Jordan Polites’ 1987 Buick Regal T
Taking the road less traveled, Jordan picked up this Rosewood Red ’87 Regal T (T-Type) a few years back and has been adding his own style to the car ever since. Starting with the traditional bolt-ons that eventually morphed into the car you’re looking at on this page, you can classify this one as a sleeper. While T-Types were typically sold in any color you wanted with chrome bumpers, Jordan decided to paint the bumpers on his example to match the body, ala’ GN, GNX, or WE4 Turbo-T.
After an unfortunate engine vandalism that cost Jordan his original 3.8L, he decided to source a 4.1L block for the basis of his next build. Anderson Performance in Stevenson, Maryland would be called upon to build the 4.1L into a 4.5L with a forged bottom-end from Eagle, Molnar, and Diamond, with a COMP Cams bumpstick and valvetrain from COMP, Morel and T&D stuffed into M&A aluminum heads.
The Buick uses a 4-inch aluminum cold-air intake tube, GN1 Performance 72mm throttle body and plenum to feed air into the V6-stroker, while a set of GN1 headers, Precision 46mm wastegate and 7168hpq turbo brings the boosted Buick into the 21st century-level of performance.
RJC Racing FMIC, aluminum pulleys, and 3-inch crossflow exhaust add to the recipe, as do 60-pound injectors, an Accufab adjustable fuel pressure regulator, and Aeromotive Stealth 340 fuel pump. The tuning is kept in check thanks to a FAST XFI 2.05 with E-dash controller, while a GN1 3-core aluminum radiator, Alradco dual-fan kit with shroud, and a 160-
degree ‘stat keep the engine temps down.
The Buick is shifted through a CK Performance fortified 2004R slush box, TCS 3200-3400 converter, and an Art Carr deep pan, with an auxiliary cooler. Out back, is the same GN-spec GM 10-bolt you find in other Turbo Buicks with Moser 28-spline axles and a TA Performance girdle.
The car sticks to the pavement thanks to an upgrade to its suspension, featuring Eibach springs, UMI Performance upper and lower control arms in the rear, HR PartsNStuff rear sway bar, a GNS Performance core support, and Kirban Performance chassis bracing found throughout the car. Trans Am GTA 16×8-inch wheels add a GNX touch to the car, too! The results of his efforts rewarded Jordan with an output of 533 hp 474 lb.-ft to the tires – nice!
Stephen Sherrill’s 1987 Chevy Camaro IROC-Z
Having picked up the car in November of 2006, Stephen tells us that his ’87 IROC was originally equipped with an LG4 and a 5-speed, but a previous owner had already swapped it with a LS1/T-56 combo and an STS rear-mount turbo kit upon delivery.
Being 22-years old at the time of purchase, you can imagine how much fun Stephen was having with a 450 rwhp IROC-Z. But as is always the case, the “modbug” bit, and bit hard. Being deployed in the service during 2007-2008, Stephen decided to get serious and put the car under the knife once he came home.
After a few local shops gave him the runaround, Stephen decided to build 90% of the car himself from the ground up, with the help of friends. The current combination consists of an LQ4 block, stuffed with Billet rods, crank, and Arias pistons. Up top is a pair of 317-casting heads, Holley Performance Hi-Rise intake manifold coupled with a Nick Williams 102mm throttle body, and 160-pound injectors. Inside the block is a custom-grind turbo cam from Hi-Tech Tuning.
Stephen also picked up a set of 417 Motorsports turbo headers intended for 4th-Gen cars, that he modified to fit into his third-gen’s engine bay, while a pair of Precision 67mm ball-bearing turbos provide the boost. Backing the twin-boosted mill is a built 4L80E gearbox with a transbrake, a Strange S60 rearend, BMR Extreme Drag torque arm, Spohn sway bars and LCAs, and C5 Z06 Corvette brakes sit up front. CCW 3-piece LM5 wheels measuring 18×9 in the front and 18×11 out back help bring the IROC up to modern handling standards.
Inside the cockpit you’ll find a pretty standard interior that has the benefit of a 10-point roll bar and a selection of Auto Meter gauges. As far as the power is concerned, Stephen tells us his car is making just shy of 800 hp to the tires on 15-psi, even though the car was actually built to handle 25-30 pounds of boost. Will he turn it up? More than likely.
Hassan Saddiq’s 2009 Pontiac G8
Not a GXP or even a GT, Hassan’s ’09 G8 started out in life as a standard V6 model. Having thrown all of bolt-ons and tuning that he could at the car to get it to put down 242rwhp, Hassan quickly found himself at the point of no return. The six-shooter just wasn’t going to cut it anymore, what he wanted, was two more cylinders.
So out went the 3.6L, and in went a GT-spec 6-liter L76 with a Rick Crawford blower camshaft and a set of Adam Schwab ported heads to lay the foundation. A Roto-Fab intake, a pair of Pypes headers, Solo 3-inch catback exhaust, and a tune by Next Gen Auto help round out the current engine mods.
Sitting behind the L76 is a 6L80E transmission, BC Racing coil-overs at all four corners, along with HRE Classic 549 wheels wrapped in Continental EC DW Tuned rubber.
Although the final tuning numbers are yet to be established, Hassan believes his car should be right around 450 rwhp, as his current best is a 12.26 at 114 mph. He has plenty of cosmetic items from Holden’s HSV division, as well as others from the aftermarket community.
Future plans call for an LSA blower (hence the aforementioned blower cam), E85 fuel capability, and a widening of the rear quarter panels. We can’t wait to see this thing finished!
Greg Urstadt’s 2001 Buick Regal GS
We ran across Greg’s Regal on the Turbo Buick forums, after another forum member posted the link to our own Regal GS project car, Sleeper Status. Wanting to share his experience with Buick’s mid-sized front-drive performer, Greg sent us information on his ’01 example.
Although totally mild compared to others in this story, the blown L67 got a nice bump in performance thanks to a gutted, stock airbox, K&N drop-in filter, and 3.4-inch Thrasher supercharger pulley, and Digital HP tuning programmed into the ECU.
Expelling the spent gases is a set of W-Body Store headers, Dave Wild custom downpipe with a “race” catalytic converter, and an SLP PowerFlow catback exhaust system featuring the “cowbell” tips.
SLP also aided in the cosmetic updates, by supplying Greg with a GSX spoiler and their 17-inch W-body wheels. Helping the now discontinued rollers stick in the corners is a Chevrolet Performance sway bar kit, and an additional strut tower on top of the rear struts, hidden in the trunk.
Although Greg never had the daily driver on the dyno, he did say that there was an attempt at making an 1/8th-mile run at a local track in South Carolina. Traction issues with the low-profile street tires and mad wheelhop kept the FWD Regal from reaching its full potential, but thanks to the suspension modifications, the car is a blast to take through the corners.
With these cars now at the point to where even the most broke high-schooler can pick one up and get it into the 11s, maybe we’ll see a comeback in their popularity?
*If you want your car featured in Reader’s Rides, send Editor Rick Seitz an email at [email protected] for more details!
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of GMEFI Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the brand’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next modifications for his own cars.
