Full report on my recently acquired 2000 GTP gold ed.

**idrivejunk** · 05-05-2014

Trying to generate a simple answer to that... Not sure which is shorter, saying how I might do it or pointing out what I don't like about the repair shown. I need to crash out.

Biggest thing was the overlapped metal and partial welds. And prying like heck on the package tray. And the complete lack of mention of any corrosion protection. Blatant disregard for proper dimensions. Theres no reason not to butt weld structural repairs and theres every reason to sufficiently protect the metal all the way through the repair. Fact is, if you found ten guys who "do side work", eight of them would probably be that sloppy. But all ten will take the money and say "fixed". Its tough to find good help, so if you aren't down to fix it yourself I suggest paying for a warranty at a good shop. I can't see charging more than five or six hours for that. If you want to DIY, a welder won't be all you need. But then again, a whole other world of "stuff you can fix now" would appear.

I need to go look at my own towers. I have 3 of these cars (2 wrecked) and I bet if any of them are rusty at all there its the one I drive. It seems my area is fairly kind to steel ...

**TwoFoolsAMinute** · 05-07-2014

Day 22, Clear, 91 degrees F

Passenger side window no longer rolls down and windshield cracks have lengthened by 70 percent. I have started to wonder if I was a fool to buy a Grand Prix.

**REDCRAPGP** · 05-07-2014

It's a old car **** happens lol luckily our parts are easily available and rather cheap

**idrivejunk** · 05-07-2014

Originally Posted by TwoFoolsAMinute

I have started to wonder if I was a fool to buy a Grand Prix.

Aw now thats harsh. Easy fix on the window, more so than some other inexpensive but dependable cars. Seems like they do make a new owner "run the gauntlet" though. GPs are kickass cars, they just won't show it until they feel some love.

**TwoFoolsAMinute** · 05-07-2014

I know. The only reason it seems worse than usual is that normally I wouldn't go to all the trouble to look up these problems. I would just drive the beater until it gave out in a few years. It's the fact that I really like this car that I am seeing all these faults. The broken windshield is going to pretty much eat up the extra money I had to fix odds and ends. The lengthening of the cracks today in the heat underlines the fact that the windshield has to come first. The strut tower will have to wait for now.

**TwoFoolsAMinute** · 05-12-2014

Originally Posted by Slick2500

Put up an add on Craigslist looking for someone to do some minor welding.

Does $100 seem fair for the welding? That's the only bid I've gotten.

**REDCRAPGP** · 05-12-2014

Hell yea better jump on it for that price but make sure whoever does it can do good work

**ItHurtz** · 05-12-2014

I dont think that bid the guys knows what he is in for.

**ItHurtz** · 05-12-2014

My driver side kind of looked like that, I wouldnt have been comfortable doing just a patch like I did to the passenger side.

**Zef_66** · 05-13-2014

Those numbers written on the rad support are the coolant freeze temps and the date they were taken. So -34 12-04 mean the coolant will freeze at -34° and was measured on 12-2004.

**idrivejunk** · 05-13-2014

Originally Posted by TwoFoolsAMinute

Does $100 seem fair for the welding? That's the only bid I've gotten.

If you do all the patchwork and have it ready to weld, a hundred sounds about right for just the welding. To me, and thats just one opinion.

**TwoFoolsAMinute** · 05-15-2014

The windshield has been replaced with the HUD approved glass for a matter of $298.00.

I have the passenger window working again.

This morning, I looked at my strut tower from underneath (inside the wheel well) and it looked fantastic and has a nice undercoating. Now, I would like to think that this means I don't really have anything to worry about, but I'm guessing the reality is that someone just covered up the problem.

What do I do now?

**K Slice** · 05-15-2014

Oh yes, whoever was selling it knew to cover up the rust from the bottom. That way if a buyer just takes a casual look up there everything looks fine. Probably undercoated over rust too which makes it more of a job to actually fix it now...

**TwoFoolsAMinute** · 05-15-2014

Originally Posted by K Slice

Oh yes, whoever was selling it knew to cover up the rust from the bottom. That way if a buyer just takes a casual look up there everything looks fine. Probably undercoated over rust too which makes it more of a job to actually fix it now...

**K Slice** · 05-15-2014

You're definitely not the only person to unknowingly buy a GP with this problem. Mine was wayyy worse than yours and on both sides! Even though I supported it and hit the hole are area with chassis saver and seam sealer I still cringe when I hit a pothole or speed bum and try to baby it as much as possible.

**TwoFoolsAMinute** · 06-17-2014

I now have p0401 and p0121 codes. Boost indicator only goes halfway. From what I'm reading here I should change the MAP sensor for sure and probably the TPS.

**Scottydoggs** · 06-17-2014

http://www.obd-codes.com/p0121 tps code. the 401 is a egr code, i clear it almost daily. map sensor may help, or the egr is just bad.

**Elite6** · 06-17-2014

$400-$700 depending on the quality/scope of the fix imo.
Mine was about $600 CDN.

Originally Posted by TwoFoolsAMinute

I need to fix this, then? How much is that going to cost me? I'm scared.

**K Slice** · 06-17-2014

Scroll down to the bottom and you'll see my rusty rocker fix:
http://www.grandprixforums.net/threa...2000-GTP-Sedan

It's not pretty but the rust is stopped and it's solid now. Didn't cost me anything but materials and the time to do it.

**TwoFoolsAMinute** · 06-17-2014

Originally Posted by K Slice

Scroll down to the bottom and you'll see my rusty rocker fix:
http://www.grandprixforums.net/threa...2000-GTP-Sedan

It's not pretty but the rust is stopped and it's solid now. Didn't cost me anything but materials and the time to do it.

I actually looked at that yesterday, and honestly, I can't really tell what's going on in those pictures.