All stock.....bad times...

[Blue Steel]

Save yourself alot of money and aggravation... Leave it stock !!! Once you have been bitten by the need for speed all bets are off as to how much down time the car will have.

Bryan

Truer words never more spoken!!!! Ask me how I know.....down time for me now stands at.......7 years and counting... So, listen to Bryan and stop worrying about your quarter mile times.....it's just not worth it beating up a fast car that old! Put your times out of your mind and go out and enjoy the thing!!! You could die tomorrow, then what'll do? Who would really know your quarter mile times out in the real world unless YOU tell them, and don't, just the sight of your big bad Grand National will tell the story itself......those GNs are very intimidating, as you well know, just on sight alone.....let them think you can run the quarter in 8 seconds.....just smile and drive away very slowly with a growl in your exhaust....everytime someone walks into my garage and sees my GN up on stands, their eyes get real big and I hear a "oooooo, wow, damn, those things are FAST" to which I'll casually reply (in a grandfatherly tone) "Yes, yes, I know, I know, Hey! Look at this neat torque wrench laying here."

Blue Steel.....'87GN (Bruce Urie)

 

[williamsGN]

14.8 is on spot for a pure stock car. Want to beef it up a bit, get a K&N filter, Turbotweak chip, 160 stat and a few other free mods and you'll be happy for a bit. Make sure everything is up to spec tune wise. Even a stock car can benefit from a scanmaster to make sure everything is tuned properly and then you can watch for knock as you start to tweak things.

 

[davef]

14.8 is on spot for a pure stock car. Want to beef it up a bit, get a K&N filter, Turbotweak chip, 160 stat and a few other free mods and you'll be happy for a bit. Make sure everything is up to spec tune wise. Even a stock car can benefit from a scanmaster to make sure everything is tuned properly and then you can watch for knock as you start to tweak things.

Why the 160 stat? I have the chip for 93 octane.

 

[Fast Farmer]

The cooler you keep it, the less knock retard you will have, and thus it will make more power

 

[williamsGN]

Cooler engine, denser air charge = more power. You should also removed the throttle body coolant lines, remove the fan resistor and remove the cowl weatherstrip - less the piece in front of the air intake.

 

[Phoneguy]

Truer words never more spoken!!!! Ask me how I know.....down time for me now stands at.......7 years and counting... So, listen to Bryan and stop worrying about your quarter mile times.....it's just not worth it beating up a fast car that old! Put your times out of your mind and go out and enjoy the thing!!! You could die tomorrow, then what'll do? Who would really know your quarter mile times out in the real world unless YOU tell them, and don't, just the sight of your big bad Grand National will tell the story itself......those GNs are very intimidating, as you well know, just on sight alone.....let them think you can run the quarter in 8 seconds.....just smile and drive away very slowly with a growl in your exhaust....everytime someone walks into my garage and sees my GN up on stands, their eyes get real big and I hear a "oooooo, wow, damn, those things are FAST" to which I'll casually reply (in a grandfatherly tone) "Yes, yes, I know, I know, Hey! Look at this neat torque wrench laying here."

Blue Steel.....'87GN (Bruce Urie)

Bruce, I bought mine Memorial day weekend of 2007 with 43,xxx miles on it. It had a TA49, a Caspers thumbwheel chip, K&N filter and Hooker duals, other than that completely stock. Obviously it needed a bigger turbo and ALKY.... I went with a Turbonetics CPT66, oh yeah now I need a downpipe too, went with an external gate and a billet boost controller. Didnt have a scanmaster so I started doing the math of scanmaster, power logger, MAF translater...Hey what the hell, why not get a FAST XFI for $2000.00...Now I am a Bada$$. Lets go to the Midwest Challenge and run it...POP.....blew a headgasket into the valley on my first and only run!! But I am determined, hell I just ran a 12.58 blowing the gasket at a little more than half track!! WOO HOO. Trailered back about 7 hours. Tear it all apart and I have a great idea...while it is apart why dont I get some Champion Aluminum heads, a roller cam, roller rockers, new timing set, port the intake and exhaust, get a 3400-3600 Art Carr converter and hey I need some traction too, an HR rear sway bar, Metco double adjustable upper rear control arms and billet lowers. Get it all back together, cant keep boost under control, get a different downpipe with a larger wastegate piping, have the hole opened up in the exhaust side of the turbo. I am ready to kill now...well at least for a week anyway. Lifted the heads...pull the motor again...new head gaskets, new ARP bolts...Now I am really ready to kill some stuff, right? Nope...heads wont stay down...GRRRRR.
Thats it...Pulled the motor and tranny( the numbers matching stuff), got a block sent to RPE, ordered my stroker kit and girdle from Jack Cotton and started fresh. About a year later I get the motor sent to me, heads, roller rockers, push rods, intake, front cover and oil pan installed. I get busy and rush to get it installed just before the TurboBuick.com event. Oh now I need to buy a trailer too ($2200.00) BIG mistake rushing, spent the WHOLE weekend on a lift at Richard Clarks, dropped the tranny,gas tank, blew an injector O ring on the dyno at about 7k rpms...never even made it to the track to even watch. There is a whole thread on my weekend there !! Trailered the car 14.5 hours one-way! Took it back home, drove to get an inspection, lost 4th gear...then lost 3rd gear in a tranny that has been less than 40 miles!!! Car was down again. Ordered a Stage III tranny from Lonnie Diers and a PTC 9.5" from Dusty and set my sights on Bowling Green KY for the Buick Nationals. Just before leaving I get a weird noise at 14psi and up, hell with it I am going racing!! Paid to race for 2 days and had to become a member of the GSCA too, racing there is NOT CHEAP !!! Jack Cotton got in the car with me and we did some tuning on the local freeway. Car is running great, but still making this weird noise. Have multiple people ride in the car and get several different diagnosis. I decide that I better not race the car. Trailered 6 hours each way and spen ALOT of money to not race !! Got home and did some more light runs and finally figure out that it is lifting the heads AGAIN. Pull the motor again. Ordered ARP studs this time, another set of Cometic head gaskets. Ready for North Carolina trip to Richard Clarks. got some dyno time in with Clint (Sydwynder) doing the tuning. We stay conservative on the tune, 21* and 22psi on pump gas and ALKY. My car made 555HP 553 Torque. ACTUALLY made it to the track !!!! Made 4 runs, couldnt hold boost at the line, was pushing through the lights. Car ran 6.91 @ 103 in the 1/8 mile. Back to Richard Clarks and up on the lift. Blew a wheel cylinder. New wheel cylinders...hey while I am doing that I might as well get stainless brake lines too(more money), new brake shoes...shoot a brake spring across the shop and cant find it...Richard took care of me. Rain comes and cancels the rest of the racing. Load the car back on the trailer, 14.5 hours home. Take the car out with my son to show him how well the car is running....POP POP...uh oh...that didnt sound good. Got the motor out of the car on the engine stand, intake, heads and accessories all removed in 3.5 hours (yes I have done this a few times). HOLY CRAP...melted a chunk out of the head, scorched the block, 2 push rods and a piston that I can see. Motor is currently at Lonnie Diers getting rebuilt. I have put less than 200 miles on the car since getting it in 2007. Car still has 43,xxx miles.
I purchased the car for 17k, I have put more than that into it already and I dont even know what the motor will cost me this time...and I still need to upgrade the axles and driveshaft and it needs new exhaust, a 3.5" downpipe, new headers and new tires, oh and the headliner is falling out. Other than the above I have really enjoyed modifying my car.

Bryan

 

[hensleyt]

Mine was 99% stock 84000 miles and 4 years ago with a old Kenny Bell chip 17 psi ,K&N in stock air box ,old Good Years 14.3 et 96 mph. Some day it will go back to stock. If you cant leave it stock save the parts.

 

[Phoneguy]

I have all of the stock parts for mine including the engine and tranny, the only thing I dont have is one spark plug wire that the previous owner trashed due to being faulty. One day mine will return to stock, I am sure.

Bryan

 

[big reazon]

this page makes these cars seem horrible.

 

[we4Mateo]

this page makes these cars seem horrible.

That's the lesson. Take your time or get bit in the azz. My car is very reliable but i don't push envelopes. I'm driving it to Bowling Green this year, 10 hours, racing it, and driving it home.

 

[m1tankr]

That's the lesson. Take your time or get bit in the azz. My car is very reliable but i don't push envelopes. I'm driving it to Bowling Green this year, 10 hours, racing it, and driving it home.

Do what you want with the car. The constant thread you will see is listen to the others that have gone before you. Follow the old racing standard, change ONE thing at a time. My previous one I built was fun until I forgot these rules. It was great as a 12 sec recipe car (gnttype.org). Then I did heads/cam/turbo/etc. at once. Finally sold it after throwing more parts at it. This one I'm going to do in stages. You can easily get your car to a mid 13 sec ride w/minimal parts. It will actually drive nicely better at that point (chips do wonders for these cars). Just pick a vendor & stick w/that one & use the advice from that one. These cars are combo sensitive. The guys that throw parts at them always seem to chase their tails (myself included). The guys that take the time & dial the combo in are the ones running faster, consistently, & enjoying their cars.

 

[jskarateka]

Save yourself alot of money and aggravation... Leave it stock !!! Once you have been bitten by the need for speed all bets are off as to how much down time the car will have.

I would say this depends a great deal on what the owner enjoys most about owning a turbo Regal. Personally I take allot of pleasure on working on the car, upgrading it, and occasionally racing it at the track. I actually don't get much out of just driving it around town. Street racing is fun but getting caught, not so much. Others enjoy driving and showing it much more than working on it and turning it into a money pit. If that is more your preference than I would agree that you should leave it stock as it can and does get very expensive and at times frustrating. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Grumpy]

Bruce, I bought mine Memorial day weekend of 2007 with 43,xxx miles on it. It had a TA49, a Caspers thumbwheel chip, K&N filter and Hooker duals, other than that completely stock. Obviously it needed a bigger turbo and ALKY.... I went with a Turbonetics CPT66, oh yeah now I need a downpipe too, went with an external gate and a billet boost controller. Didnt have a scanmaster so I started doing the math of scanmaster, power logger, MAF translater...Hey what the hell, why not get a FAST XFI for $2000.00...Now I am a Bada$$. Lets go to the Midwest Challenge and run it...POP.....blew a headgasket into the valley on my first and only run!! But I am determined, hell I just ran a 12.58 blowing the gasket at a little more than half track!! WOO HOO. Trailered back about 7 hours. Tear it all apart and I have a great idea...while it is apart why dont I get some Champion Aluminum heads, a roller cam, roller rockers, new timing set, port the intake and exhaust, get a 3400-3600 Art Carr converter and hey I need some traction too, an HR rear sway bar, Metco double adjustable upper rear control arms and billet lowers. Get it all back together, cant keep boost under control, get a different downpipe with a larger wastegate piping, have the hole opened up in the exhaust side of the turbo. I am ready to kill now...well at least for a week anyway. Lifted the heads...pull the motor again...new head gaskets, new ARP bolts...Now I am really ready to kill some stuff, right? Nope...heads wont stay down...GRRRRR.
Thats it...Pulled the motor and tranny( the numbers matching stuff), got a block sent to RPE, ordered my stroker kit and girdle from Jack Cotton and started fresh. About a year later I get the motor sent to me, heads, roller rockers, push rods, intake, front cover and oil pan installed. I get busy and rush to get it installed just before the TurboBuick.com event. Oh now I need to buy a trailer too ($2200.00) BIG mistake rushing, spent the WHOLE weekend on a lift at Richard Clarks, dropped the tranny,gas tank, blew an injector O ring on the dyno at about 7k rpms...never even made it to the track to even watch. There is a whole thread on my weekend there !! Trailered the car 14.5 hours one-way! Took it back home, drove to get an inspection, lost 4th gear...then lost 3rd gear in a tranny that has been less than 40 miles!!! Car was down again. Ordered a Stage III tranny from Lonnie Diers and a PTC 9.5" from Dusty and set my sights on Bowling Green KY for the Buick Nationals. Just before leaving I get a weird noise at 14psi and up, hell with it I am going racing!! Paid to race for 2 days and had to become a member of the GSCA too, racing there is NOT CHEAP !!! Jack Cotton got in the car with me and we did some tuning on the local freeway. Car is running great, but still making this weird noise. Have multiple people ride in the car and get several different diagnosis. I decide that I better not race the car. Trailered 6 hours each way and spen ALOT of money to not race !! Got home and did some more light runs and finally figure out that it is lifting the heads AGAIN. Pull the motor again. Ordered ARP studs this time, another set of Cometic head gaskets. Ready for North Carolina trip to Richard Clarks. got some dyno time in with Clint (Sydwynder) doing the tuning. We stay conservative on the tune, 21* and 22psi on pump gas and ALKY. My car made 555HP 553 Torque. ACTUALLY made it to the track !!!! Made 4 runs, couldnt hold boost at the line, was pushing through the lights. Car ran 6.91 @ 103 in the 1/8 mile. Back to Richard Clarks and up on the lift. Blew a wheel cylinder. New wheel cylinders...hey while I am doing that I might as well get stainless brake lines too(more money), new brake shoes...shoot a brake spring across the shop and cant find it...Richard took care of me. Rain comes and cancels the rest of the racing. Load the car back on the trailer, 14.5 hours home. Take the car out with my son to show him how well the car is running....POP POP...uh oh...that didnt sound good. Got the motor out of the car on the engine stand, intake, heads and accessories all removed in 3.5 hours (yes I have done this a few times). HOLY CRAP...melted a chunk out of the head, scorched the block, 2 push rods and a piston that I can see. Motor is currently at Lonnie Diers getting rebuilt. I have put less than 200 miles on the car since getting it in 2007. Car still has 43,xxx miles.
I purchased the car for 17k, I have put more than that into it already and I dont even know what the motor will cost me this time...and I still need to upgrade the axles and driveshaft and it needs new exhaust, a 3.5" downpipe, new headers and new tires, oh and the headliner is falling out. Other than the above I have really enjoyed modifying my car.

Bryan

DAMMMMMM !!! Bryan if your ever at a event when we are there I'd appreciate it you didn't come over by the car or talk to us

 

[big reazon]

lmao Dan his comment it true yet scary.

 

[WSLN 6]

Don't feel bad. When I bought my car back in 99 I ran it at the track and got 15.4 at 90mph. Start with the basics. Stock does not equal new.

 

[Phoneguy]

DAMMMMMM !!! Bryan if your ever at a event when we are there I'd appreciate it you didn't come over by the car or talk to us

Pussy...LMAO

Bryan

 

[UNGN]

91 mph sound like the car was in OD and not D. Only run in D. If you let the car shift itself into OD, it will stop accellerating somewhere between 90 and 95 mph.

D is good to over 110 mph with the stock height tires and stock turbo.

This is the easiest 80's car on the planet to run 12's in. The stock turbo, injectors and motor/trans/rear end will all run low twelves before you need to think about changing them.

Traction, boost, air and good gas with a good fuel pump is all you need.

 

[dynoman]

Back in the 1988 I ran 13.80's @99mph with only a HperTech chip, & weld draglites wrapped in 245/60/15 eagle GT's !!!! It doesn't take much to go street quick in these cars !!

 

[3-5.0]

Car & Driver blasted a 13.9 with an '86. What I find more impressive is a 4.9 0-60. They must've had a good day at a good track with a good driver...and probably in California.

 

[dynoman]

If I remember right it was on a real cold day , about 20 degrees , in Michigan !!!