The intercooled 3.8-liter turbo motor, known in GM-speak as "LC2," is without a doubt one of the most hard-working engines in the late-model era. With a factory hp rating of 245 ('87 model year), the Turbo Regals and Grand Nationals (and a precious few '89 Turbo Trans Ams) they were installed in could be counted on to whip just about anything that crossed their path, including contemporary Corvettes.

But there is still a lot of untapped performance lurking within the LC2 - as much as 100 to 150 extra ponies, according to some sources. The trick is knowing how to unlock this performance without going bankrupt, a trick that is relatively easy, given the tremendous gains that await.

For our inaugural Turbo Buick special edition of GM HIGH-TECH PERFORMANCE, we thought it would be cool to dive into our resident '87 Turbo T, otherwise known as Old Gray, and spin some wrenches. Specifically, we wanted to reproduce firsthand the results that many low-buck Buicks have seen over the years.

And now for some background. This author was a recipient of some major drubbings by Turbo Regals in the late '80s. As the owner of an '87 Mustang 5.0 LX, it was my misfortune to go head-to-head with many lightly breathed-on GNs - and lose. I vowed to get even, so over the next 10 years I spent the family fortune on Mustang parts so that I could clobber most Buicks. Now broke and needing a fast, inexpensive daily driver, we purchased our 207,000-mile '87 Turbo Regal. Not wanting to get into the money trap that caught us in Mustangland, we decided to stay away from fancy turbos, front-mount intercoolers, high-dollar engine buildups, fire hydrant injectors and aftermarket engine management.

The need for speed would have to be filled by relatively inexpensive parts and demonstrate good bang for the buck. Based on experience (if those who had beaten us in years past could be believed), it wouldn't take much. For hard parts, the typical 12-second TR relies on pretty basic stuff: better exhaust, computer chip, slicks, K&N filter and larger mass air pipe, shift kit, adjustable fuel pressure regulator and a bigger fuel pump. When you add it up, it's a steal compared to the jack it takes to go 12s with a non-nitroused Mustang.

Off To A Rocky Start
Our unusually high-mileage '87 Regal was in better than average shape for sure. With good paint, a rust-free chassis, a clean engine and a pristine interior, this car would be around for a long time. Yet there were two glaring deficiencies that had to be addressed before it could be used even for daily transportation: The exhaust system was completely rotted out and the transmission was a total loss. Before even starting, we dug deep and shelled out for a top-shelf stainless steel Kenne Bell dual exhaust and a Level 10 rebuild of the 200-4R tranny (see story on page 31). Considering the age and mileage of the car, we didn't think this was too severe, but it did prevent us from getting serious for nearly an entire year

On the plus side, Old Gray did come equipped with a Bowling Green Customs mass air pipe and K&N filter, and a Bowling Green Customs budget 2 ¾-inch downpipe. The $207 we would've spent on these items could be used to help pay for the tranny and exhaust, but there would be more unplanned maintenance in Old Gray's future.

The objective to go 12s on the stock motor, intercooler and turbo nearly went to the bottom when we strapped Old Gray to the Dynojet chassis dyno at Second Street Speed (Perkasie, Pa.). We had planned to baseline the car in as-delivered" trim, only with a rebuilt trans, new exhaust, downpipe and mass air pipe. We had driven the car for the last year with no trouble, so we figured Old Gray was in good shape. What we found instead was that the fuel system was way below par - even with the stock chip installed.

As a side note, the folks at Second Street Speed (Lon Moyer and Bill Hunsberger) make it a practice to monitor important variables like air/fuel ratio, boost pressure and fuel pressure. This is done through a CDS data-logging computer that overlays these scalar values on top of rear-wheel power (or torque) on the Dynojet computer screen. This added info helps them tune the car and, at the very least, prevents damage before detonation can exact its toll. This is especially true of air/fuel ratio, which in our case was pegging the monitor at a piston-frying 16:1. As a cross-check, the Second Street crew found that fuel pressure was dropping off severely at the same point thus a diagnosis of fuel system trouble.

Back To The Drawing Board
The single baseline dyno pull netted us a momentary spike of 225 hp and the bad news that our fuel system couldn't keep pace. More tweaks such as hotter chips, race fuel and a larger throttle body would have to wait until the fuel system was brought back to spec.

Back at the office, we put in a call to the folks at Eastern Performance. We talked with Eastern's owner, John Perri, who told us that it's not uncommon for TRs to suffer from poor fuel delivery. As it turns out, the Buick's fuel system was marginal even from the factory, and racers often find themselves in the unenviable position of blowing gaskets and burning pistons with only a few bolt-on items. The fix has long been a swap to a larger fuel pump, but Perri warned us that as these cars get older, other parts of the fuel system need addressing also.

A larger fuel pump was only the starting point; we also might have clogged injectors and a clogged fuel filter, not to mention a low voltage signal to the fuel pump. The fact that our car was an especially high-mileage piece made it highly suspect in these areas. Perri recommended we bring Old Gray in to the new, larger Eastern Performance digs in Royersford, Pa., to let them to take a look and rectify the situation. Eastern Performance has specialized in Turbo Buick performance for a long time, so we knew our car would be in good hands.

New TR Stuff Still Coming
The fact that these cars are now at least 12 years old hasn't deterred Buick buffs from pushing the envelope of invention, especially the crew at Eastern Performance. When we got to Royersford, we were greeted by John Perri and his brother, Tony. They wasted no time in showing us their new cockpit-adjustable fuel pressure regulator This handy device allows the driver to adjust fuel pressure on the fly from behind the wheel. The thumbwheel acts on a piston that pushes down on a column of hydraulic fluid inside a flexible nylon line. At the other end, the fluid pressure acts on another piston on the top of the regulator diaphragm to change the fuel pressure. The adjustable ESP regulator (part No. FUEOO1, $250) comes with easy quick-disconnect fittings and was the perfect complement to the blueprinted fuel system Eastern would install that day.

The first item on the agenda, however, was the nasty old fuel pump. Tony and John lowered the nearly empty fuel tank, disconnected the wiring harness and removed the retaining ring for the fuel pump assembly. Tony removed the pump assembly, brought it to the work bench and removed the pump from the assembly. In its place, he installed the Eastern Performance fuel pump (part No. FUE022, $175.99), which is rated at 50 gallons per hour at 51 psi (12 volts). This would be ample enough to put us in the 11s should we decide to go that fast later on

Injectors and ESP Regulator
Under the hood, Tony and John got busy replacing the old stock injectors with new stock units. After 207,000 miles, they were almost surely the source of some of our frustration. Injectors can get clogged with varnish and dirt; in some cases the deposits can severely limit fuel flow, but more commonly they just produce a poor spray pattern. This can reduce the engine's detonation threshold by reducing the fuel's cooling effect. Atomization is bad with a fuel stream (versus a proper spray cone), leading to poor combustion characteristics. An injector cleaning can help, but John Perri recommends new injectors on a car this old if it is to be raced with any frequency. We noticed the new injectors as soon as we fired up the car; they give off a faint clicking that comes from the pintle closing on the clean, unvarnished seat of the injector. (Note: Since many GNs and T-Types out there will be set with existing injectors, we're leaving the cost for a new set out of our total budget for the sake of comparison.)

With the fuel rail back on the car and the new injectors in place, the stock fuel regulator was removed and the ESP adjustable unit was installed. The ESP uses a new type of push-connect fitting that works well in conjunction with a flexible nylon line. Many of you are familiar with the old-style brass compression fittings that come with fuel-pressure gauges-trust us when we say the new fittings are light-years ahead of those older, finicky fittings. They disconnect and reconnect with bare fingers, and leaking has been nonexistent over the two months and 2,000 miles we've had the regulator The thumbwheel is a knurled, black anodized billet piece that looks right at home when installed in the dash. Cars like ours that do not have a passenger-side remote mirror adjuster (found on the lower right corner of the dash on cars so equipped) have a perfect size hole already premade for the ESP thumbwheel. Just route the line through the dash and install the thumbwheel in the hole (the thin plastic veneer over the hole needs to be drilled out). The finished deal looks like a cross between a stock cigarette lighter and a light switch.

The final fuel system checkup was a test of the line voltage supplied to the fuel pump. This is a major issue because the voltage dramatically affects the output of the fuel pump; if the voltage is low, the fuel pump will not even come close to its rated output. Tony hooked up a digital volt meter to the hot lead going to the in-tank pump. With the ignition switched on, the voltage read just 6.5 volts - not enough to get the job done. A larger 10-gauge wire was run through the chassis back to the fuel pump harness. In the engine compartment the other end was attached to a 30-amp relay and fed off of the fuel pump relay test connector near the back of the alternator. With the larger wire and new relay, the voltage now reads 10.5 volts (key on, engine off).

A quick blast around the block told us what we needed to know: There was plenty of power to be had from the 11-year-old motor and it only needed good fuel delivery to let it loose. The seat-of-the-pants difference was dramatic - the only question was whether or not the tire-blazing shifts would show up as rear-wheel horsepower. To answer this, we brought Old Gray back to Second Street Speed.

Back To The Dyno
With the stock computer chip and 93-octane pump gas in the tank, Old Gray's stock LC2 managed the same 225-hp peak as before (boost peaked at 13.5 psi in third gear), only this time the power before and after the peak was quite high as well (the air/fuel ratio was a solid 12.5:1 throughout versus 16:1 before). Keep in mind, this pull also benefited from the bigger Kenne Bell stainless steel exhaust, the Bowling Green Customs mass air pipe and downpipe, and K&N filter. With a healthy car for a baseline test, we could now continue

Our first move was to quantify the horsepower increase from a switch to a high-performance computer chip. We opted to test the Kenne Bell Ultimate Chip (part No. KB9006U3+, $120) which, among other things, raises boost pressure from stock to 17 psi. According to Kenne Bell, this is the most boost you can run with the 93-octane pump gas we use. Additionally, the torque converter lockup is delayed for added performance, the electric fan trigger temperature is altered for improved engine cooling, and the rpm limit is extended. With no other change than the Ultimate chip, peak horsepower increased to 250 hp (a 25-hp increase over stock).

Since the Buick's Electronic Spark Control (ESC) is responsible for knocking back timing under detonation to protect the engine, and since detonation isn't always heard, we decided to slosh the tank with 5 gallons of VP C-12 race fuel. We wanted to see if there was any benefit to raising the fuel octane with the same Ultimate chip in place. The extra octane was worth, on average, about 10 hp more, but by the point of peak hp there was zero increase over pump gas. Mark one for the folks at Kenne Bell-the spark tables in the Ultimate chip are dead nuts on for pump gas. If we had seen a large increase in power, we would've suspected a spark table with way too much advance.

Turning Up The Dial
With the high-octane VP C-12 in the tank, our next goal was to evaluate a Kenne Bell race chip optimized for the additional octane. We chose the Kenne Bell Hot Flash program (part No. KB9006HF3+, $120), which raises boost further to 20 psi. Most Turbo Buick experts (including Kenne Bell) agree that 20 psi is the safe maximum for intercooled Buicks with the stock wastegate and ECM control of boost pressure. Beyond this, the factory wastegate cannot handle the volume of gas, and the system tends to overboost dangerously

Throughout, it should be noted that Second Street had also been data-logging air/fuel ratio, fuel pressure and boost pressure. During the stock chip run, boost peaked at 13.5 psi in third gear (about 1.5 psi greater than factory spec). With the Ultimate chip, boost increased to exactly 18 psi (1 psi over advertised). Since we were at the limit of the factory wastegate for the Hot Flash chip, we would look at boost closely to see how well the factory system would deal with the extra boost.

The Hot Flash pegged the power needle on the Dynojet at a whopping 323 hp - a 73-hp increase over the Kenne Bell Ultimate pump gas chip. Boost momentarily peaked at 22 psi just after the second-to-third shift, but the stock wastegate system safely nudged the boost level down to 20 psi by the time the engine reached our self-imposed 5200-rpm redline.

It should be noted that due to converter slippage, the Dynojet was not able to give us accurate rpm increments for our power readings; only rear-wheel speed in mph was provided.

Throttle Body of Evidence
Plenty of aftermarket throttle body/doghouse combos are available for the Turbo Buick. Best of all, they're relatively inexpensive and super easy to install. Would one make a difference on our aging Turbo T? The folks at Second Street Speed swapped a popular billet unit with a 65mm throttle body onto Old Gray for one last hardware test. Before the dyno roller was set into motion, however, Second Street calibrated the TP sensor, set the idle speed and adjusted the TV cable. Everything was ready. Would the larger opening improve airflow and thus, power, or would a more potent engine/turbo combo be necessary?

Sadly, there was no increase in power; in fact there was a slight loss in peak power (about 13 hp) as well as an upward migration in peak power rpm. A trip around the block revealed a soft spot at throttle tip in-an artifact we believe, of the reduction in air velocity through the upper manifold. Perhaps the unit would've worked better with a bigger turbo and intercooler-such combos often need more flow through the throttle body-but it appears to do nothing for a stocker Since we were out of time, we did not swap the stock intake back on. We'd have to track test Old Gray with the large throttle body and hope the performance wouldn't be hurt too much. Roughly 310 hp still waited on tap at the rear wheels-plenty; we thought, to break into the 12s.

The Rubber Meets The Road
We made our way to Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ, for a real-world test session. with a pair of used Mickey Thompson 10x26-inch ET Street tires (17 psi pressure) on steel rims, 5 gallons of Sunoco Supreme race fuel, a full exhaust (including catalytic converter), the Bowling Green Customs mass air pipe and downpipe, and the Kenne Bell Hot Flash chip installed, we cooled down the stock Buick mill for an hour and then brought it to the starting The. This first get-acquainted run netted a 12.86/106.5 with a 1.88 60-ft. time (leaving on 5 psi of boost).

An hour and two minutes later, we rolled to the tree with no changes other than leaving on 7 psi of boost. The extra starting line boost pulled out a 1.84 60-ft. time and coaxed down the ET to a 12.79/107.0. Fifty-one minutes later, we gave it one more stab using the same starting line technique: Power-brake it in the burnout box, pull straight to the line with no dry hops, stage it shallow, build up the boost to 7 psi, and let it rip. This time, tire spin was a bit of a problem, and the scoreboard lit up with a 12.92/107.2 (1.94 60-ft. time). We had a bona fide 12-second street car and had spent only a fraction of what it would have taken for a 5-liter Mustang (nitrous notwithstanding). All this for only $1197.99 (not including a rebuilt trans and injectors), and we still had a perfectly docile daily driver with over 200,000 miles on the clock! Next stop, swap the stock throttle body and doghouse back on and see if we can get even better Ets.

THE HARD PARTS:
Kenne Bell stainless steel exhaust, part No.KB81010Y $445*
Kenne Bell Hot Flash chip, $120
ESP adjustable regulator, part No. FUE001, $225
ESP in-tank pump, part No. FUE022, $175.99
Bowling Green Customs 2^3/4-inch downpipe, part No. DNP1179, $1 35*
Bowling Green Customs mass air flow pipe w/K&N filter, part No. MAP1130, $72*
* denotes parts installed previous to our testing.

Total parts cash outlay (not including trans and injectors): $1197.99
Best ET: 12.79/107.0

QUANTIFYING HEAT-SOAK HP
Before calling it quits at the Second Street Speed Dynojet, we were curious about the effect heat has on the intercooled turbocharged LC2 engine. It's commonly accepted that a Buick Turbo is never quite up to par on the street when it is heat soaked. Is power really lost when the engine is at full operating temperature, and if so, how much are we actually losing?

The test is simple enough: Compare the output figures from a normal dyno run with those from a heat-soaked run. All we needed to do for a heat-soaked run was shut the hood, turn off the shop fan and operate the engine for a few minutes at speed before making the pull. We figured we would give up a few ponies, but we never expected to lose a staggering 50 hp across the board!