Building up my '83 Grand Prix

[sui_winbolo]

Okay, here's the deal. I plan on graduating college this semester and this summer I plan on moving out of my parents house into an apartment here in town. There's a couple paths I'm looking at. One, I could go out and buy an '09 Challenger R/T and park my Grand Prix until I settle down and accumulated more money to throw at it. Two, I forget about getting a new vehicle because $700 payments a month would suck, and I would just build up my Grand Prix instead.

If I choose the 2nd route, this is what I want to do. (well if I can get a loan to build it up! lol)

New crate engine
New automatic transmission
New rear end
New exhaust (of course)
New rims and tires
And anything that goes along with the new engine.
I also need new speakers, but I'm electronics sorta of guy, so I got that part covered without too many questions.
And I really want to get some sort of AC back in my car, especially if it's the only vehicle I'll own for some time.

Now here comes the questions, I'm no mechanic, so I would bring my car to one to have it all done. I know, it's going to be expensive, but that's my only option.

So I would really appreciate it if someone will help me with picking out the type of engine that would fit my car, transmission, rear end, etc. So that I can bring this information to a mechanic and possibly get something lined up this summer.

I'm thinking it might be around $10k for all of this? Or am I not even close? lol

Oh, and the reason why I want to get a new engine, I have a Pontiac 301 in there right now, and I want something with power. It's pretty gutless atm.

Here's some pictures of her from this summer.

You can see the minor front end damage, different colored front clip and dented front side panels.

 

[BrownGP83]

Nice to see another brown 83! Yours sure looks a lot nicer than mine though! You should give us an idea on what you want out of the car overall when you are done with it. Makes helping out and suggesting parts a little easier if we know what you want to do. It sounds like you are looking for just a nice, healthy street car. Am i right? What do you want for an engine? Do you want to stay with a Pontiac engine or go to a Chevy engine? Do you want an overdrive transmission? What gears were you thinking about? Let us know a little more and we'll be glad to help!

 

[sui_winbolo]

Oh, you have a brown '83 GP too? Do you have pictures of your car? I'd like to see it!

You are right, I want a nice powerful street car, just something that will be fun to drive and will be a nice daily driver. However, I'm not looking at dumping a ton of money into the car, I'm not looking to take it on the track or anything. Maybe just to see what it can do, but nothing serious.

I'm looking for a powertrain that will provide healthy horse power and torque. Engine make doesn't matter to me, just whatever would bolt up easiest in my car.

I don't know gears at all, that stuff is over my head lol.

 

[BrownGP83]

Yep, i have a brown 83 too. I used to have the exact same interior as you, but i found a parts car and switched to buckets with a console. I have a few pics in my photo album. A 400or 455 pontiac will bolt right in place of the 301 and will have plenty of power. Pontiac engines are not the cheapest to build, but if you look around a bit, a good solid runner should not be too hard to find. You can swap in a SBC rather easily and cheaply, but you will need new motor mounts, accesory brackets and maybe a transmission. Do you know what you have for a trans, a metric 200, th350?? Do you have or want overdrive? A 200-4r will bolt to either Pontiac or Chevy engines. As for rear gears, anything from 3.23s to 3.73s are nice depending on the engine/trans combo you choose.

 

[sui_winbolo]

Oh cool, I'll have to take a look.

I'm looking at buying all new parts, including transmission. I'm going to need a reliable car and I figure if I'm going to put some serious money towards my car, I want to go new parts.

I'm not sure what my transmission is, but it came out of the 1980 trans am the 301 came out of.

I don't really care to have overdrive.

I do know I want to keep it an automatic transmission.

 

[85GPLef41]

Nice car! In my opinion i would fix up the Grand Prix. It would be alot cheaper in the long run if you keep it up.Most GP came with a sbc so i would look into swapping one in. You could buy a brand new crate engine for a good price and get a warranty. A overdrive trans would help get you decent gas mileage and with some good gears it would haul. :lol: I know you don't want overdrive but it would help.But a new challenger is already done......except for the payments.

 

[shotgun]

Load it on a trailer and send up to my shop.

I will build a nice mild Pontiac 350,th350, 3.23 or 3.55 gear package for ya , since you have all the brackets, mounts etc..

My 400 with 3.23 gears is great all around.Drive to the track 2 hours away, run some 13z and drive home.

Could go overdrive if you want to drive alot of highway.

Let the torque be with you!

 

[sui_winbolo]

Haha, well better gas mileage would be nice, that's for sure, lol.

That's one of the reasons I want to go with a crate engine, warranty, and nothing to really worry about once it's in.

I would be willing if you were closer to home, but Pennsylvania is too far for something like this. I need to keep it local for it would make the process a lot easier. If it was just a project car, possibly. But I need my car without being in the shop too long.

Alright guys, want to give me some links? Like where should I buy the engine from, the transmission, etc.?

I really appreciate the help btw, thanks!

 

[BrownGP83]

Give Summit racing a call. They have several engines with warranties ranging from stock GM to Edelbrock and others. Some even come with carbs, distributor, plug wires, and fuel line. They have a large selection of transmissions too. The setup shotgun outlined sounds real nice too! To bad he is so far away. Living out here in the middle of nowhere(the best way i can describe the Dakotas) kinda sucks sometimes!

 

[sui_winbolo]

I would call, but I wouldn't even know what to say! lol

I don't know nearly as much as you guys do. And yes, that is a good description of the Dakotas, for sure.

I was browsing Edelbrock.com and I found this nice 350, what do you guys think?

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new ... _363.shtml