1987 Buick Grand National. 20,193 built in 87 including 547 GNXs. My Grand National was purchased in spring of 2002 in a dealership in Ripley Mississippi. It had been sitting in a barn for 9 years and was a little rough around the edges, but the interior was flawless and it had never been wrecked. I changed all the fluids, the battery, and two tires then drove it 4 hours home. To my surprize almost everything worked. The Ac wasn't the coldest, but the powerseat, the power windows, locks, the cruise control, and all the gauges worked fine. Here are the first couple of pictures I took of it right after I washed it for the first time.

Here is the nice interior I was telling you about. Not a single tear!

The only mods on the car were a K&N cone filter and a 3" downpipe. The first thing I did was buy an alarm. I purchased a Clifford 600 w/remote start. The remote start was a blast! The 2nd thing I did was replace the headlights. They were very dull and the case had the nice milky look. I replaced them with a blue halogen kit. It came with everything and has a much higher brightness than the factory headlights.

Before

After

I had tons of problems with this car, mostly electrical. Since it sat in the barn for so long the wiring wasn't in the best shape. The rats nibbled on all of them. Some were worse than others. I went through several batteries and alternators and wires trying to get things sorted out. I had to have the car towed twice because it died on me. There were several times I had to call my dad or a friend to give me a jump. Some days the car would crank right up, I'd drive it a few miles, turn it off, come back 20 minutes later and car has 0 power. After about 6 months of chasing grounds and replacing cables, wires, battery, alternator it FINALLY quit dying and not starting on me. I was all excited about finally being able to spend some time and money on performance mods. Of course before I got started I blew a head gaskter and burnt a piston.

Yummy, coolant!

Instead of just replacing the rods and pistons I had the whole engine redone. The block was not bored but it was deck and line honed to ensure proper clearances. Everything except the heads and the crank were replaced. The crank was reworked and the bearings replaced. The heads got a new set of vavles and new springs. Pelham Automotive Machine did the work. Gary did a very good job.
I decided I would get a baseline on the car before I started modding. I went to track on a blistering hot summer day. Not very smart since turbo cars hate the heat. Best pass was a 14.5@98MPH. I was plenty happy with that since the only mods were the filter and the downpipe. I had it dynoed and it put down 224 RWHP and 286 RWTQ. Again, plenty satisfied with those numbers. NOW it's time for the mods.

I started buying parts I could afford from the buick boards and ebay. By the time I was finished buying parts I had: 160 degree T Stat, Walbro 340 with hotwire, 42# injectors, T62 turbo, custom Red Armstrong chip, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, adjustable wastegate, 70MM throttle body w/matching doghouse, RJC Racing spacer, ported heads, APR stud kit, and a 2800 stall. Everything went on in a couple of weeks and man what a difference. It was like a totally different car. HUGE performance gains from all the mods. The car would now run away from LS1 TAs and Camaros. Even Corvettes were no match. The rice boys didn't have a clue! They would roll up wanting to race, thinking I was some 350 powered monte carlo. The next thing there were asking was what is that whistle and wow that monte carlo just disappeared in the black smoke cloud. I was very happy with the car. It had come a long way in the first year I had.

Pic of the stock throttle body and the 70 and a pic of a few parts just chillin the in the chair.

Spring of 03. Parents bought a new bath tub. The guy that brough it to us had to be at least 70. While he was backing the flatbed up HE BACKED INTO MY CAR.

Yes the damage was minor BUT STILL HE BACKED INTO MY CAR. How do you like the water spots?

Estimate was $632. The old man got my number and said he would have someone call me. Couple weeks go by and I haven't heard anything. I call them up and they tell me that drive is on vacation at the moment. Another week goes by and I call them back. I talk to the manager and he says he will have a talk with the driver and get back with me. Another week goes by, nothing. I call back, talk to the manager. Our driver says he did no such thing and he had room to let the lift gate down. SURE HE DID, AFTER HE MOVED FORWARD. Did you get a police report? No I didn't not want to the waste an officers time coming to my house to fill out a report of a minor bump that your driver said he would take care of. Well sir, we can't really help you. FUCK YOU KENNE PIPE AND SUPPLY FROM BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA. FUCK YOUR OLD ASS DRIVER WHO SHOULDN'T BE DRIVING A FLATBED ANYWAY!!!!