Grand Prix Off-Topic Thread (Closed)

Geez guys, I said IF not WHEN....:p

Plus, if you're not risking crashing, you ain't ridin' hard enough.:lol::grinyes:

My dad sent me this in an e-mail today:




What's that...? You don't have a big pickup to tow your 6,000 lb. gooseneck trailer.....fear not!!! A little careful, well thought out engineering can solve your problem...



Class lll Hitch Install... (patent pending..)

Wouldn't you love to see how the trip went...? Good chance he ended up doin' some unintended off roadin' somewhere. Check the 'hills' in the background.. Howja like to meet this rig on a two-lane road.....coming down the mountain in your direction...?

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t60/SL3000gt/rig1.jpg

She's hitched up and ready to roll!! Amazin' how the extra weight smoothes out the ride.
Needed to air up the rear tires a bit ('bout 160 psi).

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t60/SL3000gt/rig2.jpg

Added some super heavy-duty chain for extra support on the tailgate, (note the 'Heavy-Duty 'S' hooks to attach the chain) Also paid-up for some BIG Number 5/16 sheet metal screws to attach the Reese hitch frame to the tailgate (see 'em there? one on each side...) Likely two more through the carpet into the floor pan inside.....

Yep, probably overkill, but didn't want the possibility of having an axerdent.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t60/SL3000gt/rig3.jpg

Most of the time was spent on the front porch whittling down that MASSIVE solid pine 4x4 to fit precisely down into the hole in the ball mount receiver.

Note also - The 14x14 piece of 3/8 plywood on the underside of the tailgate to distribute the load more evenly and beef up that tailgate support.

'A MAN CAN'T BE TOO SAFE'...!!


:rofl:

Dude,.....that is both the funniest and scariest thing I've seen in a long time. Gotta love that redneck problem solving. You wouldn't have to worry about hills or mountains, as the tired out V-6 (especially if it's a 2.8) in that beater couldn't pull it up a hill.

I'm surprised to see the Dewalt tool case in the back of the truck in the second pic. I would've expected to see something like Buffalo Tools or some other "off brand China made" tools. (Maybe he borrowed it from a friend :dunno: )
I heard this guy was semi successful later on by developing a line of vehicles to move trailers around the park :lol: He developed kits to outfit any vehicle, especially Geo Metros, Chevy Cobalts, Ford Escorts among others to keep initial costs low.

Wow, no posts in here in quite some time. I don't want to see the Grand Prix forum go the way that the 3S section did on here so I'll kick it off.

I found out today that I will be heading to Breckenridge, CO here in less than 2 weeks as my uncle graciously invited me to spend a couple days with him at his condo. Now, the only problem is, I need to find what form of transportation I will be taking. I was able to get my roomate to go along with me but he wants me to drive my VR4. Being that this is a 1,200+ mile round trip I would just assume not take the VR4. My reasoning behind this is I will need to buy premium for the whole trip which is more expensive, I don't want to put that many miles on it in the matter of 6 days, and if in the rare case I should fall ill while in Colorado I would still have to drive back as my roomate cannot drive a stick. On top of that, on a trip that long it would be nice to switch drivers ever couple hours. If we took the VR4 I would be driving the whole time regardless. He drives a good ol' W-body Cutlass with a 3.1 that is much more long trip oriented than my VR4 and does not require premium fuel, and is an auto so both of us could drive. Either way, that is small conundrum for the time being!

Wow, no posts in here in quite some time. I don't want to see the Grand Prix forum go the way that the 3S section did on here so I'll kick it off.

Its feast or famine Alex. Many of us are too busy working and also have a life outside of AF. However, our overall forum activity is still very high compared to other AF tech forums. :grinyes:


I found out today that I will be heading to Breckenridge, CO here in less than 2 weeks as my uncle graciously invited me to spend a couple days with him at his condo. Now, the only problem is, I need to find what form of transportation I will be taking. I was able to get my roomate to go along with me but he wants me to drive my VR4. Being that this is a 1,200+ mile round trip I would just assume not take the VR4. My reasoning behind this is I will need to buy premium for the whole trip which is more expensive, I don't want to put that many miles on it in the matter of 6 days, and if in the rare case I should fall ill while in Colorado I would still have to drive back as my roomate cannot drive a stick. On top of that, on a trip that long it would be nice to switch drivers ever couple hours. If we took the VR4 I would be driving the whole time regardless. He drives a good ol' W-body Cutlass with a 3.1 that is much more long trip oriented than my VR4 and does not require premium fuel, and is an auto so both of us could drive. Either way, that is small conundrum for the time being!

My son who is probably around your age made the trip from New York to El Paso in his Alero driving by himself in 2 1/2 days. 2300 miles one way. :eek:

So teach your friend how to drive a stick in the VR4 before you go. :eek7: After all, it's a nice mild mannered car that he can't get into trouble with, and I'm sure it's really easy to drive....:uhoh:

Perhaps explaining to him the pros and cons of taking your vehicle versus his, ( using some of the points you posted in your post,) and offering to split the fuel costs may sway his decision . Also any money saved on fuel by taking his car could be used to enjoy yourselves more in CO.

So teach your friend how to drive a stick in the VR4 before you go. :eek7: After all, it's a nice mild mannered car that he can't get into trouble with, and I'm sure it's really easy to drive....:uhoh:

Ahh yes, a 350+hp AWD car with long gears...a great car to start on. :lol: No, but I have actually let him try and drive it for about 10 minutes in a wide open parking lot. Funny things, he was able to at least get it going after a while, although on a very rough start. After the 10 minutes I told him to get in the passenger's seat so he doesn't ruin my clutch lol. I actually wouldn't mind teaching him so that he could drive it on a trip so we could switch back and forth. My only problem is driving in the mountains with a someone who just started driving a stick.


Perhaps explaining to him the pros and cons of taking your vehicle versus his, ( using some of the points you posted in your post,) and offering to split the fuel costs may sway his decision . Also any money saved on fuel by taking his car could be used to enjoy yourselves more in CO.


Yeah, regardless of the car we take we will be splitting the gas money. And as I told him, gas would be cheaper in his car than mine. Not to mention, as reliable as my car has been, there are just sooo many things than can go wrong with it. 2 ps pumps, enough intercooler piping to lay across the length of a football field that could blow off or cause major boost leaks, two turbos that could possible decide they wanted to kick the bucket, etc. I think we will probably end up taking his car as it isn't a huge deal but we'll see what becomes of it.


My son who is probably around your age made the trip from New York to El Paso in his Alero driving by himself in 2 1/2 days. 2300 miles one way.

Wow, that is a hell of a trip to make in a car. I think I would about go insane if it were just me on that trip. Longest trip I have ever gone in a car is from Omaha, NE to the Northwest Territories in Canada. That was a doozy.

If you're worried about dependability, then the VR4 is out. You don't want to break down 100's of miles from home. If you're taking the interstate, then the fun factor of the VR4 on curvy mountain roads is out. It definitely sounds as though you're buddy's Cutlass is the more practical option for this trip.

Agreed, and as of now, that seems to be the choice. As much as I love my car, which I really do, it requires a lot of maintaing, 93+ octane when modded slightly, and just has WAY too much stuff to go wrong. It is undoubtedly a fun car but my God, it gets exhausting. :lol: It has been very reliable for me thus far but everything is extremely expensive and requires a great amount of work...even changing the plugs which is a big job! Back in 1994, the guy who I bought this from paid $46k for it. However, all that means to me is huge bills when replacing parts, and spending more time taking everything apart, than actually working on something! VR4's are fun stock mid 13 second cars if you really like them, but be prepared to be able to work, and spend money. Although, as much as I love to take my anger out on these things, I still love them to death and wouldn't have it any other way. :D

EDIT: By the way, with both Rich and most recently my mother telling me I need to teach my roomate to drive a stick, I did! I will say, I was in the upmost pain watching my VR4 bog and jerk as he tried to lear the ropes. Call me what you will but I gave him 10 minutes to learn it and surprisingly he did well this time. We later took it on some very isolated roads and I let him run through the gears so he could get a full understanding of it. I am far to protective of this overpriced vehicle as I felt guilt most of the day letting that happen. Eh, the terror of that AWD system boggin across an open parking lot makes me near sick! :lol:

Seriously.

I can't believe you actually listened to me, what were you thinking?!?! :lol:

It's cool that he actually got the hang of it, but I truly never thought you'd actually try to teach him how to drive a stick with your VR4. I can guarantee you that I would never teach someone how to ride a motorcycle on my Fatboy! I understand that you don't have to worry about him falling over in your car and wrecking something, but still...:runaround:

I can't believe you actually listened to me, what were you thinking?!?!

It's cool that he actually got the hang of it, but I truly never thought you'd actually try to teach him how to drive a stick with your VR4. I can guarantee you that I would never teach someone how to ride a motorcycle on my Fatboy! I understand that you don't have to worry about him falling over in your car and wrecking something, but still...:runaround:

Haha, I have always thought about trying to give him a lesson as he has always wanted to be able to drive a stick too.

Well, I finally got a cell phone picture sent to me by my cousin who just recently bought his VR4. For some reason the headlights look foggy but it is just due to a glare as I have seen other pictures of it now and they are actually quite clean.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t60/SL3000gt/ConradsVR4.jpg

BTW, if anyone is in the market he is selling a 99 GTP that I have seen in person a couple times and is pretty clean from what I remember. It is a 4 door and is red. That is all I know about it but I am sure it would make a nice car for somebody! It is located in Minnesota.

I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend and a happy 4th.

You too Bob.

<Sweeping out the cobwebs> Ten days and no new posts? :eek:
Let's get the ball rolling again...
Here's something that's happened to me lately, just wondering if anybody else has had a similar experience.
Back in early May I bought a Suncast deck storage box with seat. I went to put it together and was having a hell of a time, something just didn't seem right. After an hour of swearing and sweat I walked away from it disgusted( I've put these together before in 5 to 10 minutes time). My wife suggested I give it a few days and try again. well a few days later I decided to tackle it again. This time I stood back for a moment and took a long look at it. I noticed one of the sides had the hole where the back portion fit into on the wrong side. Upon closer inspection and reading the very fine lettering designating the side, I realized they put 2 of the same sides in the box. I called the company and gave them the code on the front of the instruction manual and they shipped out the correct side to me, and it went together in no time.
Fast forward 2 weeks and I just finished remodeling my bathroom. I needed to get a linen closet to match the vanity that was installed. I went to Home Depot where we got the vanity only to find the linen closets were out of stock. There are 4 Home Depots in my county and according to the search the one near my house did on their computer it was found that 2 of them had one each in stock. I called both stores to confirm before heading out as I did want to purchase 2 for my bathroom. I went to the first one and purchased theirs, then went to the second store but after seeing the box was opened and some parts on top I declined the sale.
I brought the one home and finally decided to put it together over the July 4th holiday weekend. Imagine my surprise when again I discovered an error in packaging. This time they forgot to include one of the sidewalls to the cabinet :shakehead:. This is a major component to the cabinet.
I proceeded to call the company since I figured it was a sealed package and it wasn't Home Depot's fault, only to find that, that line of bath furniture was discontinued last year and replacement parts are no longer available! I then called the Home Depot where I bought the cabinet and explained my issue. After a day of talking and checking the other Home Depot only to find they sold theirs, the kitchen and bath manager is having another cabinet shipped from another store about an hour away. They then will give me the part I need.
Needless to say these incidences have shaken my faith in quality control in this country. Both products were manufactured and packaged in this country and both packages were sealed when I purchased them. The followup customer service is good when you do contact the companies with a problem, but this wouldn't be needed if the control was there in the first place.

Ready to assemble furniture can be a nightmare, so I don't blame you for passing on the opened box. To have that glaring an issue on a sealed box is almost rediculous. You'd think they'd have a scale at the end of the assembly line that would catch such a big omission due to the weight difference. I can almost understand a missing screws or cam-lock, but an entire side panel, Sheesh!

What has happened to Lewis this year? Is his car rubbish or what??

Jensen flying the great British flag still though!!

. You'd think they'd have a scale at the end of the assembly line that would catch such a big omission due to the weight difference.
That's an idea I didn't think of. I would guess the box would go down a set of rollers and each piece added, then before being sealed it would be checked by a human or computer for accuracy of completeness. A scale could detect weight differences with major components, but for missing screws or other parts it might not be enough to trigger a second look. That box was quite heavy, especially having to drag it into my house by myself, I couldn't imagine how much heavier it would've been with the additional side. I think their customer service (RSI Home Products) could've done a better job at helping me. They have many lines of furniture sold at the big box retailers, Home Depot and Lowes included. They could've come up with an alternative solution. Hmm,maybe I will go higher than their customer service department and complain now that i think of it. See if I get any results from that.

If all else fails, sick Cat Norris on them, :lol:

If all else fails, sick Cat Norris on them, :lol:
Funny you mention that, I have some cats here that like to use my wooden furniture as scratching posts.Maybe I'll drop a couple of them off inside the factory some night and let them do their thing :lol: .

Check this out guys, a coworker owns a 67 camaro ss. He has it pretty much completly restored inside and out aside from missing some badging on the exterior. It looks really sharp.

I guess somehow he dropped his air cleaner nut down the carburator.

This is what happened.

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs136.snc1/5813_122124078581_506328581_3008064_6599439_n.jpg

Ouch, I imagine the head was toast as well.

Why would you start your vehicle with something down in the intake? I'll assume he didn't realize it fell down there. I bet the valve pocket in the head looks just as pretty.

So is the piston toast and has to be replaced or can it still be used?

I dont know guys. I havn't talked to him since I seen the pictures. I am not sure how it fell down there. He told me he was pulling into his driveway and his car started knocking. How the nut would fall off the top of the air cleaner and land in the carburator as you are driving is beyond me.

The first thing I asked him was how the cylinder wall looked. He said just fine, (but I wonder). Apparently the head and valves "looked fine" but thats all he's going by. I dont think he's even taken the valves out or the head to a machine shop to see if the valves are sealing.

When I saw that picture I asked if he's going to run the piston or replace it. He said he's going to run it. I told him to replace it. but..... (his car) I dont think he quite has the budget to replace it right now. Plus I think as soon as he's done with college he's going to build a bigger motor for it so he wants to keep costs down on this one right now.

I will keep my ears open and let you guys know what happenes as soon as I see him again.

All those dents are wonderful little carbon collectors, and that looks like a flat top piston (it may have a shallow dish, hard to tell). If he's running 64cc chamber heads, it's at about 10:1 compression ratio if it's a flat top, and about 9.25:1 if it's a dish. On todays gas (even 92 octane), he's risking lots of detonation. The other thing I'd be worried about is the condition of the valves.

I will let hem know Rich.

I was at Car craft yesterday and his car was there, so I assume its running (at least on 7 of 8 cylinders) I did not see him though.

Well guys we decided to play musical chairs with all our cars in the family. The GXP has too much power for the old lady and not as economical as the Regals were. So my wife and I decided to give the silver '08 GXP to our son for a college graduation present. In turn we got his modded Alero which has much better fuel economy and good for commuting. Bad news is we sold the '01 Regal GS to one of her brothers. :crying: I liked the dark slate metallic GXP so that one is now mine as a daily driver. Plus instead of selling the '97 GTP we are keeping it. I may take it to the next level of mods like intercooler and cam over the next year. I hope that wasn't too confusing. :lol:

Oh and I'll use the '99 Regal LS as a backup commuter since it still gets outstanding fuel economy.

Sounds good Bob! Not confused, just wish you were my dad! I'll bet he's very happy.

It's not musical chairs unless someone is left without a ride. I guess it was the cars that were playing, and the Regal LS was odd man out for a daily driver, :lol:.

You don't even see 97's on the road here the salt just destroys them.
I'll be lucky if I can get my 99 through another winter.

:werd:
I'm across the lake from you in NY and we have the same problem.
While a '70s era car may turn heads in Texas or other areas of the South because they aren't as common a sight, the '90s era cars have the same effect up here :lol:
The government wouldn't have to enact a "cash for clunkers" bill if the issue was more widespread across the country as more vehicles would meet an early demise due to rust and need to be replaced with new ones.

The government wouldn't have to enact a "cash for clunkers" bill if the issue was more widespread across the country as more vehicles would meet an early demise due to rust and need to be replaced with new ones.

Yeah Tom but too bad the program is not really based on rust but whether the car qualifies based on mileage/mpg specs. The cars I inputted for the program did not qualify.

I have a question for ye' GTP owners. I go to a weekly car show here in Omaha and had a kid tell me with a GTP (just the kind I looked for; 97ish-2002ish) who told me GTP's can run with VR4's from a roll. I know that GTP's are underpowered but at the same time with less drivetrain loss. He said his car had basic mods and that he had beaten his fair share of VR4's in the past which honestly if someone beats a VR4 more power to them, I don't really care. He talked about doing a short roll run one of these times and I kind of shrugged it off as I am not that into taking a race to the street, especially with strangers...not to say I have never done it though (even as short of races as they may have been). I would imagine it isn't that hard to make a GTP faster than a VR4 but approx. what would he have to have done to pull away from a basic performance upgraded VR4 (assuming the Y-pipe doesn't fly off the VR4 when it goes under boost :lol:)? From what I have seen with others with the same mods generally run anywhere from a 12.6-13.2ish @ roughly 106-108mph. I know a lot of people downplay what they have done to the car but it has just been nagging at me since then. :lol:

He wants to run you from a roll to take away your AWD traction advantage off the line. Lightly modded GTP's are mid-13 cars, so as long as your car holds together, I think you'd beat him.

Yep you have him, he's full of it. My friend has a 1994 Dodge Stealth twin turbo AWD, all stock, and even with my mods he blows my doors off.

Eh, I doubt it will happen truth be told. As I said, I really don't like doing runs on the street as it just isn't safe. I was only curious as he sounded quite condfident and I have no doubt there are some GTP's that could take me for a ride. In fact, I have never even close launched my VR4 to its full extent even though the 2nd generations are supposed to have really tought transfer cases. I enjoy it as the car is and that is it. It is not a drag car but simpily a fun ride to take out here and there. BTW, how far can you take the stock supercharger on the GTP's in reference? I bet it is farther than the stock turbos on our cars as they tend to max out at low 12's with a few people in high 11's (but that is on a rare case!). Either way, GTP's rocks and I need to get one once funds are available!

A while back there was a video on here of a mondo-turbo kitted GT running 9.83 and putting the hurt on a Viper. I wish I could find it as it was awesome.

That would be good to see Rich.

Alex, go onto zzperformance look in the supercharger section (I think) for a "whipple kit". ZZP has a link to a video of a GTP running the Whipple supercharger. Its pretty insane! I think it puts the Eaton M90 gen 3 (and 5 for that matter) to shame.

I found the video on-line

I had it wrong, it's 9.73 @ 144 mph, and the car is owned by ZZP. Here's the link.

http://videos.topredline.com/recentvideos/0/9eafd8e7-c18b-4bd0-87d5-b26d80b4f964.htm

I found the video on-line

I had it wrong, it's 9.73 @ 144 mph, and the car is owned by ZZP. Here's the link.

http://videos.topredline.com/recentvideos/0/9eafd8e7-c18b-4bd0-87d5-b26d80b4f964.htm

getting an error code saying "file is corrupted, please re upload video"

Damn, trapping 144 mph. :lol: That is a fast car! Until just a few years ago 3S's (3000GT's and Stealths) weren't even in the 9's yet as there was not much aftermarket to take them that far. Since then, we have had people hit 9's and even had a guy with a Stealth run like an 8.5 not all that long ago.

And Vipers?...ahh yes, those silly things :):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPFs6FrxTuk

BTW, that is the stock spoiler on the VR4.

EDIT: Tblake, I could not find the whipple s/c. I did find a couple turbo kits and even eaton s/c's but no whipple.

I like those big-o-spoilers. They are as big as one can get before they look rediculous, but it fits the lines of the car very well.

The sound of silence playing at the end of that video was a "nice" touch Alex, :lol:

I would like to get a 99 wing for my car and a Bomex front lip but painting them the pearl white costs so much stinking money. :lol: Here is a car with a Bomex front lip and a 99 wing on a 2nd gen (same as my car) which would be exactly how it would look on mine, except pearl.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a344/GTOGIRL3000/IMG_1507CL.jpg

I would like to get a 99 wing for my car and a Bomex front lip but painting them the pearl white costs so much stinking money. :lol: Here is a car with a Bomex front lip and a 99 wing on a 2nd gen (same as my car) which would be exactly how it would look on mine, except pearl.

If you have the funds then go for it Alex. Looks sharp! :thumbsup:

If you have the funds then go for it Alex. Looks sharp! :thumbsup:

At the time, I do not Bob. I should take after you and go buy another VR-4 like you did a GXP though! :D Though, I guess I do own another 3000GT, but it's just the 222hp SL. :(

:lol:

I like it too Alex, when funds permit you should go for it. Maybe start buying parts one at a time, then the paint when you're ready to go.

If any of you ever plan to go turbo and have a manual boost controller always make sure you tighten down the nut on the adjuster or you will end up like me. :lol: I decided to get on the throttle a little today and my car immediately starts shaking violently and my boost gauge shows I am boosting ~20psi. The shaking was fuel cut as my fuel system is not near up to that and my boost controller screw came out allowing me to boost that much. Quite an ugly feeling to experience in a car lol. It felt like I was put in a paint shaker. All is good now though. :D

As long it did not blow no harm no foul. LOL

'cept you looked like a dinkus for a few seconds...:lol:

Hopefully you weren't trying to impress some little honey...that would really suck!

My God, I do not know what it is. I tend to talk to a lot of W-body (namely GTP/GP owners) and associate a lot with them even locally. In all honesty, minus a few bad seeds (which it typical regardless) the GP people have always seemed more than friendly! You guys have to be one of the friendliest bunch of people I have ever met. Today when I was on 108th ST in Omaha I was just driving along and a 2004'ish (not sure the year, but the brand new GP's) came flying by me probably doing upwards of 75mph in order to pass me before the 2 lanes became one and then threw a wave at me. :lol: I know I am bound to run into more conflict with GP owners who don't like me because of my car as I go on there forums (with nothing but praise and to learn always) but this wasn't even anything I provoked or even had the opportunity to show myself. It was in fact a GTP though and was a bit a jerk move. I am even a part of a local forum here in Omaha and they are the friendliest people ever! I must just bring out the worst. :(

:lol:

You guys have to be one of the friendliest bunch of people I have ever met
:lol:

Wow this almost brought tears to my eyes.
This calls for a group hug.

Sorry Wylie I don't like hugging unless it is a nice looking female. :lol:

Sorry Wylie I don't like hugging unless it is a nice looking female. :lol:

Hey even the ugly ones give good hugs once in a while.

But the real question here, is do you have to pay for it.:lol2::grinyes:

But the real question here, is do you have to pay for it.:lol2::grinyes:

There's always a catch, nothing's free.

If you have a woman that you're hugging on, trust me, you're paying for it. Maybe not "directly" in the watch out for wires and chase vehicles and make her name the price so it's entrapment kind of way, but you're paying!!!

One day the cops tried to pull some guy driving a GP over and he ran.
After miles of a hi speed chase they finally get him pulled over and asked him why he ran.
He said his wife left him for a cop and he thought they where trying to bring her back.