Some good upgrades for a 1985 Grand National

[TurboTer]

If this has been covered before, I apologize. Now, getting that out of the way...

As many of you know, I used to have a 1987 GN that was lost in a fire on September 17, 2002 (I like refer to that day of infamy as "9-17"). In a few weeks, I will be getting a 1985 GN. I am far more of a fan of 1986/1987 intercooled GN's, but hey, I can't afford another one right now and this car is in good condition. It is all stock except for the very few mods listed below. So, my question is, what mods should I do first. I want to get a Scanmaster 2.1, but I understand I have to change the ECM first. But what about other stuff, like a Walbro 340 fuel pump and hotwire kit? And an adj. wastegate? Will these work on a 1985, or are they only for 86/87's? Fuel injectors? Surely the downpipe isn't the same as later model GN's, right? What other upgrades? Any questions or tips that you guys can point out I'd appreciate. Thanks!

 

[SLOW_85]

Congrat's on the hot-air.
Fuel pump,AFP reg the same as 86-87. Different down/uppipes.
Can use a 86/87 wastegate. Same injectors. Can go with ATR
up/down pipes for 84-85.
Can convert to 86-87 coil/ignition module,mainly due to cost.
Only scantool that will work with the 85 ecm is T-Link. Basically same rules for upgrades apply. HTH

 

[BuickTV6]

Well for one, I will say welcome to the hotair world. Although our cars are slower than the intercooled cars, its not difficult to get that to run as fast, and even faster than their new improved brothers. Essentially, all of the basic go fast mods are interchangable through the years of 84-87. The injectors are the same on all the SFI turbo cars. Injectors, adj fpr, adj wastegate, walbro 307 or 340 and hotwire exhaust systems and so on, are ugraded in the same fashion as your old 87. The basic mods on the gnttype.org page will work on these cars as well. As for turbo's, theres tons of guys on here running the same turbo's as intercooled guys, and getting great results. The only thing you will really need is a good downpipe, which is different on the 84/5 hotairs. If you want to run a better variety of chips on your car, its recommended to upgrade to the 87 ecm, and you will also get more data with the upgraded ecm using turbolink or scanmaster. gnttype.org also has instructions on how to upgrade the ecm, and install a mat as well. Once you get into it, you'll see that these hotair cars are not too much different to tune than the intercooled ones. hope thats a start for you..

Later, Todd

 

[49-blues]

you may also want to hook up a 87 electric radiator fan.

 

[turbowrenchhead]

With my intake I have basically have an 87 style setup. There are some pics in my sig. I love having a 84-85 and beating the 86-87 guys at the track. I also made my own terrry houston style flange, also some pics in sig. I just have to have it fabbed up someday when I get all my stuff done and ready to go. I think it will be sometime next year.

 

[TType84]

tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune tune .......


or it will run 14s.


tips? i am having great luck with propane

23+psi boost no knock..

once i get the cheetah in a few days we will get rid of the oil induced knock that just started getting really bad..

but i think my coil pak is dying so we'll see...