How's it going?
So last week, for $800 I picked up a 1996 Grand Prix SE as a second vehicle for my wife and I, and also as a project I could spend time on over the weekends. The car is in kinda rough shape as would be expected of an 18 year old car with almost 190,000 miles. The engine and trans are both in great shape, and the intake mani gaskets were changed recently, which on a 3.1 is definitely a bonus in my mind.
When I picked up the car, it was throwing code P0420 (inefficient catalyst...) so I replaced the O2 sensors and checked all the wiring and now that I have eliminated all the variables, I have decided to just go ahead and drop $300+ on a California approved replacement catalytic converter, which should be the fix that takes care of the trouble code. The new problem (created by me) is that one of the bolts from the cat to the manifold snapped and is broken off in the flange on the manifold. So...the next plan of action is to remove the rear manifold and extract the bolt, or just replace with a new part. I've gotten about 3/4 through the removal process and should be able to have the mani off by tonight.
My main goal of this build is to bring this car back to life, I'm not looking for impressive hp numbers or for this to be a head turning show car, just keeping a log here of what's been done. This may be a good reference point as I move forward with this project and maybe I can help some others through some of the problems I work through.
This is not my first and will probably not be my last 3.1 GM sedan, but I plan to do a little more than just drive this one to work.
So stay tuned if this thread doesn't bore the hell out of you, I'll add a few pics here and there when i think they might be useful.
Thanks,
Tim
Sent from my Windows Phone.
