My "New" Grand National

[wally]

I'll start off by giving a short intro to myself.

I'm 26 and grew up hotrodding and restoring cars. I've done more than a few frame-off restoriations, mosty on tri-chevys. And I'll openly admit that I had been wanting a Grand National since I was in 6th grade...literally.

I always thought it was a few years down the road, but as luck would have it, a friend sold me his for a really reasonable price. The car is an 85, the engine runs and the interior is in really decent shape.

The car has 81k on it and needs a paint job. I'm not sure about the history of the car except that it's been sitting down for 2 years. My buddy was planning on restoring it but never got around to it. I have a lot of the parts in the trunk like emblems, rear wing, hood insulation, and other small things.

My plan is first of all to get bodywork/paint done and then to redo the suspension and add on a set of s10 or ls1 brakes (i have a set of both at home). I'm going to drive the car as is for as long as possible, while possibly prepping a motor on the side for a possible swap (yes! i know all the work involved)

One of my questions is in regards to the grill, airdam and wheels. They DO seem like they're off of an 86 or 87, or am I wrong? Not a great view of the wheels, but I'll try to get some better ones.

And with the picture of the interior, you can notice one small tear on both the drivers and passenger seat. Does anyone know a quick fix for that will cover up the tears to keep them from running but won't look completely horrible? The rest of the seat(s) are in great shape, not really worth buying a whole new cover.

thanks.

 

[wally]

btw, the car is now at home with me! this is the way i found it when i first picked it up.

 

[1QUICK85]

Congrats on the new GN!
Hood from a T-type. Grill is a '87 and from what I can see looks like '87 rims.
Is that a third brake light I see? That is not stock on a hot air.
Post some more pictures up...under the hood and around the car! Always fun to see what shape these cars are kept in when sitting in someones yard.

 

[garyk1970]

Looks just like an 87 to me! Congrats on the ride!

 

[deputydawg]

Welcome To The Madness......

You sure it is an 85? Hot air right? Looks like an 87 grill, airdam, third brakelight, wheels and the hood is definately a T-Type (color gave it away). I know alot of times when the cars were wrecked, it was easier to find 87 parts than the older models-maybe that explains it. Congrats on your first ( be careful, can be more addicting than crack- will definately take all your spare time and money if you let it):biggrin: I am in the middle of restoring an 87 myself. Welcome to the club!

 

[deputydawg]

as far as the seats go...

remember the fabric is over 20 years old. It becomes brittle and comes apart. good luck trying to repair the stock material or locating replacement covers (try G-body, he may have either the material or covers themselves- he has everything

 

[ZEROLAG]

Looks like a nice find, good luck with the resto!

 

[wally]

Damn! You guys are sharp! Didn't even think/know about the 3rd brake light.

I was telling a some dude that I randomly met yesterday how I got a GN, and he rolled his eyes at me when I told him I had an '85 (which i now question) and said... "oh, a non intercooled car, my dad has an 87". WTF!

I will post up more pics of the engine and the rest of the car by the end of the weekend! Thanks guys.

 

[1QUICK85]

Does your motor look like this???????????????????
1985 stock Turbo Buick engine! pictures from cars photos on webshots

 

[wally]

identical...just much dirtier!

 

[1QUICK85]

So, you got a '85 with a bunch of '87 appearance items. You should post pics of everything when you can. We will be able to point out the smallest detail....maybe you got some performance parts under all the dirt!

 

[tb3]

welcome aboard! you've got 86/87 air dams too looks like. apperantly pretty heavily optioned, I see it has the factory auto headlights. judging from the center caps, i wonder if it has the gta style wheels.

 

[Boost231]

welcome. congrats

 

[Jerryl]

Congrats.

Just verify the VIN#.
Vin 7 = 87
Vin 9 = 84
Can answer for the other years.

 

[charlief1]

Congrats definatly. Where the heck is La Joya? I'm in hillsboro between DFW and Waco.

 

[wally]

la joya is WAY south texas, by the border! tiny little town.

here are pictures of the engine and wheels. see anything out of the ordinary? the wires from the coils have been spliced, but maybe you guys can notice something else with your calibrated eyes.

it seems like the front end has been changed up, there are a few missing bolts to it, nothing major though. is this the correct master cylinder for an 85? some of the 85's i've seen online have a cast iron (?) setup.

the vin breaks down to the car being an '85 as well. i guess maybe someone just really wanted this to look like an 87!

 

[tb3]

engine compt looks basically 100% stock except somebodys made the wastegate adjustable to run more boost. powermaster brake system is correct for the 85 years. wheels are from 86/87 gn. Somebody may have been splicing and pluggging on the ignition module to trouble shoot a problem.