Thread: How much has your wbody been through?

I was thinking the other day after being in a small harmless accident... wow my grand prix has been through a ton of crap and still keeps on trucking. so basically im making this thread to hear crazy stories of what others wbodys have been through that outlasted haha. you can include mileage you bought it at and mileage it went or mileage you are currently at. Not just asking for mileage but stories more or less a list of cool or interesting things that happened to your grand prix that should have put it out of commission or at least reduce the life of the car a substantial amount. Ill do my list to get started going in order from when I bought the car.

-bought the car from a flipper who obviously rebuilt the front end from a green donor car (my car is maroon) at 120k miles

-wheel popped off going 90 mph on the highway on a trip across the state

-truck smashed the driver side while I was parked so bad I had to enter thru the passenger door for a week car was less than $300 away from being totaled by the insurance company

-someone nailed a construction barrel that came flying into my rear wheel well

-multiple terrible mechanics giving me horrible alignments that would throw me in certain directions willy nilly and blame it on the car and tell me get a new one( car rides perfect now after finding good alignment shop)

-recently had a small front end Collison with someone but only damage was a bit of paint chipped off my bumper onto theirs wiped it off in 2 seconds, my bumper caved in popped it back out like the people on youtube by hand and some odd reason my head light came flying out popped the hood and connected it right back in both cars good as new ( my bumper was already chipping planning on painting it soon anyway)

-not to mention all the close calls I've had with people cutting me off that I don't think I would have been able to avoid in many other cars.

I am pushing 200k miles by the end of the week and thing is running strong as ever

also a side note don't know what it is about my car but deer never show up when im driving and in my area you ask anyone they have either hit a deer or they see them everyday so they drive really cautious. maybe they don't like the whine noise haha

I have four, all told. Nothing else. In someone's eyes, each of them are "junk". The black ones have both been totalled but still have normal titles because I fixed them. I once put five years into my '75 which was killed by a Zephyr in 1992. RIP, blue GP.

If I were an FM radio station, my ID blurb would be:
"All Grand Prix, all the time"


Bought the black 99 GT2 coupe thats now parked in the street, tagged insured and eager, in front of the house in July 09 with 117K, bad blower motor and trans. After years of service and while in tip top shape at 178K in 2013, I got sideswiped on the right in January. I put a black salvage door on and have ignored the quarter. In June, someone changed lanes in rain, hit the right front wheel and fender. Got them to not rub. In July, a CX9 came across five lanes and plowed me over the curb at a Burger King driveway. Bent struts, blew tires, broke wheel, plowed frame at control arm mount, junked fender, hood, structure, headlight, bumper, etc on driver's side. I put a dented black junkyard fender on it, bent the hood where it would close, took old struts off my next next one and put them up front, replaced hubs, friend with frame rack pulled the control arm mount, I eyeballed camber and toe and it drives great as a backup car but the weather is getting to it now and the oil change is past due. Drive it a couple times a week and share it with my folks as needed. Has 182K or so on it now. I remember sitting at a redlight one morning and a loose dually wheel came hopping along out of nowhere and centered the driver's door then rolled out of sight just to be sure I was indeed driven insane.

When it took the big hit, I threw all resources into a 40th GTP coupe with 130K. Didn't have it long enough to change oil. Flipped it on it's lid one night at 135K and utterly destroyed it. I yanked and stashed parts, junked the body.

That was November. Bad year, man... 2013. Anyway, found my current black GTP2 coupe with 196K on it and the cleanest body around. Had a slow regulator, otherwise a nice car. I put the roof rails on it, got a fan n trans tune from a dude here. Swapped in the 02 trans because I'd just had it rebuilt. January 2015 a kid in a Ranger made a ballsy move I didn't have room to quite stop for, so got hit going a couple miles an hour by the right rear wheel of a pickup. It's axle came loose, he spun out. I was just stopped there with my headlight and bumper laying in the street and a broken wrist. Fired both airbags as I reached for the horn.

Doc missed the break in my arm on the x ray and now I'm a show car builder with bad right hand and am right handed. I was 48. Now am 53. Got new HUD windshield then I pirated the dash, bags, and module from the GT and got back comprehensive coverage on the GTP but went to liability only forever on the GT. Then I removed the SIR fuse. It has to work, but I can disable it... per insurance guy.

So I have a spare L67 with 135K that has been upside down but has had the smoke ran out of it, and thats been sitting five years. The GTP passed 275K miles just today and reports 21.6 MPG on the dash, scoots around like it don't know no better. I put Bullitts on it a couple years back and swapped the torque stars onto the GT. Gave it an open cone air filter for whines.

When I did collision repair, I noted the structural front end strength of the W body. Now, after a decade behind the wheel I am in constant amazemement at how they shrug off the world and do their duty. It is remarkable the transportation value they have if cared for.

Oh yeah, almost forgot... GTP has also in recent years been rearended twice and if you keep shiny spray paint on them... well one rear bumper that still looks good has paid me a grand. I put a black salvage front bumper on the GTP and used the wrecked one on the GT. Out of all that, what have I learned? I run without a passenger seat because I carry things more than people. That being said... you can stuff a front bumper cover inside the car and still drive, and not hurt the bumper.

My 69 GP has been with me since the turn of the century and we have lots of stories. It still rips asphalt. Painted it purple in 02 and it got hail in 05 and 11. I put a hood on it and fixed the decklid first time. The untitled, near-complete, numbers matching 72 in the backyard has been there probably six or seven years but no stories. Haven't needed body parts yet, knock on wood! The elder GPs are both Model Js. So was the 75 and in millenial speak that means base model. Base was 400 CID though.

Top that.

ive owned my 08 since january and it hasnt seen much until last thursday. blew rr tire on a pothole. dont know how it didnt blow the rf tire. hardest hit ive ever experienced without it being an accident. steering wheels off center a little bit now. no pull or wandering but im pullin the lf tire off today to see if i can see any damaged parts. hopefully just knocked the town in out a bit