Thread: New member

Just got a 99 GP GT(sweet price) to use as a commuter car. But I don't know how to own a vehicle and not do anything to it... So here I am!
I had a 93 GA GT that I replaced the blown 3300 with a 3800 out of a buick. It was a $600 car and was tons of fun to drive, got great mileage and was awesome in the snow.
Replaced that with an 08 GP base model, 3800 of course. Again, great car, only issue was the air pump garbage got flooded out driving though some high water, but a ZZP ecm fixed that! But it also made my fuel gauge backwards....Worth it.

For this car I've already ordered F-body calipers and rotors/pads, They'll go on tomorrow(hopefully).
I've ordered some parts from zzp, mostly maintenance type stuff. Oil volume kit, oil pan gasket, valve cover gaskets, plugs, coolant elbows, and thermostat. I'll probably order a trans shift kit, pan gasket, and fuel filter from W-body store.
I am going to build my own FWI, since I can't justify spending 200 bucks for a 30 filter and some pipe....
A downpipe and an ECM are next on the list. I'd like to do headers, but I don't know that I'll be able to convince the wife that even a 500 set of headers is necessary...All this ~$100 stuff I can sneak in without her noticing much.... but 500 bucks probably wouldn't go over well, lol.

Future plans involve lowering, strut tower braces, maybe impala police suspension stuff, sway bars, trailing arms, etc. Have to check my junkyards for that stuff...

anyway. I'm on here tonight looking into parts for my FWI. I'll be around.

Boise, ID area fwiw.

you can get a lot of bang from your buck if you get a gmpp sway bar kit. they also make a strut tower brace kit that is worth the money. you can get brackets from Don Rome to install the strut tower braces. I'm not sure what you will need to do to make this kit work on your newer model grand prix. ZZP pretty much charges too much for almost everything they sell.

http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/results...rtnumber=WBody

Thanks everyone for the great feedback! I'm probably not going to do much to try to increase performance, but things that will help fuel economy and overall reliability mainly.

If I ever win the lottery I'll definitely turbo it though! Lol.

I actually checked the prices of the stuff I got from zzp, and they were actually pretty close to rockauto for the stuff I got.

I did look into shift kits and am going to order the trans go shift kit. 10 bucks more than wbody stores, and includes quite a bit more. I'll get the fluid and filter locally probably.

I did get my brake parts, had a hell of a time finding banjo bolts, but I did get them from Napa. M10x1.0. Drilled the caliper mounting bolts out and tapped with a m14x2 tap.
I got the drivers side all installed(using the fbody pass side caliper) and I felt like I was going to strip out the threads on the caliper installing the brake line, so I didn't go as tight as I would have liked.
Installing the passenger side, I got about 1/4 a turn on the banjo bolt, and ripped the threads right out of the caliper.... Phone call to autoanything and they agreed to put in a warranty claim, but it sounds like they are going to try to blame it on me...

So anyway, driving with one 12",pretty rotor, and an aluminum twin piston, red caliper, and one 11"rusty rotor and rusty single piston caliper...

I plan to check out the local junk yards for some impala 9c cars that I can swipe parts from.
Strut tower braces
Sway bars
LCA's
Trailing arms
Maybe struts... But I think the will raise ride height... And I'm hoping to lower it eventually...
I'm looking for things to improve aesthetics, and ride quality... Probably going to have to pick one or the other though...

Another thing... I might have an oil leak... But since it's been leaking for about a week(maybe 2) and the oil level is still full... I'm kind of thinking that some idiot put about 10qts of oil in this sucker.... The underside is covered in oil, and the first day, I could actually watch oil drip off the oil pan. I think it's coming from up higher, that's why I bought valve cover gaskets. I'll check it out when I get time. I keep an eye on the oil level, and unless it gets low, I'm not going to get concerned.
Been looking into prettying up the valve covers if/when I pull them. I'd love to get some aluminum fabricated ones, just for looks... But can't justify 400-500 bucks for looks... Lol. It will probably end up being a $15 spray paint job.

valve covers and intake gaskets are really common, im sure you know by now. if you think someone put too much oil in it, just spend the 30-40$ and do a quick oil change, even if it looks fresh, then see how the oil leakage is, thats what i would do atleast. you can rule out too much oil put in, and figure out where the hell its leaking oil from to change the gasket.

Yeah, I ordered the oil volume kit from zzp, soon as I get that I'll change it with some full syn 5w30. And a 4.3l filter.

Also check above the filter, the oil sending unit may be leaking a little bit too and they are rather inexpensive and easy to change.

Well, just an update. Got the zzp oil volume kit installed. What a PITA! The outer two bolts for the oil filter adapter were easy enough to get to, but the top inner bolt was a pain! Probably didn't help that I was doing it laying on the floor of the garage...But anyway, that done, and oil change done. Haven't noticed any more oil leakage. Just gotta fix the tranny leak now... Looks like the dipstick seal is where it's leaking from. I've got a new filter, gasket, and the trans-go shift kit, along with a couple gallons of synthetic fluid to do all that, but it's a little lower on my to-do list.

Started working on the window motor/regulators last night. (forgot to mention in my OP, that all but the drivers window are held up by cardboard shims, lol, ordered 3 motor/reg assemblies from rock auto for $35 each...not bad.) Got the front-pass side done,except that the pass side window switch doesn't work...thought I got a bad motor for a minute...but the driver switch works...$35 for a new switch!? I also have to get a box of the plastic push clips, because about 1/2 of mine were broken off. I'll get the rear motors installed today.

I also finally(3 WEEKS!!) got a replacement caliper from autoanything. So I'll try to get that installed today.

Also have a new thermostat(it needs it bad! Whole front of the radiator is blocked with cardboard and this sucker barely gets above 160) and new aluminum elbows. But I've been looking around and I might decide to do a coolant flush. I'll have to go check on the condition(and type..) of coolant in it now.

I also have a spectre air filter from autozone that I might try to just shove on the TB, for a short-ram intake...

Also have new plugs....but I think I'll wait and try this seafoam procedure before the next oil change and then do plugs and wires and coils along with the oil change after the seafoam.
Anyone tried that seafoam procedure? I'd never heard of dumping it in the oil, and sucking it in the intake... sounds kinda sketchy, but I could see it working...Probably couldn't hurt after 163k miles...

Yeah, I like to research just about everything that costs money before I jump on it, lol.

Got all the window motor/regs replaced. They seem pretty gutless and slow... but at least they stay up on their own now!

I went ahead and installed the new thermostat, because inside the radiator looked fairly decent, I'll probably flush it sometime later, like when I decide to do the elbows, just for kicks. I ran the car for a while with the bleeder open to vent the air, but never saw coolant come out... so I'll have to drive it a little harder another day and check it then.

I can see the argument for throwing seafoam in the oil, for a short run, run-throughs I've read say no more than 250 miles, and then changing the oil. So, seeing as how I just put a bunch of brand new syn oil in this...I'll wait till it's due again before I think about doing that seafoam procedure.

I'll probably also wait on the shift kit/filter change until I go down to my dads shop so I can do it on a hoist instead of on the floor. I've looked around a little for a write up on doing this full kit(including the side cover part) but I can't seem to find one... I've found a couple links to supposed how-to's, but they have both been dead links... I'd assume that the side cover portion requires removing the pass side strut, cv axle, and probably more to get to without removing the trans.... Is it worth it? Necessary? Anyone happen to have a working link to an existing write-up by chance?

Another thought... I haven't searched for this yet, but when I start the car, it surges forward a little... Potential trans issue? Something the shift kit will fix maybe?

I'm thinking of getting those sd headers too, good price.