what should I expect

[john35thss]

First post on this board, seem a little more hot air friendly than other boards.

I have a 85 gn original paint 30 k car it was a little sluggish stock wanted to modify but I did not want to ruin any stock parts becuase inspite of what all the 87 guys want you to believe their where only 1800 85 gns originally and somthing like 20000 87s so in the future a hot air will be more collectable than a later car because of numbers actually built and kept.

Found an 86 long complete and rebuilt it with wisco pistons studed bottom bigger valves, ported heads, poston 107 cam, poston ta33 turbo, poston headers and up pipe, atr2.5 down with hooker cat back, caspers 87 ecm conversion and chip with 42 pound injectors, atr cold air, poston 2800 convertor with ck trans, stock gearing in rear.

Guys at poston told me they havn't seen another buildup like mine and snows here for at least another 2 months and the suspense is killing me.

What can I really expect without a intercooler on pump fuel, I have the complete 86 top end but dont't want to use it since it really isn't right on a hot air.

John

[dandman]

hi john
id rec alcohol injection
hope to see you and your car when the snow melts(and the salt is off the road!)

dan

[john35thss]

Hey Dan, still have that ATR blowoff on my desk. Its going to be a real nice paperweight till I get the time to put it on the TA.

As soon as the snow melts we definately have to hook up so I can see your car.

John

[Turbo Archie]

Well with the right fuel it should be in the 12's. No car runs good on pump gas.

Unless it's a 502.

[john35thss]

So 12's on pump fuel is unrealistic, have the switch in the chip but using race fuel does't make sense on the street.

Will try with 94 and hope it's fast enough for all the z06's around here that are as common as flys now.

How does the alcohol work is it equivalent to 104.

John

[racemybuick]

Spend 300 in the off season, get an SMC kit for the alky injection, and that pump gas will be just fine. If you really want to run on the pump 94, boost really cant go higher than the stock 13-15ish range. you'll ping (knock) like crazy. Your mods look pretty sweet, but as everone always tells me, with no pump in the tank to push the fuel, no fuel will push the car....

just my 2 cents. Good luck.

John

[john35thss]

Have a racetronix pump system just dont want to install to much at once, to many mods at once too much to troubleshoot. Just now getting ready to fire car hope it starts.

Checked out the alk inj seems like a lot of money, has anyone puty one together with a hopps switch and a pesticide pump.

John

[racemybuick]

Ask Steve @ SMC....He knows a ton about it!!!

John :arco:

[turbo6x2]

First post on this board, seem a little more hot air friendly than other boards.

I have a 85 gn original paint 30 k car it was a little sluggish stock wanted to modify but I did not want to ruin any stock parts becuase inspite of what all the 87 guys want you to believe their where only 1800 85 gns originally and somthing like 20000 87s so in the future a hot air will be more collectable than a later car because of numbers actually built and kept.

Found an 86 long complete and rebuilt it with wisco pistons studed bottom bigger valves, ported heads, poston 107 cam, poston ta33 turbo, poston headers and up pipe, atr2.5 down with hooker cat back, caspers 87 ecm conversion and chip with 42 pound injectors, atr cold air, poston 2800 convertor with ck trans, stock gearing in rear.

Guys at poston told me they havn't seen another buildup like mine and snows here for at least another 2 months and the suspense is killing me.

What can I really expect without a intercooler on pump fuel, I have the complete 86 top end but dont't want to use it since it really isn't right on a hot air.

John


Actual production number for the 85 just so you are aware.
Grand National
2,102 Produced
200 HP @ 4400 RPM
300 ft-lbs of torque at 2400 RPM
T-Type
1,575 Produced
200 HP @ 4400 RPM
300 ft-lbs of torque at 2400 RPM
WH1

525 Produced
200 HP @ 4400 RPM
300 ft-lbs of torque at 2400 RPM
Total Turbo Cars = 4,204

[john35thss]

So there were a few more than 1800 gn's built, but how many are left :fragez:. The hot airs were never considered desirable so they were used more than the more common later cars.

John

[turbo6x2]

I just thought you might want to have the correct number instead of an estimate. I also believe that's your opinion that most would abuse the hot airs. There are quite a few in my area and they are all nice cars.

[HotAirGNsRule]

So there were a few more than 1800 gn's built, but how many are left . The hot airs were never considered desirable so they were used more than the more common later cars.

It is to be assumed that when these cars were built they would be transportation pieces and Buick never tracked the VIN's to determine which '84 and '85 cars were actually GN's. Every GN built during this two year grouping was actually a black T-type that then had the GN trim and exterior pieces added to it.

Check out your trunk for the factory build sticker and you will find that my statement above is indeed true. Confirmed by the build codes themselves. Again GM never tracked the vin codes on the '84/'85 models to determine what was an original GN. (This is why you may run into a clone. If it doesn't have the original build sheet pasted onto the trunk lid... run... don't walk away from the individual attempting to pass off that car)

How many remain? I estimate you'll find less than 500 of each year remaining, and I bet my estimate is close after tracking how members on the Hot-Air board lost their own cars over the last 8 years.

I found that since nobody ever knew these cars would one day be a desired enthuisiast toy... they were wrapped around light poles, ran into trees or other cars (icy roads killed many of these cars), parted out on Ebay, wrecked by blind old ladies driving passenger vans, and or rotted away on salt.

A fraction of them exist today, and yes... if you kept yours factory original it will indeed be worth something... someday.

Value is in the eyes of the beholder. A low miles 1984 GN was offered for sale on Ebay recently at $19K... I don't believe it sold for that amount. (Someone correct me if I am wrong.)

[racemybuick]

i think your GN that was on ebay sold for 18k ish... I printed copies out last year of the 1984 Gn that sold for $14,900...I was so excited to see one at such a high value...but that car was immaculate and retained a fraction of average miles on these cars...9,900 i believe...long story short, there are a few diamonds in the rouhg, but like many say, it can be a clone, it can be a junker...most of our wonderful hot air cars were converted to the oh-so-desirable IC versions. You want to keep stock appearing, but pull 14's or 13's, do exactly what my bro is doing...fuel pump, accufab adjustable fuel pressure regulator, 37 lb injectors from delphi, atr exhaust, and some high octane at the track...other than that, his car will remain 100% stock...no port work, no slicks, no difference in appearance except for the exhaust pipes.

his car is a 1984 buick T-Type, red, with the factory original power moon-roof. the motor was abused by the previous owner, and the car needs a repaint, but when it is put backtogether, my bro wants to keep as close to stock as he can...merely for value in 10 years...he plans on keeping it for a very long time!

John :arco:

[john35thss]

I guess thread topic changed a little, but when I bought my buick last year I didn't see a hot air when I found it I saw a buick Grand National that was ultra clean.

I was never really into buicks when they where being built ( 84-87) I owned mustangs, buicks cost way to much new. I have the documentation on my car and it cost almost 25,000.00 cd in 85 crazy money in 85 when a GT mustang I bought was 12,000.00.

Anyway thats why I decided when I modified this car I wasn't going to do anything I couldn't reverse and I wasn't going to use the stock motor turbo or trans (they are safely tucked away in my garage).

Hotairgnsrule when you say you think 500 cars are left do you mean t's and gns or just gns, if all thats left of 4000 is 500 thats like almost extinct but still 25% survival rate is good.

John

[racemybuick]

I think with your combo, a low 13 with mild tuning, or maybe, just maybe, high 12's!!!
Do you have any other mods going into the car?

As per your numbers on the production of GN's, the rarest GN not including the GNX is the 84 GN, with only 2000 produced...in a close second, the 1985 GN, producing 2102...The 87 GN brought in 20194, and the famed 547 GNX's, or a total of 20741 in 1987 alone....A huge difference in our modest hot air numbers...In fact, all the hot air's combined: T-Types and GN's that were fuel injected totaled in 9603, which is less than half of the total GN's, excluding turbo t-s and limiteds in 1987. So, I hope the favor turns towards our cars in the upcoming future, with regards to value, as opposed to those IC people!!!

The numbers were I have were derrived from Dennis Kirban's 2004/2005 Performance Catalog, page 2.

[racemybuick]

:rock: Actual production number for the 85 just so you are aware.
Grand National
2,102 Produced
200 HP @ 4400 RPM
300 ft-lbs of torque at 2400 RPM
T-Type
1,575 Produced
200 HP @ 4400 RPM
300 ft-lbs of torque at 2400 RPM
WH1

525 Produced
200 HP @ 4400 RPM
300 ft-lbs of torque at 2400 RPM
Total Turbo Cars = 4,204


My apologies, Jamie, I forgot about this post...I just wanted to show the hot air picture to you guys and girls!!! We need to make our car's known!!!

John