LS2 my 80 Grand Am - donor secured

[smed7880]

So after a very long search we found the donor. A running 2005 GTO with flood damage but no water in the drivetrain with 41000 miles. It will be here Wednesday.

He is trying to finish his Torino which will take a few months so he can start my Grand Am.

Sniper Terminator X
Holley LS install kit with headers
Regal EFI gas tank

Use everything possible off the GTO to include ac, radiator and fans, and most of the exhaust system.

Driveshaft from ?

He's happy this is a "catalog" build as he calls it. No parts support on his Torino.

Talked about the GTOs rear suspension but he doesnt think that will work without serious body modifications.

The GTO is heavier than my Grand Am. Hes pretty happy about that and thinks my car should be mid 12s if the tires can handle it. Im not really interested in going fast but he wants it to have the capability.

This thread will go dormant for awhile but the project is finally going to happen and the project will be posted here.

Saw a 64 GTO with a 04-06 GTO dash on barrett jackson. We thought about it. Im leaving my interior as is. All the new will be under the hood.

Blackie is going to get a GTO heart! I didnt want a Chevy anything under the hood.

 

[CopperNick]

Dormant works as long as there are lots of build pictures to ogle once you return from you hiatus.


Good Luck with the project and swap.


Nick

 

[Streetbu]

Sounds like a great plan!

 

[smed7880]

Donor GTO is home. It runs.

LA state certification of destruction title.

Bought from Copart.

My husband cant figure out why it was totaled.

Paperwork says flood but the car says otherwise.

He's having doubts about using it as a donor. But the title is a big problem.

It sounds very very good. Blackie's heart is going to be strong.

He turned the traction control off and launched it in the driveway after checking it over and letting it run for 20 minutes. No brake holding just hit the gas pedal. it immediately started smoking the tires.

41000 miles.

My husband says cutting this GTO up is a crime. I agree.

 

[mclellan83]

They are very fun cars for sure, prices on them are starting to rise. Would definitely be a good powerplant as an upgrade, what makes hubby think it wasn't a flood?

 

[CopperNick]

Posted on this elsewhere on this board in a thread about missing/lost titles with the name of a company that can legitimately supply a replacement. With that destruction title to consider, I do not know if they could end run it somehow and issue you fresh clean documentation? The sticking point might be that the vin has been flagged by the insurance data base so that any attempt to ensure it, even with a clean title, would cause a rejection notice to appear. Thinking here that the "flood" tag might have been applied, not because it was actually under water, but that it had been part of a dealer's inventory in a region or city where a hurricane or flooding had occurred. No direct damage but the insurer adjuster wrote the whole inventory off anyway, just to avoid the possibility of liability arising should any of the vehicles in question be sold and malfunction after the fact.

And people wonder why their premiums are so high....................................



Nick

 

[smed7880]

Hubby pulled the spare tire, a little carpet, and some interior pieces. No water evidence. Perfect owners manual and pontiac catalogs in the trunk. Car hasnt been cleaned, loose pet hair in rear. Clear instrument panel cover, all instruments work. No corrosion on pulled relays. Headliner is perfect with no droops.

2018 expored LA registration yet it was sold at an insurance auction. Title shows insurance co as owner.

Radio doesnt work. The air conditioning compressor and fans come on but no cool air. Heater works.

Scanner found no codes and vin info matches.

All mechanical systems work. New battery and added some good gas to the old. Let it idle an hour after he got home.

This is a mystery.

The Certificate of Destruction is a death certificate according to what weve found. There is no way to save the car.

41632 miles.

At this point the only thing keeping the GTO drivetrain from going into my Grand Am is if he finds a cheap good GTO body with a good title that is mechanically done.

 

[CopperNick]

At a wild guess, the car had been pulled off the road because, well, Louisiana and no A/C, but still had insurance on it. possibly against the possibility of damage while being stored. There was some kind if weather event, or a house fire, or a police raid for drugs or the owner/tenant of the property had to vacate and left it behind, and the insurance company ended up with it, wrote the car off and claimed the ownership in the process so the vehicle could not be sold and retitled.

I am curious about this Certificate of Destruction. Who, as in what agency in what state, issued it? Can it be appealed and/or overturned? If there is no reasonable cause for this course of action then why can't the document be voided or rescinded?

JUst me being curious here.



Nick

 

[smed7880]

Terrible shame this is.

 

[smed7880]

Its a Death Certificate. No appeal