Thread: what mods for a daily driver?

And the odo

Originally Posted by 4THGENCAMAROFAN

Our grand am seemed to brake and handle much better, but it had monroe sensatracs. I got the airbox cut up. I left one section of tubing in thinking it will help direct flow but if you guys don't think it will do any good I'll cut it out. THe piece on the side that will go into the inner fender I pulled out of the front of the box.

I've had stock airbox, gutted airbox, open cone intake and custom CAI. Left to right, worst to best.

I figure a gutted air box is better than a warm air intake.

Not worried about being faster, just want to improve some of the little things that don't cost tons of cash. Besides, if I want fast I got a GN to drive.

A fairly quick GN

Mod: Convert GA front brakes to Corvette brakes - Grand Am Owners Club Forums

corvette/fbody brakes seem to be a definite bolt on for grand ams. I'm guessing it's the bolt size since there is no mention of drilling the holes larger and tapping them. Can grand am caliper mount bolts be used so it's a complete bolt on? If 4thgencamarofan was around I'd have someone here to help research this stuff lol

The GA bolts would basically be the fbody bolts. The fbody/C5's use smaller bolts than the GP's. That's why they bolt right up to the GA, they apparently use the same size. So even if you did use GA bolts you'd need to get sleeves to compensate for the smaller bolt. It's either that or use the stock GP bolts and drill/tap the bracket as you mentioned before. Id go with sleeves if I was doing it.

TO all the worry warts that chimed in to tell me this car was going to be a big sack of fail, after surviving being vandalized and nearly junked I have only had 2 problems arise. One was the a/c needing recharged and the other was a bad crimp on the wire going to the performance shift button. I really lost a lot of interest in the car after the vandalizing but I'm slowly starting to warm up to it again. I now have it very close to being perfect again. I installed a high flow air filter. Since the GN is waiting for a trans rebuild and a new torque converter I might play with this car a bit. Planning on getting a 3.4 plulley next since I know it won't cause any issues. I may be doing a U bend delete sometime also but I'm trying to work a package deal on some stuff which includes a set of slp headers. Nice having a car I don't have to even worry about driving anywhere. 10 months problem free.

which headers do you have?

Originally Posted by SaukRapids

This is a joke, right?

My first provided link is free. Paypal $8 dollars next time. $12 if it's in this forum.

http://www.grandprixforums.net/threa...-Powered-Car!!

I would have charged $10 then $50 lol

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

I have an 04 GP Base daily driver, 90K. Summer, winter, snow, etc. Did a top swap and trans swap last year with a cam, headers, pulley drop, etc. That was fun for 6 months until I went smaller pulley, injectors, pump, and E85. Car still runs like stock, idles like stock, starts right up.... no problems at all. Only downfall is drop in MPG which is to be expected.

100% stop and go city traffic
Stock GP-20 mpg
Top Swap and gear reduction- 18 mpg
E85- 13 mpg (about 40-45% cheaper than premium at my local station)

I don't do any highway driving so I don't know highway MPG. I only drive couple hundred miles a month and I don't try for fuel economy.

My trans was doing the slip then engage from take-off that so many do. If I wouldn't have done the trans last year I wouldn't have top swapped. Kept everything stock and saved my money. But since I had the motor/trans out I decided to do the upgrade. Stock GP power is fine to get you to point A to point B. But it is nice to finally have enough power when people try to cut you off you can just floor it and pass them. I really surprise people. It is a sleeper.

Personally I don't see the benefit of investing in a GP knowing you are making a slow car a little faster and you will need to budget for a new trans. I recommend either spending the money to go turbo or top swap and cam/intercooler/E85. Otherwise keep it stock, keep up on maintenance, and enjoy it. Otherwise how often will you be searching for the next mod to gain the next couple hp when you are not satisfied. You either want the car to haul ass or go from A to B.

Originally Posted by brettstoner

I have an 04 GP Base daily driver, 90K. Summer, winter, snow, etc. Did a top swap and trans swap last year with a cam, headers, pulley drop, etc. That was fun for 6 months until I went smaller pulley, injectors, pump, and E85. Car still runs like stock, idles like stock, starts right up.... no problems at all. Only downfall is drop in MPG which is to be expected.

100% stop and go city traffic
Stock GP-20 mpg
Top Swap and gear reduction- 18 mpg
E85- 13 mpg (about 40-45% cheaper than premium at my local station)

I don't do any highway driving so I don't know highway MPG. I only drive couple hundred miles a month and I don't try for fuel economy.

My trans was doing the slip then engage from take-off that so many do. If I wouldn't have done the trans last year I wouldn't have top swapped. Kept everything stock and saved my money. But since I had the motor/trans out I decided to do the upgrade. Stock GP power is fine to get you to point A to point B. But it is nice to finally have enough power when people try to cut you off you can just floor it and pass them. I really surprise people. It is a sleeper.

Personally I don't see the benefit of investing in a GP knowing you are making a slow car a little faster and you will need to budget for a new trans. I recommend either spending the money to go turbo or top swap and cam/intercooler/E85. Otherwise keep it stock, keep up on maintenance, and enjoy it. Otherwise how often will you be searching for the next mod to gain the next couple hp when you are not satisfied. You either want the car to haul ass or go from A to B.

This. The only "mods" you should invest in are suspension and handling upgrades to make it a pleasure to drive, then a top- swap or turbo if you're N/A to make it fun to drive... If it's already SC, then just get headers and a Borla cat-back, drop to a 3.4 and drive it into the sunset. Keep it simple and a DD, spend the big bucks on something old and cool, or new and fast. Or old and fast, or new and cool. Or a combination of all three. Notice the lack of "w-body" in that... these cars have their place, and they rock the sh!t out of it.





BTW, that place is the dependable, cheap DD with a sleeper attitude and a nasty 30-40mph downshift.

Originally Posted by WarStryker13

This. The only "mods" you should invest in are suspension and handling upgrades to make it a pleasure to drive, then a top- swap or turbo if you're N/A to make it fun to drive... If it's already SC, then just get headers and a Borla cat-back, drop to a 3.4 and drive it into the sunset. Keep it simple and a DD, spend the big bucks on something old and cool, or new and fast. Or old and fast, or new and cool. Or a combination of all three. Notice the lack of "w-body" in that... these cars have their place, and they rock the sh!t out of it.





BTW, that place is the dependable, cheap DD with a sleeper attitude and a nasty 30-40mph downshift.

So True!!