97 Pontiac Grand Prix GT ?'s-suspension and exhaust

[slothman6]

1997 Pontiac Grand Prix GT 2dr with the 3800 series II, approximately 185K miles. Car was hit in the side behind the driver side door so I'm turning this car into a circle track car, and have a few questions....

1) I'm thinking on getting the suspension upgrade kit for this car...you know the one from gm parts direct...the kit that has the front and rear sway bars, tubular trailing arms, and front strut brace. Would this be a good upgrade from the 'stock' GT suspension?

2) What kind of problems, if any, would I encounter by removing the catalytic converters and running a straight piece of pipe for an exhaust? I know there is an O2 sensor after the converters but besides setting off a "check engine" (or whatever is's called) light, would it hamper the performance of it?

Car will be run on a 1/4 mile oval with top speeds of 60/65mph in 2nd gear. Looking at 6000-6500 top RPM.

Any responses will be appreciated.

[GT3800 Guy]

O2 sensor is before the cat, your best bet is to buy one of those o2 sensor simulators things and just chop out the pipes. i I were in your shoes I'd put in a Y pipe and have the pipes coming out under both doors. Now that would be awsome.

The suspension kit is indeed a good idea, there are a number available. PYFC.com has a nice kit, not sure which is cheaper but I'm thinking stealer price is going to be higher.

[BNaylor]

The 02 sensor that monitors the CAT convertor efficiency is the one after the CAT in the u-bend before the resonator. The 02 simulator is hooked up to that sensor harness. Another option is to have the PCM module custom programmed like I did to prevent any CAT convertor DTCs and the SES/CEL light.

[slothman6]

The 'suspension upgrade' kit on gmpartsdirect would be about $170 or so shipped to my door. I like the thought of the tubular trailing arms and the strut bar brace. Not too keen on the sway bars as I've read that they are hollow also.
Tried the PYFC.com site but it seems to no longer be working?

Where would one go to get the O2 simulator and what would be the cost on that?

I do like the thought of side pipes on each side. I could incorporate the tips from the ends too!

Car is now put away for the winter and won't be worked on for about 5 months, so I have a little time to aquire some parts.

[tblake]

zz Performace has them

http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_p...=179&catid=107

[slothman6]

Thanks for the link tblake. Interesting reading!

Guess I wouldn't need an O2 simulator since a) it's a race car, and b) I don't need to pass emissions at all. According to the ZZ Performance website, "The PCM does NOT use any data from the secondary O2 sensor for engine management. The PCM will set an SES (service engine soon) light (for DTC's P0140, P0141 and/or P0420) if the catalytic converter is removed, the sensor is removed, or the sensor goes bad."

I can live with an illuminated SES light!