legacycentral bbs

I purchased a very clean all stock '92 turbo sedan last week. The car has 90,000 miles on it at this time. One owner, lady driven. I have several questions about general mods and tune up.

I love turbo cars and have three turbo Buicks, one '86 Grand National and two '87 turbo T Types. So I have some knowledge of turbo tuning and basic set up.

I will be using this car for a daily driver wanting to retain the good fuel mileage.

These are my plans first off:

Full tune up, plugs, wires, fuel filter etc.

Adjustable fuel pres. reg.

Down pipe and exhaust

Ram air intake with cold air box

Boost gauge

I would like to know what stright flowing muffler will work good and not be very loud? I use the Dyno Max Ultra Flow mufflers on my turbo Buicks but thought it may be loud on the Legacy.?

I fab and make most of my parts so the exhaust and air intake want be a big deal to fab up. I was going to make the air box out of sheet aluminum and duct the air in through the hole in the fender. I have heard this could reduce bottom end torque, is this true? I don't want that.

I have not been able to find a gauge pod for the "A" piller for my boost gauge. Where is the best place to mount a boost gauge?

Is there a way to read knock retard? I use a heads up display with the Buicks that shows O2 readings and knock retard. this is good for tuning.

Sorry for the long thread and all of the questions but I need to know what mods to do first without killing fuel mileage.

Thanks,
CT

2.2Turbo wrote:I love turbo cars and have three turbo Buicks, one '86 Grand National and two '87 turbo T Types.

Wow, turbo regals have been my favorite cars since I was about 16..
You sir, have my respect.

As for the air box thing, I've had both a cone filter and the stock box with the bottom cut off and a K&N, and I really didnt notice too much of a difference. For the exhaust, I've got just a 2.5" pipe after the DP, and it's not really too loud unless I open it up. I'm using an A-Pillar pod for an 88-91 CRX, and it fits pretty well.

Ooooh, turbo Buick's, a friend took me in a 87 Grand Nat'l boostin at 17 lbs, yeah...

Whatever you do intake-related, make sure you are not sucking hot air from the engine bay, all that does is kill your HP and ruin your MAF sensor, and yes the stock airbox is the best for the low-end torque.

Read the A-pillar post in the Body, Chassis, and Interior forum for tips on that.

I don't know if the thiggymajiggy that Legacy777 found and posted in the Parts forum "OBD 1 Monitor" will tell you knock retard, but what I do know is our cars' knock sensors wear out and become oversensitive over time and replacing it with the part number list in the Stuff you Need to Know forum will be most beneficial.

Anyway, welcome, and I hope you enjoyed my tutorial in half of the forums on this whole board

I was looking to enclose the open end K&N cone filter in a aluminum air box. The fresh air would be ducted in from the front air dam. I was thinking that the bottom end power would not suffer if the air filter was boxed like the OE unit??

I will get a new knock sensor. Do you guys use a A/F gauge or monitor knock in any way?

If you think 17#'s of boost felt awesome in the TR, you should feel 28# of boost. I have been involved in turbo Buicks for over fifteen years now. If you would like to visit a awesome turbo Buick forum bb, go to www.turbobuick.com.

Thanks for the advice!

You may see a little decrease in low end by using an open style filter, even with it enclosed.....however it would probably not be too much and the gains in throttle response would probably outweigh it.....however all you can do is try it. How large an opening or tubing are you planning on using to feed the enclosed filter box?

I posted some info in the intake forum about the stock intake box and what my "ideal" intake would consist of. May want to read over that.

I'm sure some of these guys use a/f gauges. Knock monitoring through the stock knock sensor is pretty limited, because you have interface through the computer. Pretty much the only way you can do that is with a select monitor, or as subyluvr mentioned, I found something that may have the potential to work with our cars to give a less cumbersome means to read info directly from the ECU.

I was going to run the air duct from the fog lamp hole in the air dam. My car has block off caps, no lights. I was thinking 3" hose. I guess I will get a air/fuel gauge for now.