You can type here any text you want

New here and could use some friendly advice

Welcome!

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

SignUp Now!
N

Nicksan11987

New Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2013
Messages
10
Hey guys names nick I just got a 1986 Grand National that had be fixed by hack job. The cars my friends I do all her work for her now since she keeps getting ripped off. The cars in need of some TLC so I'm here to try and fix this thing right. So story starts like this the owner has been a friend of mine for a long time shes liked cars for ever her dad owns bunch of old classic V8 every thing Ford Pontiac and GMs list goes on and on. But for her 20th b day she got the 86 for her self with 50k on it. The car now has 88k on it and has been driven by her other friends for the past 2 years. To say they beat on this thing would be the understatement of the year the car use to be mint. Its now siting in my garage in pieces bad turbo lots of shaft play ,misfires like a bitch,trany is making a godawful clunking sound sounds kinda like rod knock. Oil every where under the hood and someone put trany fluid in the brake master cylinder so first thing I got when I opened the lid for the fluid I get this thing flying out at me. When I took the hose form turbo to intercooler off there was oil all over in it drained the intercooler out got over half a quart of oil just of what i could get to come out washed the rest out so call it just shy of a full quart. There were no gasket's on the turbo none nothing for the oil return line not even on the turbo manifold.
So she had just spent 4 grand paying a friends "shop" to fix this stuff as far as I can tell they swapped a shit old turbo on to it and made 4 grand. So I'm stuck here with just my basic know how of old v8s and my Turbo VW's I'm up to the task as far as the repairs go but tuning and such I have no clue what to do there.

Basic idea of what I want to happen is get to a low to mid 500WHP. I dont know where i should look for parts for this car and what parts I should buy and what ones I should stay away from. It needs a new turbo for sure and a bigger intercooler for the bigger power I would like to see out of it fuel system I know I'm good for the pumps I have some inline ones off my old VR6 build. But injectors,intake,exhaust so on and so on I have no clue what to look for. Hope some of you guys could steer me in the right direction . Thanks for taking the time to look.
 
Oh, you got lots to learn but if you are patient and take the right advice you can rescue this car. On the brakes, with a Powermaster brake system you must relieve the pressure in the accumulator ball. It says so on the mastercylinder lid. To do so you pump the brakes 10 or so times (engine off) to drain out the ball. You can then take the cover off. The fluid from the ball goes back into the m/c so you fill the cylinder when it's depressurised to the correct level. When the ignition is turned on the pm motor will pressurise the system and the level will drop.
Sounds like the turbo seal is done. You can have our turbo expert Bison rebuild the stocker or you can step up to a larger one. You definately need a gasket on the turbo oil return line. You mention 500hp. You may not need to get to that hp level to have the power you want. I recommend staying close to stock to get this car in shape and learn with then go for the gusto. Remove the intercooler and clean it. Do the "spring cleaning" http://www.gnttype.org/maint/basics.html that should help with some stuff. Replace all the vacuum lines. I'm sure others will chime in. Lots of info here too http://www.vortexbuicks-etc.com/ Try to find out what has been done or modified including the chip. That will help with advice. Take pictures too. Sometimes we can spot stuff that's wrong too. Good luck.
 
Two things:
1. Where are you located? There may be some locals that can help you out.
2. Listen to Pronto. Get the car running properly first (ie: addressing the basics- it's a lot of stuff, and it's none of the "fun" stuff but, if you want the car to perform you have to have a solid baseline to start with.)

Good Luck.
 
Does it have a Scanmaster to monitor the engine?
 
Spring cleaning, scanmaster, powerlogger minimum to get started. 60# injectors and chip from turbotweak or Bob Bailey. First things first. Compression check. Sight unseen I'd probably just pull the engine and trans. Your hotrod background mechanical abilities will go a long way on a lot of this stuff, but these cars can be rather finicky. You've come to the right place, be prepared to read a lot, and the search button is your friend. Good luck and post pics.
 
Well look at that...nitrous! Sounds and looks like you better start off with a leak down test.
 
jasjamz said:
Well look at that...nitrous! Sounds and looks like you better start off with a leak down test.
Click to expand...

Yeah forgot that part never been used in the years shes had it I unhooked that shit a long time ago.
pulling it off and going to sell it 125 foger the system was put on in 94
 
turbo39151 said:
Two things:
1. Where are you located? There may be some locals that can help you out.
2. Listen to Pronto. Get the car running properly first (ie: addressing the basics- it's a lot of stuff, and it's none of the "fun" stuff but, if you want the car to perform you have to have a solid baseline to start with.)

Good Luck.
Click to expand...
I am in Minnesota twin city's area.
Will do just found a used turbo from a local guy for cheep stock of his 87 rebuilt with 20K on it for 250.
 
I would read on here every night. You have alot of work and a ton of studing to do. Like already said. I would do a leakdown and compression test asap.
 
Looks like there is foam rapped around the valve cover vent. If the block is beening pressurised during boost it can drive oil out the vent and pretty much every gasket. Jasjamz is right, a leakdown test may be needed.
 
CGASTON in parts for sale has a slightly used scanmaster and powerlogger for sale along with a new ecm that the powerlogger is installed on. The scanmaster is good for scanning several different parameters, but having that coupled with a powerlogger will help decrease the learning curve with these cars. It's like having a jet cockpit dash showing everything live on your laptop, plus you can send the logs here and we can see what everything is doing and comment accordingly.
 
Ah another Minnesotan! Welcome. I am originally from Maple Grove, but I have been transplanted by the Air Force to Tucson, AZ (gotta love being able to drive the GN 360 days out of the year) anyway, I would get with the guys who belong to MGNTA (Minnesota Grand National/T-Type Association) I have only spoke to Tom Shea the club president via e-mail, but he seems quite knowledgable and willing to help out lots. As for advice on which way to start going with things... I am still quite new to these cars and do more learning then advice. So take a lot of these guys advice, it's very valuable! Good Luck and have fun with it! I have inserted the link to the MGNTA guys.

http://www.mgnta.com/
 
Any Idea on brand and size of turbo I should look at ? Keep getting mixed reviews on them and the power out put
 
The stock turbo can easily get you into the 12s and is very responsive on the street. Stepping up requires higher stall converters. BTW by the time you get to low 12s the tranny will probably start slipping.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Just need some ideas here?
8
572
Dhos1
D
1
Walbro 255 fuel pump bad
3
228
pacecarta
pacecarta
K
Indiana GN Mechanic
7
458
Kip
K
J
electric power steering
5
514
salvageV6
salvageV6
J
Trying to value a Grand National
4
747
Just helping out
J

Online statistics

Members online
15
Guests online
2,361
Total visitors
2,376
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Newest members

Stay Connected

Back
Top