Thread: 2000 GTP: Still Alive! New Trans?

This! ^

lol, turbo might come sometime next year. Depends on how the truck is doing, if we've moved, and if we've been back to AZ for a visit. I'm leaning more and more towards turbo though, mainly because if I factor in the price of an I\C, along with the money I make back from selling all my current stuff, it's not all that much money. Right?






Right?

Right lol

Awesome, now to get my wife on board...







****.

Turbo=better mpg which should lead to a happy wife!

No apology needed, I love helping and teaching people when I can. Originally I had TCC oscillation, but not too bad. Every time I was going uphill and hit that point in the throttle where the transmission doesn't downshift it was like I was listening to techno music:

It happened when I bought the car, but with the engine dying 3 weeks in, I thought that was the problem. Naturally, after the engine was done I didn't feel like ripping it all apart again to change the solenoid. I was intimidated by the job, because I hated transmission work (thanks to the TV cable BS on a Ford AOD transmission). So I just disconnected the TCC PWM solenoid, and enjoyed the lower MPG.

Zoom ahead 8 months or so and it was time to get my hands dirty again. I changed the TCC PWM solenoid on a weekend whim hoping it would fix the problem. I figured since the TCC PWM solenoid was the problem because I disconnected it and the problem went away. WRONG. Next time I planned a little bit more and looked up what else could go wrong and the normal wear items on the transmission so I could replace all that stuff. PCS, 4th shaft, 4th stack, and Sonnax TCC Apply valve all went in. Fail. 3rd time I bought a rebuilt Valve body\Channel plate with Sonnax upgrades, new solenoids, etc. I also decided to swap in an aluminum subframe because I though it was easier to do when I had the driver side already dropped. WRONG. Then...brace for it...no more oscillation! About 3 days later, the 1-2 shift became harsh and "dirty." Ever had a ride in a car with a manual transmission and the driver pops the clutch too soon? About 20-30% of that feeling. Drove me and my wife(which in turn drove me MORE) nuts. Tore it apart AGAIN and looked through the valve body, and didn't really find anything wrong. PCS screen was ripped and the screens in the separator plate had fallen out; but fixing them didn't change the way the transmission felt.

Did more research, downloaded more manuals than I could ever read, and bought a JY transmission. 2002 GP GT 130k on the clock, the car I ripped it out of had fresh plug wires, aluminum coolant elbows, new hoses and belts, clean interior, and the badges were relocated. Only thing I saw wrong with the car was a ****ty bondo job on the front driver fender. Transmission fluid was red, so I bought the transmission for $67 after tax. I tore it down, checked everything out, added some shims here and there to the clutch stack, swapped over everything I had done to the old transmission, put in hardened chains from a GXP, swapped in the HD diff, driven gears, and used the higher stall lighter GT torque converter (had to drill my flexplate for that one).

So far, so good. It's shifts a LOT better, and feels like it pulls harder as well. 1-2 shift is 99% better, but not quite what I want. I have a good feeling that a tune will help that. When I clear TAPS it shifts EXACTLY how I want, so the increased line pressure will help a lot. Now I drive like this:

I hit 235,000 today. Who would have thought I'd only need a new engine, transmission, and entire suspension?

I changed out that scratched rotor today, and since I wanted to bleed the system I ended up putting in a hard 5th line in:


Rust is getting taken care of very soon...

So there was some noise coming from the engine bay while it was under load, and I thought it was the transmission. I ordered a Transgo Shift kit for it, along with a few other things to swap a spare channel plate over, and it all came in today. Literally right after I ordered the parts I was able to duplicate the sound in Park, and I think it's engine related. I tightened up my header bolts, the rears were a little loose so we'll see what that does. The Transgo Kit came in at the same time so I didn't want to drive it yet and get it hot.

I'm not changing the filter because it literally has 300 miles on it, but here's everything going in today. Except for the valve body stuff, of course.

My awesome helper, not even 3 and a half yet and he's outgrown cloths I wore to Pre-school...42 inches tall and 40 pounds.

Install went relatively smooth, I've gotten good at it. I took some ideas from this thread: http://pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/for...p?f=12&t=18722 since I already had the DIY kit, and the 2-3 accumulator spring in the 1-2 accumulator. I installed the kit as directed, except I left the 1\2 inch spacer on the top of the 1-2 accumulator and installed the lower springs like the 2-3 springs (included an addition red spring). So far, it shifts much better and if it stays the way it shifts now, I'll be very happy. I reset TAP's so time will tell. I've gotten excited too many times just to have it start happening again, lol.

Now onto the other two problems. While cruising around 30 MPH, the RPM randomly drop from 1000-1100 to 500, the come right back up. You wouldn't notice it except for the headlights dimming and the exhaust. It only happens in Drive, to my knowledge. I've tried shifting into neutral and it goes away.

The other problem is a clatter type sound that comes from the back of the engine under load. I can get it to happen in Park\Neutral, but it's not as loud and the noise doesn't last as long. I'm thinking about pulling the read valve cover and taking a look.

I have a question about the double din install, how hard was it to modify the dash cover, and how did you mount the din? theres no kit for these cars right? I would love to do this with mine

Originally Posted by mikejohnlewis

I have a question about the double din install, how hard was it to modify the dash cover, and how did you mount the din? theres no kit for these cars right? I would love to do this with mine

It wasn't anything really special, hold the head unit it up and break whatever plastic is in the way, lol. I had to break off the part that goes over the head unit, and some more behind it. Then I took some of this and bent it up and secured it down a lot like stock is, just in different spots (no pics of this sorry):

After that, I took the dash bezel, found some 1\2 inch wide pieces of plastic to cover up the holes on sides of the head unit (the hole was tall enough, but too wide, so I had to fill in the sides), and super glued them to the back of the dash bezel after double and triple checking they were in the right spot:

Then I mounded up JB weld, let it dry for a few days, sanded it down, and repeat. I wish I would have repeated one more time, I might do it again some day:

After paint and such:

Installed:

thank you very much!

My advice would be to sand the JB weld down to where you like it, let it sit for 24 hours or so, and lightly sand it again. JB get's bubbles in it and they'll pop. I have 3 that happened, but they only about the size of the end of a toothpick.

thanks, this is very helpful. you have one of the nicest grand prix's i have ever seen, i prefer the 1997-2003 body style. i had a choice and chos the 1997 over the 2005 people still hate on me for it. but i like the coupe.

Thanks for the compliment, I've put a lot of work into it. I know what you mean, I like the 04-08 look, but the 97-03 just look sportier.

if i ever upgrade i would go for another 1997-2003, but a chrome yellow gtp coupe with sunroof. and a stock head unit.

2006+ Impala brake swap is complete. F-body (and 00-05 Impala) rotors are too thick in stock form, but after they are turned they work fine. In stock form they MIGHT work, but I had a bad wheel bearing on the passenger side, which caused it to rub BAD. I replaced it under warranty today, and they turned the rotor for free since it was damaged by the hub, awesome. So far, brakes are GREAT, and I have about $80 into the swap including all the cleaner and such. I still need to diagnose my negative LTFT's, but that'll be another day. Here's a pic of the brakes:

I'm still fighting the tire shop for messing up my brand new lugs. I literally put them on then drove to them to have them put the new tires on. I gave them the key and they obviously didn't use it. Next up, a car wash.

Dirty car is dirty. I was going to wash her today, but I woke up to it sprinkling so I'll put up the canopy thing I have and investigate the negative LTFT's I've been having. I'll start by pulling spark plugs, and most likely replacing them. From there I'll check fuel pressure, after that...not too sure, lol. If that goes well and I still have time, I'll finish up my FWI pipe. I have it sanded and I put about 6 coats of black on it yesterday, so I should be able to sand it again today.