Thinking of going back to a Turbo Buick... some questions

[vetteowner]

Howdy all!

I've been tossing the idea up of getting back into Turbo Buicks. About 6-7 years ago I had an 87 GN.. was a mid-11 second car and I really enjoyed the car, but had a real tough time keeping trannys in it.

7 years later and I've got a 95 vette, great all around car, but the call of another turbo V6 is still there... so to the questions!

How difficult is it finding parts for these cars as they are getting pretty old and were such limited production?

And last question... what has 7 years worth of technology done to these cars in terms of performance... what will it take to get an 86/87 into the low 11's now?

Thanks!

 

[turbo todd]

VETTE

Hello, I'm still new to the Turbo Buick thing. But having owned 2 vetttes (86, 94) I can tell you that these things are great! As for the technology well, somethings are gone like the factory m.a.f. , others are on the way. But thier is alot of great venders, and people that want to help. Just like this board!!
Good luck, and hopefully welcome back to the DARKSIDE!

 

[HossV6]

Welcome back!

Well, if you still have the feel for boost then you're set! Tech in these cars has come along greatly in the 6-7 yrs since you left. Many adaptors and stuff are now available so we can use parts from other makes, i.e. the MAF sensors from the LT1 f-bodies can now be used with our cars and be adusted to our needs.

With the recent explosion of alky injection, we're turning times and boost with pump gas that could only be done with race gas a few yrs ago.

Quite a few companies have started making parts for our cars and also some fellow members have stepped up to do the parting-out buisness, so you should be able to find what you need.

As for the low 11s: plan on stuffing forged parts in your engine, reinforce the bottom end with billet caps and/or block girdle, good set of heads(GN1s or M&A), 50#+ injectors, 60+ series turbo, some other supporting engine and tranny mods, then turn up the boost and hang on for the ride of your life! You could juice it too.

Just hang around here for a while and you'll get up to speed.

 

[87T]

YOU HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT

WHY YOU EVER LET WILL BE A MYSTERY TO ALL USE TURBO OWNERS, THERE ARE LOTS OF PARTS AND HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT , FIND SOME LOCAL PEOPLE TO BECOME FRIENDS WITH AND SIT BACK AND RE-ENJOY THE RIDE

 

[tazgn]

I'm also an ex-vette guy (85 and 90). I actually got my GN at a vette dealership in NH back in 95. I would say since 95 there seem to be a lot more vendors out there selling wayyyy more advanced products. It's really funny looking back to TR newsletters from early 90's and seeing what was top of the line back then. There is even an aluminum 3.8 block on the way from TA performance supposedly to handle over 1000 HP. But to get into the 11's now, geez, EASY compared to 7 years ago. And getting cheaper I think too with some of the new products (alky injection, powerplates, chips now, etc.) True, GM has pretty much abandoned us, but so they have to pretty much ALL cars "worthy" recently (except the vette with the demise of the f-body).

But back to the subject... For the options out there in the aftermarket, the price per HP for these parts, and reliability of these parts and number of vendors, it's MUCH better today than 7 years ago in my humble opinion. And besides, there are a LOT more ricers out there with GODY 3 ft high wings and lowered to the point that they can't go over a man-hole (folloed one of them to work today - GEEZ) that it's just SOOOO much fun beating up on them on the streets now.

Derrick

 

[tazgn]

Oh, and I forgot to mention... There is a LOT more information out there now a days too. This board is THE PERFECT EXAMPLE. And gnttype.org is still there and better than ever.

Derrick

 

[vetteowner]

Thanks guys... certainly considering it. The vette has the top end stability and the cornering, but you just can't use it enough to fully enjoy it.. not to mention modding them are ungodly expensive compared to other cars.

Any car I get will be a daily driver... abeit only a few miles each day in sunny florida, but that shouldn't be a problem as my 87 was tame when you were off the gas.

What's out out there for transmissions? I went through 2 AC's with my GN and that was the deciding factor to get out of the cars... was real close to dropping in a TH350, but you know how that goes.

 

[salvageV6]

Check out the tranny section and the stickys about buildups of the 2004R in the sticky section.

Figure about 2K for a built Bruce T. transmission.

That's what I would do for your goals.

 

[Buick Beginner]

My 2 Cents

Trannys have come along way as well, I don't think anyone made a billet drum 7 years ago. - BB

 

[ThikStik]

I obtained my used GN with a bad trans. Since Im versed in the 700 r4 as I ran one in my 71 gto with 522 ft lbs of tq, I decided to run it in my GN. The verdict is still out on performance, as the 700 may have too much of a gear split from 1 to 2. But , I know that it is stronger than the 200. Look at the small input shaft, etc on the 200. Thankfully, billet parts are coming about for the 200. Jim at PAE enterprises is the man on 200 hard parts. Price wise the 700 can be beefed with mostly better friction parts and live a great life behind a mid / low 11 second gn motor. But this is only if you do all the valve body, governer, etc adjustments yourself to make the 700 act right behind its new home. I like the peace of mind the bigger 700 gives. Kinda like in the old days when a car had the 400 instead of the 350. look what chevy ran in their torky products-always the 700 until the mighty 4l80 came along.
My point? Dont count out a 700 swap if you have a good 700 tech/parts on hand and the 200 can now be made stronger than ever for alot of money but with less hassle than a 700 swap.

 

[TRENT THOMPSON]

I am pretty sure there are many of us that will tell you the 700 isn't nearly as strong as the 200

 

[86brick]

Mike Kurtz's @ Century Transmission has built plenty of 9 sec. proven 200-4Rs and I can tell you there is NO way in hell the 700-4R is stronger!!!

 

[rastaz]

Ummm I'd run a THM 400 before a 7004R! The 2004R technology and parts these days will have you running problem free 10's. There are several places that can properly build you a killer 2004R. Check out the tranny section for more info.

HTH

 

[vetteowner]

Cool... thanks for all the info.

Wife says go for the turbo... but she wants to keep the vette (oh darn! ) So now I need to decide if I should look into a car already heavily modded (mid 11 to high 10's) or get one thats mild/stock and do the build myself. Any thoughts on this?

 

[DKREDT]

Modding it yourself is half the fun.... but it seems a highly modded car doesn't necessarily bring the $$ that a stock TR will.

You might be farther ahead by finding a modded car that you like.

Just my $.02

Joel

 

[Berman]

Originally posted by vetteowner
Cool... thanks for all the info.

Wife says go for the turbo... but she wants to keep the vette (oh darn! ) So now I need to decide if I should look into a car already heavily modded (mid 11 to high 10's) or get one thats mild/stock and do the build myself. Any thoughts on this?

You will save an assload of money if you buy somebody's modded car. Modded cars sell for barely more if any than a stock car. Why pay for a $700 turbo, $500 thdp, $600 injectors, etc, when you can get a car with it already done? Although modding it yourself is fun, man do you save money buying it already done.

I would say get a mid-high 11 second car. Once they're faster than that, they start breaking stuff. Even if they're currently working fine, you don't know what kind of hammering the internals took. It could break the first time you take it to the track. With a mid-high 11 second car you really don't have to worry about this. Then you can always make it faster.

I bought my car the way it is. It's a mid-low 12 second car on pump gas. All other cars I've had (a LOT) I've modded from stock. This car is the first I bought already modded out. Other than a few silly electrical problems that I fixed (coil pack went bad, etc), it's nice having a car that's already fast and well tuned. It was interesting getting into my new car, driving it, then realizing it will bitchslap my TA that cost more than three times as much money.

Plus the guy who built it and sold it to me is my mechanic, and one of the only mechanics I trust. It had a blown headgasket when I was making the deal with him and part of the deal was that he fixed it. So I know I have nice new Felpro gaskets. So I've seen inside my motor. His first words when he pulled off the first head were "****, I shouldn't have sold this car." Motor looks new inside.

So I'm rambling. Anyway, I say go for the modded cars. You will save a bundle. My car was $7500 (including a nice stereo system). There's simply no way I could have found a TR as nice, done all the work mine has, and buy the stereo for $7500. Not even close. It costs at least $5k for a running TR that's not a total rustbucket pos. Start adding the parts and labor.. and no way. I've seen cars that look like even better deals than mine was. I know of, in south florida, a guy selling his show quality, 40000 origional mile GN, with a crazy stereo, TA49 turbo, you name it it's got it, for $12,000. His freakin paint job cost nearly $5000. So like I said, you will save a bundle. If you have $12k or so to spend you can get a show quality or near show quality 11 second car. Or more normal car that has a rebuilt motor/trans with awesome internals that runs mid 10s.

 

[KEVINS]

I agree, buy one that already runs the #'s you want and that has the heavy duty parts in the rear end and tranny...

Regards
ks

 

[machinegun]

GN Power the vette. I can be quite exciting and fun. Just an idea.

 

[vetteowner]

I know of a member on the corvetteforum that's done that.. car hauls... (I'd imagine he might be a member here also) but I'm not looking to tear apart a good running vette I thought about getting a project car to do that, but decided I didn't want that big of a project.

 

[HossV6]

Originally posted by vetteowner
I know of a member on the corvetteforum that's done that.. car hauls... (I'd imagine he might be a member here also) but I'm not looking to tear apart a good running vette I thought about getting a project car to do that, but decided I didn't want that big of a project.

By the name "Roguevette(sp?)"?