i have spent many weeks online searching in vain for a site that dealt with those of us who are naturally apirated buick regal coupe owners. mine is a wonderful 87. im 17 years old an eager to put some work into my machine but its not a turbo or super charged model. i need some tips on boosting NA performance. well to heck with tips im searching for a full blown how to for all of us who own these non turbo'd street cruisers. anybody have any suggestions? where i can get the info or where i can find books on this or just anything to break the apparent secrecy of how to turn my NA regal into an import killer (damn civics... im hoping to get started before i start driving to school in september)
my advice? find a solid used 350, spend $1000 in performance upgrades to build the motor, $600 for a built TH350 tranny, and run low 13's all day on pump gas.
Best way to turn it into an "import killer" is to trade it for an 86-7 turbo Buick. Since this is a turbo list, not a lot of info on N/A V-6's. No way that your V-6 will be able to develop enough HP to chase a "worked" import.
The "secret" HP adder is the entire intercooled program that the factory did. We just take it to a higher level!
Hey, Chris, I can understand your concern about keeping those imports at bay, but unless you are willing to spend some serious money (over $10,000)it isn't going to happen. If you want to see a killer 10 second Regal non turbo 3.8, check out the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept web site. A deputy named Bill Chaffin has one decked out in police graphics and lightbar. It runs low 10's with three 2bbl carbs. Good luck on your quest.
Chris C
I have worked on Billy's GN and it uses one 4 barrel carb. The engine is a stage II with some serious work. Lots of fiberglass and lexan also keep the weight WAY down. This is strictly a race car and the budget is lots more than $10,000!
thanks for the advice... lol ok forget beating the imports (definitely not in my budget) i have about 1500 dollars to put into my car. i would like to hit the gas and have my car move with some serious giddyup instead of laboring to hit 60 in under 9 seconds. i do appreciate the advice im recieving here... i actually couldnt get this simple information anywhere else... thnx a million. one question how should i prioritize the adjustments to maximize available power and make the most of 1500$ (i kno i cant do much with 1500 but i can spend up to 1500 every year... slow n steady)
In my days working with heavy, hp-less cars, the best bang for the buck and best improvement as far as performance was rear end gears. I went from an open diff 2.78, swapped in a 3.08 posi setup (for free out of my cousin's chevelle, I still can't believe she let me just swap them out, she asked if she would get better gas mileage, well yeah, but not much! ;) ) Then I went an ordered a set of 3.73 gears from Summit. My dad and I put them in and wow! Night and day difference. Before the car wouldn't even spin the tires at all, afterwards....smoke city. Course at the track I never did get sticky tires so I had to baby it out of the hole. Anything other than just hitting the pedal on green rewarded me with massive tire spin. I'd go for the above mentioned switch, 350 and TH350, with some 3.73 gears(or 3.42 if you're worried about gas mileage) and you should have a 13sec car, enough to dust most, if not all, the imports. Course you will need some good tires. I knew a guy with a 77 Monte Carlo(big boat like my Chevelle) with a 3.42 posi, TH350 and a 350 turned into a 383 stoker. The car had to weigh about 3800lbs(or more, mine was 3890 with 1/4 tank of gas, one small toolbox, without me in it) and I saw it run 13.4s Good luck
Chris,
I would definatly put gears on the top of the list!! You will get the most "bang" for your bucks...AND....if you really to switch to a V8 in the future, you already will have the rear.
Considering that you only want to knock off the ricers at traffic lights, that's the way I would go.
Ron
PS: Don't feel bad about having a carb. I have one too.....AND....it sits on a chevy 502 bb in a Cutlass. But I do love that GN rear.