Thread: Bought 97GTP - Plans for mods~

So, I just bought a '97 GTP with 104k miles on it, and even before I had it I kinda put together a list of what I plan to buy for it. I have been looking around many forums and I have an Idea of what I should get. Suggestions and guidance would be appreciated. Also, I live in California and I need to stay street legal, and I have no plans on buying a new cam for it.

The list goes in the order I plan to buy:
*revised*

180 Degree thermostat
NGK TR6 spark plugs
K&N off of TB
TOGs
3.6 pulley

(considering)

Intercooler
1.90 Yella Terra Roller Rockers

I think I'm missing something...

If anyone has any feedback, please feel free to comment.

Make your own intake, the wizard is a waste of money imo. Why not just get the 1.9 y/t rr's instead of the 1.7's?

if u do decide then you will need slightly stiffer valve springs, I use L76 valve springs with my 1.9's, they work great

get something to scan with before you start dropping pulley sizes.

Its up to you, its your car but, 1.9's will only make your car more efficient and work less for power.

they aren't hard to do. The yella terra's come with instructions with pictures. If your some what mechanically inclined you can do it. People who use 1.7 rr's typically run some type of mild cam such as a vs cam.

If you didn't already hit up the general tech section and look for the top sticky titled safely modding your 3800...lots of info I took the time to put up here so people will know what direction to take

^X2 on checking that out

No one else has mentioned it so I will...97 GTPs are the red-headed step child of Grand Prixs. LOL I say that with affection as I have a 97. The reasons they are that way are because they have a one-year only PCM that sometimes has issues with false KR, they have the coolant overflow bottle behind the driver's side headlight (later years moved it to the passenger side shock tower...you'll want to switch to this style overflow when you do your intake), they have a one-year only alternator setup, they have a different vacuum line routing, they have a one-year only supercharger design because of the vacuum setup. They have a different style of traction control system...which is to say it's almost non-existant. You have vacuum reserviours (or however you spell it) in each fender that look like overgrown grapefruit. The DIC is different...I could go on but you're getting the idea. Whenever you are looking for parts, be sure you are talking about a 97.

Good news is that a lot of this stuff can be changed. You can use a 98+ blower if you change out the vacuum lines to 98+ lines too...and that's not hard or expensive. The Alternator can be changed out along with the bracket for it if you want to but it's not necessary. The coolant bottle can be moved. If you want you can change out your PCM to a '98 but that is pretty involved with either replacing your entire wiring harness with a '98 or rewiring the harnesses that you have now to the '98 schematic.

Lastly, what do you mean by Street Legal? The California Smog NAZIs (misspelled CARB) will only allow certain things. The K&N intake is CARB legal as are the TOG headers for 97. However, everything else is not. The 180 t-stat, rockers, ported SC, intercooler, and pulley would all be considered illegal and not for street use in CA. Of those, only the intercooler would really give problems at a smog test as our cars will pass the sniffer with just about anything done to them. We had a 536 WHP GP pass the sniffer test...my car passes the sniffer test...it's the visual that will get you. Intercoolers change the look of the engine bay enough that a sharp eye'd smog tech may catch it and fail you. Gotta love CARB.

So what part of CA are you in? We have a club down here in SoCal that is pretty helpful with this stuff though it's not as active as it use to be.

I'm in the Sacramento area. I do have a friend who lives in angels camp, and there you only have to smog once for the life of the car. Thank you for telling me all the about the 97, Does this mean the car is any harder to tune? I know a Subaru shop that has a dyno and they would tune the car for me.

Hm, also I seem to hear gurgling after a longish drive...