I bought a top swap (came with a car)

[Rlugo87]

So I was searching for a winter beater, especially since my 01gt is still in the shop. I cam across an ad for a running driving 00gtp listed for 800, so of course i called and went to see it. When I got there I found a very nice (well niceish) red sedan, when I opened the hood I found a zzp fwi , 3in catless DP and a set of sd headers lurking in there, I also noticed shortened dog bones! I figured this has got to be to good to be true, so I drove the car, and it amazed me! I drove flawlessly, just as good as my gt that has 60k less on it! The car also has led headlights, foglights, and interior lights. Also came with a decent pioneer deck with type s speakers and a 12inch jl setup in the trunk. The bad news is the rockers are gone under the side skirts (thankfully they have not started sagging yet, so I need to figure out a way to secure them) and the rear strut towers are showing early signs of rot. So I offered the guy 600 bucks and bought it, it dove flawlessly ( and mind you beaten on) the 130 miles home. I'm going to put my gt in storage and drive the piss out of this thing (maybe even mod it some more) till the body goes completely then use it for a top swap on my gt. Thought you guys would appreciate this find. Any ideas on how to half ass secure the side skirts so they don't start to sag would be awesome. I'll get y'all some more pics tomorrow in the daylight. Funny story about the ride home, I stopped to get gas and forgot how many times the guy warned me the viper alarm system auto locks the car after 1 minute, and I left all 3 sets of keys in the car, thankfully i have roadside assistance on my insurance, but i seriously say over an hour in the cold waiting for someone to come unlock it haha.


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[Scottydoggs]

id use the l67 engine, screw the top swap.

[Rlugo87]

Think I could swap my l36 back into this one and get my 600 back haha

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[Scottydoggs]

now your thinking.

[Rlugo87]

I have a low mileage l36 in my gt and a recently rebuilt trans haha but I must say the car is not in bad enough shape to do it yet. I think I'll play with it in this body till I can't anymore then swap

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[Scottydoggs]

you'll need a tuner, so you can keep the rebuilt tranny and run the l67, and to make the l36 work with the hd tranny.

[Rlugo87]

Well that sounds acceptable, I was thinking I would have to give up my trans . Looks like my zzp rockers are coming off my gt soon haha. And with the headers dp and what not how far you think I could drop the pulley? I was thinking 3.4. hell I dropped to a 3.4 on stock manifolds with a tune 104's and a dp and had no kr on my old gtp. By the way the interior in this thing is one of the cleanest I have ever seen so I think a interior swap is in order also since my gt is cloth

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[Scottydoggs]

3.4 is about it. the rockers will help.

[SgtMarshal]

I wouldn't go smaller than a 3.4 like Scott said. if you are swapping engines at some point, I would invest in a cam and get 40 hp instead of 20. you could run the rockers for a while, but I would take them off when you put the cam in. I don't live in the rust belt, so I have no experience with rotted strut towers or rotted rockers, but I've heard people say that once they are rusted, it's game over. I would get the most out of the vehicle while you still can and then swap everything out like you want.

[Rlugo87]

Any advice on the rear strut towers, after some closer inspection today I noticed that they are pretty bad, one of them having a half dollar size hole about 6 inches from the strut mount itself. I don't need it to last forever but I would like the car to get thru winter

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[Scottydoggs]

you can patch em up too if not rotted to hell.

[Rlugo87]

They seem not to bad the closer you get to the strut but some pretty rotted spots way out from the struts. I will try to get some half ass pics tonight when I'm off work

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[Rlugo87]

I'm going to douse them in rust reformer and some rubberized undercoating tonight in hopes that it at least stops it from getting any worse. I'm by no means disappointed in the car I just can't actually complete a swap until next spring and I hate to drive my rust free coupe all winter. I'd still be happy if I paid 600 for a l67 with some bolt ons, some t-stars with an extra set of brand new tires, the system and many many other usable parts.

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[Rlugo87]

you can patch em up too if not rotted to hell.

So here's how they look, and also some pics of how they look after I doused them in rust reformer

I am also going to hit them with some primer tomorrow. I also had someone bounce the rear of the car just so i could watch and see if there is any movement and it seems pretty solid still. Maybe I'll go see if I can get one of the metal shops in town to weld some patchs over the rott.

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[Rlugo87]

So me and the wife stopped in a Chevy today, and ended up getting an offer on my 01 gt (non running) and this 00 gtp, they offered 3261 on the 01 gt and 1000 on the 00 gtp ! That bails me out of my loan on the 01 and puts me +400 on this gtp! They even said I could demod it and return it to stock and leave it with no stereo, this deal includes us taking home a 16 Cruze 2lt. Leaving me with my 04 gt as my last w body but she only has 90k on her so lots and lots of life left, I feel like I would be dumb not to jump on this. The 04 is stock but I have some things coming off the other 2 cars to get the mods rolling

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[SgtMarshal]

You can have my Cruze for 13,000. 20,000 miles. 1lt.

https://www.ksl.com/auto/listing/3180349

[Rlugo87]

13,600 is my out the door on the 16 with 29 miles on the ticker, the dealer is offering a 5800 rebate plus a 1900 dealer specific promo on the particular car

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[SgtMarshal]

13,600 is my out the door on the 16 with 29 miles on the ticker, the dealer is offering a 5800 rebate plus a 1900 dealer specific promo on the particular car

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if you want a Cruze, buy used, GM has flooded the market with these things, and resale and dropped out the bottom. why do you think they are giving you such a good deal. I could flex a little on the price if you are really interested, but I am already taking a loss at this point. I would just drive it out to you and ride the bus home, or something like that. Salt Lake City is the nearest major city from me, and down there, I can find 1000+ Chevy Cruzes for sale down there.

edit: do a little research before you pull the trigger on a Cruze, because I am going insane trying to sell this thing. it is too small, and not fun to drive.

[Rlugo87]

They offered a 16 spark 2lt for well under 10. The wife is absolutely in love with the spark but I am not so much. Thing needs a good wind to get to 60 lol

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[SgtMarshal]

They offered a 16 spark 2lt for well under 10. The wife is absolutely in love with the spark but I am not so much. Thing needs a good wind to get to 60 lol

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funny thing about the spark is that they have almost as much power as the 1.4 turbo Cruze, but weigh about 300 lbs less.