Ideas for resurrecting my GP

doublea70 · #1 06-15-2009, 06:58 PM

My 1998 Grand Prix GT (L36 w/ 184k miles) is starting to get a little old and it's about time for me to start a round of required maintenance (tires, sway bar, brakes, fluid flushes...etc) so to keep my options open and possibly keep the car alive for another 150k, I'm starting to look into various ideas.

Idea #1: Drop a Chevy 305 I have sitting in my garage in and upgrading the tranny. Probably the most complicated (and possibly unneccessary) option.

Idea #2: Swap in an L67 and hd tranny.

Idea #3: Buy a top end swap kit for the L36 (would I need a different tranny? I know I would need to flash my PCM...)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/3800-...4506.m20.l1116

Idea #4: Rebuild the L36 and include some upgrade parts.

My question to all you experts out there, what idea would be best?? (I'm personally thinkin about #3...) I love the car and all of its features, and would like to keep it alive if possible. I also wouldn't mind having the car sit while I do the work, as I live in a college town and it's easy to get where I need to go without a car. Lemme know what you guys think!!

GTP Dad · #2 06-15-2009, 07:50 PM

Forget 1,2 and 3. Rebuild or replace the current engine and transmission if it has the same mileage as the engine. You should be able to get a good price from Ed Morad at moradpartscompany.com for both. If your car has the L36 your best bet is to stay the same engine anything else is not only impracticle but very expensive!

tblake · #3 06-15-2009, 10:31 PM

1 is defenatly out of the question. It would be WAY too much fabrication of parts.

2 is a possibility, but like Lynn (GTP Dad) said it will get very costly and time consuming sorting parts around (which include: engine, trans, fuel pump, wire harness, PCM, passenger axel)

3 Top swap is a possibility (if you have to upgrade, this is what I would do) Dont forget you'll need the fuel pump, trans, passenger axel shaft, and wire harness also.

4 Simplest idea and probably a good idea if your car needs suspension work first and your a broke college student (no offence, we've all been there).

Have you heard about the ZZperformance SSM90 Kit?

There are plenty of power adding items for the 3800NA that arent too time consuming and wont break the bank.

doublea70 · #4 06-16-2009, 10:18 AM

Okay, I'm agreeing with you both about 1 and 2, more work and money than it's worth. After searching around, 3 is pretty much out of the question due to the large number of parts I'd need to buy. I'm not a super broke college kid but I still don't want to burn money if I don't have to. A rebuild on the L36 sounds pretty good to me.

What do you know of this ZZPerformance SSM90 Kit?? Sounds almost too good to be true, being able to strap on a supercharger and a few extras and be good to go. I won't have compression issues? The stock trans will be fine? (mine was rebuilt at 120k, so it only has 60k on it). I've never attempted or even researched a PCM reprogram, is this something I can do? If this kit is legit, I'll think about heading that direction. Rebuild the engine and include this kit, car should be fine for another 100k maybe!!

grandprixgtx00 · #5 06-16-2009, 06:22 PM

i did a top swap on my SE. took about 4 days to do...but thats including sending the heads to the machine shop to get cleaned up, and all that good stuff.

i never did anything with my tranny. did the top swap when the car had about 80K on it...car now has just about 140K on it and still shifts like a champ. only thing i did was put a mild shift kit in there.

i didnt have the luxury of the M90 kit, since ZZP didnt offer it back then. a guy on WICGP was parting out his GTP so i bought all the parts off from him.

I'm gonna warn you...its not a walk in the park, so if you dont have much automotive background...make sure you have someone handy that does. you dont wanna tear your car apart and realize you dont know how to put it back together. never had that feeling...but i cant say i ever would wanna either

tblake · #6 06-16-2009, 08:58 PM

The ZZP SSM90 kit is sort of decieving. You need that kit and along with it you will also need the SSM90 modified supercharger, SSM90 Modified Lower Intake Manifold, and SSM90 Modified fuel rails. It gets rather expensive really fast.

grandprixgtx00 · #7 06-16-2009, 09:32 PM

yes Tim...i saw that. once you buy everything you need...your looking at a good $1000. best bet is to find someone that is parting out a GTP. Or you could prolly find one in a scrapyard.

wlkjr · #8 06-17-2009, 06:10 AM

You must be kidding, right? I have 369,000 miles on my '97 and it still runs like a top and I get a minimum of 25 mpg up to 27 mpg.
I have done the following to mine.
Replace water pump, belt, plugs and wires at 126,000 miles.
Had the transmission fluid and filter changed at about 150,000 miles.
Rebuilt a still working good altenator at 235,000 miles.
Another water pump sometime after that.
New front hubs at 306,000 miles.
At 308,000, the upper intake gasket blew outward. I did both the upper and lower intake gaskets and associated parts, replaced plugs and wires again and hoses, valve cover gaskets, removed radiator and serviced.
A couple of new batteries as needed and changed the oil and filter faithfully every 5000 miles with Havoline 10W30, also tires as needed about every 65-80,000 miles.
It has a few little bumpy stuff going on in the front end sometimes but otherwise still runs like a top. All that being said, I don't understand the necessity of doing anything but regular maintenance until something breaks.
I would highly recommend doing an oil change and take a sample and send off for analysis. That could alert you to a problem with the intake gaskets.
Otherwise, drive and enjoy.

tblake · #9 06-17-2009, 10:37 AM

I guess he told us! thats pretty nice, 369,000! I only hope mine will make it that far...

doublea70 · #10 06-17-2009, 11:38 AM

Wow, impressive! I still like the idea of a supercharger tho. Since you guys are saying my non-hd tranny can handle it (i did some research and i guess the hd is only different from mine by just a couple parts) i'm willing to try it. I've got a lot of automotive experience and i've torn into my car quite a bit. I'm looking forward to the project, but i'm definitely going to do plenty of searching around. grandprixgtx00, you said you got your parts from a GTP. Which parts exactly? Just everything that is listed on the top-swap sites or what? I'm going to start building a shopping list and look around for some parts.

9901gp · #11 06-17-2009, 05:15 PM

What do you know of this ZZPerformance SSM90 Kit?? Sounds almost too good to be true, being able to strap on a supercharger and a few extras and be good to go. I won't have compression issues? The stock trans will be fine? (mine was rebuilt at 120k, so it only has 60k on it). I've never attempted or even researched a PCM reprogram, is this something I can do? If this kit is legit, I'll think about heading that direction. Rebuild the engine and include this kit, car should be fine for another 100k maybe!![/quote]
If interested im selling an 01 gt 39000 miles with the ssm90 kit

tblake · #12 06-17-2009, 10:08 PM

How much you want to get for your GTP'd?

9901gp · #13 06-18-2009, 03:05 AM

I just put it Ebay started it at 6k w/ no reserve.

rkvons · #14 06-18-2009, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wlkjr

You must be kidding, right? I have 369,000 miles on my '97 and it still runs like a top and I get a minimum of 25 mpg up to 27 mpg.
I have done the following to mine.
Replace water pump, belt, plugs and wires at 126,000 miles.
Had the transmission fluid and filter changed at about 150,000 miles.
Rebuilt a still working good altenator at 235,000 miles.
Another water pump sometime after that.
New front hubs at 306,000 miles.
At 308,000, the upper intake gasket blew outward. I did both the upper and lower intake gaskets and associated parts, replaced plugs and wires again and hoses, valve cover gaskets, removed radiator and serviced.
A couple of new batteries as needed and changed the oil and filter faithfully every 5000 miles with Havoline 10W30, also tires as needed about every 65-80,000 miles.
It has a few little bumpy stuff going on in the front end sometimes but otherwise still runs like a top. All that being said, I don't understand the necessity of doing anything but regular maintenance until something breaks.
I would highly recommend doing an oil change and take a sample and send off for analysis. That could alert you to a problem with the intake gaskets.
Otherwise, drive and enjoy.

Amen. With the way the economy is and the cost of a new car, just keeping mine running without a major breakdown keeps me busy. I can't imagine pushing anything too hard for fear of tearing something up.

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