Waking up a Grand National

[RC104ever]

Loved that car when it came out - and no one really knew how potent it really was when it came out. Amazing car - too bad there aren't more of them out there.

[jwscab]

the best part of that car is the fact that the 3.8l buick motor itself is a polished turd. add the hairdryer and it became a hero. excellent example of how turbocharging can overcome many deficiencies.

[Coelacanth]

It was actually turbocharged for '84 - '85 as well, which certainly helped, but performance was still rather meek for those years. It was the intercooler option in '86 - '87 that really made a difference and made the GN a legend. Up to '85 it was just a mean-looking black car without the balls to back up the look.

[jwscab]

yes, the 84/85 cars were non-intercooled, and the later turbo was much better. The intake was pretty crappy too, restrictive, but all the things they learned they incorporated into the 86/87 cars.

[Bong024]

I had an 83 Regal T-Type. 3.8l turbo and carbureted. I loved the car, but made dismal power. That carb was always out of adjustment. The waste gate went and I "adjusted" it to always open. It made good power for about a week . I had an 86 and still regret selling that car.

[Bong024]

It was just like this one.

[slapshot1979]

I had a few 3.8'sNA and they were great motors if you could keep timing chains in them. there was an upgrade to timing gears from GM but was $$.

Great story and nice car. I remember running GN with my older brother in his 5.0L I was a young impressionable lad of 10yrs.

[Coelacanth]

Good point about one of the known weak links with the 3.8 Turbos. This one still runs great but I know it's only a matter of time before I'll need to replace a cracked exhaust header and the nylon timing chain gear. Those are probably the most common engine failures. It's still at only about 92k km, so it might not be for a while yet...knocking on wood!

[Daryl Lane]

Great story and a great car - I believe there are still a couple of them running in NHRA Stock classes and winning.

[biff85ta]

Great story and a great car - I believe there are still a couple of them running in NHRA Stock classes and winning.

Buddy Ingersoll lived a few miles from me most of my life and it turns out I have some friends who knew him. I wish I could have met him.

[Coelacanth]

I finally took care of some detailing this weekend. The headlight bezels, originally black, had faded a lot over the years, and in a few places, were scuffed, scraped or worn through to the grey-colored plastic underneath. I removed them, disassembled the corner marker lenses, washed everything thoroughly and masked off the lenses, and gave them a few coats of SEM Trim Black. Good as new!

Next thing to do is replace the PowerMaster brake accumulator ball, it isn't holding much pressure anymore and the "Brake" light blips on once in a while during braking. Better to be safe than sorry...

[PlastiZapCA+]

Great work, those bezels came out perfect! Very beautiful car you have there.

[LTO_Dave]

Nice work on those bezels! I love that SEM trim paint...I've used it on real cars and my RC crawlers to simulate real plastic trim.

[Coelacanth]

Thank you, guys! Everybody swears by this paint so I had to look all over town to find a place that sells it. I bought their last 2 cans, and I'm already almost done the first one. I need to buy some other Eastwood products including a vinyl/plastic interior dyeing kit so I'll probably be making a bulk online purchase this summer. Last year I scored some amazing front door panels for the Charger, they look near-mint...but they're blue. I'm re-doing my interior black.

[PlastiZapCA+]

You can order nearly all the products SEM makes including interior dye online here: http://www.yourautotrim.com/semdye.html I've never tried the dye, but I've heard it works great. Tempted to try it on my daily driver.