Thread: New-to-Me 2002 Modded GTP Update

Thanks again to all who advised when I was looking at this last month. Pulled the trigger and brought it home, and as promised am following up with additional details and pics.

Found the car on Craigs List from Long Island, the car was located in Waterbury CT. Seller said he was a member here and had it for sale here on the forum. I wore my forum T shirt when I went to pick it up and the seller said he was glad it was going to somebody who could appreciate it for what it is.

I haven't been on the forum for a while, for those of you who have read my previous posts, I bought GPs for both of my daughters, an 01 GT sedan for the oldest and a 98 GT sedan for the youngest. Have had one or the other at home over the past few years while they were in school and have done LIMs on both, an oil pan on the 98, axles, bearings, struts, brakes, front ends and fuel pumps on both, along with ignition switch on the 01 and all of the other stuff that makes us love these cars The kids have them back full time now, 164k on the 01 and 155k on the 98. I missed having a GP in the driveway and decided to look for one after we moved back to NY.

I went to Waterbury to check out this one and rented a trailer to bring it home



Here are some additional pics:




















So the car is an 02 with 98k miles on it. Transmission was rebuilt at Aamco at 84K miles with receipts provided by the seller. It shifts firm, almost like it has a shift kit in it, and it's not afraid to go 1-2 at full throttle. The seller was the second owner, he bought the car at 33k miles. The car was pretty well optioned with leather, sunroof, HUD, Bose, OnStar and heated/8way drivers seat.

The seller did the following mods:

3.4" SC pulley
ZZP Wizaird intake
Custom wires made by a speed shop with MSD ends
Autolite 104 cooler plugs - (edited to correct the plug #)
ZZP custom tune
3" downpipe with U bend delete
Resonator replaced with flow-thru race muffler
Hi-flow Cat
F-body front rotors (stock calipers retained using F-body caliper brackets and pins)
Kenwood XXV-01D 25th anniversary stereo with back lighted GTP mounting plate
LED tail lights

Seller mentioned the the LIM was replaced but no receipts for that. Gasket edges are metal and intake valleys are clean so tend to believe him. Worst case i do it again

I ordered the ZZP Power Log for the front manifold and had my buddy's garage install it last week (my tools are still in storage). I also replaced both outside mirrors (the glass was detatched from the mechanism and vibrated terribly), removed the tint from the front side windows, and replaced both headlight assemblies. The oil pan is dented, like it does when you try to jack the engine up without the right blocking, and the gasket is leaking, but not leaving driveway spots yet. On the list to do.

I also replaced the crappo Handjob Optimo tires with Goodyear Eagle sports. It bounces a lot going down the road, so strut assemblies are on the list along with a new stereo tha has Bluetooth and XM.

This thing is fun to drive. If you putter around town, it drives like a N/A GT and the boost gauge never registers. Jump on it and it will squeal the tires and take off like a raped ape. Hands down faster than my old 94 SHO with the 24V Yamaha V6. The larger rotors are really a huge improvement and seem to make the stock calipers more effective. I can't seem to keep my foot out of it so will likely need brakes by winter time LOL.

Also on order is a set of GTP floor mats.

Seller also included the OEM SC pulley, OEM airbox, an "A" pillar gauge pod with boost gauge (not sure why not installed), a car cover, OEM radio, an extra set of plugs and some misc stuff. Forgot to mention got the whole deal for $3500, which I thought was a very fair price considering how clean the car is.

Looking forward to having a LOT of fun with this car and thanks again to all who share what they know on this forum.

awesome ... one thing i noticed was you said 105 plugs ? did you mean AL605's (one heat range cooler) ? you should probably be running AL104's (2 heat ranges cooler) with that 3.4 pulley. have you been able to scan for KR ? i mean if you're not seeing any kr with 605's great , but most people have to drop to 104's.

if you wanna further enhance your braking go with the f body dual piston calipers.

if you start having misfires , the first thing you should look at is those crappy MSD wires , they have a reputation for failure.

My mistake they are Autolite 104s. Seller advised these are copper plugs and only good for 15k miles. Have about 5 on this set now so im told.

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did you notice any difference after the plog install ? sound or performance

Have not scanned for KR yet but the previous owner said when he scanned he was getting less than 2* at WOT in 2nd gear. Which was why he said he never installed the power log, thought it wasnt necessary. I need to research a scanner but based on what i think i know about mods that were dine i should be ok

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Not really...only had it in the road for 4 days before plog was installed. It runs great, i figured the plog was more for KR insurance.

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Originally Posted by Burbman

Not really...only had it in the road for 4 days before plog was installed. It runs great, i figured the plog was more for KR insurance.

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it is...but if you read the reviews some people claim it changed the exhaust note , some claimed they got better fuel mileage, and some claim they could feel a difference with the butt dyno... my only claim is it made the engine bay look nicer...lol

That's a pretty damn good looking coupe. The body looks good which makes the rest easy I mean what could possibly go wrong its a Wbody LOLOLOLOL

Honestly though, clean body is all that matters! Hope you don't have any other issues with it for a while it looks pretty well taken care of.

i never put much stock in what someone is saying when they're trying to sell me something. i need to see it for myself for peace of mind.
you can either invest in an aeroforce scan gauge or get the torque pro app. we covered this in your other thread.

Originally Posted by EHB

i never put much stock in what someone is saying when they're trying to sell me something. i need to see it for myself for peace of mind.
you can either invest in an aeroforce scan gauge or get the torque pro app. we covered this in your other thread.

In fairness, he told me this after the car was paid for and loaded on the trailer....but I get your point and agree about the peace of mind.

I have the OBDLink MX Bluetooth Scan Tool that I use with the Torque Pro app...from what I have read so far, it looks like I can set this up to display KR.

Fortunately the Pod lot where ours is being stored is close to where I work and they provide access if you request it. Unfortunately I remembered that the scan tool in not in the rollaway that I packed by the Pod door, it's in the other rollaway box at the back of the Pod........so hopefully I'll be able to get to it in another month or so when we unpack.

The good news is I haven't yet had this thing at WOT...I'll just have to take er easy until I can get a scan on it.

nice score! Black Coupe FTW

well i'm sure he had it WOT plenty enough and it's still kickin , so adding the plog hopefully eliminated or got you under 1. next step...1:9 rockers and 25 more HP ...lol

I figure if enough guys on here are running the same "pacakge" of modes and arent seeing excessive KR I *should* be alright. Will definitely measure, just cant do it until i can get to the scan tool.

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oh i'll be running the same setup you have except i have the overkill pcm and you have zzp . i just need to put the pulley on and change the plugs. the funny thing about these cars is you may get 0 KR , and i could still have some.

Originally Posted by EHB

oh i'll be running the same setup you have except i have the overkill pcm and you have zzp . i just need to put the pulley on and change the plugs. the funny thing about these cars is you may get 0 KR , and i could still have some.

I've seen a few people with headers, ported blower, open cone intake, 104s, 180* tstat and in car tune still get knock on a 3.4 pulley.

ZZP was saying they thought they found the reason behind this, they started to notice something as they would tear these engines apart, as you know the cylinder openings on the head gaskets are not perfectly round, and on some cars part of the gasket would hang into the combustion chamber, and it would get red hot and cause pre ignition of fuel causing the engine to have knock retard.