z-28 makes me feel bad

[v8rob]

I think you are correct there, cars with extensive mods are harder to sell, that seems to be the case with any car. I understand what you are saying. I guess it's a matter of what you want and like. I've recently thought about selling my GN and building up a really nasty 455 and sticking it in an 80's Regal body for something to pound on and play with, but then I looked at the cost of hi-po big block Buick parts and I realized if I was going to just build something to play with, the best bang for the buck would be a small block chevy. but I've already done that a few times and it was fun, but I still wanted a turbo Buick. There's just something about the look of a turbo Regal, and the sound, and feel of that torquey little turbo v-6. And nothing compares to the fun you can have when some guy is insisting you have nitrous on a small block in your "Monte Carlo". First you show him the Buick badges, then you pop the hood and let him count spark plug wires!

 

[sr71gn]

in 1988 my 1987 gn, which had about 15000 mi at the time, ran a 12.95 at norwalk ohio- the only mods were a T-10 chip by don kiger, a 237 fp reg. m&H street tires, sway bar removed,test pipe and the test pipe bolted in lower two bolts to bypass the exhaust system- the chip gave it 21 lbs of boost - those were only mods- ive never seen a ls-1 run in the 12's without expensive mods-

 

[v8rob]

>>"ive never seen a ls-1 run in the 12's without expensive mods"<<

hmm...well, it may be an elevation issue, but around here (Dallas, TX) LS1 powered F-bodies are capable of low 13' and high 12's off the showroom floor (with good tires of course). I've seen it many times. "expensive mods" (ie - heads, cam, nitrous, etc.) can knock them down into the 11's.

 

[brittken]

Here is something interesting.

When i purchased my cari received alot of old grand news catologs that kirbans puts out. In there is an add for Dynotech
Performance that claims they can for $995.00 power tune your car to run in the low 12,s. 1 guy claims that after taking his car to them he ran 11.83 @ 115 MPH in the Eglishtown Buick Shoot out in May 1991. These adds are pretty old now but with fine tuning can this be done. They claim to do this with a completely stock motor,trans,and rear end. This is something i am interested in.

 

[GNDen]

Hey Brittkin,

Those ads are pretty much true, considering... Stating a 11.53 is hard to believe though. But you must understand what they are doing...They are tuning your car to the max(very dangerous), meaning they disconnect the detonation sensors behind the coil pack and fiddle with the injectors. After all, these cars need 2 things,,,air & fuel. No real secret on what they do. 1 guy by the name of Jim D'alessandro who once owned "Quarter Mile Performance" near Atco race track in NJ was known for bringing stock TR's into the 12s for $1000. Traction was another factor. They used a serious set of drag slicks to prove it. Dynotech was'nt very good at performing out the task. They also guaranteed your money back if you look at those ads closely...Reason being I knew them personally (Fred Vetter/Dynotech & Jim D'alessandro/QMP). However, Jim had one of my cars(a stock GN) run a 12.9 with a cracked header and with drag slicks...

Just my input through experience. I hope it help!

 

[mrstage1]

Brittken, these guys are correct. The TR's are extremely detuned in stock form. With nothing more than a K&N filter,underdrive crank pulley, dump pipe,adjustable regulator,bleed valve for boost adjustments and Southside Machine traction bars I got my brother's 86K mile TType to go 12.33@109.4 with a Conley's Mag4 chip at 17psi. Oh yeah, we had $50 worth of used McCreary asphalt DOT race stickies for traction. I believe the total investment was like $800 or so. Mainly its just getting to know the car. For example;after fine tuning the trans TV cable many times, we found his car ran best when we let it shift itself at only 4900rpm. All those parts were pure easy bolt ons and totally unnoticeable from the outside. The tires were even fairly close to the stock size on back(G6015) Do it man. Add the parts and watch the amzed looks from 20 somethings when you smoke their new ride with your sedate looking cruiser. It's a riot.

 

[v8rob]

Oh YEAH!

Now that's what *I'm* talkin' about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[artmonet]

When I first got my car, I felt that i had to also keep the car original. However as time went on I absolutely had to do some mods. You don't have to go crazy. You can go with a stock appearing turbo, and some other minor things and nobody would be able to tell unless they were actually trying to find stuff. Plus for the most part you can always put stock stuff back on. Trust me once you do some mods and feel the power you won't turn back. If you look at my signature you'll notice the absolute low miles and I still had to upgrade. Don't be afraid to come to the dark side.