Thread: my grand prix

pick up a set of 1.9 rockers, LS6 springs, PCM tune, Cold air intake, and a 3" down pipe. this should make you car peppy enough for a daily driver to get you through school.

Good Luck with the car!!

it would also be a good idea to pick up a haynes/Chilton manual of the car. read through it and feel free to ask questions.

Welcome to the boards grandprix0429. Glad to see you here and hope you enjoy the place.

With regards to your car I have to say I did not realize the 3800 came in the SE. I thought that motor was only available for the GT. Nonetheless, you say its in there so thats whats in there. You are talking to two knowledgeable people with UR LOSN and Street Wolf and they will get you started in the right direction.

What I would do, and not to contradict any ones help on here so far would be this:

1. Figure out EXACTLY what you want to do with the car.

You said you are in college. Are funds going to be an issue? Then you need to take that into consideration. What do you want the car to look like, how fast are you looking to make it?

You mentioned you wanted to get into Drag Racing possibly as a career. My mom raced in circle tracks and a girl I dated in high school forever and nearly married, her mom raced funny cars at the drag strip. So Ive been around the scene a little and Im still involved with it some even today as Im involved with a motorcycle drag racing team that races in the Street ET and Super Gas classes. Nothing major, but I get to see a little on what it takes to do all the racing and the organization.

With that in mind I will tell you that consistency is going to be your biggest ally. You've got to go out there and be able to consistently launch the car. Consistent RT's and so forth. You've obviously got to be at the races. The big boys dont want a driver that has a hard time making it to work even when things are not going good. I'll leave that at that. You're not going to go to school and become a drag racer Im sure you are aware. You're going to have to be on the track and that takes time, patience and money.

2. Once you decide on what to do with the car, write down a plan

There is nothing, in my opinion, like a roadmap of what to do written down on paper. If you are going to start with appearance first, write everything down that you want to do, in the order it needs to be done. Include things like the cost, tools needed, time it will take, etc. If you are going to start with the engie and drivetrain first, do the same thing.

Plan this stuff out, Im telling you from experience. Dont just wake up one day and say ohh, that would be cool to do, and then next week do the same thing with a different part or project. Know what you want to do, how you are going to do it and what parts and vendors you will use. It will save you a lot of hassle.

Everything should have a plan, and plan everything you do. You will be much happier in the end.

3. You have to start learning about cars now

You have got to get educated at least on a basic level about cars. Im not saying you necessarily have to be a mechanic but you need to increase your knowledge about cars, engines and so on. This is a protection for you as well so you can decide on whats best and separate out the junk from the facts. Ive been to NHRA drag races and Ive seen on several teams the drive out there helping with the breaking down of the engine and putting it back together. You have to have a little knowledge to do that.

I think it was UR LOSN that suggested getting the Haynes or Chilton manual. I would take his advice. Read that thing and start asking questions. Dont be put off by anyone that says things along the lines "you dont know how to do that? or What a noob." We all have to start somewhere, ignore the ones that dont help or have nothing useful to say and pay attention and take notes from the ones trying to help out.

That said, I dont think you will have that problem here. The people that have been asking for help here (myself included) have been getting tons of help and information and none of the other stuff.

At any rate, I will leave it there as Im sure this post is probably about 5 pages long already, but I wanted to give you good information and details. What you do with it is up to you.

Hey guys in order to put a body kit on my 02 SE do i need to get a new exhaust or will the bumper fit with it on?

closed since you brought this bad from 2007!!