Went to the track tonight and got a new best.
Uncorked with between 16-18psi, a horrible 2.18 60', I pulled a 12.83@113mph. Still running a bit lean so I cant go to 22-24psi. 11's here I come!!!!!

 

:hail: :hail: TTA's

 

It's too bad the 2.8l can't be represented. Although the 3.8l turbo TA is a V6, it is in an entirely different class, right up there with 350 small blocks and big blocks. If our cars could have been equiped with 3.8s instead of 2.8s, none of us would be complaining about lack of power. F...ING GM. That's great that you got 12s though.

 

In the most brotherly love, non-jealous kind of way...I hate you.

 

I am jealous too. To have a TTA is in my opinion like having an equivelent V8. I think this forum is mainly designed for the 2.8l and 3.1l. engines, although I appreciate a turbo TA now and then.

 

Someone has to pick on some v8's....

 

what is the TTA 3.1 or 3.4???

I know how you can get into lots and lots of races.

put that on your front and rear window in sticker form.

89 3.1 TTA

or similar, every yahoo under the sun will see that "low" liter number and assume your a chummmmmmmmmmmmmmp.

 

Its a turbo buick 3.8L block

 

Anyone that knows a Grand National most of the time will not try to even bother with you. Or better yet the clueless ones look at the fenders and writing and say "what an idiot he put all those stickers and emblems on that 305 T/A. Then they gun it to show you not to mess with their big v/8 that's until 20 feet outta the whole they here this huge vaccum leak coming there way by then it's taillights all the way.......................................

 

I am so tempted to do a grand national motor swap just from seeing how the tta's run. i wonder how much of a pain it is? my camaro is dying for more power.

 

Good luck on that one. Even though the TTA and the Grand National engines are 3.8l turbos, they are radically different. For some reason the heads on the buick 3.8ls were too wide to fit in our cars so GM had to make special heads for the TTA in order for the engine to fit. Ever wonder why you have not heard of a 3.8l swap. I have thought about dropping in a Grand National engine too. Those are rare, I have only seen one Grand National in my lifetime.

 

It's not that hard! Get everything from the Turbo T/T-type/GN and I mean everything(harness,ecm,motor,trans,etc.). You can get a set of TTA heads(any 86-89 FWD buick heads ie- skyhawk,skylark,etc.) That will bump your compression about 1/2 point still doable on 93 with lower boost numbers. Redrill the frame mounts for the GN lower motor mounts it'll take time but many have done it with great results.....

The harness will be your biggest p.i.t.a. or you could get the harness from (www.johnsperformance.com) That'll be the only thing you'll need new other than a new fuel pump to feed the beast...

 

It's been done. It's not all that uncommon of a swap.

 

Also, I have heard that the heads will fit from a GN but you just have to drop the A/C. Hey, it's all about the sacrifices!

 

Devian, I've seen two Grand Nationals alone in my crappy little city! One was sitting in the Discount Auto parking lot... TOTALLY decked out..from the hood to the rims and barely-there exhaust system...I think it was straight piped...true dual out the sides, in front of the back tires, if I remember right....

 

I see a few T types, but not the GNs.

 

Yeah, these were GN's alright..had the GN badging. Not to mention the decked out one had, in very nice chrome lettering, 3.8 Turbo or something of that nature on the hood..I believe it was a cowl hood.. Might've had turbo induction fins actually on the cowl, but this was months ago... My memory is good for about a week..after that, who knows..

 

I have counted a total of 3 GN's and 1 GNX here in hawaii.

And all of the the ones I have seen are F'n Sweet as hell....

Mabey 4-5 Turbo-t' s also.....

 

I have not seen ONE SINGLE Turbo T/A here......

 

Not bad times Pete, you know you still have A LOT left in that combo, just gotta work out the bugs, all in due time man

I'm having little issues with my motor now, but nothing major, I want to hit the track before winter hits..

 

I see grand nationals on a daily basis around here. Ive only seen 1 tta though. On sunday night when cars used to get together in NE phlly there at least 10 15 gn and 2 or 3 t types. I think theres a local GN club in the aera thats why theres so many.....one day i will own one........one day.

And yeah that swap istn all that difficult theres a guy that did it aorund here not too long ago....he didnt seem like it was that biga deal

 

That would probaby be me :sillylol:

 

Very cool.. There are several cars I want to own before I die. One of which is a TTA. BUT with a new paintjob.. Eek.... Although I would absolutely hate myself for ruining the car with non-original paint......... Another...can you say 2002 Lingenfelter Corvette? 427 cid aluminum Twin Turbo engine...
Hehe...
1/4 mile: 9.25 @ 150ish...
0-60: 1.95 seconds?
0-100: ~5 seconds
Top speed: 240 mph

I found a few videos on Kazaa for that car...it's unbelievable.....

I just wet myself.

 

So far I have seen 4 TTAs in my lifetime and 5 of those 4th gen Anniversarry Convertibles with the blue wheels and stripes.

 

Lingenfelter performance mods are too pricey for me, but not as pricey as Koenig for Lamborghinnies and Ferraris, talk about pricey, $5000 for a performance exhaust!!!

 

Fly unfortunatly it was a camaro i saw with it done not your firebird...but im bettin ive seen it before since your so close. you ever see a white camaro with a red stripe down the side its me.

 

I looked it up and I was dissappointed that not only was it a Camaro, but a 4thgen. They are ok, but I prefer thirdgens.

 

devianb

I was talking about one from my aera. a guy did hte converstion on a 3rd gen camaro convertable. used to belong to levittown street raceing a long time ago....definitly a nice swap.

 

Hmmm, did the guy live in Aston or Springfield? I know of a guy that had a Iroc vert with a GN motor running 10's :rockon: :hail:

 

not sure man. it was a while ago so i forget where he was from.
I know it was for sale for a while im not sure if it was ever sold or not.

 

It was probably him..

 

The T-types are far more rare...only 2600 made in 86, more in 87, but still far less than the GN. Don't forget the WE4, an 87 model that looked exactly like a GN but had different emblems and no 6 on the headrests...they were built in defiance of GM, because they limited 87 GN production. I've had two 86 T-types, and currently drive an '87 GN. I'll have a TTA one day.

BTW if anybody is looking for a TTA, a friend of mine has two of them for sale.
19k miles for around $18,000
78k miles for $12,000

PM me for details.

 

you would've loved the T/A Nat'ls this year, about 6 2nd gen TT/As, 6 3rd gen TT/As, and countless anniversary models.

 

Yep , the T-types are rarer. I have a friend with an '84, he said there were something like 1700 made that year.

He's trying to sell it, but travels a lot so he hasn't tried to advertise. He screwed up, put rear discs on it some years back and now it's worth less money.

Eric

 

I liked the GNs the best because they were like Buick equivelents of GTAs or I should say TTA because of the engine. Has anyone ever swapped in a Turbo 4.3L from the GM Cyclone Pickups.

 

The Ttype's and Gn had the same exact engine...

 

Yes, the engines are the same whether T-type or GN. Some T-types had weak 307 olds motors, though...I have seen a couple of those, don't know why anyone would have bought one. The T-types are usually slightly lighter (aluminum drums vs iron on the GN, lighter wheels, lighter bumper supports), giving them a small performance edge. The pre-86s are "hot air" motors, no intercooler, and aren't nearly as powerful (or valuable) as the 86-87 models.

 

Yeah the t- types are much rarer. Id rather have a gn though cuase it just looks meaner. nayhitng nice thats completly black n color usually looks mean. The syclone swap i havent heard of anyone doing in a 3rd gen before. That acutually owuld be quite interesting to see.

 

I liked the GNs because they were all black and they had my favorite wheels, the black crosslaced ones.

 

That was the GNX, a limited edition 87 with a ceramic turbo, torque arm rear suspension, and VDO analog gauges. Only made 547 of those. The standard GNs came with black and chrome steel wheels...kind of ugly IMHO.

 

Ok, thanks. I thought I confused the models. In that case I have only seen 1 T-type, 3 GNs, and 2 GNXs in my hometown of Champaign-Urbana Illinois.

 

The GNX's also had the louvered fenders on them as well to tell them apart.
Well you also gotta watch to alot of people just throw the gnx rims on there, or firebird ones for that matter cause they look close. A guy by me put the rims and the gnx fenders on just for looks.

 

In regards to swapping a GN 3.8 in a F-body, you said the heads didn't fit be cause they are too wide. It just so happens I'm a Buick guy, and I have also harnessed the great power of these motors. I also have a Buick Motor in a Trans am, my plant would be a Big Block 430. that has some serious torque, at any rate, that motor is notorious for its width, ANd I have to say it fits quite nicely. Down below is the link to my car in the readers rides


MY RIDE

At any rate do you TTA guys run the 2004r tranny(like the grand nationals) or the 700r4?

 

The GN motor will fit with no problems provided you ditch the AC.

The TTA has the 200-4r as well, I'm running a 700r4 behind the 3.8 in my GTA right now, debating on swapping to a 200-4r..

 

The GN motor will fit as is, but supposedly will not clear the AC...that is why the TTA had 3.0 Buick heads instead of the stock 3.8 heads. The TTA has a 2004R, like the GN.

Pretty cool, using a Buick big block in a 3rd gen. The Pull-A-Part here is full of 455s, and the though has crossed my mind.

 

Thanks, I have only encounetered a few problems, like overheating and the frame problems. It was a fairly easy swap, and I made the mounts from the old 2.8 mounts. Hardest part was dropping the A-arms to remove/install mounts. It also help that I had a 455 block I used for a stencil. much easier to move just th block around then the full assembled motor. If you ever seriously consider it, drop me a line, and I'll give you some tips.

Now all I need is a 2004r, it is much stronger then the 700, ad has much better gearing, unless you are running a motor with no low end power, which Buicks are well known for.

 

The truth is from the factory neither tranny is very good. Both can be made to hold it's own. The reason everyone thinks the 700 is weaker(yes but marginally) is the higher first gear ratio. However the 3.06 first gear still gives you off the line punch with an economical rear. Running a lower gear(3.23's compared to 3.42's) gives you great gas mileage.


Both tranny's would be comparable if built right. The killer tranny out now is the 4L80E (400 w/ od) used in big trucks. 700lb/ft tourqe rating is ungodly...

 

Thats good to know just in case someone has plans for an insane engine swap.

 

If I had a choice between a built 700 and 200 I'd take the 200 in a heartbeat


Pete, trust me on this one, my car doesn't have any more ***** in first gear than if it had a 200, the car FLYS once it hits 2nd though :rockon: