questions About 86/87 GN

[Maverick123w]

Hey guys, this is my first post here on the buick forum. At the moment I'm drving a 2004 my parents thankfully got me as a present to get to school, after the 95 lumina with 265,000 miles on it gave out. So I really want to buy a new car of my own again. I had originally decided to go with an SRT-4 but its just 2 expensive for me right now, and I'm not all that keen on the looks.

One day my dad told about a car he almost bought in 87 called a Buick Grand National, and that it was real quick. I laughed at him cause buick and fast dont click in my head. Anyways I did my research and it looks like this car can pull low 14's/high 13's stock. Which is on par with the SRT-4 and much nicer looking. So here are my questions-

How reliable are the 86/87 GN's?
How hard would it be to make it a low-mid 13 second daily driver?
How much is one in the Ohio area with a decent body that runs well?
I only make about $1,000-$1,500/month atm so I need to know if I can afford the insurance on these cars.
Is the hype really all that?

- Thanks alot guys, pending a test drive this may be my next car

[Hypsi87]

Originally Posted by Maverick123w

Hey guys, this is my first post here on the buick forum. At the moment I'm drving a 2004 my parents thankfully got me as a present to get to school, after the 95 lumina with 265,000 miles on it gave out. So I really want to buy a new car of my own again. I had originally decided to go with an SRT-4 but its just 2 expensive for me right now, and I'm not all that keen on the looks.

One day my dad told about a car he almost bought in 87 called a Buick Grand National, and that it was real quick. I laughed at him cause buick and fast dont click in my head. Anyways I did my research and it looks like this car can pull low 14's/high 13's stock. Which is on par with the SRT-4 and much nicer looking. So here are my questions-

How reliable are the 86/87 GN's?
How hard would it be to make it a low-mid 13 second daily driver?
How much is one in the Ohio area with a decent body that runs well?
I only make about $1,000-$1,500/month atm so I need to know if I can afford the insurance on these cars.
Is the hype really all that?


- Thanks alot guys, pending a test drive this may be my next car

As with every car, reliabilty is a factor that depends on who and how it is taken care of but if the car is in good shape, they are very dependable.

I have about 1,300 in my 87 GN and I run mid to low 11's on pump gas, a stock GN with slicks is a mid 13 sec car.

Most go in the 6k-14k price range. The nicer showcar like cars go for more.

I am a broke ass college student and I afford full coverage. My insurance is 53 bucks a month. To the insurance people, its just another buick.

The hype is deffinatly all that, bang for the buck, you just can't get a better car. seats five, comfortable ride, decent gas mileage (I get 22 MPG with a 3200 non lockup torque converter) cheap insurance, corvette killer.

Anyone who says different, has not driven one.

P.S. Welcome to the dark side

[tman]

Maverick, around here, Hypsi87 is Turbo Buick God, and you can believe everything he says!

[Maverick123w]

Wow..... $1,300 in and it runs 11's ... yah I'll definately be listening to this guy lol. That is sweet.... I only wanted a nice 13 second car to get me around... but shit if I could get a daily driver in hte 12's for maybe another gand in upgrades I'd be all over this.

I can't belive I dont see more of these things around. It seems to be an incredible car. Now the hard part... finding one

[kenwood guy]

yea there pretty hard to find how about a t-type I read a post saying it was the same car???? anyway does anyone have links about info on the gn and links to upgrade parts and stuff like that?? and one more thing the gn's can run those numbers in a automatic??? that is super trick!! must be a good trans

[Maverick123w]

I dunno about the type-T but i keep hearing something about a GNX... I'd imagine its expensive though. But yah I'd like to spend around 6-7 thousand. Think I could get a nice one for that?

[Hypsi87]

Yea, the T-types are exactly the same as the GN drivetrain wise. The difference is the T-types did not have the GN wheels and apperence package, thats it. The GNX was the GN tto end all GN's. yes they are rare (547 of them made) and they are expensive.


As for running the times they do through an automatic, MOST cars will run a faster et with an automatic than a stick. Espically turbo cars, with an automatic all you do is build boost once and you are done. With a stick, you lose boost every time you push in the clutch.



Like I said, for 12's all you would need is sticky tires (like drag radials) and a race chip with race fuel. or a race chip and alcohol injection.

275/50/15 DR's-------------130 a peice
SMC alcohol injection-------------360
nice custom burned chip-----------100
and you are in the 12's

[Maverick123w]

Wow... this car is crazy. Like $500 for 12's... thats nice. The funniest thing happened today. I was driving around on my lunch break at work with a bud telliin him bout the Grand National. Then there was one parked on the road lol. I drove by it again so that I could get another look. It looked to be in OK shape. The inside seemed nice 2. The seat was way up like a granny drives it or something. I'm gonna go harrass the owners tomorrow

[kenwood guy]

good idea!!! the t in t type stands for turbo right? because I have seen one with a v 8 engine

[Hypsi87]

Originally Posted by kenwood guy

good idea!!! the t in t type stands for turbo right? because I have seen one with a v 8 engine

If had a v-8 in it, then it was not a ture t-type. It is popuar for the v-8 regal guys to clone the turbo cars. The turbo cars had a nicer hood and bumper fillers ect. They looked nicer

[kenwood guy]

whats your story on how you got your Gn?

[Hypsi87]

Originally Posted by kenwood guy

whats your story on how you got your Gn?

My uncle had three of them, one was a parts car and the other two ran. I was 12 when he had his first one and I would help him out and just learn off of him when ever I could. Well He raced the car that I have now and he bought a bunch of speed parts for it (Roller cam, GN-1 heads etc.) So he took the car apart to put this crap on. Well in the middle of dissasembly, he bought a 1989 Turbo Trans Am. Well my car sat in his shop from the time I was 12 till the time I was 18 all tore apart. I bought it off of him for 6k tore apart and it took me a year to get it all back together. Now I have an 11 sec GN. The crapy part of the deal is that he sold the GN-1 heads and roller cam and all the other stuff that he had for my car to help pay for the TTA. So I got stuck with stock stuff

[kenwood guy]

man what a story 6 years in the making!! the car is fast stock so why get mad about the parts he sold??

[Hypsi87]

Originally Posted by kenwood guy

man what a story 6 years in the making!! the car is fast stock so why get mad about the parts he sold??

once you run 14's you want 13's. once you run 13's, you want 12's. once you run 12's you want 11's.

It's like drugs, only more expensive

[Maverick123w]

Originally Posted by Hypsi87

once you run 14's you want 13's. once you run 13's, you want 12's. once you run 12's you want 11's.

It's like drugs, only more expensive

Yah I can only hope I get to experience it soon