Been 5 years....what's changed?

[streetknight]

I sold my last TR a little over 5 years ago. Now the first one I owned back in the late 90's is available and I have a chance to buy it back. Was hoping you guys can help point me in the right direction as it's been quite a while since I fooled with these cars.

The car currently has unopened engine with 120K miles on it. The guy I sold it to back in 2003 has used it as an occasional driver, where it was just a track car for me. I put over 250 passes on it @ 25psi of boost. Some of the parts are gone like the TA60 turbo and V4 intercooler.

It still has 3" Houston down pipe, 2 1/2" Hooker exhaust, 009 injectors, stock turbo and intercooler, rebuilt tranny (but it's stock). Red Armstrong fuel pump, hot wire kit, and volt booster. Other than that it's pretty much stock.

Just wondering if there are any new things out that are "must haves".

I appreciate any info, thinking of buying the car back.

 

[artrenee10]

Welp...welcome back...

CAS (Tony DeQuick) the maker of the V4 Intercooler is long gone...ripped quite a few guys off and has since disappeared...

The Terry Houston DP you have you need to hang onto it for dear life....Terry Houston got in trouble a few years back for having a predilection for teenage girls... he too is out of business...

Thankfully there are a good amount of vendors that have stepped up to the plate and are supplying us with replacement products (Downpipes Stock Location Intercoolers) but as the rumor mill circulates these are of Chinese quality and therefore the quality control is somewhat low....

Scanmaster or Powerloggers (The updated much quicker version of the Scanmaster) are now must haves..Turbotweak computer chips are also of a popular item..Red Armstrong is still around and there was a HUGE controversy with Walbro fuel pumps that Mike Licht the owner of Full Throttle Speed and Style was very involved in solving and offering resolution to those whose fuel pumps went out after a few hundred miles. A growing popular upgrade if you find yourself nervous to use a Walbro is the Denso pump currently being used in Turbo Charged Supras. Racetronix is stocking these along with a fuel harness that has been adapted to Turbo Regals..

Another popular upgrade is the usage of the F-Body Radiator in use (Dont quote me on this though) in 88-91 Camaro's and Firebirds...the only problem if you see it as that, is that you have to run an external transmission cooler which you should probably be doing anyways...

There are a variety of Turbos..Billet Wheels, BB (Ball Bearing) Journal Bearing the GT series..all of which can be somewhat confusing but it gives you plenty of options...and of course "Old school" turbos are still popping up for sale..weekly it seems

Big Wood Racing, G-Body Parts, and Full Throttle Speed and Style are all running turbo sale specials (TA 49, TE 44, and TE 60) for the more budget minded racer...all are within approximately 600 bucks...

The Intercoolers as mentioned above are either hit or miss...some members are quite pleased with them..and some members (not many though) are not pleased, but once again this has to do quality control that are outside many vendors control....

Mini Starters (Chebby LT1) are a popular upgrade...

Roller Cam Kits are what many are also running if you have the coin they are not cheap but they offer quite a bit of peace of mind.....

Add ZDDP to EACH and EVERY oil Change..the oils now have very reduced amounts of it in the oil themselves..and many guys have lost cams and whole engines due to this....

Dowpipes are also another hit or miss...quality control issues once again seem to pop up from time to time...

Good luck and I hope this helps....

 

[streetknight]

Thanks for the reply. My last car had a Turbo Tweak chip (was just getting popular then) and I was using Razor's Alkycontrol kit. But this stuff was on a different car. I'm hoping to pick my old car up pretty cheap which is the only way I could afford it right now. We had a terrible storm (which is rare for this area) recently and the T Type took a pretty good beating from some Hail. I could live with it as I only want it for a street/strip toy.

I'll keep you updated if I get it back.

 

[Grumpy]

he forgot the best mod for a Buick from a 16 sec car to a 9 sec car . ALKY from Julio .. best bang for the $$$ . OR you can do a DIY kit ..some ol wire , used pump from an old Caravan, few feet of rubber hose and a hobbs switch and a nozzle .
Oh after or should I say when ya get the alky get a turbo tweak chip.. Really wakes the car up

oppps.. I was pecking my message before you posted !

 

[Murdock]

Welcome back, and plus 1 on the alky kit...Julio rocks

 

[Darkcyde]

Welcome back, and plus 1 on the alky kit...Julio rocks

if you ever head out to FL and meet him, you will be a loyal customer for life.

him, his small shop, his effort, his family. Top notch guy, couldn't be more happy with a vendor. Not to mention his tech support, any questions you could possibly think of. He will spend the time and do his best to help you. This is the type of vendor this board needs to stick around.

CHEERS JULIO!

 

[streetknight]

if you ever head out to FL and meet him, you will be a loyal customer for life.

him, his small shop, his effort, his family. Top notch guy, couldn't be more happy with a vendor. Not to mention his tech support, any questions you could possibly think of. He will spend the time and do his best to help you. This is the type of vendor this board needs to stick around.

CHEERS JULIO!

Yeah, Julio is a great guy. He helped me a lot with my last car, but that was close to 5 years ago. He saved me a lot of trouble and saved me a lot of $'s.

If I get to buy the car back, he'll be the first one I call to get that awesome alky kit.

 

["Turbo-T"]

Terry Houston got in trouble a few years back for having a predilection for teenage girls... he too is out of business...

That explains it then...there was a thread recently asking what happened to him...