Scottie-GNZ

Op1, if you follow drag racing but are limited to NHRA on ESPN, you will never see any Supras or Supra-powered cars. For those who follow import drag racing, Vinny Ten and Craig Paisley are legends with Supras running low to mid-8s in the mid-160mph range. The Supra was run in road racing in the Speedvision GT series but had limited success because the team was not well funded, the car suffered from braking woes and the competition, 911s and C-5s, was just too tough.

In response to the I/C discussion, I ran the big NPR which was good up to about 400rwhp before it started to have more than normal pressure drop. Currently I am running a custom I/C with 2 Cartech (Corky Bell) cores. It is supposed to have a flow rating of about 850CFM which should be good for about 530+hp, using a conservative 1.6CFM/HP rule of thumb. The I/C is one component you do not want to skimp on, so get the best I/C you can afford that will support your goal. Do not start with an I/C that was designed to support less HP than a stock L28ET just because it is cheap.

Where will it end? Don't ask me

quote 4-spd manual to be exact, which makes it even rarer. The Z32 TTs have a 3.69:1 final drive.

In Grumpy's list of engine dimensions, here is how a SBC, Buick 3.8L NA and Buick 3.8L turbo compare: SBC 26W 28L 27H Buick NA 26W 23L 28.5H Buick Turbo 30W 23L 30H Since the Buick NA and Turbo are the same physical engine, the difference is in the turbo and DP.

The GN engine is a 90* V-6.

Dan, OSW reopens on 1/16. Why don't you make plans to come over and join me?

Rooh, where are you located?

Terry, nice job. Any idea if that would be legal in the racing world? Where did you get the hatch? How much was it? Does it attach using the OEM lever/brackets? I see the screw holes for the lexan, but how do you seal it? Did you mod the hatch to make the glass area smaller for the filler mod? What is the total weight of the hatch with the lexan in place? Did I ask enough questions? I am intrigued.

I have that combo on my car using the 82-83 calipers. My car is a 71, so I am not sure if the install applies to any other years as I know the hubs/hats are different. 1st, the rotor diameter needs to be cut down a tad. I do not know the exact spec, I just gave it to the machine shop and they took care of it. The main difference is that with the stock brakes, the bolt that holds the caliper bracket goes through the bracket and threads into the hub. With these calipers, the bolt threads into bracket, so the threaded hole in the hub has to be precisely drilled to pass the bolt through it. It is really only a matter of cleaning off the threads, but I say precisely because you do not want the hole too big for the bolt to move around. Once that is done and you go to mount it up, it requires a spacer. In the case of the 71, that was a couple of very thin washers. HTH.

You snooze, you lose. Complete engine/trans/turbo/harness/etc, $3K obo http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=24710&referrerid=1951 Several low mileage, complete drivetrains w/harness, $3K http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=24636&referrerid=1951

Hey Mitsumark, I see you finally found our little forum. Welcome and thanks for bringing your Starquest knowledge here. BTW, I still have that exhaust/DP setup if anyone is looking to make big HP in one of these.

If you have the standard C4 wheels, they are 16x8.5 with a 32mm offset, which is about a 5.5+" backspacing.

2 years ago a team from CT ran a pair of Lexus GS400s in the Speedvision Cup. They did very well but chose the wrong car, too big and heavy and the brakes suffered. What type of tranny you run is your decision or one forced by the engine (like the Buick Turbo) or type of racing (drag racing a big HP turbo). Never had the GNZ on a road race track but since the car originally was being built for that, I expect by the end of the year it should be ready to give it a try. Need to upgrade the front suspension and brakes to match the new IRS.

Derek, Welcome!!! Now I won't have to talk about your car so much.

Reading Your Plugs

quote Maverick, no need to go to all that trouble. Just freshen up a L28ET, get the programmable system so you can build your own fuel, ign and retard maps AND work with a turbo manufacturer to build a hybrid turbo that will match your driving needs. Add a good I/C and exhaust, tune the car to run at 15psi and you are done. Now you have a car that will melt the tires at low speed and scare a Z06. Ricers will be a waste of your gas and time.

Thanks Guys. BLKMGK, track reopens 1/16 and I should be there but first visit will be trying to get things dialed in. As for the Supra(s), those guys seem to be growing $1K bills in their backyard. Couple of weeks ago, one of them went 10.53 @ 139 which is about 775RWHP. I later heard it dynoed at 801!!! I would need a 10.40 to be competitive and ironically, all it would take is heads, mild cam and a turbo upgrade to get me in the low-10s. I just might have to put a BFH to one of my little piggies. Brad, this is what this great forum is all about.

RickB is having good success with 235/60-15 DRs.

Never thought this day was going to come, but that shot was taken TODAY in my driveway AFTER a 100-mile test drive. 100 miles, a couple of 3# test launches on the t-brake and would'nt you know it, a street race and no parts fell off . I was real nervous because yesterday I got a couple of signs that was like someone/something not wanting this thing to go. Car refused to start despite the fact that the hood was not even opened since I last drove it 2 weeks ago. You have heard me preach about hot-wiring the pump and using the OEM wire to trigger the relay. Well, the OEM wire decided it was not going to be hot during crank anymore . Got prepared to go chasing cam and crank sensors, testing the E-PROM and pulling my hair out. Found the problem when a buddy came over to help and noticed the FP would drop during cranking and shoot back up when I stop cranking. Got the car started and hooked up the laptop and it refused to boot because it decided it did not have a C: drive anymore!! Fate. Was I being given a sign? By this time it was too late to catch the alignment shop so I went for a ride knowing the alignment was off. I am hearing a bearing noise but then I still have those two big holes in the fenderwell and I can hear EVERYTHING, sort of like to the race car driver leading the race on the last lap . No problem, I can deal with a bearing noise later. If it is the diff, I can pull the entire IRS out in about 30 mins. Got lots of practice. Not too far from home, so I do not have a long walk back , I try a 3# launch on the t-brake w/o full throttle and backed out when the car started to fill with tire smoke. Straight as an arrow and SMOOOTH! I am basking in my glory when a '02 Z-28 pulls up next to me at the light and decides to take on this ricer from a roll. He did not even notice the Z-28 wheels but I am sure he knew he was in trouble when the tires (255/50-16 Firehawk ZRs) started spinning from a roll. 10 car lengths before he knew what happened and I look down at the boost gauge and see 12+psi. Forgot I had turned the boost way down with the pump gas. Sounds about right. Z-28, mid-14s, me on 12psi, mid-12s. Another 13psi boost, 6* more timing and race gas, hmmm. Needless to say, I am pumped. This has been one massive challenge and even though I have not hit the strip yet, I feel good about what I accomplished so far. The last holdup was fixing the toe-rod problem. I could not find anyone that had a taper rod with the taper angle to fit the IRS, so I made my own. Here is a pic of the finsished product and the adjustable end installed in the car. I ended up drilling out the tapered hole to 7/8" and inserted a 5/8" id bushing (7/8" od) and used a 5/8" bolt in place of the tapered rod. By rearranging the position of the bushing, I can change the angle of the rods and affect bumpsteer. You can also see how I mounted the coilovers and the homemade bumpstop. It is going to be a wonderful year.

Excellent list.

RacerX, this one was discussed in a lot of detail before but I for forgot the specifics. Do a search and somewhehe in there I detailed what has to be done.

Scott, 255/50-16 is a lot of rubber. I know you are intent of filling up the wheel wells, but what is more important, as previously stated, is putting the rubber to the ground and making it stick. Since you swapped in the turbo, you seem intent on running at the drag strip, so be careful with getting a tire with too stiff a sidewall. Since you are not a pure drag racer, you will have to get something that is a compromise. I recommend the Toyo Proxes RA-1, 255/50-16. Popular tire on the twisties and also proved itself at the drag strip. Comes with a 8/32 thread depth and gets better as it wears. Eddie Bello used to shave them down and he ran into the 9s @ 150+ with his 911 turbo, picking the wheels off the ground in 1st, 2nd AND 3rd. I saw him do that in So FL, then drive the car home, to NJ!!! That is an all-around tire if I ever saw one. I am running 255s on 8s and will snap a pic this weekend.

The R230 is plenty strong and you can have mega-buck$ custom axles made, BUT, you are still left with a major weakpoint. The stub axles. There is a 86 300ZXT here in Orlando that got down into the hi-9s running the stock 300ZXT IRS. He broke a lot of CVs but even more stub axles. He finally gave up and went to a 9" and now runs 9.40s. I am putting you at about 650hp/torque and there is only so much you can expect from the OEM components, be it Nissan, Supra, BMW. BTW, I broke a CV at the line and made a hard left turn towards the christmas tree . Do not even want to think about it happening at speed.

Tom, what you have is a fairly common setup, more common that some folks know. Not sure about the hot-airs, but the I/Ced GNs ran 12# from the factory. Cannot imagine there is a turbo Buick in existence running only 12#. I see no reason why you cannot easily run 20#. How much boost you can run is more than the turbo itself. The supporting components like a good DP, exhaust, I/C and control of ign/retard play a major role. You have all the right pieces.