so i went to a nissan dealership to check out the used car inventory, when i came upon a 86' Grand National. the salesman claimed it had 30k worth of restoration work recently performed (it looked like it had a fresh carpet set and some new paint). they were asking 24k!! needless to say, i walked away from that one. however, i was bitten by the GN bug, and now am infested with "turbo fever". to put it simply, i have to have one of these cars. most 86-87 GNs around where i live are in the 8k - 12k range. i cant afford this. so my solution is to purchase one of the earlier cars (84 & 85) and add an intercooler to it. So my question goes to a the Turbo Buick guys: has this type of mod been done before, and what does it involve? what parts do i need? and what did these non-intercooled SFI turbo sixes run? and to prevent this post from being locked... which would win in a street race : a 84-85 GN or a 350 TPI fbody?

 

tpivette89 you've come down with some turbo fever!go over and register on tb.com if you havnt already. i really think its worth the wait to find a good 86 or 87. the 84-85 while being pretty quick are a full second and a half slower when stock. they can be intercooled with a kit made by spearco. i had an 84 t-type back in 95 as my first turbo car and have been in love ever since. if you do decide to get and 84-85 dont fret they can be put in the 12's and 11'a just takes a little more. good luck!

 

I'd look for the 86-87 cars. It would probably be easier than converting a hot air car. The intercooled setups have a lot of improvements beside the intercooler and by the time you intercool the hot air and everything you're going to spend a pretty good amount of money. It would be a good idea to register at turbobuick.com, theres lots of info there.
As for the 350 vs the hot air, it would probably depend on the condition of both cars. I think they ran about the same times stock.

 

my bet would be on the gn in a race (saying both are in perfect working order) All these guys talk about how fast the tta is, doesn't the gn have the same motor? the buick is heavier but still, not that much.

 

i do think a tpi 350 was a bit faster than a stock 84-85 turbo regal.

 

yeah, i agree. i dont think they realize that the 84s and 85s didnt have the intercooler and were rated at 200hp. i was figuring about 15.0 for a 84-85 GN and mid 14s for a 350 TPI fbody

 

diff heads on the GN, i do belive... not sure about that.. and the handling/factory traction is alot better on the TTA.. so is it's center of gravity and so forth..

 

i didn't know they had only 200 hp. i was thinkin of the later GNs which were fast.

 

Yeah they used early 89 3.8 FWD Buick LeSabre heads.

I have test from a 86 Hot Rod for the 86 T-Type. It was dynoed at 210 rwhp. From the factory its rated at 230 fwhp of course, so if you factor in the loss in the drivetrain, the factory underated it a bit lol. 1/4= 14.3@98.4mph 0-60 5.85 seconds

 

different heads on a GN and TTA, and TTA heads had 1.65 rocker arms. Plus the handling feature

 

Also, TTA's had a cross drilled crank, 12 fin/inch intercooler vs. GN has 10 fin/inch, and stock boost is 16.5 #'s vs. 14#'s

 

tpivette I thought you were one of those anti-turbo/GN guys?

what made you change your mind?

hehe welcome to the dark turbo side though

hope you can get your hands on one of the cars though being a turbo is so sweet

 

and different pistons to match the heads, and not sure if the GN had an oil cooler like the TTA

hmmm what else, i believe the PROM is slightly different to match the better flowing heads as well

 

GN's do have an oil cooler. The thing can be a pain in the *** to fit right if you don't have the right adapter....

 

Hey there is a 86, or 87 GN for sale up here in CT, the guy is asking $4000 for it, and it supposedly has 88,000 miles on it and in good shape. I was thinking about looking at it, but I might be getting an 87 GT for $800. I too have the Turbo bug, and I would even sell the Stang for the right Buick!!!

 

ive never been anti-turbo, i just hate the things the buick people say about the vette (which ive actually considered selling for a GN). but i cant part with my dream car. ill just have to wait for the turbo 6, but i WILL have one eventually