Hello all,
I'd like to say thanks to all those who have shared their knowledge on this site. I have spent the last week reading just about every article. I just picked up a rough 87 GN in the Dominican Republic. It's been 25 years since my last GN and I am officially off the wagon now. I have been chasing this exact car for about 15 years now and I finally came across it for sale. I bought the car sight unseen, just one pic from the online ad.
The car was left outside for who know how long, mice moved into the engine bay. They made a nice home in the empty space of the intake and liked to poop in the turbo.
This is how I received the engine, everything that was removed was placed in box in the trunk.
I pulled the engine out with the tranny. Found out two header bolts were missing, one u pipe bolt was missing, the top two tranny bolts were not there and the tranny had a 1375 stall converter.
At some point the engine was rebuilt before, it is painted smurf piss blue. I took the heads off and the cylinders look good, pistons are .040. There was so much silicon in the oil strainer, no metal shaving just lots and lots of sealer. I am waiting on Amazon to deliver a bore gauge and micrometers to see what I am dealing with.
All I got out of the previous owner as to why the motor was apart was that is was running rich. The ECU has a hypertech chip, stock injectors, nylon gear came, stock fuel pump with no mod and the turbo wiggles inside the housing. I plan on rebuilding the motor with the existing heads. I am going to need some advise on what rebuild kit, cam, rockers, turbo, maf and chip to go with. Parts arent easy to come by where I live, everything needs to be ordered online. I'd like to make one big list and order everything all at once and sent it by boat to save on time, shipping and import taxes.
While I am waiting on parts I am going to send it off to paint. The body is pretty straight, no major accidents. There is some rot in the rear quarters, under the passenger seat, on the roof and in the front cowl. Where the door strikers are on both sides the metal is cracked and needs welding. Over all the body is solid and the interior is shot. Again mice loved their home, I stripped everything out. The dash is surprisingly good, only the chrome strip on the passenger side is messed up. The wires are all in good shape, the mice only lived under the seats luckily. I haven't had the heart to take the dash out yet, I may wait until its back from paint so I can take it out, clean and put it back all in one shot instead of months apart.
What I out of this build is a nice toy I can drive on my days off. I am not looking to build a drag car, I want something I can reliably cruise to the beach with. I am in no rush and under no budget constraints, I want it fixed once and fixed right. I am not looking to do a full detailed restoration but I want it to look nice and run reliably. I will be doing all the work myself except for paint. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rob
I'd like to say thanks to all those who have shared their knowledge on this site. I have spent the last week reading just about every article. I just picked up a rough 87 GN in the Dominican Republic. It's been 25 years since my last GN and I am officially off the wagon now. I have been chasing this exact car for about 15 years now and I finally came across it for sale. I bought the car sight unseen, just one pic from the online ad.
The car was left outside for who know how long, mice moved into the engine bay. They made a nice home in the empty space of the intake and liked to poop in the turbo.
This is how I received the engine, everything that was removed was placed in box in the trunk.
I pulled the engine out with the tranny. Found out two header bolts were missing, one u pipe bolt was missing, the top two tranny bolts were not there and the tranny had a 1375 stall converter.
At some point the engine was rebuilt before, it is painted smurf piss blue. I took the heads off and the cylinders look good, pistons are .040. There was so much silicon in the oil strainer, no metal shaving just lots and lots of sealer. I am waiting on Amazon to deliver a bore gauge and micrometers to see what I am dealing with.
All I got out of the previous owner as to why the motor was apart was that is was running rich. The ECU has a hypertech chip, stock injectors, nylon gear came, stock fuel pump with no mod and the turbo wiggles inside the housing. I plan on rebuilding the motor with the existing heads. I am going to need some advise on what rebuild kit, cam, rockers, turbo, maf and chip to go with. Parts arent easy to come by where I live, everything needs to be ordered online. I'd like to make one big list and order everything all at once and sent it by boat to save on time, shipping and import taxes.
While I am waiting on parts I am going to send it off to paint. The body is pretty straight, no major accidents. There is some rot in the rear quarters, under the passenger seat, on the roof and in the front cowl. Where the door strikers are on both sides the metal is cracked and needs welding. Over all the body is solid and the interior is shot. Again mice loved their home, I stripped everything out. The dash is surprisingly good, only the chrome strip on the passenger side is messed up. The wires are all in good shape, the mice only lived under the seats luckily. I haven't had the heart to take the dash out yet, I may wait until its back from paint so I can take it out, clean and put it back all in one shot instead of months apart.
What I out of this build is a nice toy I can drive on my days off. I am not looking to build a drag car, I want something I can reliably cruise to the beach with. I am in no rush and under no budget constraints, I want it fixed once and fixed right. I am not looking to do a full detailed restoration but I want it to look nice and run reliably. I will be doing all the work myself except for paint. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rob
