kinda off topic.... 84 N/A questions

[MELOVEGN]

Ok a couple of em...
84 naturally aspirated buick regal 231 v6 motor
1
does anyone know where i can get a chip made or buy one
2
also what is the biggest carb that will fit one that intake
3
what kind of exhaust system do you recomend

Thanks Guys!!

 

[JFH]

84 Regal

When I restored my 84 Regal Limited. I installed KB GN exhaust,. Just got a test pipe and a reducer to make it fit.
I also got a KB intake and ran a 390 Holley I believe. Had a 600 holley on it but that was to big. Had KB cam and high rev lifters and different TC. Also electric fan and electric fuel pump.
Ran faster, at least you didn't get run over trying to pull out on a highway. Sounded great,like I really had something under the hood. But all the money I but in it wasn't worth the gain.

Save your money and but it towards a turbo Regal

John

 

[olds443]

Hypertech makes a chip, it's ok. You have to use higher octane gas though. About $100 through Summit.
As far as intakes/carbs., alot of people like to put the 4.1 Buick V6 factory carb and intake on.
You could also check E-bay, there seems to be several aftermarket and stock intakes on there every week, ranging from $25 to under $100.
I agree with the last post though, save your money for a bigger motor if you want to keep the car and hot rod it, whether it be a v8 or turbo v6. The cost to performance ratio just isn't worth the hassle or the money.

Oh, and if you have a strict emission testing like here in California you will not pass and will be labeled as a Gross Poluter and possibly illegally modified.
Just something else to think about.
Good luck, now start looking for a Turbo 6 or a Vette motor to swap in there!

 

[TurboDave]

Since this is in fact "off topic" I'll go ahead and move it. Doesn't really fit non intercooled turbo tech, or before black, so I'll move it to the lounge.

 

[blackbuick87]

Edelbrock makes a Performer intake and cam kit for the 3.8

Its in the Summit catalog

For an N/A motor I would try to get the compression up some to about 9.5:1

Dont know about headers but dont go too big

 

[b4black]

Originally posted by TurboDave
Since this is in fact "off topic" I'll go ahead and move it. Doesn't really fit non intercooled turbo tech, or before black, so I'll move it to the lounge.

I fits Before Black well. That's why I was hoping it would be moved there. We discuss the 3.8 V6 NA's all the time.

Before Black (non-SFI) Tech - For the '82 GN, '78-'83 Carb/Turbo Buick V6 and Pontiac 301T, and all other carbureted Buick V6's

 

[turbofish38]

I had a 83 Regal with the 4.1 NA that I was building into a autocross racer that would run in the stock class. Basic rules were that you could have minimal engine mods. Really all you could do was change some of the ignition parts. You still had to run stock air cleaner and exhaust with cat. Some of the things I changed was I went with an 87 exhaust system. The down pipe looks like it flows better than the 85 and older pipe. I used the cat and y-pipe and mufflers from a 83 carb-turbo car because it is a dual muffler with the better flowing monolithe style cat. All the smog pump equipment stayed on. I put the 8445 heads from one of my turbo cars with some mild pocket and port porting and with the stock cam advanced 4 degrees. I cant remember but I think the heads were milled .010 because they ran kind of crappy on the turbo car. And I removed the A/C and replaced it with the factory heater only set up. This car also had crank windows and no power accessories. Since the class I was going to race in put me heads up with Honda Civics and other weanie 4 cylinder FWD imports I wanted this car to weigh as light as possible. The factory rated the stock engine at 140 HP. With some super tuning and by guessing from the seat of my pants the HP was around 190. BTW I was using a THM200-4R trans with a 83 carb-turbo torque convertor with a 3.73 axle ratio. Even on the street this was a fun car to play with. It had V-8 power and if you kept out of the secondaries it would get 18MPG. Thanks Eric Fisher.

 

[MELOVEGN]

Hey thanks everyone this is for a friend of mine and he says its very helpful.. THANKS keep the ideas coming....
You guys are great

 

[RCI2990]

as far as a chip i think your out of luck.from the looks of your post this is a non-turbo car so forget about the chip.another poster mentioned a 390 holley.i replaced my non-ccc quadrajet with a 390 holley about a week ago and it's much quicker and more responsive.i also use a holley dominator intake.my 84 has a t-350 with shift kit and a 3.08 rear and everybody that i took for a ride thought i had a v-8 in there.i can hit 3rd gear at 70 mph and get jerked back in my seat.

 

[b4black]

Your friend needs to decide on whether or not he is going to run with an ECM first. Emissions testing may decide for him.

No ECM - no chip (no good chips even with an ECM for that matter)
ECM - carb choice is limited (going factory 4-barrel is best bet IMO)

 

[olds443]

Out of sheer curiousity, if he uses the factory quadrajet (computer controlled) can it just be plugged into the factory computer in place of the 2 bbl when changing manifolds.
Or would he need to change the computer and part of the harness?
I always wondered about this myself but wasn't willing to get too into it myself.

And as far as chips go.. Hypertech does make one for NA cars. The part# is 424001.

 

[RCI2990]

yes the secondaries are vacuum controlled so you don't need to change anything except the carb.i don't use the computer in the car at all.i totally converted to a non ccc system,and it runs alot better.as for the chip you got to understand what me and b4black are talking about.the chip is a waste of money and will probably do next to nothing.the easiest thing to do would be to just swap the carb.that's what i did originally,but after awile i wanted to get rid of the spaghetti wiring under the hood.so i totally converted.if you want to convert you need a non-ccc carb and a vacuum advance dist.

 

[Baron Von Buick]

What is a Vaccum advanced dist.?
And.... What is a non-ccc carb?

 

[RCI2990]

the vacuum advance dist. uses vacuum from a ported line on your carb to advance the timing.a non-ccc carb does'nt have any sensors on it and is not computer controlled.hope that helps a little.

 

[turbofish38]

FYI The C3 quadrajet will plug in place of the Vara-jet. The electric plugs have the same connectors. Thanks Eric

 

[Baron Von Buick]

Is the Vara-jet whats in the the stock regal?
and how much better is the C3?

The Regal we're all taliking about is mine V6 231 N/A.

BTW just to let everyone know I'm MELOVEGN's friend he wrote the orig. post for my car before i had a name on here.

 

[turbofish38]

Sorry for the confusion. The C3 is an electronic quadrajet and the Vara-jet is the 2 barrel electronic carb that was used on the 231 NA motors from 81-87. The C3 quadrajet would be the better choice for performance. Bigger is better. Thanks Eric.