Bought a new GN, What should I do to it?

[BetMinesFaster]

Hey gusy, Like the title says, I bought an 86 Grand National, Just wondering what all I should do to it? Looking for a fast streetable car to hit the strip with here and there, Here is whats done to it...

Stock bottom end=(
Champion GN1 aluminam heads with port matched intake
218 Cam/Roller rockers
Precision TE 63 turbo with HKS racegate
Hooker supercomp headers
50lb MSD injectors and adjustable regulator
second fuel pump that comes on at 10 PSI boost
Griffin Radiator with SPAL dual fans
Built 200 4R with trans brake and Art Carr 3000 stall
Large front mount intercooler
Maxeffort chip set with a scanmaster

I just ordered an ALKY kit from Alkycontrol and plan on having Turbo Tweak burn me a chip for it, So with whats there and some alky and premium fuel (91 to 93 octane) where should I set the boost, also, Im thinking the injectors are a bit small? Just looking for some opinions and ideas here, this is my first turbo Buick!!! Thanks Alot, Ryan

 

[Boost231]

i would get bigger injectors and junk the hooker headers and put a set of Ta performance headers on it. then start tunning. you should have a good running car. As far as where you should set the boost you will have to do some reading on that as this pump gas and alky thing has been covered and everyone has there opinions.

 

[turbopete]

Just tune it

Take the combination you have, use the best scan tool, and tune the engine to get the best out of it.
I have alky and a turbotweak chip. Can't go wrong with it.

 

[TurboDave]

Hey gusy, Like the title says, I bought an 86 Grand National, Just wondering what all I should do to it? Looking for a fast streetable car to hit the strip with here and there, Here is whats done to it...

Stock bottom end=(
Champion GN1 aluminam heads with port matched intake
218 Cam/Roller rockers
Precision TE 63 turbo with HKS racegate
Hooker supercomp headers
50lb MSD injectors and adjustable regulator
second fuel pump that comes on at 10 PSI boost
Griffin Radiator with SPAL dual fans
Built 200 4R with trans brake and Art Carr 3000 stall
Large front mount intercooler
Maxeffort chip set with a scanmaster

I just ordered an ALKY kit from Alkycontrol and plan on having Turbo Tweak burn me a chip for it, So with whats there and some alky and premium fuel (91 to 93 octane) where should I set the boost, also, Im thinking the injectors are a bit small? Just looking for some opinions and ideas here, this is my first turbo Buick!!! Thanks Alot, Ryan

You've got more than enough car to "have fun" with, very easilly a 11.0 car. If you're new to the Turbo Regals, then don't do anything to it. Get used to it, learn how to tune it. Start throwing parts at an already fast car and not knowing how to tune it will dig you a very deep hole.

 

[Daniel Jost]

^^^what he said, you have one hell of a setup, no need for more mods, learn to tune it an some TA Headers, will do the trick with some alky if you dont want to pay for race gas all the time.
,Dan

 

[BetMinesFaster]

Thanks!!

Thanks for the info!! I got a steal of a deal on the car, All metal body, never been rusty, nice paint, very nice interior no stains or missing or broken things, its got an auburn locker with heavy duty axels and air bags within the rear springs and a 4" aluminam drive shaft. Fiberglass hood and bumpers and a nice car cover for 14K, just want the engine to run well and be something i can enjoy driving, Im a mechanic by trade so im not afraid to work on it, just wanna know what to look for and what I can expect for trouble and how to avoid making "stupid" costly mistakes that would have been easily preventable!

 

[bsdlinux]

I'd stay with the MaxEffort. Did you tell Eric you had a MaxEffort? Eric also offers upgrades for that as well as a WB control.

 

[87NAT]

+3 on getting rid of the hooker headers. It has too much pipe travel to spool up your turbo quickly. I felt like l picked up 50 horses when I switched to my TA headers.

 

[mike86ttype]

come on guys yall are getting soft. nobody said spring cleaning yet, cheap insurance and also knock guage and scantool
The Grand National / T-Type / Turbo Regal Buick Spring Cleaning Guide

 

[QWIKWE4]

What helped me a lot with tuning was an LC-1 Wideband and a Powerlogger to monitor and log AFR, boost, timing etc. Those were easily one of the best investments that I made especially when using alky and pump gas with high boost and timing.

 

[QWIKWE4]

come on guys yall are getting soft. nobody said spring cleaning yet, cheap insurance and also knock guage and scantool
The Grand National / T-Type / Turbo Regal Buick Spring Cleaning Guide

+1

 

[BetMinesFaster]

Yeah, the turbo does take the better part of a year to spool, the headers I will do, I wanted to have Eric burn me a chip so I have a good starting point to work with, more of a close to turn key may need some minor tweaking aproach, as for the spring cleaning, Has good wires, will be doing the plugs and fuel filter as soon as it comes home, also planning on doing the hotwire to the fuel pump, and also the routine vaccum line replacment that us turbo people get to know so well! lol

 

[BetMinesFaster]

Oh yeah, and i forgot to mention, the car has a pile of gauges for about everything, I plan on replacing them all with a better looking matching set from autometer, included in that was a wideband AF and a knock gauge from caspers unless there is a better one!?!? I do have a graphic Snapon scan tool if thatll do, but I figure with a wideband and a knock gauge this should be fairly simple to get the hang of?

So whats in the list now is:
-New matching gauges with a wideband AF and a knock gauge
-Bigger injectors
-Hotwire kit
-Spring cleaning
-TA headers
-Install the ALKYCONTROL kit
-Chip from TurboTweak

 

[Turbo1dr]

Welcome to the inconsistant performance and oil leaking (and blowing) World of the Buick Turbo V6! Home of the over priced performance and NOS replacement parts! Hope you have a deeeep pocket or a money tree hidden somewhere!


Looks like you already have a head start with the mods that's on it.

 

[BetMinesFaster]

Yeah, got a healthy head start for the price I paid, that was the idea here!! Every one on this site has the realization that its never worth the fortune thats invested, however in this case I chose to let someone else spend the fortune and ill just do the cleanup and tweaking to my liking, and for the price I paid a barely coulda touched a clean stocker with reasonable miles!
I do prefer to do it all myself, but I thought id save myself a fortune and buy this one since nearly everyhting I would have done to it is already done!!!

Oh yeah, THANKS FOR THE WONDERFULL VOTE OF CONFIDENCE!!! LOL

 

[Turbo1dr]

Yeah, got a healthy head start for the price I paid, that was the idea here!! Every one on this site has the realization that its never worth the fortune thats invested, however in this case I chose to let someone else spend the fortune and ill just do the cleanup and tweaking to my liking, and for the price I paid a barely coulda touched a clean stocker with reasonable miles!
I do prefer to do it all myself, but I thought id save myself a fortune and buy this one since nearly everyhting I would have done to it is already done!!!

Oh yeah, THANKS FOR THE WONDERFULL VOTE OF CONFIDENCE!!! LOL

That's the right way to do it! Let someone else do the work! You will have a blast with that car...



...even though it will leak and blow oil from the valve cover vents... Ok...I'll shut up...

 

[Double-L]

Like was said the best thing you can have is a good wide band 02, The LC-1 is great, Have it so you can record your runs, We have just about the same set up other than I don't have a tranny break, I run a 1.50 60 ft. the other day, I drive it to the strip and get good mileage with the ac on and run a 11.18 at 119+ at 94 degree heat, I run 23 pounds of boost, Oh and the boost gauge get one with the reset, I wouldn't use any other after a friend talked me into paying a little more, Well he really just got it and said now you pay me, Other than that and what everyone said check it out, Change all oils and have fun

 

[Boost231]

Oh yeah, and i forgot to mention, the car has a pile of gauges for about everything, I plan on replacing them all with a better looking matching set from autometer, included in that was a wideband AF and a knock gauge from caspers unless there is a better one!?!? I do have a graphic Snapon scan tool if thatll do, but I figure with a wideband and a knock gauge this should be fairly simple to get the hang of?

So whats in the list now is:
-New matching gauges with a wideband AF and a knock gauge
-Bigger injectors
-Hotwire kit
-Spring cleaning
-TA headers
-Install the ALKYCONTROL kit
-Chip from TurboTweak

looking good.

 

[Turbo1dr]

I do have a graphic Snapon scan tool if thatll do,

You have a Snap-On MODIS? That's a VERY nice piece! I love the 4 channel scope and the graphing capabilities!

 

[GNVYUS 1]

Is it running really well and having no signs of issues??

If so, DON'T TOUCH IT, JUST DRIVE IT AND ENJOY IT!!

If you don't listen you will remember this years later when you get your ASE Certified GN Mechanic certificate in the mail.