Hello All,
This is a long read, so if you want to skip to the ask, please see the bottom couple of lines. If you're interested in the back story, please read on.
My father ordered his 1987 GN back in '86 and put a total of 16k miles on it during the time he owned it. The car sat untouched, in the garage for around 12 years during the last part of his ownership. Around 1999, he had decided that it was in his best interest to sell the Buick on his terms and not risk being forced to sale or worse, lose it in the divorce that he and my mother were going through at that time. I was 16 years old at the time and was looking at purchasing a 1990ish Pontiac T/A. I was getting close to pulling the trigger on the T/A for $5,000 when my dad sat me down to discuss another "option". He offered to sell me the GN for the book value at the time- $14,500. He made it very clear that I was under no obligation wha-so-ever to buy it and that it was a hefty expense for a 16 year old kid.
I didn't care- this was the car that I remember sneaking into while he was at work and just sitting in it, day dreaming about driving it. That was back when I was still in elementary school. I loved that car. I can only remember being in it a total of 3, maybe 4 times growing up. One of those times was in the late 80's/early 90's when my dad, my uncle and a few of their friends would go "testing" on a long, wide and straight country road that is now lined with homes. The group consisted of my dad's GN, two more '87 GN's, two black Mustang 5.0's and the occasional victim found on Washington Boulevard in Ogden, Utah. I loved that car and the few memories I still have of it when I was young.
Of course I said yes to buying it! How could I turn down my dream car?
Aside from a old Kenne-bell chip, K&N cone filter and a test pipe, the GN was completely stock and perfect cosmetically. I had some of the best years of my life surprising the hell out of people almost every single weekend. I want to say that I regret putting the miles on it that I did, but I can't- I had a great time in that car! Over the years, I started modifying it. Everyone else was getting faster and I couldn't be left behind.
Somewhere around 76k miles and 8 years of racing it, it developed a rod knock. At that time, the car had ran a best of 12.2@112 without opening the engine and basic bolt-ons. I decided that I was going to do more than just a simple rebuild. I wanted to go "all out" so to speak. I pulled the engine and took the shortblock to a reputable local machine shop with my brand new stroker kit (crank, pistons, rods, rings etc.) from DLS and worked over iron heads. Long story short, after months of the run around and nothing being done other than being disassembled and cleaned, I took it to another local machine shop. My shortblock was back in my possession within a couple of months and I was back in business in a week or so. I did several other changes at the same time, roller rockers, injectors, 70 P-trim and a Maftpro system. Within a few hundred miles while working up my understanding of the the Maftpro system, I made a mistake and went well above the boost level I should have with the fuel I was running and lost a head gasket. I pulled the engine again and took it back to the machine shop to check it over and make sure the head gasket was the only damage done. Everything looked good according to the builder. I ended up having them put the heads and intake on while they had it.
After taking it easy for another couple of hundred miles I got back to tuning and ended up running a 10.9@122 on 20psi. I was very happy knowing it had much more in it! I never made it back to the track as I started a family that same year. The car sat for a couple years while I was occupied with my daughter and two young step children. I would start it every once and a while and let it idle.
When I finally decided I wanted to drive it every once and a while, I started getting it ready for registration. At that time I noticed it was leaking oil which I determined was coming from the valve covers and it was smoking a little at idle. I lost interest in getting it up and going as I had other things that needed my attention more at the time.
Every couple of years I would take a long hard look at the car in the back of the garage and again I would start diagnosing the issues. Each time, I've walked away frustrated. I don't have the patience for working on this car like I used to. I've contemplated many times on parting with it. However, this was my dads car and has been mine for over 20 years now and I KNOW that I would regret doing so. There's simply too many memories and know that I would LOVE the car again if it was running the way I know it should. It now has 78,283 miles on the odometer and it's a very nice example.
I know that this was a long read, but I thought it was important to paint a picture of my dilemma. I'm sure that I'm not the only one on this board that has a similar story in terms of a love/hate relationship with a "blackhole".
I know, I know, TR's came in other colors!
This post really comes down to this... is there a reputable shop on the west coast that could take this car in and make it right? I know that so many of the OG's are slowing down or retired fully and there hasn't been any new blood (that I'm aware of) that has the patience, knowledge and passion for these cars.
I'd be looking at engine removal and inspection, new oil and coolant lines, fuel system upgrades, FAST XFI install and tune and anything else that's found during the build process that needs attention.
I would love to able to take my dad for a ride in this car again.
I've done some reading on the forum recently but I haven't found much for recommendations out west. Thanks for any help in pointing me in the right direction.
This is a long read, so if you want to skip to the ask, please see the bottom couple of lines. If you're interested in the back story, please read on.
My father ordered his 1987 GN back in '86 and put a total of 16k miles on it during the time he owned it. The car sat untouched, in the garage for around 12 years during the last part of his ownership. Around 1999, he had decided that it was in his best interest to sell the Buick on his terms and not risk being forced to sale or worse, lose it in the divorce that he and my mother were going through at that time. I was 16 years old at the time and was looking at purchasing a 1990ish Pontiac T/A. I was getting close to pulling the trigger on the T/A for $5,000 when my dad sat me down to discuss another "option". He offered to sell me the GN for the book value at the time- $14,500. He made it very clear that I was under no obligation wha-so-ever to buy it and that it was a hefty expense for a 16 year old kid.
I didn't care- this was the car that I remember sneaking into while he was at work and just sitting in it, day dreaming about driving it. That was back when I was still in elementary school. I loved that car. I can only remember being in it a total of 3, maybe 4 times growing up. One of those times was in the late 80's/early 90's when my dad, my uncle and a few of their friends would go "testing" on a long, wide and straight country road that is now lined with homes. The group consisted of my dad's GN, two more '87 GN's, two black Mustang 5.0's and the occasional victim found on Washington Boulevard in Ogden, Utah. I loved that car and the few memories I still have of it when I was young.
Of course I said yes to buying it! How could I turn down my dream car?
Aside from a old Kenne-bell chip, K&N cone filter and a test pipe, the GN was completely stock and perfect cosmetically. I had some of the best years of my life surprising the hell out of people almost every single weekend. I want to say that I regret putting the miles on it that I did, but I can't- I had a great time in that car! Over the years, I started modifying it. Everyone else was getting faster and I couldn't be left behind.
Somewhere around 76k miles and 8 years of racing it, it developed a rod knock. At that time, the car had ran a best of 12.2@112 without opening the engine and basic bolt-ons. I decided that I was going to do more than just a simple rebuild. I wanted to go "all out" so to speak. I pulled the engine and took the shortblock to a reputable local machine shop with my brand new stroker kit (crank, pistons, rods, rings etc.) from DLS and worked over iron heads. Long story short, after months of the run around and nothing being done other than being disassembled and cleaned, I took it to another local machine shop. My shortblock was back in my possession within a couple of months and I was back in business in a week or so. I did several other changes at the same time, roller rockers, injectors, 70 P-trim and a Maftpro system. Within a few hundred miles while working up my understanding of the the Maftpro system, I made a mistake and went well above the boost level I should have with the fuel I was running and lost a head gasket. I pulled the engine again and took it back to the machine shop to check it over and make sure the head gasket was the only damage done. Everything looked good according to the builder. I ended up having them put the heads and intake on while they had it.After taking it easy for another couple of hundred miles I got back to tuning and ended up running a 10.9@122 on 20psi. I was very happy knowing it had much more in it! I never made it back to the track as I started a family that same year. The car sat for a couple years while I was occupied with my daughter and two young step children. I would start it every once and a while and let it idle.
When I finally decided I wanted to drive it every once and a while, I started getting it ready for registration. At that time I noticed it was leaking oil which I determined was coming from the valve covers and it was smoking a little at idle. I lost interest in getting it up and going as I had other things that needed my attention more at the time.
Every couple of years I would take a long hard look at the car in the back of the garage and again I would start diagnosing the issues. Each time, I've walked away frustrated. I don't have the patience for working on this car like I used to. I've contemplated many times on parting with it. However, this was my dads car and has been mine for over 20 years now and I KNOW that I would regret doing so. There's simply too many memories and know that I would LOVE the car again if it was running the way I know it should. It now has 78,283 miles on the odometer and it's a very nice example.
I know that this was a long read, but I thought it was important to paint a picture of my dilemma. I'm sure that I'm not the only one on this board that has a similar story in terms of a love/hate relationship with a "blackhole".
I know, I know, TR's came in other colors!This post really comes down to this... is there a reputable shop on the west coast that could take this car in and make it right? I know that so many of the OG's are slowing down or retired fully and there hasn't been any new blood (that I'm aware of) that has the patience, knowledge and passion for these cars.
I'd be looking at engine removal and inspection, new oil and coolant lines, fuel system upgrades, FAST XFI install and tune and anything else that's found during the build process that needs attention.
I would love to able to take my dad for a ride in this car again.
I've done some reading on the forum recently but I haven't found much for recommendations out west. Thanks for any help in pointing me in the right direction.
..but we'd have to go and get the best cheeseburger and milkshake you can find ... and oooh boy I got some stories ...as I'm sure you do too
