Research, research, research is your friend. The deciding factor is how fast do you want, or think you want to go in the future? Honestly, $3000 isn't going to cut it. Ask any Turbo Buick owner. For $3000 you MAY be able to find a running average mile GN motor or do a very basic rebuild if the current motor is ok. If its stock you need to do the basic Turbo Buick updates (fuel pump w/ hotwire, valve springs, injectors, timing chain, chip etc). With that, a TA49 or TE44 turbo and alky high 11's are possible. Most Rebuilt motors I see come up for sale are at least $5000 mostly with no turbo. Minimum trans rebuild cost with good clutches, servo, and shift kit will run you $2000 and $500 for a converter to match the turbo. Mid to low 11's or over 400ft lbs at the crank will require billet input shaft, 4th gear carrier, etc and your looking closer to $3000. My trans has been out 4 times and is now rated for 800ft lbs so don't skimp here. To give you an idea there's at least $10000 in my car's drivetrain without even trying. The motor has been 10.80@124 on low boost in a built drag car but I haven't made a run in this car yet. Everything has to work together. You can do basic tuning with a TurboTweak chip and a scanmaster but a dyno tune is really the safest way to do it. A basic re-spray with minimal body work will be about $2000. It all adds up and its 100% cheaper to buy one already done. If you have any specific questions pm me I'd be glad to help.YGspider said:
1987 T Type I might buy
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I voted the T-type. But, I myself love both styles of cars. I only have the Cutlass tho because it was what I could settle with since t-types are hard to find. I like your cutty, Its clean, well kept, basically absolutley gorgeous. But my opinion is to Buy the regal straight out and keep both. If you cant afford Both. Ill buy the t-type off of ya. The most id give for the regal tho wouldnt be no more than 3500. The fluid soaked cardboard, the feathered tires. Those two things would raise an eyebrow to me. Id give the Regal a shot and see how it does for ya.
What's this about rebuilding the drivetrain?
I thought that it ran and drove well...?
I sure as hell wouldn't pay $6500 for a car that needed a full rebuild... What a joke :lol:
The aftermarket t-tops and vacuum brakes are too big of red flags for me.
Keep your Cutlass or keep looking for a better turbo car.
I thought that it ran and drove well...?
I sure as hell wouldn't pay $6500 for a car that needed a full rebuild... What a joke :lol:
The aftermarket t-tops and vacuum brakes are too big of red flags for me.
Keep your Cutlass or keep looking for a better turbo car.
If you do buy the Buick the first thing you should do is the spring cleaning on it, http://www.gnttype.org/maint/basics.html. Take someone with you that knows these cars when you go to look at it. Would hate to see you buy someone else's problem and then have to spend thousands of dollars to get it driveable. These cars are known as money pits and like to spend a lot of time on jackstands in the garage.
$3000 might get the engine freshened, all new gaskets, bearings, timing chain, cam,etc, but it won't do both engine and trans. I have over $8500 in my engine and trans. These cars are not cheap to build or own. Do lots of research.
Don't let the vacuum brake set up scare you. That is the fix for the poor brake set up that came on these cars when new, you never know when the powermaster is going to die and leave you with no brakes. There are lots of GN's and T's with that brake setup, I even have it on my T.
Do lots of research and reading. There is a lot of info on the net on these cars.
Chris
$3000 might get the engine freshened, all new gaskets, bearings, timing chain, cam,etc, but it won't do both engine and trans. I have over $8500 in my engine and trans. These cars are not cheap to build or own. Do lots of research.
Don't let the vacuum brake set up scare you. That is the fix for the poor brake set up that came on these cars when new, you never know when the powermaster is going to die and leave you with no brakes. There are lots of GN's and T's with that brake setup, I even have it on my T.
Do lots of research and reading. There is a lot of info on the net on these cars.
Chris
I'm going to look at the T-Type this weekend I'll keep everyone updated 8)
Is anyone in the market or looking to buy a Cutlass if I do decide to part with her for the turbo buick?
Is anyone in the market or looking to buy a Cutlass if I do decide to part with her for the turbo buick?
joesregalproject said:
You sir have made me open my eyes. Yolo haha Thats exatcly how i've been thinking why convert my nice cutlass into a turbo buick for all that money. just let another young buck get my cutlass and move onto the buick
YGspider said:
Yeah, that's how I was thinking when I bought my car. When I bought it, I didn't know what a g body was, all I knew was it had the same body as a GN. I was tired of searching around for project cars, and I just wanted to get one already. So I made a split decision, and bought it. And I wasn't in it for just the car, either, I wanted to learn to work on cars, and actually restore a car. Now, were there some things I probably should have checked before I bought it? Absolutely. The only spot I checked for rust was the frame, and I wouldn't have even checked that if the seller hadn't told me to. Luckily, all the issues and rust on my car were repairable. So, did it work out for me? Yes, absolutely. That's what I'm trying to say here. Sometimes you just gotta do it, from the pictures, there is nothing obviously wrong with the car, and if there is, I'm sure it's repairable. Don't you want to be able to say you owned a GN/T-Type? Don't you want to have the experience of maintaining a turbo car, and learn all about turbos? Don't you want to be the one to work out any bugs this car may have, then only you can say you did that. People will ask for your advice when it comes to maintaining and working on turbo v6s. I find that the most rewarding part of owning a car.
Well said. Exactly why I bought my car, to learn. Never owned a gbody or a turbo car before. Have friends who own these cars and after learning from them I decided to take the plunge and buy one. Mine turned out to be a problem child from the start but now that it's done it was a great experience building the car from ground up. First time building my own engine too. Like said above, its very rewarding to have done your own work and have people ask you about the cars, what's involved with owning one, etc. Every time I take mine to a show or even to go fill up at a gas station I'm constantly stopped by people wanting to ask questions. There's not a ton of these cars on the road so every car that is saved from someone's barn, garage, etc is one more on the road for people to admire. If your heart is in the turbo car, go for it.joesregalproject said:
Very wise words
The way I look at this is if something goes wrong I can make it better. even if it takes time.
The way I look at this is if something goes wrong I can make it better. even if it takes time.
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