I was thinking of going for the whole circle-track treatment... basically a circle track car with enough of a body to be street legal. Fiberglass bumpers, plastic body panels, etc. Sad thing is, all that stuff seems to be Monte Carlo, no Regals.
Yes, I'm inspired somewhat by the GN that ran the Silver State open road race a few years back.
The really neat thing about the 3.8 turbo engine is, you can have no mufflers at all and they still aren't very loud, so they are very street-friendly.
I have looked at these for years. Hell I remember looking a them in the showroom.
I still con not justify one versus a malibu or impala of similar vintage (or possibly earlier) Just add a well built small block and the way I see it you have a car of similar performance with alot less invested and something that is not nearly as finikey to keep running well. When I was much younger I built a 1977 impala to just this recipe. Painted it with red oxide primer including the wheels and the snap on dish hubcaps and away I went. That car ended up with some blackwall wide rubber and hardware cloth for the grill (the plastic one disintegrated at some point. I added some good shocks and some sway bars that I got off some other GM product. It was not going to win any autocross nor was it the fasted car off the line (it would roast a set of tires if asked to) but it was fast carried 6 had AC and attracted absolutely no attention.
I also found out from a friend of mine (who was an officer with the state police) that tried to radar me that the red oxide primer I had put on it (like 10 coats as every time I saw a little rust I just re spread the car) that the lead in the paint made it very difficult for it to be seen by radar.
Hot links for your viewing pleasure:
Anyway with the cost f these cars being so little I can not see spending the $$$ on a Buick turbo variant.
one thing i want to do to my Regal is to build a 4.1 (same crankand rods as the turbo 3.8, but with a bigger bore) with about 10:1 compression by using true flat top pistons to help control the quench. run the later heads like used on the 89 Turbo Trans Am for the better combustion chambers, and run about 15psi of boost and run it on E85 that is available pretty much everywhere up here.
i think it would be a beast off idle and get good fuel economy thanks to the higher static compression and sequential efi, then go full on insane when the boost kicked in. another bonus is that it would look pretty much stock under the hood.
Arent running 4.1s almost impossible to find? I kinda remember reading that almost every 4.1 block is unusable due to spun crank bearings.
Travis_K wrote: Arent running 4.1s almost impossible to find? I kinda remember reading that almost every 4.1 block is unusable due to spun crank bearings.
they are out there, just gotta find them. i know of a HUGE junkyard that is full of early 80's GM cars, so when i get some cash saved up, i'm gonn go start popping hoods.
if boost isn't a requirement, there's a 3-pedal '87 monte carlo SS on detroit craigslist:
or if you favor the car denzel drove in training day, this one a factory 4-speed, there's one of them on detroit CL too:
Always had a soft spot for the GN's. Wouldn't mind owning one today.
What ever happened with your Subaru Brat?
fornetti14 wrote: What ever happened with your Subaru Brat?
Still have it. Not getting rid of it anytime soon.
I have always loved the GN as well. It's too bad they don't/won't build something similar today.
Regarding th comments about it being a bad idea to switch to a manual, is there anything that can be done to the stock auto or another auto to swap in that would be more adept at cone dodging/road course work?
Building a GN clone could be a fun project.
A car that handles well, runs 11s and still has AC doesn't seem like it would be too hard with this platform.
AWD Astrovan donor + MonteCutlass body + Turbo 3.8 = Awesomeness.
Shawn
RealMiniDriver wrote:plance1 wrote: It was the fastest american production car at the time and it was impressive.IIRC, the claim was fastest 0-to-60 car. Popular Mechanics had an article (sidebar?) about that claim and put it to the test against an automatic Corvette. The 0-to-10, 20, 30, 40, 50 times for the Vette were faster. The GN was a tick faster to 60, but then to 70 and up, the Vette had it beat. PM attributed it to the shift pattern of the Vette. It would upshift at 58 mph, thereby slowing briefly. Lined up against a manual Vette, all the times of the GN were slightly slower. Still, I think GNs are kickass.
Never heard this before, thanks for the info. But what about other tests of the time?
z31maniac wrote: I have always loved the GN as well. It's too bad they don't/won't build something similar today. Regarding th comments about it being a bad idea to switch to a manual, is there anything that can be done to the stock auto or another auto to swap in that would be more adept at cone dodging/road course work? Building a GN clone could be a fun project. A car that handles well, runs 11s and still has AC doesn't seem like it would be too hard with this platform.
some people do autocross them- there are guys out there that can make the trans work perfectly in whatever form of racing you want to use it in.
z31maniac wrote: I have always loved the GN as well. It's too bad they don't/won't build something similar today.
CTS-V not enough for you?
It might not be apparent in 2010, but the GN wasn't just a factory hotrod - it was fairly luxobarge. Go fast with class.
The GNX had some handling improvements, but modding a GNX (or even allowing it outside of a sealed chamber) would be a sin.
How about the new Regal GS? Four-door sedan with a force-fed four cylinder with three pedals and AWD...
Knurled wrote:z31maniac wrote: I have always loved the GN as well. It's too bad they don't/won't build something similar today.How about the new Regal GS? Four-door sedan with a force-fed four cylinder with three pedals and AWD...
holy e36m3 i want one so bad i can effing-a taste the buick badge in my sleep
if you want to spend way too much time reading up on the Turbo Regals and GN's, then head on over to www.turbobuick.com and www.gnttype.org to find way more info than you will know what to do with.
In reply to SlickDizzy:
I have owned 2 turbo Regals and have known many people who have built really fast versions. I have ridden in one that ran the quarter mile at 7.77 @177MPH in the quarter (Laurence Conely of Humble TX). He used to run a shop just north of Houston, TX that specialized in these cars. My GN ran low 12's and my T-Type ran 11.5.
The biggest issue when looking for one these days is rust in the doors and floors. Unless the car was garaged and never driven in wet it will have one or both of these issues.
You can go completely crazy making these things handle. I have wanted to get my hands on one again and considered putting a GMachine chassis in it (http://www.gmachinechassis.com/), 4.1 etc, etc. The GNX suspension was a bit more substantial but still not good enough in my opinon. The rear suspension with its panard bar and torque arm were really nice. If you want one that handles you need to stiffen the chassis. They flex way too much.
I would never consider putting a manual in one of these. I had heard that GM actually a prototype with a 5spd in it but scrapped the idea because boost would drop too significantly during shifts reducing performance.
Anyway, I could on and on for hours.
Marc
WilberM3 wrote: pseudosport used to have a g-body monte in highschool that i believe he put 3g camaro goodies on and made it handle significantly better. i like the 3 pedal GN idea.
Good God, don't get me started on that car!!!! 
Yeah, back them he swapped out the springs for IROC springs, I think it had a Trans Am steering box in there too.
There's TONS of stuff out there for the G-Body chassis. You name it, and they make it. I also endorse the M/T conversion on a GN/T-Type. That would be awesome, and I've never seen it done. 
You are better off finding a Monte SS/ GN steering box than a Trans Am box. The T/A box has a similar ratio but different stops so that you can make as sharp a turn as you can with the G-body box.
While GN's are cool, I don't quite understand why you wouldn't find a G-Body of the same era and stick a 383 sbc stroker in it with a manual tranny. Would be more exciting, and automatics are still lame either way you slice it IMO
Post 86 GNs are going to increase in value. I wouldn't mod one too heavily....it would make more sense to just get a regular G-body and mod it. The GNs are at the bottom of the depreciation curve. Buy one, drive it for 10 years and sell it for more than you bought it for, as long as you haven't gone crazy with the mods.
They ran 13.9 in the quarter when new. A 86-87 Corvette would run 14.0 or so. I remember C&D did a tested one when new that ran in the high 13s, but it was a very cold day when tested which helped the turbo make power.
The ones to have are the 86-87 models. Look for the 3rd tail-light in the rear window. The earlier ones had better looking wheels, but were much slower. (15.5 quarter IIRC)
Cool, collectible cars. I've always wanted one.
Ohh la-la!
HiTempguy wrote: While GN's are cool, I don't quite understand why you wouldn't find a G-Body of the same era and stick a 383 sbc stroker in it with a manual tranny. Would be more exciting, and automatics are still lame either way you slice it IMO
A small block powered, 3800 pound car that can run 10s-9s in the quarter would suck to drive on the street.
A GN that can run 10s-9s in the quarter usually still has A/C, drives basically like a stock vehicle, and on the highway, the exhaust is still nice and quiet - you mainly just hear some turbo whistle.
Go fast with class.
Knurled wrote: A small block powered, 3800 pound car that can run 10s-9s in the quarter would suck to drive on the street.
No, it wouldn't. Back in the early 90's it would have.
Appleseed wrote: Ohh la-la!
Is there a color these things don't look good in?
When I was toolin' around in my 78 Regal in high school, this was my dream car and it is still high on the list.
You'll need to log in to post.
