howdy a few newb questions

[FalconXtreme]

well i stumbled apon a grand national fact sheet while i was doing my muscle car term paper and i was instantly fascinated. i love factory turboed cars and learning about them especially ones that i might buy. i know one of the best ways to learn about a car is through forums so here i am. i would first like to know whats a good mod path for a 86-87(intercooled version) for a GN or a Regal(are they the same or what??) mainly to get the car into the mid-low 13s? i was thinking intake, full 3inch exhuast with no cats, fmic, ebc-up boost(whats stock psi?), and then upgrded fuel system(if stock cant handle it). would this work? also how good is the handling on GNs/regals i plan to do some autoxing and drifting. this will be a daily driver so i wont be stripping the interior or anything like that. thanks all non flamming comments are welcome.

 

[86gn]

Welcome,

Mid to low 13s is right out of the box with a set of good tires and a hard launch.

The best start out mods IMO are;

SCANTOOL
K&n cone filter
Upgrade fuel pump and hotwire
Adjustable wastegate rod
Good set of tires
Hooker Cat Back
SCANTOOL

You should be able to tune your way into the mid to high 12s with no problems.

Welcome again.

John

 

[smooth87]

i heard of guys going 11.9-12.0 with stock turbo, injectors, intercooler, etc. mods would include a k&n,chip, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, hotwired walbro fuel pump(or something along those lines), and a scantool to monitor settings. my car runs like crap and i cant launch it to save my life and i still pull off 13's easy on factory boost levels. lots of guys run mid 12's on mostly stock parts. BONE stock GN's/T-Types ran low 14's.
15psi. of boost was about what stockers came with. the Grand Nationals and Regal T-Types had the same engines in them. as anyone will tell you, these things are very easy to make VERY fast... i hope i was of some help. less than a grand in mods and you should be eating LS1's. i must caution you..... boost is addictive and may have side affects.

 

[turboman38]

13s are way too easy. Add some race gas and a chip to 86GN's list and you should get into 12's.

 

[FalconXtreme]

wow this is kool i think i just found me a new car...the previous car i was gonnna get (mk3 supra turbo) would require like almost 2k to get into the 13s. which is all i want really since im not really a straight line guy. i like the twisties. which brings me to my next question: how is the handling on these cars?i see al of u mentioned chips and scantools thats weird. these cars are pretty old how come they are so relient on chips? whatever happened to go old fashioned gauges?

 

[YGETV8]

The chip controls what and how the ECM "runs" the engine. High performance chips give you better fueling, more/less timing, and more boost! Scan tools let you monitor sensor settings and feedback to really enhance your tuning ability.

These cars handle "okay," but not like a Supra! You'll need to spend a few bucks to get one to handle like that! Bet if you do buy one, do the basic fueling upgrades (pump, maybe injectors), a chip, test pipe, K&N air cleaner, sticky rear tires you'll be having so much fun running 12s you'll forget about "the twisties!"

 

[36IndexGN]

The chip helps control the fuel and timing, things that you will need to master. True its a 15 year old car and the Vette and Mustangs of its day werent very technically advanced but this car has more factors than your average car. The scantool will help you properly tune this car by using the O2 sensor readings and Throttle Position sensor. Along with other usuable info. The main goal is to moderate Fuel pressure and Octane level so to keep the car from Knocking back the Timing. wich means your on a thin line away from frying a piston or blowing a headgasket. I'll leave more detailed answers to the pros on that. With the stock suspension the car doesnt handle terribly, but it is a heavy mid 80s Buick none the less. From what I gather the 89 Turbo Trans Am with the same engine, slight differences actually handles alot nicer. Drifting is a breez tho

 

[wants a tr]

all it takes is knowledge. read a ton and listen even more. thats how i'm doing it. HTH

 

[BADINBLACK6]

Check out www. gnttype.org should answer most of the basic questions and give you some good recipies to get your car to go pretty much as fast as you want. Welcome and good luck!

 

[blackbuick87]

Definitely a Turbo TA for autocrossing
A GN would cost much more to get to the same level of handling than a TTA.
You can get a decent one for around 12k on up

 

[disco stu]

A term paper on muscle cars? How cool. Anyway, FWIW, my car handles like a brick sheister haus. Bad camber gains and goofy throttle roll in makes the rear try to catch up with the front in a bad way. These cars are like driving something that acts like an under cammed low compression six banger one second, and the next second a nitroused big block trying the hoops off the rims. Too hard for me to try to get the car to go anywhere but straight. Wait... thats hard sometimes too.

 

[FalconXtreme]

hmmm no handles aye...hmmm... well since its so easy to get this thing in the 12s that means i'll have alot of cash left over for handling upgrades. and i wish i could afford a tta i dont have 12k to throw around...i got like 6k tops to spend so yea. also what are like constant hassles with these cars? i know with supras u always have to worry about blown headgaskets and spinning bearings. also whats a good online retailer where i can look at mods for regals and GNs?

 

[Matt Weiser]

My advice is don't give up on making one of these handle. It can be done as many have proven, though it will cost you more than trying to make a Supra handle well. But you'll end up with an ultimate sleeper!

The upside is, there's pretty big aftermarket support for suspension parts from outfits like Hotchkis and Global West. In my opinion, Global West makes better products. You'll want their replacement front upper control arms with Del-a-Lum bushings. They aren't cheap, but they'll dial in the right suspension angles for good handling. Spend some time checking out their site:

www.globalwest.net

Then you'll want stiffer springs and swaybars and some good shocks like Bilstein or Koni. It's also good to do some chassis stiffening, and you can pirate a lot of factory braces off other cars in the junkyard. The Regals are identical under the skin to Malibu, Grand Prix, Cutlass, El Camino, Monte Carlo, etc., of the same vintage (all considered G-bodies). So these cars are a junkyard scrounger's wet dream.

If you start going faster around turns, you're going to want bigger brakes, too. An upgrade to 12" front brakes is fairly easy using junkyard parts. The Global West site has some info on this. Lots of people sell ready-made 12" brake kits. One of the most reasonable is Robert Adams.

Other good sources (just a start):
www.ramchargers.com
www.johnsperformance.com
www.casperselectronics.com
www.gnttype.org (look for handling writeups in the tech section)
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/gbody/ (tech forum for G-bodies)

Have fun!

 

[36IndexGN]

I have a tendency to replace O2 sensors. But I havent really driving my car hard lately. I did end up replacing the transmission at 145K and I thought it was just wear and heat from the DP but a carfax said my car actually burned at one point melting bushings and causing it to need a suspension rebuild.

 

[Jebadias]

FWIW, I have had a Trans Am or Camaro in my driveway constantly since the early 90s. I LOVE cornering. I really thought about getting a TTA so I could have the best of both worlds but since buying my GN last August I havn't really had the desire to do it anymore. I have enough trouble going straight. My car handles well enough that I really don't miss my F-bodies much around town in normal driving, but it is NOT a TA. Go ahead and test drive one yourself if you can. After all, you are the best judge of what's right for you.