my first turbo regal t-type ..... what things should i be looking for?

[cecil bass]

Im about to buy my first turbo buick ... a 87' t-type what are some of the things i should be looking for when buying a turbo buick. I want to make sure my purchase is a good one! i know alot about cars ,but these are not your average cars, so i need a little help. It seem alot of people on this site are very knowledgeable, please help a newbie!!! thanks all

 

[charlief1]

Posting in the right location would be a good start. Since you're not selling one you'll be better off in this section.

 

[Rafs-T-Type]

I would look for someone who knows what to look for. Post up in your territory asking for help. Someone will come out with ya to check it out either for a small fee, or for free. A couple bucks now can save you thousands later.

 

[87chrisss]

http://gnttype.org/general/buyguide.html <-- best info your gna find..

hope your pockets are deep... get ready for a wild ride...

 

[Phoneguy]

You need to look for some place to ship all of your parts if you are married so she doesnt keep asking you what did that cost...LOL

Bryan

 

[NorEaster]

Buy Kirbans books. A great read and helped me out big time. I would have been hosed on a few deals, but knew right what to look for.

 

[usetaboost]

You never said if it was a ttop car or a hardtop, either way the major concerns with these cars are rust. By all means anything can be fixed but if it gets past just outer skin patches and door swaps you'll be in for a world of hurt ($). Most likely the car you are looking at isn't that bad. Ttop cars almost always have rust in the ttop area so expect it if it is a ttop car. Other places for rust are inside bottom of doors, upper door jambs by the upper hing area, stress cracks by quarter glass, underneath rear quarters, floor pans, that's usually it, typical places for any car. Just be sure to check it over real well especially around seam areas. Check to see if there's smoke on start up AFTER its warmed up, any hard starting or idle issues, ses light, any aftermarket wiring (besides guages), original parts are always good if the car has been modded which is a sign the owner has been somewhat meticulous with the car. Just take your time with what you're looking at. If the seller gets frustrated with you asking questions or looking the car over so well he's obviously got something to hide. THe rest of the things that can/will go wrong is nothing out of the ordinary so I will not list them at this time. Biggest thing is to get yourself a good solid car so you don't spend the rest of your life working on it when you could spend the same money to get something almost as nice (and driveable). Good luck

 

[cecil bass]

You need to look for some place to ship all of your parts if you are married so she doesnt keep asking you what did that cost...LOL

Bryan

lol i was thinking the same thing !!!!

 

[cecil bass]

You never said if it was a ttop car or a hardtop, either way the major concerns with these cars are rust. By all means anything can be fixed but if it gets past just outer skin patches and door swaps you'll be in for a world of hurt ($). Most likely the car you are looking at isn't that bad. Ttop cars almost always have rust in the ttop area so expect it if it is a ttop car. Other places for rust are inside bottom of doors, upper door jambs by the upper hing area, stress cracks by quarter glass, underneath rear quarters, floor pans, that's usually it, typical places for any car. Just be sure to check it over real well especially around seam areas. Check to see if there's smoke on start up AFTER its warmed up, any hard starting or idle issues, ses light, any aftermarket wiring (besides guages), original parts are always good if the car has been modded which is a sign the owner has been somewhat meticulous with the car. Just take your time with what you're looking at. If the seller gets frustrated with you asking questions or looking the car over so well he's obviously got something to hide. THe rest of the things that can/will go wrong is nothing out of the ordinary so I will not list them at this time. Biggest thing is to get yourself a good solid car so you don't spend the rest of your life working on it when you could spend the same money to get something almost as nice (and driveable). Good luck

Thanks for all the good info !!! the car is a hard top and your right that rust can be a issue since we live in denver, the only things that i know about the car is that the guy said he totally rebuilt the engine. it has new manifolds and injectors and a huge list of upgrades the only problem he says is "the car require dyno tunes and chips for the computer to compensate for the bigger cam, bigger injectors and much larger turbo. It's getting way too much gas right now" so i guess i need to find someone that can do this cause i have no idea how to fix the problem. i can't wait to check it out, which will be in a few weeks since im a otr truck driver. he said he cant finnish it casue he doesnt have the $$$, plus he wants sell to put the $$$$ in his GTO. i just hope its a good one !!!!

 

[usetaboost]

your pics don't work. All you need to do is get the info on EVERYTHING that was done to that engine and what stall converter it has and get a chip made for it. May have to do some fine tuning with the idle and tps after that but should be good to go as long as he put everything together right. Where is the car located? Is there an link you can post for some better pics?

 

[Rafs-T-Type]

Wow...I've never seen the thumbnails be bigger than the picture lol. "he rebuilt the engine" That's a red flag to me. What are these new manifolds he's talking about? The only one i know is the intake. You might be buying someone else's problem here. It doesn't seem like he knows these cars too well. I don't know why someone would invest thousands and then not buy a $100 chip to get it to run right. I personally wouldn't try to start a new engine with the wrong chip, washing down the new walls in gas. I would stay away from this one.

 

[usetaboost]

If you can get it for a decent price, go for it. It's way less work and money to do a rebuild than it is to pay for 5-10k of rust repair, body and paint, and interior-trust me. Id do a motor any day over going through that shit again.

 

[Turbotre]

Sounds like the seller is just blowing smoke.

 

[cecil bass]

he is asking $7,500 i cant post the link cause turbobuick.com says i havent made 50 posts yet .......

 

[cecil bass]

but this is what his post says:

I have a 1987 Buick Regal T Type with a brand new engine. The Turbo is also brand new and has new manifolds and injectors and a huge list of upgrades. After building the motor I ran out of finances and these cars require dyno tunes and chips for the computer to compensate for the bigger cam, bigger injectors and much larger turbo. It's getting way too much gas right now and the car is flooding out and it's really quite annoying. It does drive but it really needs the computer tuned. I'm done investing because I really want a nice classic Hot Rod, Drag Car, Race Car, Corvette, 3000gt VR4 only, RX7 or something. I might even trade for a diesel truck. Let me know if your interested. The paint is nice (its metallic gray) and the interior is nice but some rips in the seats. Headliner is perfect and doors perfect and console and so on perfect. Its not a perfect car, it needs tuned, and a new speedo cable but if you get that done, it's built for 11s, maybe low 12s in the quarter. Let me know (serious inquiries only. If you dont know what you are looking at or you want to try and low ball me because the tune and a $16 speedo cable, than go away and don't waste my time. I want this car to have a good home.) Wheels are Black now.

 

[Rafs-T-Type]

I still don't see why he would drop all this money and skip out on a $100 chip. Also I don't think a car "requires" dyno time to tune. They didn't make a t-type in 87 either. That name was dropped in 87. I think you have a guy who doesn't know a whole lot about these cars. The fact that he's calling it the wrong name, the fact that he thinks you need a chip for a larger turbo, the fact that he thinks you need multiple chips, and the fact that he says the new turbo has new manilfolds tells me this. It could be a good deal or a bad deal. The problem is you aren't going to know with the car running like junk.

 

[cecil bass]

i think i need a expert to go with me at least to look at this thing ........ anyone here from colorado ???????

 

[HiTech6]

I still don't see why he would drop all this money and skip out on a $100 chip. Also I don't think a car "requires" dyno time to tune. They didn't make a t-type in 87 either. That name was dropped in 87. I think you have a guy who doesn't know a whole lot about these cars. The fact that he's calling it the wrong name, the fact that he thinks you need a chip for a larger turbo, the fact that he thinks you need multiple chips, and the fact that he says the new turbo has new manilfolds tells me this. It could be a good deal or a bad deal. The problem is you aren't going to know with the car running like junk.

 

[Rafs-T-Type]

I would try and find out what injectors he has and try to borrow a chip matched to it to bring with too. Odds are he has a fairly common injector size like 60's or something.

 

[cecil bass]

if buick dropped the t-type name in 1987 ....... whats this buick called ?