1987 Buick Regal Turbo

**Firebirdjones** · 03-06-2013, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by Knight

Just curious. Wondered how much boost they'd pump through a stock motor.

We used to crank as much as 23-25 psi with race gas on the stock long blocks if the engines were in a healthy state, then turn it back down for pump gas and the drive home

Was good for 11.40's on a tiny drag radial.

**silverWS6** · 03-06-2013, 01:01 PM

That is nice! My dad used to have a Buick like that and man did I like that ride when I was a kid, I'm pretty sure it wasnt a Turbo though. He still has the V6 to that car in the backyard at home.

**Knight** · 03-06-2013, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

We used to crank as much as 23-25 psi with race gas on the stock long blocks if the engines were in a healthy state, then turn it back down for pump gas and the drive home

Was good for 11.40's on a tiny drag radial.

That's pretty impressive!

**pajeff02** · 03-06-2013, 06:16 PM

Started the coolant flush this evening. Decided I didn't really want to remove the exhaust crossover and starter to get to the passenger side block drain. If I had a socket that would fit a 7mm square head plug, I'd be in business though.

**pajeff02** · 03-15-2013, 07:01 PM

Been working on the Regal quite a bit lately. I dropped the coolant and removed all the hoses. For better access, I removed the intercooler and discovered that the bottom mount had been broken off. In the third pic, there is a small aluminum saddle bolted to the plate. That is supposed to be welded to the bottom of the intercooler and thanks to my brother and his skills with a TIG welder, it is once again how it should be.

I also found that the stud in the front cover, to which the intercooler mounting plate is attached, had worked itself loose. I cleaned everything up a bit and reinstalled the stud with a touch of Loc-tite and some Permatex on the washer to seal against the cover. Since everything is apart, I dropped all the painted stuff in the blast cabinet, including the stock airbox, and then shot it with 2 coats of semi-gloss black.

I found some 8 point sockets on the web and received them yesterday. Turns out the plug is in fact metric, but a little fabrication to create a spacer worked great and I was able to remove the passenger side block drain without any issues. There was quite a bit of coolant still in the block, so I am glad I was able to get it out. Once both plugs were out, I flushed the block out with tap water and reinstalled the plugs using a bit of thread paste on them.

**Knight** · 03-16-2013, 03:29 AM

Looking good!

**pajeff02** · 03-17-2013, 06:13 PM

Thanks, Walt. I went nuts on it this weekend and really made some headway. I found that the lower passenger side mount on the fan shroud was broken. Looked like someone attempted a repair with epoxy, but it didn't hold up. I removed the shroud and then pulled the motor and fan from it before giving everything a bath in hot soapy water. Had to take a ride up to my brother-in-law's body shop and they repaired the damage using a plastic welder. Not a pretty fix, but it is strong and can't be seen once it is installed in the car.

I have been detailing the passenger side fenderwell and it really cleaned up well. WD-40 on a shop rag removed all the nastiness on the plastic fenderwell, removed and blasted a bunch of small brackets and then shot them with semi-gloss black, and ran all the hardware through the wire wheel and also painted. The overflow bottle and washer bottle were scrubbed with a fine scotch pad in using hot water and Bleche-White. Once I finished up the fenderwell, I removed the radiator and several other brackets that needed painted. The radiator is an interesting piece as it has two separate cooler circuits -- one for the transmission and one for the engine oil. New one should be here this week. I still have to clean up and paint the core support and will start with that tomorrow evening.

**JoeHat** · 03-17-2013, 08:50 PM

Hey there, I owned a 87 GN in the early nineties, purchased it with super low miles, had a sunroof which was a nice option. Bolted on alot of Kenny Bell upgrades, Perf Chip boosted 1st gear PSI around 21 if i recall. Pretty fast but not by todays standards. Sold it to a friend who did some head work, bigger turbo etc. drove it again, it was scary fast! Enjoy!

**REVNORR82** · 03-18-2013, 02:34 AM

I my buddy said the best mod he did was the alky kit was able to run more boost on pump gas and ran cooler he swears buy it!!!

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**pajeff02** · 03-18-2013, 03:45 AM

Originally Posted by JoeHat

Hey there, I owned a 87 GN in the early nineties, purchased it with super low miles, had a sunroof which was a nice option. Bolted on alot of Kenny Bell upgrades, Perf Chip boosted 1st gear PSI around 21 if i recall. Pretty fast but not by todays standards. Sold it to a friend who did some head work, bigger turbo etc. drove it again, it was scary fast! Enjoy!

Welcome to the site! I have been keeping a look out for a GN, and found one close by with only 400 or so miles on the clock. Just too much $$ though, as were the ones I looked at in Carlisle. I am way excited about driving this car and should have it ready for the road in a week or so. Just have to wait for our weather to get a little better. The car already has a Kenne Bell chip and some other mods. I will keep it essentially stock and enjoy it as is.

Originally Posted by REVNORR82

I my buddy said the best mod he did was the alky kit was able to run more boost on pump gas and ran cooler he swears buy it!!!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

I'll have to see how it does on the high test we have in our area. It will be making some passes at the track though so I will be plumbing in a bung to check the A/F ratio to make sure things are where they need to be.

**ls1camino** · 03-18-2013, 04:30 AM

Originally Posted by REVNORR82

I my buddy said the best mod he did was the alky kit was able to run more boost on pump gas and ran cooler he swears buy it!!!

3800s love meth injection.

**pajeff02** · 03-19-2013, 06:02 PM

I worked on the radiator support a bit yesterday and today. With everything covered up, I used a couple of Roloc fiber discs in my angle grinder and a couple of small wire wheels of various shapes to clean off the rust and scale. Not sure why, but the radiator support is by far the rustiest part of the car -- no holes or anything, just some major surface rust in progress. Unfortunately, there is no way to remove it without taking the nose and fenders off the car and this just isn't the time for that undertaking. With the rust and scale knocked down, the underside painted up rather well. I'll move up top on my next trip to the garage and then it'll be all ready for the new radiator when it shows up.

**pajeff02** · 03-21-2013, 05:49 PM

Made a dinner run with the crew last night, so didn't get anything done in the garage. Back in the garage tonight and went at it for a couple of hours after dinner. A friend who worked as a garage mechanic for many years loaned me his Snap-On Scanner that will interface with the OBD-I port. I was able to remedy a high idle issue by re-adjusting the TPS, but still want to reset the IAC valve to ensure that everything is where it needs to be. This will allow me to check everything once the car is up and running again.

I masked off the rest of the engine bay and body with a combination of newspaper, masking tape, painters' tape, aluminum foil and an old bed sheet with a few towels thrown in for good measure. It took a while to get everything covered up. Using aluminum foil is so much easier than masking items like hoses and cables. I was able to get some paint into the areas of the core support behind the headlights and it came out pretty good for being painted in the vehicle.

The quantity of hardware I have had to clean up and paint is pretty substantial -- this is just the stuff from the core support, minus the top plate and air dam hardware which I still have to do. Normally, I prefer to run this stuff through my black oxide bath, but as I am not performing a full restoration at this juncture I elected to forgo that until a later date. The paint will look good and should keep any further rust in abeyance while we enjoy the car for a couple of seasons.

I have received the first batch of parts from Kirban Performance and have some more stuff coming. They make a nice gauge pod that sets in the front tray of the center console -- no holes needed. I have a water temp gauge and oil pressure gauge that match the boost gauge that was installed by the last owner on the A-pillar. I also picked up a new heater control valve as the stock one was a bit crusty. I am installing all new hoses -- this little bugger of a bypass hose had to be shipped from Georgia and our local NAPA tacked on the cost of shipping, which exceeded the price of the hose!

**35th-ANV-SS** · 03-21-2013, 06:35 PM

Finally had the time to read all of this thread. Very cool ride.

**pajeff02** · 03-21-2013, 06:38 PM

Thanks, Jon. You need to stop working so much... any chance of joining us this year in June?

**cpop98ws6** · 03-21-2013, 07:03 PM

The Red Brick, I haven't seen one of those in a long time.

**35th-ANV-SS** · 03-22-2013, 12:55 AM

Not sure. I get 2 weeks vacation this year, but not til after August.

**pajeff02** · 03-22-2013, 03:42 AM

Who do I call at your company to schedule a sales meeting?

**35th-ANV-SS** · 03-22-2013, 07:31 AM

Ha. I wish! I'm sitting in Newark, NJ airport now. I stayed an extra day to meet a client today, but unfortunately he had to cancel. So, I could have went home Wednesday afternoon. Now I'm stuck here til 330PM. Tried catching the noon flight home, but they wanted $250. I don't have any money in my budget to pay for that....good times.