Rare #108 Out Of 5oo Made

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imported_turbomangt

New member
This is some car, rare Buick GNX, this one happens to be #108 out of only 500 made. Its a 1986 (I think) and it only has 10,000 miles. The reason I got the car is because last year the owner got caught in a acid rain storm, and didn't bother to wipe it down, so the water spots on the top, roof and hood were EXTREMELY BAD. So much that I almost sent him to a body shop. But I decided to take on the challenge. Unfortunately the pics would not show the spots, when the flash lit, the light filtered out the spots. Here is how i apporoached it. After I washed and clayed the car, I tried a real light polish/cleaner which did not work. For future reference always use the "less is best" approach, you can always go up, but if you start out to strong, you could do irreversible damage. Since my first attempt did nothing, I decided to try Meguiars fine cut (don't ever use this product by hand) with my cyclo dual head buffer. I would never take a rotary buffer to a car like this, way too aggressive. I started on the hood,and to my supries, the first pass removed the spots, but it did dull the paint in the process, which is to be expected. as seen in the pic, see the difference in the right and left side?

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Next I picked my DeWalt DA buffer, a real work horse, put still sensative to the paint. Now I used Meguiars dual action cleaner polish, againg don't use this by hand. using a polishing pad, it brought back some of the shine. I proceded to go over the entire car with this. Then I used my porter cable and my own cleaner/polish, (this you can use by hand) and it brought out a mirror shine like nothing else. I sealed it with my sealant and you can see the reflection in the paint. Owner plans on going to shows with it, no suprise, and I'm sure he will bring home the gold.

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jsatek said:
memories...

I remember a kid in my high school had this back in 87. He was constantly racing the hell out of it..
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Thats what they were made for. They're fast cars with minimal mods, and quick stock.
 
The Buick GNX is one of my favorite all time cars. I recently saw one with less than 200 miles in FLAWLESS, 100% original condition sell for $72,000.



Jsatek, that kid in high school most likely had the Grand National. Near identical looking.
 
Spilchy said:
The Buick GNX is one of my favorite all time cars.



Jsatek, that kid in high school most likely had the Grand National. Near identical looking.
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Yeah, I think the GNX was kind of the farewell model. IIRC, had a ceramic turbine wheel for faster spoolup.
 
wow....blast from the past...makes me think of my old barber Bruno who bought a GN off an old lady for $5k way back when.......I wonder where that car went?
 
There were 547 made and only in 1987.



Retail on the car wasnt that bad but with dealer gouging, they went for insane money. Most dealers took silent auction bids on them.



Value on them kind of dropped but it's resurged in the past couple of years. I never really got it. It's not really anything special. It has a different dash and dash plaque, a hokey rear suspension, a ceramic compressor wheel'd turbo, different tires and rims, the fender louvers and depending on who you ask, a very slightly different intercooler.



The original prototype cars had head upgrades and the numbers they turned in were impressive back them. The head work never made it into the production vehicle.
 
JayC said:
There were 547 made and only in 1987.



Value on them kind of dropped but it's resurged in the past couple of years. I never really got it. It's not really anything special. It has a different dash and dash plaque, a hokey rear suspension, a ceramic compressor wheel'd turbo, different tires and rims, the fender louvers and depending on who you ask, a very slightly different intercooler.
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Yep, 547 made in 1987.



That "hokey" rear suspension enabled *much* better traction than factory GNs.



My girlfriend's father's (#501):



GNX%20013.jpg




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Yea.. that suspension is so popular, you see tons of GNs running it today. Buncha aftermarket vendors over the years have knocked that suspension off and sold it and you won't find it on 1 car at a dragstrip because honestly, it sucks, which is why no one is still selling it. People even tried to improve on that suspension design (ATR's Torque Tube back in the late 80s, early 90s) but to no avail.



Thats a nice GNX your GF's father has.. I just dont think they're anything special. I've been involved in the Turbo Buick aftermarket for almost 20 years and have built some very fast Turbo Regals so I'm a little more jaded than most when it comes to the GNX.
 
Nice detail, cool car. I have a friend running his grand national well into the 11s in the 1/4 mile, when he hits the gas everything blurs.
 
Here's the last "GN" I built/worked on. I've got another one I'm doing now that isn't going to be near as fast as this one but should be pretty interesting none the less.



It's a car for the Turbo Factory Stock class at the Buick Horsepower Nationals in Indy in June that has to use a stock turbo and intercooler. I'm hoping to still run low 11s with the car despite the turbo and intercooler limitations.
 
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