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Hey Guys! Great Site. Is my GP "worth" modifying?

J

Johnny Boy

New member
I've been driving for a year now, and I still have my first car, a '99 GP GT coupe. My father bought it with a blown engine (connecting rod burst through the block) and overhauled it. He then added a '07 Impala 3.8 motor, and yeah, it runs pretty good. I haven't done anything to it yet, but I was about to start, since I got a job a month ago and I'm finally making some money.

Here is the "problem". While the '07 motor has around 25K miles on it, the chassis, tranny, differential, etc. all have 165K miles on them. Not very good. So far nothings gone wrong (except bad oil pressure switch), so I'm glad about that, but, should I invest money into a car that's standing on its last legs? Even though my dad has his own garage, he won't buy me a new tranny. He would help me pay for it and charge no labor, but I'd be dishing out some dough.

Do any of you guys have GPs with mileage this high, or am I alone? I was just about to place an order on ebay for some stuff that will add
aesthetic appeal to my car, like a GTP badge, new grille and smoked tail-light covers. Also, I was going to debadge some of the "3.8L V6" badges and Pontiac logo badges. The GTP badge I'm getting is for the grille.

So, guys, should I invest money into engine components (roller cams, headers, high flow mufflers and cats, CAI, etc.) even though I'm riding on a high mileage car? Or should I wait a year or so, and trade it out, which is what I'm thinking of doing. Insurance will be cheaper, as I'm 19 now, so I was thinking to get a VR4 or a late 90s WS6. Plus, I've always wanted a stick, lol.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
 


Since you only have a GT NA mods aren't really worth it. Search for doing a top swap, but with the GT tranny and those miles I'd be worried about blowing your tranny up fast. A fluid change is a good idea as well.

These cars last a hell of a long time, mine's been through hell and back and is still running strong. I've blown up the tranny, upgraded the suspension, and chipped a piston over 6 months ago. Making more power than before on this block with no issues, I flog on it like everything is normal lol.

Since you want to get something different down the road I'd just fix up what you have for now to learn the basics then get a project that you really want.
 
Sandman said:
Since you only have a GT NA mods aren't really worth it. Search for doing a top swap, but with the GT tranny and those miles I'd be worried about blowing your tranny up fast. A fluid change is a good idea as well.

Since you want to get something different down the road I'd just fix up what you have for now to learn the basics then get a project that you really want.
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Thanks for the reply! And I understand what're you're saying. I like GPs and all, but I don't want to invest major dough if my tranny is going to go. My dad is a mechanic, and he made sure all the fluids were good. I check oil and everything else every now and then. What is a "top swap"?

I'm afraid something is going to break soon. I feel like I'm pushing this car too much at times, doing too many peel outs, haha. But I think I'm still going to do some small stuff, like the smoked lights and debadging. Should look a little nicer with those.
 
Oh, I see. My dad was talking about getting the stock blower & pulley from a '99 GT, but only if we can find one in a junkyard somewhere. You'd be surprised with what stuff you can find in a junk yard, lol.

Right now I don't think I have enough money for something like a top swap, but it sounds like a cool idea IF my car didn't have incredibly high mileage.
 
a top swap is when a gt gets the top end of a gtp swapped onto it, so its supercharged. its common because theyre arent many mods for the gts and parts are relitively cheap. but id say save your money. your tranny would probably give out after the topswap anyways, and if not then it would with the next mod.

stay golden johnny boy
 


Do you live where it snows? If you do I would skip moding the the GP and do basic maintence stuff and save up for the WS6....also specify late 90's. An LT1 or an LS1 could be mid-late 90's or late 90's
 
4THGENCAMAROFAN said:
Do you live where it snows? If you do I would skip moding the the GP and do basic maintence stuff and save up for the WS6....also specify late 90's. An LT1 or an LS1 could be mid-late 90's or late 90's
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Probably a '98 or '99 because I want the LS1. Where I live, it doesn't snow much at all, lol. At least not in the last 19 years when I've been alive.
 
Johnny Boy said:
Probably a '98 or '99 because I want the LS1. Where I live, it doesn't snow much at all, lol. At least not in the last 19 years when I've been alive.
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So 98-02..i would try to find a later one like 01 or 02 since im fairly sure those years had LS6 intakes on them....theres cars that have ran 10s with a factory LS6 intake on them.

Basically I would stay away from modding the GP since you want the WS6....i'd be a "waste" of money if you planned on selling...BTW modded cars usually don't sell for anymore than a stock car from what i've seen...so modding it isn't going to increase the value of it. Maybe just do the aesthetics like you want since those don't cost a whole lot.
 
replace your entire suspension and get new tires then considering a TEP and then finally top swap and cam.

You're looking at lots of money but it'd be fun but an LS1 with a six speed with just a few mods like gears would make the prix seem like it's standing still.

Its a great DD so i'd replace whats worn on the suspension and do maintenance. MAYBE buy headers and make your own intake.

But thats about it for mods for a N/A car.
 
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DaytonaGTP said:
also good luck finding tail light covers for 97-03 GP's as im pretty confident they didnt ever make em. your best bet is to have them spray tinted. like this

http://www.grandprixforums.net/how-vht-tint-your-tail-lights-30474.html

or you can contact Flips and he can do em. or go here and get some led tails
www.dashzracing.com
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What? Really? Damn it, that sucks. I thought I saw some on ebay, but maybe I'm wrong. I don't know about the spray-on tint. If I don't like the look, or if it's too dark, taking it off would be a problem.

I mainly want to smoke the tail-lights because there is a lot of moisture in the lights (it rains a lot here) and one of them is cracked in several places at the edge of the light. Nothing very noticable, but I don't like how it looks.

Also debadging. Do you guys do it? I HATE all the badges on the side panels and such, wax always gets stuck in them and it's a pain to get out.


And about insurance, when did that get cheaper for you guys? I'm under my dad's insurance, and he is paying $1200 a year for me. It's freaking crazy. I got my liscense at 17, my first car a few months later at 18. I'm 19 now, never got any tickets and never pulled over. When will it go down? I can't imagine how much it will skyrocket if I get a WS6, lol...
 
mines debadged. just dont leave the goo on like a dumbass:th_thumbsup-wink: actually im gettin rid of my blacked out tails in the spring and going for the dark red look. so if you still want em then ill sell you mine. i warn you they are pretty dark.
 
Mines 140 a month for full coverage...ive had 2 tickets....one was for a suspended license which i had no clue about...i got pulled ove since i just got the GTP and was waiting for my custom plates so there werent any on the car.
 
4THGENCAMAROFAN said:
So 98-02..i would try to find a later one like 01 or 02 since im fairly sure those years had LS6 intakes on them....theres cars that have ran 10s with a factory LS6 intake on them.

Basically I would stay away from modding the GP since you want the WS6....i'd be a "waste" of money if you planned on selling...BTW modded cars usually don't sell for anymore than a stock car from what i've seen...so modding it isn't going to increase the value of it. Maybe just do the aesthetics like you want since those don't cost a whole lot.
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Yeah, that makes sense. Why invest so much money if I am going to end up selling it? And as for the WS6, I've looked up '02s, and man, they're pretty expensive. One with 40K miles was going for 10K a couple of weeks ago, but man, it was nice. I don't know if I'll be able to afford that (I'm a college student working part-time). I was also thinking about that VR4, but Mitsu parts are kind of expensive, especially since the car has TT.

I wonder if the car would sell for less if I smoked the tail lights, lol. Some people don't like that look, and might go somewhere else. Also, the previous owner scrapped the bottom left of the bumper. It's about 6 inches long. I've got to take care of that.

Oh..and I definitly don't have full coverage.


mines debadged. just dont leave the goo on like a dumbass:th_thumbsup-wink: actually im gettin rid of my blacked out tails in the spring and going for the dark red look. so if you still want em then ill sell you mine. i warn you they are pretty dark.
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I won't leave it on, lol. Idk about going too dark, though, I odn't want to get rear-ended and have it be blamed on me.
 
Look for a T/A closer to like 100K...if you can find one in nice condition that's not a WS6 i would still get it...you can always buy a ram air hood later.
FWIW I found a T/A a couple days ago for 6 grand I think it was...i don't know where your at but if you look in the southern states they usually have them decently priced...and they stay nice cuz theres no salt on the roads down there.
 


4000 each year here. clean record


You HAVE to have collision.

Its collateral you dont have. Aka theft and fire.

P.S. WS6 is one of the ugliest cars out there. Right up with the aztek.
 
matt5112 said:
4000 each year here. clean record


You HAVE to have collision.

Its collateral you dont have. Aka theft and fire.

P.S. WS6 is one of the ugliest cars out there. Right up with the aztek.
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Ah, you're right, my bad. I was thinking of collateral. My dad removed that since it was way too expensive with that, lol.

But hey, that's your opinion about the WS6. In my eyes it's one of the most beautiful cars out there, and one of the best cars Pontiac ever built (behind the '69 GTO of course).
 
Theres a grand prix that looks better than the WS6.

What is annoying is that it seems everyone here owns a grand prix because they apparently wanted a WS6.
 
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