TurbopigB4C

iTrader: (5)

TurbopigB4C

iTrader: (5)

Some comparison shots between the two blocks. I could have fixed the 3.8 pretty cheaply if I wanted to go that route after tear down but am committed to the swap at this point. It had a worn camshaft lobe and a broken ring land on one of the forged pistons. The block does not appear to need any machine work.

postal14

iTrader: (8)

Hmm some of your stuff doesnt make sense. 11.50 @ 126 and you state the car launches hard off the T-brake. 126 mph in a gn is enough HP to be mid 10's your mid 11's so you arent getting out of the hole at all. Better budget some suspension work if you plan on hooking up turbo V8 hp and torque.

200r4 isnt only who builds them, but what they did to them. Most trans builder have "levels" and a 200 to go into the 9's will take a top builder and thier top level builds. A $1000 to $1500 200r4 build is great for mid 11's / high 10's, but a 200r4 build for 9's is around $3000. I doubt you have one of the $3000 200's in your car. Your best bet is since it is built by a Known buick guy sell it and your convertor on turbobuick.com while its still in good shape. You should be able to get enough out of it to buy a t400 with a brake and convertor easy. A few months back I sold a $3200 200r4 to my buddy for $2300 while it was still good, if i would have broke it I doubt i could have gotten $300 out of it.

Jason

TurbopigB4C

iTrader: (5)

It only had some tiny 235 drag radials on the stock wheels. I figure I will hook up better when I get a dedicated set of wheels and tires for the strip.

Wire guy

I love this build. I was looking for a buick to build before I found my 300zx. Don't let those buick boners try to tell you that the car is going to be worth millions and your ruining a good car. GM high tech magazine had a spread on a guy who built an sb2 headed 406 with a 106 mm turbo that ran 7.70's on drag radials and stock type suspension. I agree sell the 200 now while it has some value. A 5.3 with a mild cam and turbo with 3.42 gears and a 28" tall tire out back will not over rev on the freeway and will probably get decent millage. I like the stock look and would put the stock door panels, dash and console back in the car and make it a sleeper. I too would run truck manifolds facing forward and put the intercooler in front of the radiator. You can probably still use your 3" down pipe you may have to add a few inches to it in the middle of the down pipe. Good luck I will be watching this thread.

3xbrowncutty

love the turbo buicks and love the swap!

GNCLONE

Just put some slicks on it when you go to the track.

I bought a pair of 15 in rims I want to use for slicks and a friend was mad -told me that slicks aren't needed if the rear is set up correctly.

A set of slicks is a LOT easier than re-engineering the back half of the car!

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

[hijack]...so in a nutshell what your friend is saying is John Force and several others who have collectively spent billions of dollars in engineering, research and testing have been doing it all wrong for YEARS and they only need drag radials or good street tires? Will this magical method work on road courses too? I would love to see the "expert" explanation AND demonstration for this little scenario. I'm sure it's something we can all buy for $29.95 from a late night TV ad. We better fire up the crack pipes, grab a few and a lawn chair - this story should get good.

In my experience: The stickiest tires aren't going to fix a poorly engineered suspension and great suspension won't fix poor tire selection. Of course none of those will resolve poor street or track conditions. Assuming all these things align, the driver ultimately controls the car's actions meaning if the driver can't drive, well...

Sorry for the but I couldn't resist. Please carry on.

[\hijack]