If You Could Do it All Over Again...What Would You Do?

[zhorner]

I just sold my '87 GN located HERE and already miss having a turbo regal sitting under my carport. Ive been thinking "if I only knew then what I know now I would probably still have the car." The car was broken down more than it was driven...lengthy rebuild time and let down after let down, some due to previous owner half-assed repairs and a lot due to my lack of understanding how these cars work. Seems like most of the time I would have been better off just starting a fire…and throwing hundred dollar bills in there vs putting them into my GN.


I told myself I will never own another turbo regal but oh how quickly I changed my mind as I search craigslist for a decent condition 86-87 turbo t or t-type.


My goal has always been to have an 11 sec turbo regal daily driver. full weight, full accessory, cruise wherever with the AC a blowin cold. This time around...to accomplish my goal...I will:


Convert to E85. Not saying this is the answer to everything but it just makes sense to me. I had bad luck with my alky kit (it was an early kit and Julio was really good to me...offered to replace my kit at vendor pricing but at that point it was too late for me). Ive seen with my own eyes, a buddy drive his turbo LS fox body an hour to the track...run an 8.60 1/4 mile...then drive an hour home. I know it took a lot to get the car there but damn that is impressive to me and really sold me on E85 for turbo cars.


Run Gauges: LOL I know this seems like a "duh stupid" sort of thing. But I thought I could just run transducers for oil and fuel psi and run a powerlogger full time on a tablet velcro'd to my dash. You all said run gauges but I was stubborn, bad idea…never could get PL to work consistently with windows 8.1 and sucked sitting in line at the track having to let people go around me because PL wouldn’t connect.


Run Fast XFI: because of ^^^^.


Those are just a few of the things I will do differently based off my experiences, what about you all? How would you mod your turbo regal differently if you could start all over?

 

[Pronto]

I'd buy a low mile clean well optioned GN and keep it that way. I'ld also by a T or GN that is modified with the right parts.

 

[626gn]

The first thing I would start with is a car that hasn't been hacked or touched by someone who didn't know what they were doing. There are no shortage of stories about guys buying these hacked up cars on the cheap hoping to save a few bucks on the front end only to find themselves fixing problem after problem, throwing good money after bad, and end up selling out of frustration because the car still isn't right.

 

[zhorner]

The first thing I would start with is a car that hasn't been hacked or touched by someone who didn't know what they were doing. There are no shortage of stories about guys buying these hacked up cars on the cheap hoping to save a few bucks on the front end only to find themselves fixing problem after problem, throwing good money after bad, and end up selling out of frustration because the car still isn't right.

haha man that is THE story of my turbo regal life...only I was too stupid to buy the car on the cheap and spent too much money on a hack job because I just had to have one now.

 

[626gn]

haha man that is THE story of my turbo regal life...only I was too stupid to buy the car on the cheap and spent too much money on a hack job because I just had to have one now.

It's common. But now you've gained very valuable experience from it . Keep us in the loop on the next car you're considering. Lots of armchair quarterbacks here that will tell give their opinions for free. And I say that with all due respect . Good luck with your search.

 

[mr84ss]

It's common. But now you've gained very valuable experience from it . Keep us in the loop on the next car you're considering. Lots of armchair quarterbacks here that will tell give their opinions for free. And I say that with all due respect . Good luck with your search.

"Armchair quarterbacks"

[emoji23]

Sent from my LGMS631 using Tapatalk

 

[TexasT]

You asked so here goes.
You don't need much to have an 11 second daily. A stock computer on e85 with the time spent tuning it should get you there. I'd look for a car with Trans problems as you will need to upgrade that for running that much power through it anyway. Might as well start with a less expensive vehicle.
Learn to do as much as you can yourself. As you might have found finding someone competent to work on a turbo regal is like pulling teeth.
Make your own decisions on the parts you include. Ask questions gather info and do a lot of reading, many have stories of how they attained their track times.

 

[Johnnie]

The first thing I would start with is a car that hasn't been hacked or touched by someone who didn't know what they were doing. There are no shortage of stories about guys buying these hacked up cars on the cheap hoping to save a few bucks on the front end only to find themselves fixing problem after problem, throwing good money after bad, and end up selling out of frustration because the car still isn't right.

That is exactly why I bought my unmolested 87 GN. 31k miles. My mods have only been various chassis bracing. The only other ones I'm planning are the console gauge pod with oil press and scanmaster, guages. and vacuum brakes, and umi rear upper and lower control arms.....and then I will stop.........I really want to keep the engine, tranny and rest of the other stuff as is. I just want to make it drive better and safer...so I guess it's not unmollested anymore??

 

[gsgnnut]

I have had my gn 23 years of a love hate love relationship. My biggest regret was not getting a scan master and a tt chip sooner. After I got a scan master And could finally diagnose and tune the car its never run better since. At the low point I almost set it on fire. I loathed it I wanted it gone but with it barely running I couldn't sell it except for peanuts. A scan master and chip and a few tweaks and it was a screamer again. Also would have ditched the powermaster sooner two. Wasted good money every 5 years on new pms that then try to kill you. The vac conversion was dirt cheap and simple and no worry of the brakes checking out suddenly in traffic. Yup I'd be thousands richer if I did that sooner.
Yup love her now.

 

[turbo39151]

A few things from my experiences:
1. If you're wanting to drive the car as a "toy/show car/investment" Spend the money and buy the best you can afford as "untouched" as possible
2. If you want to drive it and enjoy it as a regular car, avoid black cars, skip the paint job and let the car look like crap- Pretty cars are too much hassle.
3. If you want to drive and enjoy, find a higher mile car. Low mile cars will make you feel guilty when you rack up the miles and paint chips
4. If you want to drive and enjoy, avoid FAST and all the other fancy computer systems unless you know what you're doing. Otherwise, you're always at the mercy of the tuner.
5. You don't really want a 10 second race car. A friend sold me his sweet ttype and bought a 10 second race car with a cage. He said it was the biggest PITA to drive. He never enjoyed it and was so powerful that it kept breaking stuff. Oh, and it had no A/C. (not cool- literally.) LOL
6. If you plan on having a turbo buick be mindful that you don't own it, it OWNS you! (and your wallet.) (If you don't want to spend or can't spend- this is not the car for you.)

Like the saying goes: "Just because you can buy a turbo buick doesn't mean you can afford to have one"

 

[EVIL]

Buy an unmodified car or light mods.

Keep bottom end stock

Do cam heads lifters rookers and such myself.

Just take your time. It's nuts and bolts.

And plenty of research.

And then find a good tuner.

D

 

[TTA976]

Buy a TR and put a 455 Big Block in it...You can run high 11s with a good set off heads...tighten up the chassis and good set of drag radials and traction... The car will hold up well.

 

[zhorner]

Lol...you can run 12s real easy with the original turbo v6...and get better fuel economy...and not have to transplant a big ass, foreign (to the car) motor in there, and have all the issues that come with said transplant...

Sorry to be negative but the thought of taking a turbo regal and removing the turbo v6 in place of big block makes me want to hang myself.

Edit: if you are suggesting I do that then the above is my response...if you are saying thats what you would do, then I apologize and would like to reply with "rock n roll man whatever floats your boat"

 

[TTA976]

No offense taken.... You will continue to pour money into it then... To rebuild these engines correctly you will have half or more of what the cars worth invested into it... Low mileage or not, our 30 year v6 engine will need more maintenance than the simplicity of a 455 big block transplant... Sensors, mafs , boost leaks, turbo, alky kits, pos leaky headers, 30 year old ecm.. etc, etc....
Jmo

 

[TurboTGuy]

Buy a TR and put a 455 Big Block in it...You can run high 11s with a good set off heads...tighten up the chassis and good set of drag radials and traction... The car will hold up well.

All good and well, but if you do that, it's no longer a TR and no longer deserves the respect a real TR gets. 3 generations later, the young ricer kids still know what a TR is, and a lot of them know what a real one is when they see it.

Why not just buy a junkyard Regal and do what you say? What's the point of ruining a TR to turn it into just another G-Body with a big block? Your concept makes it a mid 11 second, 80's style, grandpa Regal. Nothing less and most certainly, nothing more.

Oh, one more thing, my TR will absolutely lay waste to your big block on ANY given day.

 

[TTA976]

3 generations later, the young, ricer kids still know what a TR is, a lot of them know what one is when they see it.

3 generations later you will 5x what the cars worth into it and nobody to work on it.

 

[zhorner]

Who doesnt love a good internet pissing match

 

[TurboTGuy]

3 generations later you will 5x what the cars worth into it and nobody to work on it.

5x what the car is worth is a relative term. If you're some broke dick, no money having 20 year old something kid that bought a ROACH, the cash might be an issue.

Learn to turn a wrench. Listen to the guys that know the cars. Problem solved.

With age, comes knowledge........ and disposable income.........

 

[TTA976]

No doubt...these cars are pretty easy in my opinion...but there is a longgggggg learning curve.
You better be up to the task....These cars you can't just throw parts at...They are really finicky.

 

[TurboTGuy]

No doubt...these cars are pretty easy in my opinion...but there is a longgggggg learning curve.
You better be up to the task....These cars you can't just throw parts at...They are really finicky.

REALLY???????

I never would have thunk it.