LS2 my 80 Grand Am - donor secured

smed7880

Greasemonkey
Jul 27, 2010
132
171
43
No unfortunately. That stain on the vin is unwashable.

So heres my Grand Am about 10 years ago. It stays in the garage, hasnt seen rain, looks the same except for the 78 grills and tail lights i put on so it looks like my first.

Driving it with that much power is going to be different. 3 times more power. My husband says itll break the rear end so ill have to be carefull until he swaps it later.

Screenshot_20230219-115303_Samsung Internet.jpg
 
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RabbitHoleSS

G-Body Guru
Dec 8, 2019
712
2,105
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Indianapolis
You could claim the certificate of destruction was issued in error. It looks like the cert was issued 1 day after it was bought. And that was recently. Have you got the carfax on it? Maybe try to find the history on it. This thread peeked my attention so I did a little googling.lol. Idk if this helps or even apply to your situation, but might be worth a read if you wanna keep the car. Nothing is impossible. We're AmeriCans not Americants. J/k.


An easy place to find signs of flood damage are the wheel bearings and any bushings, look for sand and silt. If it was salt water flooded look at all the electrical connections on the bottom of the car. Pop a few off. If it was flooded those will be corroded.
Look in any orifice for sand silt mud or clay. Also look for a water line on the wheels and axle. The exhaust might have a line on it too. The water might not have ever made it to the cabin,or even the engine, so look lower.
Might be worth investigating before killing it. Some of those are close to 20k now. Ill say either route, you gotta badass ride(hopefully 2). That Grand am is a peach, don't see alot of those around.
Good luck.
 
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CopperNick

Comic Book Super Hero
Supporting Member
Feb 20, 2018
3,347
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That piece of paper baffles me. Based soley on the lack of information on it, what I think happened is that the Insurance Co took possession of the vehicle but failed to acquire the title or pink slip from the owner of record. The list of why not possibilities isn't limited but could include the death of the legal owner and the loss of the title, or the owner moved out of state and couldn't be located, or it was part of a divorce settlement and the loser gave up the car but without signing the title card...........So either they couldn't locate the owner or got lazy and didn't want to do the due diligence. Without a clear title to the vehicle in hand, they couldn't legally sell it so they filed for a title of destruction in their home state so they could sell it to a salvage/recycler to be parted out and make a few bucks that way

Just me thinking aloud here but have you submitted the VIN to the Louisiana DMV for purposes of having them do a trace on it and providing you with a record of who/where/when it was originally bought and by whom? If the owner of record for the vehicle, that being whoever purchased it to begin with still has the ownership, unless there is some law to the contrary, they ought to be able to endorse it or sign off on it in favor of you which would mean that you become the legal owner. With that in hand, you should be able to make a case that the destruction order ought to be rescinded by whoever issued it because you are obviously the legal owner now with the correct documentation to prove that contention and therefore the kill order is illegal. If they get balky about the work, just tell them you are in Texas and need the documentation for some unspecified bureaucratic reason. They' charge for the time/work but if it gets you a good clean title, then from what has been posted on the subject, it would be worth the effort to you.



Nick
 
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mclellan83

Comic Book Super Hero
Jun 27, 2017
4,205
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I have never seen a death certificate for a car before, that is interesting. I feel like I am reading Graveyard Cars hahaha. Like other have said if you can do some leg work it could be quite the investment to you, the price of them are only going to keep climbing with the relatively low numbers made/ high amount of them totaled will make them keep going up. Not to mention many people do the same as you since it is a great bang for the buck powerplant, I don't know about around you guys but if you can save the GTO for what you got it for. Buying an engine/transmission for the local junk yards isn't a bad price, I use car-part.com to search local yards to see what they have for you. Then it could be a win-win
 
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PBGBodyFan

G-Body Guru
Mar 3, 2009
792
1,220
93
Wisconsin
Usually on flood cars they mark the water line, not that it is 100% of the time (maybe?) and it could of been wiped or washed off but it would likely stay visible unless someone wiped it off I'd think.

The LS2 is just as Pontiac as the LS2 in my Trailblazer :D .

Cool plans though, I won't rag on anyone doing an LS swap, there is a reason the swap is popular. The GTO, if cut up for parts, should do well selling the rest I'd imagine. I wanted a brazen orange 06' for a long time.
 
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g0thiac

G-Body Guru
Sep 6, 2020
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Let me know if you would consider a sale for the donor car, for up here in Canada 😎🤘

I have a mechanic, who lets just say with the right amount of $$$$ can make the VIN not an issue for me. Don't ask ctfu but really PM if you want haha.
 

87National

G-Body Guru
Apr 15, 2009
661
679
93
eastern SD
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.
One thing to consider......GTO seats are among the best factory seats you can find. There is a write-up on mcss.com on adapting them to gbody seat tracks.
 
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smed7880

Greasemonkey
Jul 27, 2010
132
171
43
One thing to consider......GTO seats are among the best factory seats you can find. There is a write-up on mcss.com on adapting them to gbody seat tracks.

Yep, hubby tried to talk me into that. I dont want them. My Grand Am interior originality is important to me.

He used to be an insurance adjuster in the late 90s after the Army. So did his friend who has the code reader, they worked together. Between the 2 of them working in houston during allison and our countless other floods theyve seen hundreds of flooded cars. They are not finding flood evidence. None.

Its really bugging him as to why that gto was totalled. His concern is theres something hes not seeing and after all the work to get it into my Grand Am he will find it.

I doubt he would sell it. It took too long to find it, plus he has been talking about the scca and that gto.
 
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87National

G-Body Guru
Apr 15, 2009
661
679
93
eastern SD
Yep, hubby tried to talk me into that. I dont want them. My Grand Am interior originality is important to me.
I can respect that.....particularly if your Grand Am seats are in good condition. As time passes by...... I gain an even greater appreciation for g-bodies with clean, 100% stock interiors.
 

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