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Some top swap questions

Traeger2591

Traeger2591

New member
Ok so I've been looking to get some extra power from my 99 gp gt. Its all stock but I want to do somethin with it. I was thinking about top swapping it (already read the sticky). My only concerns are that my car has around 150k miles on it so idk if it'd be that worth it. I mean I'm not calling the car garbage cause its still in great condition (family bought it new and has been handed down haha) I just don't wanna pour some money into it and then have somethin go wrong and have my top swap be a waste.

The other thing is about the transmission. I had the transmission rebuilt not too long ago (early 09) so I was wondering if I would still encounter possible problems from blowing the transmission with the top swap.

So what do you guys think? Basically I just want some more horsepower for around town driving and stoplight to stoplight races. I've read that theres not much to do with the gt's unless you top swap them so yeah. Oh and I'm a little bit of a noob so don't go talking to technical here haha. Thanks for any help though!
 


as long as the car is in good running condition and you take care of it the mileage doesnt matter. i first top swapped my car at 115k miles.
 
Yeah like I said it is in great running condition. Brakes, tires, oil, and all that other good stuff is changed routinely so nothing wrong there. Any knowledge about the transmission though? I really would like to not have to get that rebuilt again if the top swap messes it up. Thanks for the response.
 
Cool, so it sounds like I might be set. I still have a few questions though.

I thought I read somewhere on here about places to buy all the parts but I can't seem to find it anymore. Maybe I was just imagining it. Anyway, if you guys could help me out with places to get the parts I'd appreciate it alot. Thanks for all the help again, and sorry I'm such a noob haha.
 


id recommend a trans cooler of some sort. My trans gets hotter now that i have boost. You also might want to pick up a shift kit from INTENSE and change the fluid and filter via pan drop and get some amsoil tranny fluid
 
trans cooler isnt necessary, but the transmission will only last as long as you take care of it. no one wheel burnouts, no hard throttle around corners, not frequently taking your car to the track and trying to put down good 60' numbers...that kinda stuff.

treat it well and it should last.
 
the bottom end of these cars are beasts... so with you replacing the whole top end.. as long as you do it right it will be perfect as far as tranny issues are concerned.. the main difference in the hd and non hd tranny is a few hard parts that help with low end torque/burnouts so as long as you stay away from those as bio said the gt tranny will last no problem
 
Traeger2591 said:
Thank you so much! I cant explain how much this will help!

On the other hand, I know bio mentioned the tranny cooler wasn't necessary, but what about the shift kit. I looked for a bit and it looked like most people liked the zzp kit better and thats only 30 bucks so that wouldn't be a problem. Would that be a good investment?
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The zzp shift kit is just a handful of nylon bushings. I would get a transgo shift kit. You dont need a transmission cooler as Bio already stated.
 


i dont really think (from my opinion) that these cars really need a shift kit as long as you tune your shifts and line pressures well enough. i didnt replace my first transmission until 135k miles which was over a year of hard driving after i top swapped it. now that ive grown up a little i dont drive it as hard and im sure the transmission in the car will last nearly forever until someone that doesnt know how to drive an automatic nicely gets in the drivers seat.
 
mine just went again... this time a final drive failure and i talked to dave about it and he said it was common on higher mileage vehicles i have 177k on it
at 135k i did a rebuild due to a forward band failure
 
Bio248 said:
trans cooler isnt necessary, but the transmission will only last as long as you take care of it. no one wheel burnouts, no hard throttle around corners, not frequently taking your car to the track and trying to put down good 60' numbers...that kinda stuff.

treat it well and it should last.
Click to expand...

trans cooler is necessary for my case. My tranny hits temps above 200*, when I check the fluid, its boiling on the dip-stick :p
 


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