Hey guys, i have a grand national (I hope) 1987. How can I tell if it a genuine GN? The rear deck lid has been replaced and has no option sticker on it. It is all black and looks just like a GN on the outside, it has the correct interior seats and all. It does not have a grand national dash plaque! Just says BUICK on it. Is this a red flag?? Also, if I find that is in fact a GN, how could i go about getting a replacement option sticker for the trunk?
is it really a GN?
- Thread starter gofastr
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I haven't heard of any RPO sticker replacements as of yet. Many that HAVE to replace the deck lid will cut out the original RPO sticker and hold onto it.
If it is a factory turbo car.. GN or Turbo T it will have a "7" in the Vin... 8th spot from the left I think.
Good luck and let us know what you find out.
HTH
Joel
If it is a factory turbo car.. GN or Turbo T it will have a "7" in the Vin... 8th spot from the left I think.
Good luck and let us know what you find out.
HTH
Joel
well agreed with the Vin, 8'th digit will be a 7 (on a turbo car) but as for telling wether its a true GN, you can post pics, guys on here are really good at picking a car apart and getting to its origin. or remove the back seat, or inside the door panel and look for the original build.
HTH
salvageV6
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To answer one of your questions yes you do have a red flag with the incorrect dash placque.
turbo buicks
ESADAH!!!
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could be a WR4 converted to GN status couldnt it guys?
turbo buicks
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WE4 was T-type with the blackout (WO2???) package. it had T-type wheels and all T-type lightweight features. WE4's are sometimes referred to as Turbo-T's.
If you just bought it off E-Bay........there was what appeared to me to be a fake GN being advertized.........I'm surprised at the number of people who bid on this car. It had the wrong dash plaque and a few other "RED LIGHTS".........sorry if you're the one who "won"...........if it's too good to be true, it usually is.
blackbuick87
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You say it has the correct seats, but are the door panels and everything else correct also? They should be grey like the middle seat material. Also does the center cap on the steering wheel have a Buick shield logo, or a "T" ?
salvageV6
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Help the guy get his pictures up it will be easy to tell then.
My account may work so if you get pics you can email them to me if you want and I'll try to put them up or send them on to someone who can do it.
My account may work so if you get pics you can email them to me if you want and I'll try to put them up or send them on to someone who can do it.
With no option sticker on the rear deck lid AND the incorrect dash placgue, this puts up a very large red flag for me. But.....if you purchased it for a good price and it's in good over all shape and condition, enjoy your ride. Not much you can do about it now. If you paid a GN price for a clone then that sucks. Just enjoy it and live with the fact you've learned a valuable lesson. Does the center cap on the steering wheel have the Tri-Shield or a large red T?
turbofish38
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One other way to tell on the 87's is to look at the bumper reinforcements. As far as I know and this applies to only the 87 model year all GN's had steel and Turbo "T"'s had aluminum. Unless someone changed them too. If you have the aluminum ones it probally is a WE4. Sounds like your car was maybe a theft recovery? Any other signs of vandalism? Like cut wires under the hood repainted steering column things like that? About half of the turbo cars I have looked at over the last 15 years, the ones in the insurance salvage pools anyway, were thefts and the majority of them just had minor things like the interior ripped out, turbos and intercoolers stolen, wheels missing, just the easy stuff.
The only and I repeat ONLY real ways to document a real Grand National is with:
#1 An original window sticker
#2 The build sheet that almost all should have inside the driverside door that will list RPO's WE2, the build date as well as the VIN# that will match the VIN at the bottom of the windshield
#3 The original RPO tag from the trunk lid which also has the VIN# on it.
This is not to say someone couldnt take all these items from a junk Grand National and put them onto a regular Regal...doubtful.
Or not to say someone couldnt turn a regular Turbo T into one with the above mentioned items since there is nothing special about the VIN except for it being identified with code "7" in the #8 position.
But to be honest, running a Car Fax will show any 84-87 Grand National as being a Turbo T since the WE2 Grand National package was an option on top of the Turbo T package.
#1 An original window sticker
#2 The build sheet that almost all should have inside the driverside door that will list RPO's WE2, the build date as well as the VIN# that will match the VIN at the bottom of the windshield
#3 The original RPO tag from the trunk lid which also has the VIN# on it.
This is not to say someone couldnt take all these items from a junk Grand National and put them onto a regular Regal...doubtful.
Or not to say someone couldnt turn a regular Turbo T into one with the above mentioned items since there is nothing special about the VIN except for it being identified with code "7" in the #8 position.
But to be honest, running a Car Fax will show any 84-87 Grand National as being a Turbo T since the WE2 Grand National package was an option on top of the Turbo T package.
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