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Honest opinions only please...

CRU1Z3R

CRU1Z3R

New member
OK, been looking around on all the forums to do with the GTP's and 3800's for a little while now about what all I'm getting myself into. To make a long story short I bought a bunch of parts about 3 years ago, and actually ended up parking my '99 GTP just right after getting the parts. Mostly because the car had many oil leaks and not to mention I added a Truck to the family. Anyways, gas prices on the rise, the 5.7 in the truck is starting to suck me dry, and I want to switch back to the car, so now it's time to put up or shut up and install all the parts or just fix the leaks and be done.

The car as it sits, currently has a ubend delete, 180 thermostat, colder plugs, a set of nice wires, CIA, and that's about it.
Parts that are sitting in the trunk include....
XP Hot Cam
105 springs/moded retainers/moded seals (zzp suggested)
Headers
High Flow Cat
shorter dogbones
3.4 modular pulley
new single timing chain and adjuster
HP Tuners software
gaskets etc and probably some more stuff I can't remember....

Anyway, I want to retain some of the MPG savings I can have with the car vs. the truck, but I'm also worried about my aging 146,xxx tranny, and I figure once I bolt everything to the engine I'll just blow that thing up. I've been fighting with myself for over a week now wheather to do the cam install or just fix the stuff that's wrong and do headers, pulley, cat. I mean from the way I'm looking at it, the oil pan is leaking so I'm going to pull the engine out anyway, I have a hoist, might as well. I mean adding the all the stuff I'll still be getting decent MPG right or not? I know alot of it has to do with the tuning of the PCM afterwords which I'm a novice at (might need a little help with that). I appreciate everyone reading thru my ramblings, any suggestions or real world info you can give me on this would be helpful. Thanks in advance!
 


If your going to pull the engine out you might as well put the cam and timing chain and springs in as its easier to install with the engine out.
And iirc the only mod that really affects gas mileage is the heavy right foot mod.
 
I've seen peeps get better mpg's with a cam. Call me crazy but it's true. Also if you learn to use that HP Tuners Suite you can really squeeze some mpg's out of your car. It's not uncommon for a Cammed 3800 car to get 30mpg on the hwy if you keep your foot out of it and it's not super hilly.
 
Comes down to the car. Get it installed, tuned up right, and see how it fares. If nothing else, you can swap back the old parts, give it a conservative "mpg" tune and sell the parts.
 
If times are tough:

Sell the GP and all the parts. Buy a high milage diesel VW or Mercedes. Diesel fuel is actually cheaper than 91 octane.
 


Rico said:
If times are tough:

Sell the GP and all the parts. Buy a high milage diesel VW or Mercedes. Diesel fuel is actually cheaper than 91 octane.
Click to expand...

Depending where you live. Here it's still SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive, BUT if you do your math, figure out your diesel mileage and price per, you should be able to figure out whether or not to get one.

GP typical mpg is 20/30, average turbo diesel car mpg is 30/50ish.
 
Who needs 93 octane gas if you ALC/INJ it? Well worth the 325 dollar investment.

Use the cam and tune, tune, tune. You'll get good enough gas milage.
 
"tune tune tune" will not get you better MPG out of a cam setup.... But it is possible if you know the correct tricks to boost MPG. Overall the cam/headers will probably help you get a mpg or 2 better on the highway, but you will probably get less in town due to the nature of horsepower....

I would probably keep the HPT, and toss the rest of the parts up for sale personally... I have 2 stock GTP's and I build/own some of the fastest 3800s on the planet.... And I still think my stock GTP's are fast enough to drive every day, race around stop lights, etc.... They are quite fun to drive. I was able to tune in a good amount of power (10whp maybe) and significantly bump MPG on my GTPs by tweaking some tuning bits.

If "beating that mustang" is worth it to you, then by all means toss the cam and headers in... but realize you will be basically throwing money away at that point, while right now you stand a good chance of recouping good money on your trunk o parts.
 


trying to get a VW tdi or mercedes will give him a car payment and then he wouldnt really be saving any money would he? i personally would definately fix the leaks. then myabe take care of your exaust and drop your pulley with the tune. you should have way more fun in that than a stock gtp and still get some decent mpg. id save the other stuff for when gas prices go down if they ever do.
 


I think I've decided that I'm just going to fix the car as it sits and sale my unused parts, and possibly sale the car and get something else. Just trying to decide now if I want to ditch all the parts or just do something simple like the pulley/headers/cat or just fix all the little things and keep it close to stock as possible for best resale value. I thank everyone for their insights on my current issue, and I might start posting parts for sale soon.
 
^^ X2 You won't see any return on the parts if they're on the car when you sell. Also, most people won't buy a car that has been F****d with.
 
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