Thread: Time for a rebuild? 04" GP GT

Hey guys , I'm new to the community here haven't posted but have been taking In lots of information. Anyways , I own a 2004 GP GT N/A , the car is bone stock and has a wooping 272,858 KM's on the odometer. I got the car for a great deal last year because of the mileage. The car is in A1 condition 0 rust which is amazing considering our harsh Canadian winters. To the point now , the car developed an oil leak , seeping threw the rotted oil pan , the underneath of the car is superb but for whatever reason the oil pan is In rough shape. I bought an oil pan and gasket this morning , and plan on tackling it this weekend. I got wondering about the tired 3.8 it has tons of mileage , and I do like to play from time to time , should I sell the car for a lower mileage grand Prix ? Or pay to have the motor rebuilt? It does have a mild knock nothing audible inside but with the hood popped it's noticeable during a small free rev.

I was thinking of making a parts list and paying a shop to rebuild with my purchased parts from ZPP or maybe another credible 3800 parts store. I'm not looking to put down crazy numbers , and I'd prefer to stay N/A. What's your opinions for some mild affordable ( 700 - 1000$ in extras ) gains? Maybe a mild cam? Or would it be cheaper to swap for a lower mileage motor?

What would you do type deal.


Thanks in advance guys for any advice.

For curiosity sake , upgrading the top end " Valves , Lifters , Rockers , Springs " I always thought this was more aimed towards people looking for reliability when boosting. As my car is gonna stay N/A is it worth the money to " Upgrade " the top end while it's torn down. I understand it's probabaly worth rebuilding the top end for
Mileage sake , but performance wise while being N/A is it worth it?


So currently planned ..

LIM Gasket -
UIM Gasket -
HV3 Insert -
Pacesetter Header Catted -
Alluminized ZZP Catback 2.5" -

Suggestions for valve train?

Thanks for the info!

Yeah I was thinking the same about the Catback but wasent sure , I figured I could see small gains from the header and HV3 insert forsure. In which case I probably will just swap out the stock mufflers for something with abit beefyer of a sound. A mild cam would be some nice to follow suit haha .. Still curious about valve train upgrades though.

Thanks !

Well i think the car is trying to send me a message to start spending money in the right places. The car is stalling on startup unless i feather the throttle , threw a code for the coolant temperature sensor a couple weeks ago , but only started doing this " Stalling " thing recently. Gonna pick up a coolant temp sensor tonight , and clean the throttle body / MAF sensor aswell tomorrow .. Hope this clears it up!

I been trying to understand the benefits of purchasing rockers , and this could be posted somewhere else but I can't seem to find it. Looking at ZZP's website ALOT and been looking at these ZZ Performance

What's the real benefit to these rockers over stock? And wouldn't it be beneficial to order ZPP's Valves / Springs / Seals while im there? I usually do all the work on my cars myself , have been for years but im not sure I'd be comfortable enough to venture this far into the motor myself. Professional install may be I'n order for a mod like that.

Thanks for that description that's exactly what I wanted to know. Like I said not looking for 300hp so I think the planned mods are gonna be as follows at this point..

UIM Gasket
LIM Gasket
Pacesetters Header / DP / Cat -
HV3 -
Flopros or identical for a meaner sound -

Would anyone recommend the rockers I linked too on ZPP's website? And as mentioned above , if it were you would you also order ZPP's valves along with new valve springs?

PS:

Thanks guys , very informative !

iPhone is alerting me for every reply that's why I'm whoring my thread haha.

haha that's not a problem I could probably talk about it all night , let the alerts roll in

So I cleaned the throttle body out today and cleaned the MAF sensor and replaced the coolant temperature sensor the car is running A1 now but I noticed alot of coolant and gunk inside the UIM , is this normal at all? I'll post pics later once I get home. Car starts first crank and no rough idle at this point.

Thanks guys !

hey guys i figured id post some pictures of the TB and intake to show you exactly what i was dealing with. Keep in mind this is probably the first time the TB has ever come off in 277 Thousand KM's. I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to stuff like this so im not sure what the UIM is suppose to look like inside , but this does not look good to me.












Took blueGP's idea for the intake setup i much prefer this , thanks for the suggestion.






This videos allows you to see the inside very well , a picture wouldn't have done justice , with the iphone flash you can see inside very clearly.






Regardless i did clean the throttle body very well , along with MAF Safe spray , and replacing the coolant temp sensor. One of these has solved the " Start - Stall " issue. The car starts beautifully and goes right to idle.

Thanks for the guidance guys.

PS::

I know the motor is very dirty , i have to drive 4 KM's down a dirt road everyday to get to work since the building is new they havent paved yet

Still looking forward to anyones opinion on the intake manifold , even if you're not sure any input is appreciated , could this be a sign of a bad UIM gasket?