Diary of a GN
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Kevin $laby
kdslaby@yahoo.com
Tech Page Glossary
12.05 @ 111 60' 1.60
   I purchased the car in 1999 with 81K miles on it and it was 98% stock. I decided to add some more punch to it because it just wasn't that exciting to drive compared to the 79 Mustang that I just sold. The Stang was the only car I owned for 13 years and ran 11.0 @ 126mph with n2o so the GN needed a little more umph. After the below additions, one thing I could not understand was the fuel pressure. The damn thing wanted 80psi of fuel psi to eliminate the KR and nobody could understand why. The only way I could obtain that kind of fuel psi was to block off the return line going to the tank. I knew this was not correct but I figured I'd race it this way and work on the fuel psi problem later. No scan tool was used at this first race because I had never heard of one at that time. I also am not affraid to run A LOT of boost since I ran 200-275 hp of N2O on the stang so I was going to run a minimum of 26psi and hope for some mid-high 11's..
Kearney 8/14/99
Modifications:
Home Made 3" Down Pipe.
Turbo: 1980 International Desiel Tractor (I did NOT know what type of turbo it was until the following year)
42.5 Injectors
XP Fuel Pump
K&N Air Filter
4" inlet hose
Adj. FPR
Chip: RA107
10x26 MT slicks
Lowering Springs
Air Bags
Valve springs
Run #1
12.75 @ 105 60' 1.84- Boost 21psi, Launch Boost ?, Fuel psi ?, Tire psi 14, Air bags: 25D-38P
Run #2
12.29 @ 110 60' 1.68- Boost ?, Launch Boost 14, Fuel psi ?, Tire psi 14, Air bags: 25D-38P
Run #3
12.26 @ 108 60' 1.66- Boost ?, Launch Boost 15, Fuel psi 70, Tire psi 14, Air bags: 25D-38P
Run #4
12.13 @ 109.7 60' 1.62- Boost 25, Launch Boost 15, Fuel psi 80, Tire psi 14, Air bags: 25D-38P
Run #5
12.14 @ 110 60' 1.62- Boost 26, Launch Boost 16, Fuel psi 78-80, Tire psi 14, Air bags: 25D-38P
  I was a bit disappointed after the last race above because I didn't run a high 11 with 26psi of boost. After a ton of research and finding TurboBuick.com and Turbobuicks.com I learned that I needed a scan tool before anybody could help me tune this thing. So I bought a ScanMaster and set the fuel psi back to 43psi (line off) and headed to the track where the car had a ton of KR. I had to keep increasing the fuel psi back up to 80psi to eliminate it.
Scribner 9/6/99
I was fighting fuel psi problems so I decided to get a scan tool and set the fuel pressure at 43 with line off and see what happens.
Modifications:
Same as above
Scanmaster
Run #1
12.17 @ 110.6 60' 1.65- Boost ?, Launch Boost 15, Fuel psi 43, Tire psi 13.5, Air bags: 25D-36P
KR - 15.2
O2 - .660
Run #2
12.10 @ 110.3 60' 1.62- Boost 27.5, Launch Boost 15, Fuel psi 48-72, Tire psi 13.5, Air bags: 25D-36P
KR - 16.6
O2 - .734
Run #3
12.058 @ 110.8 60' 1.60- Boost 27, Launch Boost 15, Fuel psi 56, Tire psi 14.5, Air bags: 25D-36P
KR - 4.7
O2 - .750
Run #4
12.22 @ 109.6 60' 1.69 (spun)- Boost 26, Launch Boost 17-18, Fuel psi 60, Tire psi 14.5, Air bags: 25D-36P
KR - 0
O2 - .781
Run #5
12.31 @ 109.5 60' 1.70 (spun)- Boost 26+, Launch Boost 17-18, Fuel psi 60, Tire psi 13, Air bags: 25D-36P
KR - 2.6
O2 - .750
Still warm from last run
Run #6
12.12 @ 110 60' 1.61- Boost 26, Launch Boost 15, Fuel psi 60, Tire psi 13, Air bags: 25D-36P
KR - 1.6
O2 - .773
Run #7
12.11 @ 110.09 60' 1.61- Boost 26, Launch Boost 15, Fuel psi 62, Tire psi 13, Air bags: 25D-36P
KR - 8.9
O2 - .742
Removed front sway bar
  At this point the fuel psi got the best of me and it became an obsession to figure out why my car was not performing like most other cars with this much boost. I could not get the car to spin the tires in first gear until just before the shift into second so I thought I'd try one of Jay Jackson 62mm TB's. That didn't help much. I even tried a Grainger Valve which did't help either. In a nutshell it was recommended that I send the turbo off to PTE and verify what type of turbo was on my car. I had done a bunch of research and thought that it was a TE44. Boy was I WRONG!!
PTE informed me that the turbine side was stock GN but the compressor side was off of a 1980's INTERNATIONAL DESIEL TRACTOR!!!!!
I laughed for a week.
   I purchased a stock turbo for $150 with only 14K miles and put it on. OMG WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!.
   The tranny started showing signs of slipping on all the shifts during the summer which was surprising because I only raced it the 2 times above and I don't hot rod it much on the street. Oh well. Steve Y had also come down on the price of his MaxEffort 16pos chips so I could not pass that up.
   It was the last race of the year and before I was fully awake that morning I decided to go racing, slipping tranny and all. A MAD THRASH to get the car ready was done in record time and for the first time I decided to drive my car to the races. The boost on my car had been set on 23psi all summer and now all of a sudden it was jumping around. It was decided to fix it at the track.
   I was only able to make one run before the rear main seal let go spewing oil all over the place and I had to go back home.
Scribner 11/3/01
I found out that my fuel pressure problems stemmed from the turbo being off a DESIEL TRACTOR.!!! Now I have a stock turbo on it..
MaxEffort
Settings:
0 - 15*
1 - 1
2 - 6
3 - 0*
4 - 0
5 - 118
6 - 4
7 - 3
8 - 40
9 - 52
A - 0
B - 0
C - 8
D - 238*
E - 168
F - 52
*Changed from
default values
Modifications:
Stock Turbo
MaxEffort 16 Pos
62mm TB
Run #1
12.44 @ 107 60' 1.71- Boost 20?, Launch Boost 15 (pushed through lights), Fuel psi ?, Tire psi 13, Air bags: 25D-36P
KR - 0
O2 - .750
Popped during the whole run.
Tranny slipping really bad.
Rear main seal let go. Time to go home.
Kevin $laby
kdslaby@yahoo.com
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