78 turbo coupe

[flyboy367]

while i dont know much about them fortune has come my way that i may be getting one in trade for my camaro. on the other hand i could also push the sale of my car and pick up another pontiac gtp. i like the idea of a classic car and supposedly this one is clean with new brakes, lines and gas tank. bench seats white with red interior. not to sure if the wife agrees since its a 78 and my camaro is a 80 so safty features for a child seat arent all there like the gtp. also in the event of in the future of modding how active is it. i know alot about the gtp and im thinking its the better solution but i cant say the interest isnt there for the regal. id like to know more if anyone can give some info.

 

[Ttype83]

The GTP will be faster then the 78...but the 78 is cool. It would depend on how much they want for the 78 and what your 80 is worth.

 

[flyboy367]

well the gtp is history. i knew it would go fast at the price he had it. so now my line is on the 78 regal. what should i look for on this car to see if its worth my time. supposedly its real clean and has all new brakes, llines and gas tank and lines. the guy bought it for his son and cleaned it up but his son wanted a 4runner instead.

i like odd stuff so once i found a little about the car i like it more but i would like to know all the goodies. like how easy the carb is to set since i suck at carbs. im a good mechanic and fabricator but out of all my musclecars i owned only 2 ran with carbs and i didnt tune them. id assume its hot air so can it be intercooled? and fortunitly its a gbody so suspention mods are readily available. i want the grandpa looking car that makes the spoiled acura kids cry for daddy.

 

[usetaboost]

It's not going to be a freak of nature like the IC cars (and hot-airs in their own right) but you can pull power out of them. You will be limited as far as the turbo goes and there is really no way to intercool them unless you are a good fabricator and have ideas. Even though I think the lag time would be brutal if it could be intercooled. Myself I think these cars are capable of 12 seconds easy if you wanna put the time and money into it. 78 isn't the greatest of year because of the low port design on the heads and intake. If your camaro is in nice shape and built well I would not trade it, but that's me. If you got the 78 you could do champion heads and get a 79 intake to go with it. Get a bigger stall and have the turbo hogged out. You can also make an alcohol injection system for it, put ina 3.42 rear, OD tranny, etc, etc. In my brain of thought, like said before depending on condition of your camaro, you should sell it outright and spend the money on a hotair. You can find them around 5k in good condition if you look. Sad thing is I don't see carbed turbo cars ever becoming a hot seller.

 

[flyboy367]

well the camaro is in good shape. i have like 8-9 grand in parts in it recently so that makes it worth about 3 grand
my major issue is the camaro runs great but doesnt stop and need body work. i have all the parts but i have recently had shoulder surgery to reconstruct some tendons. i wont be turning wrenches for a while and need a car to drive for now and maybe have some fun with later. i am a good fabricator and was toying with the notion of a air to water intercooler from a wrx. its small but does a great job of cooling and and if i get get the boost up 2-3 psi it should equal out to standard boost pressure but way cooler inlet temps. i thought about measuring out the rad support and once an electric fan is installed move the rad and condenser back about 3-4" and putting the intercooler in front.
or maybe just ride it for a while and build up a gtp engine for turbo and install it with a richmond manual trans. still this car is bench seat and column shift yuk

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

you could throw in a 160 t-stat, good radiator and fan setup, alky injection, free flowing cold air kit and exhaust, posi rear, shift kit, port and polish the HELL out the car, and along with the suspension and rear end gear mods, im pretty certain she'll run decent. I'd have the entire interior redone in grey, rub out the paint job, and throw some nice rims and tires on there. Though, you have to figure out how to accurately monitor boost.

 

[Freddie's Buick]

....Sad thing is I don't see carbed turbo cars ever becoming a hot seller.

Everything usetaboost says is true.....except, why should you care if it's a hot seller?

You put some money into it like you did to that Camaro and you'll probably be able to sell it for a better price then what that Camaro is worth.

Any car is worth money if you do a decent job of it regardless of the myth, (as a fabricator you probably already know that). Only that when it comes to unusaul cars there's a bit of an edge to the hot-airs. And the earlier turbo hot-airs are unusaul so they do qualify. Besides, IC GN's did'nt exist back then so what are you going to compare the hot-airs to?

The turbo Monte's are worth a good price and they used Buick's same tecnology and parts.

So are they worth alot of money? Maybe not now...but they do get a double-take in the looks department. Once the large majority of them are crushed, (and there were quite a few), rare will apply. Most of the guys that posted in these 'Before Black' sites that own early '78-81 hot-airs love these cars.

So it pretty much comes down to how much is it worth to you?

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

True. I know if I was rich, Id have one in a quick minute.

 

[usetaboost]

Whoa, don't take the whole "not worth much" to heart. I love the carbed turbo cars, they are different and like I will always say I wish I still had mine. I too had a camaro, 86 tpi car. I sold my 79 sport coupe with the 2 tone black and grey paint, limited package with black interior and factory cb to fix up that camaro. I sold the camaro to pay for the 87 we4 (which that money ended up going for living room furniture ). I had over 5 grand into that pile and it was still crap. The 79 was one of my favorite cars I've ever owned. I will have another someday if the financial advisor permits it. I do know where there is one but it is in a field and completely sunfaded, not worth 700 in my book. If this car is truly clean it may be a good trade if you are up for it. Maybe youshould post some pics of both the cars. If your camacho needs a lot of body/ interior work it may be worth the swap. I myself enjoyed the carbed turbo car. Just make sure you get a boost and knock guage. Once you own any of these turbo buicks, you won't want to drive anything else

 

[flyboy367]

for a paint job my camaro probably needs about a grand or 2 in bodywork. i was going to hunk out most of it myself and leave just some polishing up for the paint shop. for a race car its spot on. mostly fiberglass parts, frame is solid and all secured. everything for the driveline is new (engine trans rear) all the lines and fuel tank are new, brakes are new. interior is perfect for a race car, not so perfect for a street car. if luck favors me in any way ill go in for the trade and get some cash as well. if that works out first thing ill do is look for a wrecked 00+ regal and steal the seats and console from it. then dye the interior graphite or black. if the exterior is as he says ill leave it alone white for now and save for a marina blue paint job. always liked that color. then maybe a msd 6btm, some plugs and wires. then the fabbing starts.

i havent seen it in person but i have been studying pictures. from what i see (and correct me if im wrong) the carb handles the air inlet. the turbo runs off exhaust alone. if that be the case i would pull the cab and intake and port that out. then if its a non a/c car move the turbo over about 5" and turn it. then fab up some brackets and exhaust tubes and fab a 2.5 or 3" downpipe. then extend the rad support back 3-4" and move the rad back along with an electric fan. install an intercooler and run to the carb base like it was stock. that should make a big differance in inlet temps. basing on the turbo works fine bump the boost up 3-4lbs to compensate for the loss in the tube and intercooler. i have a buddy with a real built 700r4 ill see if i can bag that from him unless these engines arent like thier children and will work nice with a 5spd.
drop on a 3" cat with a dump and 2.5 single exhaust should help too
drop a 160 t-stat then some rear control arms, shocks, and lowering springs and brace the crap out of the frame and body and it should be a sweet ride. i have a badass boost gage i kept from my gtp and a knock gauge and wideband o2 should level the field. if i got anything left spring for alky.

supposedly it has the turbo wheels and i love those. i just need to find them in 16 or 17x8.
anyway thats the plan over time if all work out. having a 12-11 second car again would be cool, but a consistant 13 car that will scare the poop out of people is nice too.

 

[usetaboost]

If I remember right the turbo is bolted directly to the intake and the plenum feeds into it from the side, something like that. But in my eyes I don't know if intercooling one of these cars would be an easy task and also being able to keep the stock hood. I would go with the homemade alcohol injection after you do the k&n cone and other usuals. Remember, gotta start with basics first. Tune up, probably throw on a new fuel pump, make some seat braces, change fluids, clean the carb up, check all vac lines and make sure check valves aren't plugged, block off coolant hoses going to plenum, hook up you knock guage and boost guage. Just enough fun for a day of work !