x's as much) supplied the ac (usa made) filter. and the rims from the donor car(gone).

Dad, (this was his car) used to take us dirtbike riding, so now the trailer hitch isn't needed (gone)- if anyone wants a draw tite hitch for their TR, lettme know, i got one you have

so after replacing the fuel system, the car ran for a time or too. then i just couldn't get it to crank again. after all was said and done- i ended up with new ecm, c3i, coil towers, plugs, -and it ended up being the plug wires
i knew they needed to be replaced, but never thought they all would just go bad in five minutes. i mean the car ran(i could tell it was missing, skipping)but it ran, then it didn't. everytime we checked for spark- we must have been holding it right, but on the plug it didn't work. put new wires on, and that just fired right and even purred alittle. :biggrin:

 

[COPSS]

WOW thats alot of work, but its all worth it at the end. I too have purchased a GN recently and was chasing a missfire gremlin and it ended up being a the old ignition module. GOOD LUCK KEEP posting up pics.

 

[413turbo]

My car is still a project and un-finished, so the pics i'm posting are a few months old now. once i get started working on the car, i just can't stop- it's like a drug (a really very good drug):tongue: :biggrin: .... so i haven't had time to post until now..

ok, long story short, the only safe place i could find to store the car for the last 3 years, was in a field, in the middle of nowhere, off a dirt road, where it was guarded by country dogs and a few shotguns. no sht!! it was left there under about 4 or 5 tarps, but they disappeared real quick (still don't know what happened to them). before i put it there, i had just replaced the headliner and the roof was good, but the weather in the field took it's toll out on it. it had been thru 2 good hail stroms. so the 2 great ppl in the pic, told me to drop the headliner and they'd take care of the roof me.

i then used rust remover and a sander to finish up the roof, i don't ever want to drop the headliner again, i've been working on this thing for years now- i'm ready for it to be done, and done right, so i can have some fun in it.

i'm on a budget, so i couldn't dynamat the entire roof like i wanted to. but i did put up a little more than the factory did. so now the roof is dent free(and without bondo) rust free, and ready for the headliner.

 

[COPSS]

Looks good!It must be hard maintaining your vehicle out there!where do you live?

 

[413turbo]

ATL, the dirty south... it not too bad, not much rust. i'll give a little background on the car. My dad (now deceased) bought it new in '86. he loved it, allways kept it clean and it was garaged most of it's life. i had a part in it even back then at my young age. i can still remember him getting the art letters; and i remember the big names from then- dutwieler, ken bell, etc.... i thought the round gnx gauges from atr was the coolest thing, but he wanted to keep it stock. during high school, i spent alot of time cleaning it, all in hopes of taking it out every once in awhile. now he let me drive it all the time, with him it . but i can say that i only got to take it out without him, maybe 3 or 4 times.. so, one night in '97 he calls me and says that if i see his car riding around, to call the cops- it had been stolen. a month or so later, we recovered it from downtown, stripped. i'll try to find pics and put them up later- you'd freak, there was nothing there, they took everything. so it sat in the garage like that for years. when i asked him what he was going to do with it, he said that since any value was now shot, he'd make it a sleeper or a beater, just to toot around in. well, in 2002 he died. so, i took all the parts from the donor car and put them on it. i didn't have the money or the desire to redo the car then, so i put it in storage. then i moved to a house without a garage, so i had the car in storage (it didn't work out), so i moved it to a field.. and there it sat. well, the owner of the field calls me, and tells me that some people had done been asking about it, tried to buy it from him twice and that it might not be safe there anymore. whoa,, time to go get baby... besides, i've been ready for her now for some time. i had been buying parts through the years for the build up. and that's where i am now. but, i'm going to go ahead and make back into the gn. dad loved his car, and i do too.:smile:

 

[garyk1970]

great story.you will feel good when its done for your dads memory and yourself.its worth all the effort to get it going again,and you're at the best place for help and parts,etc.
good luck,post pics on the rebuild,we love them:biggrin:

 

[413turbo]

ok, that last one was a difficult post, but now- moving on along...
with the interior out, again. let's go ahead and tackle that floor.
i had a little suface rust, gotta take care of that first.

and then just a simple little spray for protection, too bad most of my work gets covered up.

this has turned into a job. but it's a job i love

 

[Saladin45]

Man I'd love to strip my interior down to brass tacs.

I've got 2 layers of carpet that need to be ripped up.

 

[COPSS]

Thats is a great story, no wonder your car means alot to you, its been brought back from the dead. I hate the fact that these cars are so easy to steal and people seem to always ask if you want to sell it. Im in California and most likely if someone ask about it usually means they are already want to steal it.:biggrin: Thats why I have two GNs! and its also a plus that Im in Law Enforcement, always packing

 

[413turbo]

i would have liked to have done an off frame resto, but since it was stolen, i only have a salvage title at the time. i've been trying to get it inspected so i can tag it and drive it for about 3 months now. that messes me up, for it to pass inspection- it has to be put together,but not painted. even after talking to them- they wouldn't do 2 inspections; and told me if i painted it- then i've have a nice car good for parts only so if anyone knows someone at the georgia dmv, i could use some help. i read about govermentium in the joke thread here, that's the truth. so, it really don't have any bottom rust- and i want to have fun in it, so i'm just doing what i can. more pic's:

i had the shifter out, so why not re-build it. waiting for the dmv is like watching paint dry

now those pieces have to be prepped, paint work is 95% prep.

sprayed, polished, and ready to be put together.

and i lubed all joints with spray lithium grease.

i can't wait until i get done with all the little stuff. i know i have months of blocking on the car body. and really want to try my hand at some of the mech. stuff.

 

[nic87gnguy]

Hey I REALLY FEEL for you!!! Back in the Fall of 06 somebody broke into my storage and vandalized my 87 GN and stole a lot of parts even my wheels, they even broke into my brothers storage next to mine and he had an 87 T-type that had many parts stolen some parts had not even been opened yet!!! Never did get the people, but I think its better that way. I may have had to hurt them! But good luck!

 

[413turbo]

Hey I REALLY FEEL for you!!! Back in the Fall of 06 somebody broke into my storage and vandalized my 87 GN and stole a lot of parts even my wheels, they even broke into my brothers storage next to mine and he had an 87 T-type that had many parts stolen some parts had not even been opened yet!!! Never did get the people, but I think its better that way. I may have had to hurt them! But good luck!

humm,, that was my problem before i put it in the field. had it in a storage building for awhile. no one knew where i had it, but one day i had it backed out for half a day. few weeks later, storage ppl call- my lock had been cut and their door damaged, but car was there and ok. a few days later, they call again. this time my car was on a trailer halfway to the gate. it had come loose from the truck (we think the bumps had something to do with that). cops came and took the trailer(it was stolen from a county over 2 weeks earlier). storage place said i had to go. The other storage place, heard about it, wouldn't let me keep it there either. so to the field it went...

 

[COPSS]

Im begining to think California is not that bad anymore, after reading your stories. Plain and simple people see me driving my cars all the time but they know better. If some one came in my property to steal my car they will have to work for it. I can shoot with the best of them.

 

[413turbo]

aw man, all the stolen gn's i've heard of recently have been around here. It's wild, and sucks. in fact, i don't get much of the monte comments, most ppl i run into know exactly what they are seeing. last week i was at napa getting a brake cylinder, the guy looks it up, says hmmm, is that a gn. i reply that it is. he then informs me that i have a very sought after car and tells me i had better protect it. call me crazy, but i put my credit card up, and paid with cash.

 

[BlackMetal]

Car is looking good!

Scary stories about attempted theft!!

 

[87granny]

I recently had my 86 stolen and recoverd had damage but was in one piece didn't even take the scan master so i feel you pain now mine is in storage the place has video cameras. The car is looking good keep us up todate on the progress your dad would be proud

 

[413turbo]

ok, i use to paint cars and have built several cars from the ground up. i did a mustang about 12years ago and wanted dark lights, well here i am again. problem is that paint has changed alot in 10 years, it took me a week to get the mix right, but i'm happy with the results.

after, several people asked me about them, i decided to start doing them on the side. and now have a website. cutom car light tinting -i built the website myself (which i have zero experience in). if anybody wants theirs done, shoot me an email.

 

[vicious6]

Looking great man, keep up the good work!:smile:

 

[413turbo]

ok, now i'm working on the interior. i've heard people say that southerners are azz backwords, and i would have painted it first, but i'm still waiting on the state to come inspect it first, so my projects are limited to things i can finish in a weekend, and not the way i would build build a car, the state is azz backwords, not me...

i've seen some other project car posts here, they look good, make me feel i'm not up to par, but i hope to get there, i haven't even touched the motor, yet...

today, i did the front seat, but i post pics of the back seat. i got the jax seat covers in leather, and spang for the sewn(pre-pleated) side panels. so far everything fits, and i think i've done decent at it, this has all been diy, but i'm stumped at the headrest, they are like a chinese puzzle.

thanks for everyone's support and veiws of this post. i really appreciate it.