Project Black Hole a Buick GN Build

[bishir]

I thought I'd start posting here since this site has been an large influence. I've been posting most of my updates on the Turbo Buick site, but I'll get you up to date on my car's build.

My starting goals were:


Fix the oil leaks aka: horsepower sweat
Create a car that can stop and turn as well as it goes straight.
Finish it before I move this summer (oops)
Never let my wife know how much I spent. ;)

[Buryingthesun]

wives always know how much you spend

[bishir]

wives always know how much you spend

Mine always says, 'if their wasn't nothing 'technically' wrong with your car why did you have to spend money on it?

[bishir]

Here is the engine after exiting the gravitation pull of the Buick. It presently has 60k on the clock. It ran great before being pulled. It's just my garage floor was looking like the back of a couch in a soul glow commercial, and Pensacola really can't handle another ecological disaster. Hmm, perhaps I could apply for BP oil funds for this project?

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[bishir]

Those of us who grew up in the rust belt know 'Ziebart' protection used to be a big thing. In fact, commercials like these used to be on the TV all the time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXVA8BjFJKM


The original buyer of my GN obviously decided he NEEDED Ziebart and he NEEDED IT EVERYWHERE! Floorpans? Of Course! Frame rails? Give me extra!

Oil pan? WHY NOT?!?! Plastic Intercooler Fan? If it's good wouldn't more be better??!?!? The person who coated this car was throughly intent on making it a sea going vessel. The good news, it protected it from rust. Seriously, if Ziebart was around 4000 years ago King Tut would still look 18 and the sphinx would have an nose.

The bad news, some chump years later (me) would have to deal with it. The added bonus is gas and oil like to mix with it creating some sort of toxic sludge that repels water due to it's petro properties, but also manages to ruin every piece of clothing you wear anytime you work on the car. It's won many of battles, but it's going to lose the war.

These frame rail, and front suspension pictures should give you an idea:

This is an upper A arm wearing more ziebart than Nancy Pelosi wears eyeliner. Is that a washer and nut or an upside down wizard hat holding that together?

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[bishir]

Here are some pics of the removal progress...

I bought a tyvek suit from Lowes. 9 bucks. A 4.5" Harbor Freight Grinder aptly called "Chicago" probably because you have a high chance of dying using it. But it's going to be coated in so much undercoating junk it's will probably be tossed afterwards. (note: I still have it year later. We've been though so much undercoating together you can just toss away those memories)

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I'm thoroughly convinced GM wanted their cars to rust before we discovered how crappy their frames were welded. Robots don't care they're.. they must be union robots!

Last but not least MEK. This stuff comes with enough warnings you're convinced cancer has started just because you carried it home from the store. It works wonders though. Wear proper equipment (your t-shirt covering your nose won't do.. )

[bishir]

At this point I thought why not pull the body, send the frame off to be blasted, etc.. Well, I didn't because time was going to be of the essence. It turns out we decided to get our home ready to sell and that required lots of other work to be done. We were going to move and I tore my car apart! Great timing!
We crazy :rolleyes:


Here is a mistake I made. I chose to Por15 the frame. Well, I don't like the glossiness of the frame one bit and once you open a can of the stuff it going to go bad. So future scratches are going to require buying a new can. If I had a do over I'd choose a nice primer and chassis black from Eastwood. Maybe one day a 90% coupon will come out for a nice chassis. Its not a true money pit or black hole without redoing things you've already done!

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[bishir]

I sent my heads to my brother who gave me the 'family' discount to port and polish my heads. Most people don't know how anemic the stock buick heads are and just minor work can really help these cars. It's amazing they perform as well as they do with the heads GM used.

My brother was used to working with aluminum heads on Mustangs and I'm not sure he was quite prepared for the amount of work Iron heads would take. He bent quite a few mandrels. He lives in Indiana and it's cold so what else was he going to do? ;)

[bishir]

Here is something I started doing that I would encourage all of you to try if you haven't. Powdercoating...

I bought a simple kit from Eastwood and went to town on the parts that could fit in my oven. My intake is coated cast aluminum and the bumper brackets in this pic are single stage reflective chrome. The oven was 10 dollars on craigslist. Warning, you may have to go to shady places to buy a $10 oven. If you're not a CCW holder I suggest buying a higher priced oven.

[bishir]

I met some of the Ridetech crew on the 2010 Powertour when they hosted some of us that post on bang shift.com I was impressed with their products, and I appreciated their support of our hobby. Since I managed not to get fired after watching a good portion of the 48 hour camaro build I was able to buy a kit.

Their products look as good sitting still as the cars that use them perform! Being a Hoosier myself was just a bonus! I contacted Scott at GNS and decided the front tru-turn setup with single adjustable coil-overs would fit the goals I have for this car.

Lastly, I learned in the past it's nice to have all suspension components that are engineered to work together. I've used parts from different places before due to cost etc, but it always ended up costing me in the long run. This time I wanted it all to come from the same place. Here some pics:

[bishir]

Replaced the stock steering shaft with one from a Jeep Cherokee. It's a popular swap since you replace the rag joint with a collapsable style column. The only thing I needed to do was grind a flat spot on the steering shaft so it would slide in place.

[bishir]

Here it was time to pull the timing cover to replace the timing chain. These cars are notorious for the nylon teeth in the stock timing set to break. However, my car thankfully had a perfect set. I replaced it anyways with a chain from TA Performance. Also, why not powercoat some more? The stock balancer is pictured hanging in the oven.

[bishir]

Here's the before and after of my rear end.

[bishir]

Here are the rest of the rear pics. Including the ride tech rear setup.

[bishir]

A friend let me borrow his eastwood brake flaring too. God must have noticed our prior attempts of flaring line in the past with cheap part store loaners and after a massive face palm he allowed this tool be created. His infinite wisdom knew I'd never buy one so he allowed one of my car buddies to buy one and loan to me whenever I need it. I'm convinced. Use one after using the china junk and you'll be convinced it's a divine creation too. I was just flaring random line around the shop for the fun of it and laughing like a manic. If my wife didn't want the wind chimes to have a double inverted flare she should have told me. Sorry, If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm weird. ;)

[bishir]

I decided to try the right stuff proportioning valve for rear discs. I also powder coated the linkage bracket for the shift linkage.

[bishir]

Engine pics in reverse order...

Pulley set by rjc racing.

[bishir]

Front frame braces by Detroit Speed. As you can see if you're running a stock location stretch intercooler it won't work with these braces.

[bishir]

New engine wiring harness from Casper Electronics. Some neat features here but I made so many posts today to get you caught up I'm tired. :)

[bishir]

Alright, I wanted CCW wheels similar to SicMonte and Scott from GNS. They really have that GNX style look to them that I like. However, I went a cheaper route and chose some 18" Centerline Lazer ii Wheels. (budget is getting tight) I won't say I regret my decision because they are nice looking wheels in person, but its going to cost me to get them exactly right. For instance the CCW clear the calipers on the Track4. These don't (barely) so I'll need to run a small 1/8" spacer. The hub is also pretty thick on these wheels where the lugs go so I'm going to have to get longer wheel studs on the front. The billet dust cap on the bear's interfere with the center cap on these wheels so Ill need to run a stamped metal cap. Dorman part 618-102 according to Rich from Baer. (Who's great BTW)

Also, I'm thinking about powder coating the centers black.. That was the original plan. However to help visualize it before I commit I'm thinking about using that plastic dip stuff and peeling it off once I see what it looks like black. Anyone done this before?

[bishir]

Here are the front rims. They're 18x9.5 w/ 5"BS As you can see they're turned to full steering lock. I plan on running a 275/35 BFG Rival which I think may hit the muscle bar at a full lock.. it will be close..

[bishir]

Tires arrived..

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[bishir]

The front inner fender is going to need some clearance:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Painted: I cut a little too much fender lip for the patch panel but it turned out decent. The patch panel is panel bonded to the outer fender and riveted to the inner fender so the inner fender can be separated if needed.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

I plan on rolling what is remaining of the wheel lips once the fender is back on the car. It's easier that way.

[GNon18s]

Those front fender mods bring back memories! The very first thing I ever cut on my GN was the underside of the front fenders. I remember feeling so guilty at the time. I didn't even patch it back up, It remained a very rigid fender even after cutting all that out so I didn't even worry about patching it.

[instro84]

hey bishir good to see another tb guy here. you suspension looks just like mine.

[bishir]

Those front fender mods bring back memories! The very first thing I ever cut on my GN was the underside of the front fenders. I remember feeling so guilty at the time. I didn't even patch it back up, It remained a very rigid fender even after cutting all that out so I didn't even worry about patching it.

Good, that makes me feel a little better where my patch panel didn't line up. What size tire are you running in front? I plan on adding the GNX Style wheel patches too in the rear of the inner fender.

[bishir]

hey bishir good to see another tb guy here. you suspension looks just like mine.

Sweet, which front mount did you install the extreme or super extreme?

My braces are going to dictate a change to front mount so I'm looking for a smaller one... fast spool and less cooling impact..

[carguykeith]

Love the build! If I would have had the $ that is the exact front suspension I would be running. That's a good solution to wider front tires, I would really like to have 275's in the front.

Two questions:

1. I didn't see a rear frame notch, are you planning one? My 285's "barely" fit without one.

2. Why not weld the axle tubes to the center section? If you are planning any strip time I would highly recomend it. I did it myself with a stick welder and nickle rod for $20 in materials.

[bishir]

No notch, I'm running 295 tires in the rear without one. You'll need to roll your fender lip though. The Baer brakes push the rear out about .25" otherwise 4.75 BS would be max in a stock setup... I didn't even think about welding the axle tubes... :/

[bishir]

I had to add longer studs due to the Baer lugs that were included being too short. This is a BFG rival 275 on the front. It looks like it's going to work at full lock. The Ridetech true turn system looks like it's going to do the job!

[bishir]

Looks like pics aren't uploading with the mobile app.. I'll get them soon

[Gil]

Hi Bishir
Very nice work. GN is a dream for me.
Will be a blast to drive with all the improvements your adding
Bad a$$ ride
Gil

[bishir]

Thanks Gil!

[bishir]

Here are the pics of the 275/35/18 Rivals on the front. I plan on painting the center of the rims black (possibly plasti dip)

[bishir]

Deleted

[bishir]

I missed a few updates (mobile app isn't letting me post pics)

Here is the current state of the car. *Note* The rims are plasti dipped in the center. Read my thread (https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/107241-PlastiDip?p=1069737#post1069737) about how I did my wheels if you're interested.


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[Gil]

The front inner fender is going to need some clearance:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Painted: I cut a little too much fender lip for the patch panel but it turned out decent. The patch panel is panel bonded to the outer fender and riveted to the inner fender so the inner fender can be separated if needed.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

I plan on rolling what is remaining of the wheel lips once the fender is back on the car. It's easier that way.

Hi Bishir,
The more I see these mods, the more I want to do it to the front of my Bird and roll the rear fender lips as previous ouwner puts 235 tyres rubbing like crazy...
Your rear stance is perfect & black center wheels is a good choice too
Need bigger piiiiics !!
Really nice car
Gil

[68firebird]

Great job. I like the plasti dipped wheels, looks good. I've got mine dipped and I have to say that stuff is pretty durable.

[bishir]

Here is the engine so far: It's getting close to being back together. I'm looking at running two transmission coolers so any ideas on creative mounts etc?


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[WallaceMFG]

I've always loved Grand Nationals, and yours is looking good!

Where'd you get the serpentine pulleys, they look cool!

[bishir]

Thanks, they are made by rjc racing. www.rjcracing.com

[bishir]

It's been quite awhile since I've posted here, but there are two major updates.
1. The car is back together.
2. I moved to Indiana.

Last weekend I attempted to attend the Dragcross by the Indiana SCCA. The fuel pump failed 2 miles from the event. :(

Regardless, I hope for a fun, eventful season and here are some pics I have on this computer..

111931111932umm not sure why this is upside down111933

[bishir]

While updating the fuel pump I'm considering the Holly Hydramat for a means of preventing fuel starvation.

https://www.holley.com/products/fuel_systems/hydramat/

I'd ask opinions but it looks like it hasn't started shipping yet...

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

oh man this going to be a sick ride...

[LERM]

exceptional build... and you've got me shopping CL for ovens....

[cactuss4]

very nice, wheel choice and "tweakage" is right on!

[bishir]

Just competed in the Cam Challenge East event here in Peru, IN. It was an SCCA National event and ran by many of the workers here in the Indy Region SCCA. It was also my first autocross! :seizure:

I'll have a write-up soon with some awesome pictures by Dave Nutting on Bangshift.com but I want to tell you its about the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

I found many flaws with the car that don't become evident until you really start pushing it hard, but for one, the vacuum brakes caused lots of problems with inconsistent brake pressure.. A manual setup is probably in my future...

The homemade alignment with positive camber didnt' help. I know.. i know.. but I didn't have time before the event to get it done and I wasnt' missing this event!

Those were my two biggest issues other than a general lack of any experience. Here are some photos of the car at the event.. More soon I hope..


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[instro84]

nice! good to see goodies at the autocross

[twosaturns]

cool to see you kept the turbo V6. looks great!

[SSLance]

Saw this car in person last weekend, and got to know the owner as well. I somehow missed the build thread here, was nice to read back through and see all of the work done that I couldn't see in person. Good job with it James, you built one helluva car. Now it just needs some tweaking to fine tune a few things. If you have any questions just ask away, happy to help out where I can.

[Justin@EntropyRad]

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[bishir]

Saw this car in person last weekend, and got to know the owner as well. I somehow missed the build thread here, was nice to read back through and see all of the work done that I couldn't see in person. Good job with it James, you built one helluva car. Now it just needs some tweaking to fine tune a few things. If you have any questions just ask away, happy to help out where I can.


Thanks Lance.

[bishir]

True isn't it? All Harbor Freight tool line names should correspond with the appropriate level of danger.

Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore..

[Azrial89]

I finally joined this site just to comment on this. I LOVE IT! I have an 87 and i have tinkered here and there on it since 2011 and a while back i decided i want to build it to take corners rather than drag like most GN owners. Your build is nearly verbatim how i have envisioned mine even down to the RJC pulleys. Its beautiful and i cant wait to pick your brain!

[wfo guy]

Your comment about the vacuum booster is why you see so many hydroboost setups. Mine came from the donor car but I don't think I'll have any regrets from using it. Nice car!

[72BBSwinger]

Always thought the GN were the best car/G body GM ever made, especially in the 80's. I have always had the urge to build something other than a Mopar, and one of these while keeping its Turbo 6 pedigree ranks in the top IMO.

[bishir]

Some more pics of last event

[bishir]

Pics

[bishir]

Here is a article in Bangshift which features me and my car some. http://bangshift.com/bangshiftapex/1800-miles-or-bust-one-awesome-weekend-at-the-speedway-motors-cam-challenge-east/

[bishir]

I learned my camera location doesn't makes the run look much slower... but nevertheless.. here is my last event...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofZdqNonLSI

[Bob in St. Louis]

That's very cool. I've never run autocross, but have always wondered how y'all were able to see where you're going. Looked like a couple spots you couldn't determined until the last second. Neat. Awesome car too. Thanks for the video!

[bishir]

Bob I was a little worried too that I'd get 'lost' on course. However it's not as bad in person. The wide angle lenses of go pro videos makes it look more confusing than it is.. However, every course is different..

[Bob in St. Louis]

Roger that, thank you.

[bishir]

Found more pics...

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[Azrial89]

I noticed that you are running the T4 Baers. Are you running 2" drop spindles?

[Azrial89]

I realized now that my previous question was a bit misinformed as the Ridetech Tru-Turn system is only compatible with the stock GM G-Body spindles. So i assume you used the T4 on stock modified spindles. Also, what kind of set up did you use in the rear end? Looks beefy.

[bishir]

I just upgraded to Moser axles. If you're talking about suspension I have Ridetech there as well.