Earlier this week we posted a sweet time-lapse video of Tony Schumacher’s engine receiving a complete teardown in the pits between rounds; we’re back with another time-lapse video, this time around we’ve got a 4.1L V6 engine slated for use in a 1987 Buick Grand National undergoing the same treatment.

Wagner’s Flight of the Valkyries, better known as the “Apocalypse Now” theme song, provides the soundtrack, and it’s quite fitting; as the tune builds to a crescendo, so does the engine to come together into a finished piece and find its home between the car’s fenders..

The stock Grand National engine was a 3.8L V6 that became well-known for its ability to handle increased boost pressures from the single turbocharger, and in the mid-to-late ’80s these cars were the ones to beat, both on the street and at the track.

Many believe that the engines were severely underrated, with 245 horsepower at 4,400 rpm and 355 lb-ft of torque at 2,800 rpm the advertised figures from General Motors at the time.

The engines were pumped up with a Garrett AiResearch TBO348 turbocharger making sixteen pounds of boost – in 1987, that was state of the art

The engine we see here is a 4.1L version owned by OneBadGoat, who tells EngineLabs that the engine uses a Buick production block and displaces 256 cubic inches.

The rotating assembly is forged for strength, as he’s upgraded the turbo to a TE-45A unit. 9.5:1 compression means pump gas is the fuel of choice, and he also uses methanol injection for added protection against detonation. The factory iron cylinder heads have been ported for added performance, and the TE-45 snail is capable of supporting up to 725 horsepower – a stout number, especially when the six-pot engine is taken into account.

Cool build – thanks for sharing it with the world!