Thread: Luke's GTP

stock is cutpile I believe not much give to it, so plush will add more comfort. I myself when the time comes will be doing the plush with mass backing. you could also get samples of thier colors and paddings to get a better idea.
good comparison photo
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...act=mrc&uact=8


war if the metal on your floor is muddy, then no carpet backing will save you, also its called floor mats and a whoopin for those who walk into a car like that!

Who's floorboards are muddy? Lol

I'm saying that in case of unforeseen water/other fluids getting on the carpet, a child comes to mind in that case, the extra thick mass backing will most likely hold that fluid even more than the stock carpet and backing...

And a hell yes on that ass whoopin.

Well in the carpets defense its not like the stock carpet is bare sitting on the metal its backed too. Plush mass or bust!

The mass-backing is a must. 100%. There is no way I'm leaving that out. The stock backing is in pretty good shape. I don't think that it's absorbs liquids like a kitchen sponge because the stock backing didn't have any stains really on it. The only part of the backing that was wet, was on the passenger floor board. I'm guessing leaky cowl or clogged A/C purge.

Idk, I'm just speaking from a personal experience with my friend's car... His kid spilled bottled water on his brand new carpet, with mass backing. and three weeks later he had mold in the mass backing.

Might have been just his situation, but I guarantee it was only water. I'm just giving a friendly warning.

That mass backing with the ultra plush is definitely gonna be comfy... Lol

War tell your friend to learn to clean up correctly. Mold starts to grow at 50% humidity and that water and 24hrs gave it its fuel to grow.


Luke GM #15794785 for the water deflector, takes like 60 seconds to install
http://www.grandprixforums.net/threa...GM+%2315794785

He learned his lesson... To the tune of 300 bucks. Lol he has weathertech (I think that's the brand) full coverage rubber floormats now.

Made a little bit of progress this week. Finished installing the AUX input. The order of Damplifier came in. Might be few days before I get to play with that though.

Somehow, I wasn't expecting the shower of buttons that came down:


Nice and clean:


Finished product:


Damplifier. This is 40sq.ft. 14 sheets @ (12"x24"):


Thick adhesive pad on one side, and metallic foil material on the other:


Matte black finish:

Got some other needed supplies. Importantly, trunk lifts, so the trunk doesn't knock me on the head anymore. The HVAC blower has been fixed twice in this car, and I was getting water on the floor board, so I bough the Cowl to get that fixed. Especially with new carpet and new insulation... I don't want any water leakage. And got a new actuator for the drivers side. Expensive little bugger.

I'm doing all these improvements and fixes and it occurred to me that I never really checked the rear strut towers closely. I should know how they're doing I'm thinking. Why have I never checked? Well I did check... And it's not looking good! Pretty awful actually. See pics below. Otherwise, as I've descrived the car is in great shape with only and EVAP engine code, no elctrival issues, good looking body, etc, etc.

What are my options now to fix this and save the car? I love this car, mannnn.

Passenger Rear Inside Trunk:


Passenger Rear Outside:


Driver Rear Inside Trunk:


Driver Rear Outside:

lill bit o rust there. thats patch able.

Been there done that

Passenger side, it got a patch
d774ddfc037e1d198354b86e78359485 by Corey S, on Flickr
3rck by Corey S, on Flickr

Driver side was to far gone, needed a rebuild
112fe2adb7ed17bedbce882b0d29f80f by Corey S, on Flickr
8866061c2fe13a0b28bc5874d249e804 by Corey S, on Flickr
7c076258cef436156fc7cb59f3a52175 by Corey S, on Flickr


The test fit
7d5195562aaf46067fabb52a7bf321ad by Corey S, on Flickr

Do the rust repairs or try again, buying a GP. Now you know! The rocker rust should have been a red flag to stop investing in it or not buy in the first place. Improper repairs like the one shown could be as dangerous as the existing rust.

Originally Posted by ItHurtz

Been there done that

Passenger side, it got a patch

Thanks for posting up those pics man. They're missing from your thread and I've wanted to see how you did it.

Originally Posted by idrivejunk

Do the rust repairs or try again, buying a GP. Now you know! The rocker rust should have been a red flag to stop investing in it or not buy in the first place. Improper repairs like the one shown could be as dangerous as the existing rust.

Junk. Thanks for taking a look at this. I was hoping you would. Also hoping you could offer some advice and could post some pics of how you and your team handle it at the shop. You must come across this, right?

I didn't buy this GP used. I've always had it. My parents bought this GP brand new when I was 16, been in the family all it's life. It has basically had 1 owner. My dad, being an engineer, took rather good care of it. He moved back to Poland to be closer to family and now I have it. Owned a few cars in between, Honda, Toyota, Oldsmobile, Honda,.... but was always very, very fond of this GTP. I am definitely getting this fixed. Did some reading and it looks fixable. I'm not sure that I would be able to recognize improper vs. proper work. Just not that experienced with this type of stuff. I'm barely sharpening my teeth and learning about cars, really just in the last year or so. What do you recommend?

Actually, no we don't come across this in Arkansas. Rust isn't as bad here. I scrapped a 40th GTP with perfect rockers and towers myself. When rust gets that bad on one, it's unsafe so we junk it. So a proper repair is something I just don't see. Using donor steel is so labor intensive that repair makes no sense compared to replacement. If you use new parts, the price of that kills it. So you can see why half hearted repairs are the usual fix. Because the buyer won't look there either, when you unload the unsafe patched-up rust bucket.

If you have sentimental attachment to the car, ignore rockers and go around town to see if any body shops will fix the towers for you and for how much. The repair affects wheel alignment so good measurement is important. A proper repair involves replacing the entire tower at the factory seams with a new or clean salvage part. Next down the line is to replace just a section of it but with a correctly formed patch of the right thickness. After that comes laying some steel up there and making something that looks like it might hold and hoping the suspension is straight and won't rip off.

Originally Posted by idrivejunk

Actually, no we don't come across this in Arkansas. Rust isn't as bad here. I scrapped a 40th GTP with perfect rockers and towers myself. When rust gets that bad on one, it's unsafe so we junk it. So a proper repair is something I just don't see. Using donor steel is so labor intensive that repair makes no sense compared to replacement. If you use new parts, the price of that kills it. So you can see why half hearted repairs are the usual fix. Because the buyer won't look there either, when you unload the unsafe patched-up rust bucket.

If you have sentimental attachment to the car, ignore rockers and go around town to see if any body shops will fix the towers for you and for how much. The repair affects wheel alignment so good measurement is important. A proper repair involves replacing the entire tower at the factory seams with a new or clean salvage part. Next down the line is to replace just a section of it but with a correctly formed patch of the right thickness. After that comes laying some steel up there and making something that looks like it might hold and hoping the suspension is straight and won't rip off.

Damn, Junk! Thanks for giving me the bad news straight I guess. I value your opinion because of your experience with serious car restoration. From what I gather, you're a pro on this forum.

But s**t man, there's gotta be a way. I'm determined to find a place that will do this right. It might cost me a pretty penny, but so be it. I bet I've spent double the value of the car already this year in just basic maintenance. I read somewhere it will run me $300-$400 a side. What I really want is someone to give me a referral for someone they now. Someone who owns a shop, takes they're work seriously, and will do it correctly using all their professional knowledge and tips and tricks. I've had some bad experiences when using unknown shops. Now I'm paranoid. You got any contacts up north? LOL

screw body shops all your doing is lining the owners pockets, find someone on craiglist or a friend of a friend of a friend that does fabrication and welding they will save you money and THEY will also make more money vs their day job.

Naw, no connects up north just you cold GPF guys. I'm a pro at work, here I'm a jester. I have no chit been helping solve bodywork messes on the web since I got home from fixing cars all day, lol. Mondays are like that.

I figured since this an extremely common scenario in your neck of the woods, body shops might have figured out how to do the rust jobs fairly and profitably by now. Ithurtz may have a point. Anybody who welds could do it. If the guy who fixes tractors says he can, well it may look like tractor and lay a skid mark going straight down the road. So maybe approach a "welding and fabrication" shop. I don't know Yankee ways, I am a Southern bodyman by grace.

What you do have going for you is the towers aren't too awful bad yet. Potentially dangerous to drive around, yes IMO. The alignment could move around, and possibly suddenly if you were hit. You'll have a better idea what you're up against once somebody who may be interested in the repair actually looks at it.

Best of luck and my advice is free so treat it as such.

Yup, I was in the same position as your car. I saw the rust and just did a quicky patch job. My rockers were pretty much gone and that was the main reason I sold my car, the rust was going to take it over.


I'll admit this was just a hacked job but it worked for me. I took a big piece of steel, roughly 2mm thicker than the body steel and made a cardboard cut out for each half because of the curve on the left and right. I cut out the rust and used a rust converter too, grinded everything clean-ish. Then with my 2 pieces cut, I welded them in. I welded the strut plate itself to the new metal and the other side the where the body has the seam that runs down the center of the wheel well. You can kinda see the outline of the 2 "L" pieces I welded in, then I undercoated it. It added some strength back in and stopped water/salt from getting back in there.

Originally Posted by Fivefingerdeathpunch

I'll admit this was just a hacked job but it worked for me.

That looks like a sturdy save. Looks really don't count for much but sturdy and protected from corrosion do. If you can get to it before the original 3D position shifts and retain that throughout the repair, theres a win to be had. But you all know if it was a vintage Mustang front tower I would hack that whole thing out. Its just what I do so... y'know.

Originally Posted by CHI2000GTP

Damn, Junk! Thanks for giving me the bad news straight I guess.

I do OK shooting from the hip with the bad stuff but GPs defy my logic time and time again. Trying to not overly or underly alarm anyone. I have been crashed a lot in GPs and the suspension is fairly fragile. When you get thumped by a car, its nice to still have all the wheels upright for a graceful stop. Rear suspension can throw you and step on your head like a horse. This I know. I'm rooting for ya, let us know if you get a fix on it.