Marriage: 1980 Grand Am and 2005 GTO Build Thread.

[smed7880]

T and S will post together on this one.

Donor is a Cert of Death 05 GTO from reported flood damage though none was found. 41000 miles. Starts and runs strong. Damn shame, its a Yellowjacket edition.

Sherry's 1980 Grand Am is a triple black super nice car i bought for her 15ish years ago. It replaces her 78 she had in high school that i knocked the front end off of. She sold it while i was in army basic. Weve searched and searched for it...no luck, trail died at the man she sold it too, he cant remember who bought it even after offering a bounty.

Project is Blackheart mounting, holley tank, LS2 swap.

Possible sniper, possible dash/computer swap. Not sure yet.

Right now she's cleaning the GTO dash and playing with controls to see if she wants it in her car. It will fit. Both are 54 inches wide and the windshield bow looks really close. Im pushing for the dash swap for air bags, ac, tilt/telescope column, and computer controls....she wants to keep the nostalgia of her 80 but is considering the swap...TBD.

Today is pregame. My Torino is almost done with this phase of its project. Time to transition to the GAm. Getting parts together, moving cars and shelves, etc etc etc.

Actual project starts with disassembly of the GAm front clip and drivetrain pull first. Then install the Blackheart stuff.

Either way this is going to be a fun build that we do together. She will start inside out of the 100 degree weather with the fuel tank system from Holley.

Lots of pics along the way

 

[smed7880]

Fuel tank. I ordered the tank as a kit after pricing out the needed parts. Holley Sniper 19-144 255lph supports up to 550hp. Since it will stay stock LS2 from the GTO this should work. The tank is bolt in and comes with pump, neck, gaskets. Its made for the car. $710.

Transmission mount. The transmission crossmember 12644HKR-1 for $320, the attachment plate 11655HKR for the 4L80e for $37, the transmission mount 71223029HKR for $56.

Engine mount. 12643HKR for $208, supposed to give 3.5 inches of room. 71221014HKR (2) for $32 each, 71221004HKR (2) for $22 each.

Measurements of the LS2 to Gbody oil pan are close. The 3.5 inches and the ease of install using the Blackheart line hopefully combine to eliminate the oil pan swap and need for headers. Ill know once i try to install the eng and trans. Expecting steering interference.

Harvesting all front drive and accessories. Power steering and air conditioning are questions. Hope to get lucky.

AC not working in gto but does hold 134a. Ill top it off to see if it works. If i can use the GTO in dash equipment ill do that. If ac is dead thats a tick in the keep original dash column since ill go Vintage Air....if it works dash swap becomes more probable in my mind. But its her call not mine.

Radiator and fans are close but will not know how much room i have until engine is in the bay.

Eventual Sniper TermX Max 550-919 for $1667 but that will have to wait until the car is ready for it. 24X CRANK - 1X CAM - EV6 INJECTORS - TRANSMISSION CONTROL

 

[mclellan83]

still hurt about the GTO haha

 

[Ribbedroof]

I would encourage you to give a second thought to not putting airbags in if you do the Dash swap. A supplemental restraint system is a highly engineered system that includes data from an engineering standpoint about how where when and with how much force a given area the car structure will collapse. There’s also a very precise timeline for how those events transpire. I highly doubt that any of that data is directly transferable to a G body.

All in all sounds like a fun project just make sure you go into it with your eyes wide open. Might’ve missed it if they were posted before but would love to see some pictures of the Grand Am

 

[smed7880]

I would encourage you to give a second thought to not putting airbags in if you do the Dash swap. A supplemental restraint system is a highly engineered system that includes data from an engineering standpoint about how where when and with how much force a given area the car structure will collapse. There’s also a very precise timeline for how those events transpire. I highly doubt that any of that data is directly transferable to a G body.

All in all sounds like a fun project just make sure you go into it with your eyes wide open. Might’ve missed it if they were posted before but would love to see some pictures of the Grand Am

Thats a very good point. Honestly that should have occurred to me, but it didnt. Highly appreciated.


Aa requested:

 

[smed7880]

Yeah, taking that first gto bolt loose is going to suck. But that LS2 is going to find a good home between the GAm fenders and i guess thats the equalizer. Somewhere i hear the voice of the gto as it watches the readying...its sad actually, ive wanted one of those since seeing it in 04.

Making progress with car olympics getting the garage ready, but wow its hot. 108 in my nonclimatized garage. Many breaks slowing me down. Been fighting the heat all week of vacation.

 

[WanaBa442]

What year is the Torino? Looks to be a twin to the one my wife had till a cattle trailer took the nose off of it...
Sounds like you have a good plan for the GA, should be a real hoot when it's done 👍

 

[pagrunt]

still hurt about the GTO haha

You have a GTO, they'll have GTO parts. Keep Ol' Yellow's spirt alive by add it's parts to yours. Just saying & trying to spend your money cause we all like to.

 

[Ribbedroof]

Aa requested:

View attachment 223541

That's a beauty!

Knew a couple of people with those Gran Torinos way back in the 80s..this one belonged to the brother of a kid I went to school with...his other brother had a black 67 Camaro SS with a 6-71 blown 454

 

[smed7880]

Too dang hot but everything is ready. Garage is cleaned up from this phase of the Torino. Grand Am is elevated. All ordered parts have arrived.

Tomorrow starts teardown.

My Torino is a long story but short version is i worked on about 20 Rancheros and Torinos over the years harvesting parts and making project money where i could while working on mine here and there. Very little parts support for Torinos which is why im so happy to start her GAm. I sent the Torino to a shop for paint, efi, Vintage Air, and some other minor stuff....after 3 years i got it back last summer with crappy paint and had to redo what the shop did. Over the 15+ year project the only bolts i havent taken off are the body mount bolts. The shop owner and i hashed out some things and it goes back 7/17 for repaint, fixing the fuel leaks at the tank connections, and fixing the transmission leaks he was supposed to do back then. The shop thing has been a giant pita and i will never do that again. After i get it back mid August i hope to finish it before Christmas. Its mechanically done after he does his part. Ill need to finish body and interior assembly after paint. The goal is get the pontiac ready for the sniper or gto dash if it goes that route, before mid august...but i think ill end up with more time due to him blowing more deadlines...he was 2.5 years late the first time he had it...covid etc so be it but dang. Yesterday i plated the Torino for the first time in 13 years, big big day. I hadnt driven it in close to 20 years, so i drove it about 5 miles on 3 runs working out bugs. I did 3 test hits about a third of a block long finally getting to WOT...its an animal. For the 4th hit wifey rode with me and she was all eyes and a big smile when i lifted. This is the 72 Torino my first one would have been (it did have a 460 too) but one thing is the same...the rear tires drive it. My first i had to sell so this is its replacement. 72, 460, C6, black buckets, a nice mix of new and old. Im the second owner, it was originally a 351 white/ginger bench...wrecked in 85, resurrection late 00s by me, then blown apart in 09 and now very close to gametime ready. Her Pontiac will be all me....no more shops.