1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 Resurrection

[86 maroon gp 2+2]

Re: 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 resto

Jason, I know what your getting at and I might leave it at the same color it is because money won't allow it at this time. That circled headlight idea you found/made up would look awesome! I also have a website that makes reproduction 2+2 parts if you can't find any yourself its http://www.laureneng.com/1817117.html

dogshit, I have some really nice pontiac rallys that I've had for years but thanks anyways

g-bodyvet, YES get a 2+2 I've seen your work and let me tell ya you can make anything look just as good as new wait, no better than new. Keep the progress up on the 78 looking good so far

Didn't mean to come off as a dick if I did I'm sorry and hope to hear from ya guys soon 8)

 

[jasonreid]

Re: 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 resto

Jason, I know what your getting at and I might leave it at the same color it is because money won't allow it at this time. That circled headlight idea you found/made up would look awesome! I also have a website that makes reproduction 2+2 parts if you can't find any yourself its http://www.laureneng.com/1817117.html

dogshit, I have some really nice pontiac rallys that I've had for years but thanks anyways

g-bodyvet, YES get a 2+2 I've seen your work and let me tell ya you can make anything look just as good as new wait, no better than new. Keep the progress up on the 78 looking good so far

Didn't mean to come off as a dick if I did I'm sorry and hope to hear from ya guys soon 8)

Lauren Engineering is where I'll be getting the parts if I don't happen to come across a 2+2 first to save cost, especially for that rear window. Both front and back from Lauren Eng are about 3500 to 4K in parts alone so redoing the rear of mine is still an iffy for me.

You could easily convert that to a hatch if you wanted with what you have. These guys did it to a 2+2 but I believe they did more work than necessary: http://www.classicresto.com/www.classic ... index.html. They also filled in the area between where the window meets the trunk deck and the spoiler using what looks like Bondo which IMO they should have just fabricated a whole new spoiler and formed it to provide a smoother line from the spoiler to the window...

They used hinges designed to lift the hatch above the roof but that requires a lot of fabricating and reshaping of the back edge of the roof line. I think using a hinge with a much more horizontal motion would require only the reinforcements of roof to support said hinges and not requiring the extra work so all you have to do is add in the weather stripping channels.

They did a great job of trimming out the extra sheet metal and back dash behind the seats and reinforced it properly with tubing contoured to the interior of the car, very much what I would do.

Also I have some pictures of a Black 2+2 that someone in Canada had. I found these while looking for ideas one day and it's about 90% of what I want my car to look like:

 

[86 maroon gp 2+2]

Re: 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 resto

glad to see that theirs another forum member interested in the 2+2's as much as I am! The prices are killer for the reproduction 2+2 parts but worth it, but why don't you sell your grand prix and get a 2+2? That idea right there would give you way less work, but I'm thinking that you want to do it yourself because then you can be extra proud. I love looking at the classic restos and I've actually looked through the grand prix 2+2 resto page a couple of times now loooking for any updates but haven't seen any 🙁 As for the hatchback idea, I think that it would look and function immaculately 😀 its hard to believe that GM didn't do that in the first place and I can't believe they would only put 305's in the 2+2s I shake my head at every thought of that because their would've been such a greater demand for these cars. Anyways do you have a thread for your car? I'd love to see the build and I'd even tab it at the top of my computer because I've never seen anyone even attempting to convert a regular grand prix to a 2+2 good luck and hope to hear from you soon

 

[jasonreid]

Re: 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 resto

glad to see that theirs another forum member interested in the 2+2's as much as I am! The prices are killer for the reproduction 2+2 parts but worth it, but why don't you sell your grand prix and get a 2+2? That idea right there would give you way less work, but I'm thinking that you want to do it yourself because then you can be extra proud. I love looking at the classic restos and I've actually looked through the grand prix 2+2 resto page a couple of times now loooking for any updates but haven't seen any 🙁 As for the hatchback idea, I think that it would look and function immaculately 😀 its hard to believe that GM didn't do that in the first place and I can't believe they would only put 305's in the 2+2s I shake my head at every thought of that because their would've been such a greater demand for these cars. Anyways do you have a thread for your car? I'd love to see the build and I'd even tab it at the top of my computer because I've never seen anyone even attempting to convert a regular grand prix to a 2+2 good luck and hope to hear from you soon

There's sentimental value with the car as I bought it from a close friend and I promised her that I would fix it up nice... 😀 The 2+2s are already pretty rare as it is. I'd be happy just doing the front end and adding a decent spoiler but If I come across some 2+2 that got wrecked then be rest assured I will complete the big picture.

I haven't started a build thread yet as I want to do a sketch of what it will look like when I'm done but last night I did upload some photos of the car to the gallery in it's original and current condition (all to pieces :lol:.) I just want to do some preliminary work for now which I'll post some pictures of eventually. I'll sink in the real cash next year.

As for the 305, the engine itself is fine, it's that GM didn't really bring out any potential in those things. Read this article about the 305: http://www.popularhotrodding.com/engine ... index.html. I think with an MPFI setup the engine would have gotten even more HP. Granted they only had it on a dyno but in a car you can still push nearly 300 or more HP which for street applications is plenty. My build is going to be returning the GP to what it was designed for: Personal Luxury.

 

[86 maroon gp 2+2]

Re: 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 resto

I'll tell you if I see any 2+2's that nice rear end that are in a junkyard. I also saw some of the pictures in your photo gallery, nice progress 🙂 and about that 305, I feel like I'd be spending about the same amount of money as I would if I put a 350 in the car, I'm working on a 350 out of my garage right now and it has not costed me a penny yet. Now thats what I call success 😀

 

[oldtinsmith]

Re: 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 resto

86 maroon gp 2+2,

Pictures of your build thread (May 19, 2011@ 2:48 PM) show you putting the one piece floor pan in through the door opening.
I was under the impression the floor pan had to be installed from under the car! My question is, how difficult was it to go through the door and did you have to do anything special to the floor pan?

Doug

 

[86 maroon gp 2+2]

Re: 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 resto

I basically just took the floor pan and angled it from one corner of the door to the other. Then when I got far enough back towards the driver door I then angled it towards the rear of the car, lifted it up to the head liner and then all the way back so the front portion of the floor pan could get in. That probably didn't make any sense but I thought that it also had to go through the bottom of the car but after a couple of thoughts we got it in through the door. If you are doing it you'll figure it out trust me :wink:

 

[oldtinsmith]

Re: 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 resto

Sounds like I'll need more room than my El Camino will be able to give me!

Doug

 

[Blake442]

Re: 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 resto

Sounds like I'll need more room than my El Camino will be able to give me!

Doug

That's where the two-halves come in handy over the one-piece floor...

 

[dream on mcss]

Re: 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 resto

Its not that bad. With the door off all we had to do was tilt it and go as far back as possible, then drop the front of the pan in.