How Many 84 GN's Left??
- Thread starter Spool'n Fool
- Start date
the reason
probably because they buy them cheap, then find an engine for 1500 bucks, and put it together. they get the performance that they did not want to buy straight out in the beginning. With all the cars that are parted out now days, and all years that is, there will soon be nothing left for the future generation gear heads. But the worst part is when people say, "good, the more that are parted out, the more valuable my car will be", that is the sad part. Peple would rather have something with more financial value than sentimental value. What can you do? BUY ALL THE HOT AIRS and save them
probably because they buy them cheap, then find an engine for 1500 bucks, and put it together. they get the performance that they did not want to buy straight out in the beginning. With all the cars that are parted out now days, and all years that is, there will soon be nothing left for the future generation gear heads. But the worst part is when people say, "good, the more that are parted out, the more valuable my car will be", that is the sad part. Peple would rather have something with more financial value than sentimental value. What can you do? BUY ALL THE HOT AIRS and save them
TURBOELKY said:probably because they buy them cheap, then find an engine for 1500 bucks, and put it together. they get the performance that they did not want to buy straight out in the beginning. With all the cars that are parted out now days, and all years that is, there will soon be nothing left for the future generation gear heads. But the worst part is when people say, "good, the more that are parted out, the more valuable my car will be", that is the sad part. Peple would rather have something with more financial value than sentimental value. What can you do? BUY ALL THE HOT AIRS and save them
You are correct that any future gearhead whom wants an 84/85 is gonna be up the creek with the way they get parted or turned into IC'd cars.
84GN-TX said:i wouldnt call it hacking, its just a better setup IMHO
Better setup? Thats subjective. The intercooled engine lends itself to making alot more HP and thats the big draw. But with all the 86/87's for sale there shouldn't be a need to take hotairs out of the market by changing them to the IC setup.
turbofish38
Le Pétomane
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2002
84GN-TX said:i wouldnt call it hacking, its just a better setup IMHO
I've seen quite a few cars that I wouldn't have a problem saying they are "hacked". Both hot airs and IC's. Nothing peeves me more than to see a TR cut up just for the sake of making it faster. The problem is they are very rarely faster. Lots of what I call "the small block mentality" out there.All you have accomplished is the elimination of two perfectly good TR's. And dont give me the BS about the IC motor coming out of a wreck. There are thousands of NA cars out there that would have been perfect for that. By using a NA you would have been putting that IC car back onto the street. And than there are the real criminals who have the cajones to drop in SBC. If you cant make a hot air fast than what makes you think you're any better with an IC? Its all about working smarter instead of working harder.
mybuick said:
Just curious, I'm still relatively new to hot airs,... What parts are hard to find for the 84/5's? With the exception of the mass airflow sensor, ignition module/coil pack (both which are easily converted to 86/87 and perform much better anyway) what parts are hard to find? With tools such as websites (like this one) and all the new and used parts available online, via yards, auction sites, and online stores, I haven't had any problems finding parts and I've bought a TON of parts for my 84 gn this past year. (almost all online) Ranging from performance parts to restoration parts dealing with the engine, int., body, suspension, you name it. If I added everything that I've done to this car this year to my signature as far as preventive maintance and replacing worn/broken/damaged items,(it had been sitting a long time before I bought it)... It would be several paragraghs long.
I still see several unmodified hot airs for sale all the time on ebay. And thats the only place where I go to look. (I like to keep an eye on 84/85's to see what they go for in comparison to their condition). In any given 2 weeks time, theres usually a low mile 84/85 gn on there. (there was just a 5,400 mile one on there last week). I keep track of the milage, VIN's and options, and I never see the same one, unless its one that didn't sell and is relisted (i've noticed they usually don't sell). Theres a 23,000 mile one on there right now thats about 10 miles from me that never sells, I've went and looked at it, and wow, is it beutiful, and original. There are a lot more vendors and selection for the IC'd cars, understandable, but the actual # of differances I've seen between hot airs & IC'd are few if you get technical about it. Most places (seems to me anyways) just give the year option 86/87 and leave out the 84/85 when it comes to listing their parts/options they have for sale for the turbobuicks.
I just bought my 84 gn in Jan of this year, so maybe I'm just missing something here.
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2005
i love buick regals,gn's,t's.ive owned hot air and i/c cars.....wouldnt have bought my 84 if it wasnt intercooled,once youve had and worked on both,youll prefer the i/c...if youre a collector,keep a good car orginal,if youre on a serious budget and bought a basket case such as i did just to go around the block and spin the tires to release the tension of the day,do what you want...till the day finally comes where my money is right and i can buy me a ''cream puff'' ill keep on experimenting on my 84. :biggrin:
MoeJr said:
My first TR was an 84 Designers T-Type(shoudla kept that one). I sold that and bought an 87 GN. Kept that but was having way too many electrical problems with it so I sold it. Now I just bought an 84 that should be in my hands in a week or so. Both of mine were nice cars. The 87 was a bit easier to work on but other than that I prefer neitehr over the other. I also owned 2 78 TR's.
BRAD_PADGETT
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2004
MOEJR is correct. All hot airs will eventually have to convert to the 87ECM, 87 IGN, LS1 MAF and translator if they want to continue driving them. The conversion to an intercooler can be avoided by using alky inj. The only part which is not available is a 3 inch downpipe. The hot air guys who have one failed to let GBODYPARTS copy it. I got lucky and found a 2 1/2 inch one. My 2 cents worth. Brad
BRAD_PADGETT said:
Is that the only reason the 3" is being held up? If they are willing to go ahead and make them... how hard is it to draft/fabricate a new one from scratch? If you've got a stocker sitting right in front of you (assuming they've got a hot-air car handy), then its just a matter of measurements and custom fabbing right? And if it could be intended to be a 2 piece design right off the bat, then trial and error (man hours) should be cut down to minimum if you got a fairly exp. guy manning the bender, right? What about Postonbuick? Since their selling hot-air mandrel bent headers, would they have any intrest in this?
Just in case I'm covering ground thats already been walked on (discussed), I apologize. I haven't seen any post lately on this.
i see what you guys are saying but when i got my 84 (2002) i was going to keep it 100% original and not race it or any crap like that. but the maf went out so i bought one from postons, and it cought on fire as soon as i turned the key. couldnt find turbo gaskets for the engine, then i had a bad miss and i found out that it was the ign module and couldnt get one from the aftermarket so i built a 87 engine so i can go to any part store and get the parts i need except the maf i had to go with the t+ and corvette lt1 maf.
the next thing i am doing is redoing my interior and i need to fine the leir segler seat covers. it seems that nobody can or wont remake these seats not even jacks seat cover. and i don't want to put the 86-87 seats in it as everybody wants me to do. if that i would of bought a ic car.
i want to find a place that sells the covers so i can put them on... then my car wil be done and i can get it apraised. here is pics of the repaint i am doing...
the next thing i am doing is redoing my interior and i need to fine the leir segler seat covers. it seems that nobody can or wont remake these seats not even jacks seat cover. and i don't want to put the 86-87 seats in it as everybody wants me to do. if that i would of bought a ic car.
i want to find a place that sells the covers so i can put them on... then my car wil be done and i can get it apraised. here is pics of the repaint i am doing...
conn84gn
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
My 84 was sad when I bought it in 1999. It needed motor/Tranny rebuild and paint,body was OK except the bottom of the doors. What caught my eye was the Lear seats so I bought.
It has gone through a V2 intercooled setup to it's current 87 setup on the 84 block. I have the 109 motor and tranny as a spare.
The tough part was the seats, finding OEM fabric $75.00 a yard and having them redone.
Found OEM fabric in 2002 and had the seats done in Conn. $600.00 for the four seat panels on both front seats! Jax had fabric that's close, he did the arm rest.
It has gone through a V2 intercooled setup to it's current 87 setup on the 84 block. I have the 109 motor and tranny as a spare.
The tough part was the seats, finding OEM fabric $75.00 a yard and having them redone.
Found OEM fabric in 2002 and had the seats done in Conn. $600.00 for the four seat panels on both front seats! Jax had fabric that's close, he did the arm rest.
