david buschur
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2004
- Messages
- 71
Just looking to shoot the breeze mostly so I am starting this thread about a build I am doing.
I've owned an '87 WE4 for about 8 years I guess. Bought the car with a blown engine (spun rod bearing). Car was pretty good shape, 30,000 miles on it.
I wanted a nice daily driver to run 11.50's. My dad, Jim, has been into Buicks since he bought his '87 WE4 new. His car ran 10.80's YEARS ago and then went into hibernation, has about 13,000 miles on it now. Perfect car.
Anyway, my dad's guided me through this Buick build from his experience and my being to lazy to research anything. (BTW, I keep saying my dad, I'm 40 year old myself and own a large import performance business-I've run as fast as 7.50's in Ron Luman's TT V6 Buick, 7.8's in my own 122 cu in DSM etc.)
My dad did most of the work on the car up until now. He built the shortblock (stock rebuild) that's in the car, chose the heads, cam, turbo, injectors, chip, etc. etc. I had the car painted. Did some suspension work to make it handle etc. The car ran 11.20's at 123 mph on radials at 19 psi. The car would NEVER run over 19 psi without breaking up. I got discouraged, decided to sell the car about 10 times.
Somewhere in the time I was having a lot of problems I got sick and tired of working around the heat and a/c box. I got a hammer and removed it one night in the garage. This was the start to where the story is going.
Last year I decided the problems were from relying on everyone else to figure out the car and burn chips for it. I installed the Big Stuff 3 on the car. Instantly fixed the car. Never ran so good. About a day later, back to normal, misfires. Make a long story short, ends up my fuel system had become so contanminated with something that is PLUGGED shut my return line. This makes sense since I had installed 3 new adjustable regulators over the last few years because of irratic fuel pressure readings.
I pulled the injectors, sent them to Caspers, they couldn't even identify the crap in them. Injector filters were plugged to the top, less than 500 miles on them.
So it began..........now that I found the problem I could fix it. With the love of the car I have (even though most of the time it was HATE) I decided to build the car the way I wanted it, good or bad, build it how I choose and be done with it.
I think I've lost my mind.
The car already had the a/c and heat removed from my hammer incident. I installed a nice plate with a few bead rolls in it for the cover on the firewall. Mounted my MSD there. The brakes on the car suck. I decided the master and such were worth more to someone else than to me so I pulled them off and installed a Wilwood master cylinder. I've never had such a great brake pedal as I do now. Cleaned up even more room. Starting to look like a real engine bay now
I needed to replace the plugged shut return line on the car. I bought a Metco spare tire well cell and installed it. I had an Aeromotive pump/filter left from one of our Evolution projects so I used it. Ran new -8 lines to and from the engine bay. Bought some Champion fuel rails and mounted the SX regulator on the plate next to the MSD. Starting to look really good now.
The turbo, I installed a PT71Qtrim on my existing ATR headers. I also put a Tial 44 mm external gate on. The car has a really large Charge Air FMIC on it already with 3" I/C plumbing. I am going to remake the plumbing as I have never liked how it was shaped.
Installed a set of 95# PTE injectors. The heads I already had and are GN1 CNC'd.
Vince Janis had already built the 200R4 trans, Vigilante lock up converter too.
The rear end is getting the works with a Mark Williams yoke, 3.5" aluminum driveshaft with 1350 joints, Moser spool, Moser 33 spline axles with C clip eliminators, TA stud kit and TA rear cover.
Eibach springs are on the car so it doesn't sit like a truck, full HR rear suspension and two air bags (no need for air since the HR suspension has been on).
I am building a new 109 shortblock for it. 4 steel caps, girdle, steel crank, forged rods, forged pistons, big hydraulic roller cam. When the heads come of the stock block that is in the car I'll upgrade the springs/retainers and make sure everything looks good. I've been warned I can't go that fast on the iron heads but I am going to give it a shot as I have them already. The weight break for the iron heads is interesting to me.
I am undecided what to do for wheels. I am waiting on my order of 3.5" tubing to come in to build the complete exhaust in lightweight 3.5" tubing and route the external gate back in.
The car is looking really really good to me. I can't wait to fire it the first time and get going on more of the project. As soon as I get a downpipe made I'm taking it into our shop to have my brother Daniel set up the rear end and install all of that stuff.
After that back over to Janis Transmission for my trans brake install.
I want to run the car on the bone stock engine like it is now just to get it dialed in a little and see what it'll run like this.
By the Norwalk event I hope to have the car ready with the new good shortblock.
Goal is to run 9.50's with the car. With this many cubic inches it shouldn't be that hard right? Hell I've gone 7's on a 122 cu in.! haha
Looking forward to this year and racing this car. I have my EVO project that still is not 100% complete. My daily driver is a 2004 Evolution that ran 9.97 at 142 mph at the end of last year on radials. I am going to call it "finished" when it breaks the 150 mph mark this year. I want to do it the first month of the year and be done with it. Concentrate on the Buick then.
Can't wait!!!!
I've owned an '87 WE4 for about 8 years I guess. Bought the car with a blown engine (spun rod bearing). Car was pretty good shape, 30,000 miles on it.
I wanted a nice daily driver to run 11.50's. My dad, Jim, has been into Buicks since he bought his '87 WE4 new. His car ran 10.80's YEARS ago and then went into hibernation, has about 13,000 miles on it now. Perfect car.
Anyway, my dad's guided me through this Buick build from his experience and my being to lazy to research anything. (BTW, I keep saying my dad, I'm 40 year old myself and own a large import performance business-I've run as fast as 7.50's in Ron Luman's TT V6 Buick, 7.8's in my own 122 cu in DSM etc.)
My dad did most of the work on the car up until now. He built the shortblock (stock rebuild) that's in the car, chose the heads, cam, turbo, injectors, chip, etc. etc. I had the car painted. Did some suspension work to make it handle etc. The car ran 11.20's at 123 mph on radials at 19 psi. The car would NEVER run over 19 psi without breaking up. I got discouraged, decided to sell the car about 10 times.
Somewhere in the time I was having a lot of problems I got sick and tired of working around the heat and a/c box. I got a hammer and removed it one night in the garage. This was the start to where the story is going.
Last year I decided the problems were from relying on everyone else to figure out the car and burn chips for it. I installed the Big Stuff 3 on the car. Instantly fixed the car. Never ran so good. About a day later, back to normal, misfires. Make a long story short, ends up my fuel system had become so contanminated with something that is PLUGGED shut my return line. This makes sense since I had installed 3 new adjustable regulators over the last few years because of irratic fuel pressure readings.
I pulled the injectors, sent them to Caspers, they couldn't even identify the crap in them. Injector filters were plugged to the top, less than 500 miles on them.
So it began..........now that I found the problem I could fix it. With the love of the car I have (even though most of the time it was HATE) I decided to build the car the way I wanted it, good or bad, build it how I choose and be done with it.
I think I've lost my mind.
The car already had the a/c and heat removed from my hammer incident. I installed a nice plate with a few bead rolls in it for the cover on the firewall. Mounted my MSD there. The brakes on the car suck. I decided the master and such were worth more to someone else than to me so I pulled them off and installed a Wilwood master cylinder. I've never had such a great brake pedal as I do now. Cleaned up even more room. Starting to look like a real engine bay now

I needed to replace the plugged shut return line on the car. I bought a Metco spare tire well cell and installed it. I had an Aeromotive pump/filter left from one of our Evolution projects so I used it. Ran new -8 lines to and from the engine bay. Bought some Champion fuel rails and mounted the SX regulator on the plate next to the MSD. Starting to look really good now.
The turbo, I installed a PT71Qtrim on my existing ATR headers. I also put a Tial 44 mm external gate on. The car has a really large Charge Air FMIC on it already with 3" I/C plumbing. I am going to remake the plumbing as I have never liked how it was shaped.
Installed a set of 95# PTE injectors. The heads I already had and are GN1 CNC'd.
Vince Janis had already built the 200R4 trans, Vigilante lock up converter too.
The rear end is getting the works with a Mark Williams yoke, 3.5" aluminum driveshaft with 1350 joints, Moser spool, Moser 33 spline axles with C clip eliminators, TA stud kit and TA rear cover.
Eibach springs are on the car so it doesn't sit like a truck, full HR rear suspension and two air bags (no need for air since the HR suspension has been on).
I am building a new 109 shortblock for it. 4 steel caps, girdle, steel crank, forged rods, forged pistons, big hydraulic roller cam. When the heads come of the stock block that is in the car I'll upgrade the springs/retainers and make sure everything looks good. I've been warned I can't go that fast on the iron heads but I am going to give it a shot as I have them already. The weight break for the iron heads is interesting to me.
I am undecided what to do for wheels. I am waiting on my order of 3.5" tubing to come in to build the complete exhaust in lightweight 3.5" tubing and route the external gate back in.
The car is looking really really good to me. I can't wait to fire it the first time and get going on more of the project. As soon as I get a downpipe made I'm taking it into our shop to have my brother Daniel set up the rear end and install all of that stuff.
After that back over to Janis Transmission for my trans brake install.
I want to run the car on the bone stock engine like it is now just to get it dialed in a little and see what it'll run like this.
By the Norwalk event I hope to have the car ready with the new good shortblock.
Goal is to run 9.50's with the car. With this many cubic inches it shouldn't be that hard right? Hell I've gone 7's on a 122 cu in.! haha
Looking forward to this year and racing this car. I have my EVO project that still is not 100% complete. My daily driver is a 2004 Evolution that ran 9.97 at 142 mph at the end of last year on radials. I am going to call it "finished" when it breaks the 150 mph mark this year. I want to do it the first month of the year and be done with it. Concentrate on the Buick then.
Can't wait!!!!