Michigan GP newbie

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hey Man, I painted a 84 Gp For my friend and I went with 1973 Pontiac Verdant Green put a Fiero Gt spoiler on it ,She loved it I also done a Carasel Red 85 and put a 92 camaro spoiler <The> put judge stripes on it it was neat too. You should check mine out in the gallery its a Burgandy and silver 86 t-top with GTA wheels undecided on spoiler ,I have a Firebird type but thats too Normal for me unless I change my mind, LOL . I'll try to post pictures of those other Grand Prix's too.
 
welcome to the site, nice car you have on your hands
 
Big fan of hunter green with metal flake. Have seen a somewhat rare medium/dark green factory velour interior to go with this that I liked a lot. Would like to see that on the Pontiac buckets. Door panels carpet & such should match or could be black like the dash. Don't know if you can picture it but sharp different professionally appointed & complimenting not cheap gaudy home made looking. Part of what I like about the GPs is that they can be sharp and different as you don't see many compared to the other gbodys and even less that are done well. You can really make them different cool and stand out from the crowd. (which is why I don't care to see another sbc under the hood as it can be a little disapointing on a well done car)

I like the early 90s fbody spoiler on them. Probably would compliment the 2+2 nose. I will take a well done 200-4r over the 700-r4 anyday. Lighter more efficient better gearing and stronger when built right. The comeing out of the short too low first gear blazin followed by a wtf just happened too tall 2nd ending with an overdrive that could be a lil taller just sucks after you have seen how much better the same car works with a well done 200-4r.

The TPI 350s make for nice drivers, fairly torquie nice manners & such. They kinda suck as a real performance option though plus it ends up being like every other ordinary thing at any car show cruise in whatever with an I went cheap like the rest of the herd with a sbc. Not that it doesnt have its attributes mind you. No flame intended do what works for you just food for thought. I like the idea of seeing a well done large cube Pontiac engine in one or even something else that more unusual cool & different. Maybe with stuff to modernize it like a serpentine system, electric fans, electric fuel pump. I like FI to as its been great on my GN that said a professionally done Q-jet with electric choke does not leave much on the table mileage or performance for the cost of FI conversion or the limits of TPI. Again no flame just my thoughts. At least with modernizing an older motor in trying to make it strong fast & efficient. If I was going to do another fast street gbody I would and have considered / priced doing a LS conversion as the upgrade of power efficiency mileage reliability make it worth while especially if you look at adding a turbo or supercharger into the equation. Meh I'm rambling. Just make it fun and welcome to the site.
 
Ok, how about a Pontiac 350.

We built a mild combo, stuck it in a 3500# car and went 13.80s.

You could drive it anywhere.

I am going to wear you down. 😉
 
PS For a really good & inexpensive street car suspension set up & stance I like the Moog 5658 front springs & Moog matched rear springs with salvage yard 34mm hollow early 90s fbody sway bar up front & gbody rear bar. New poly end links with good shocks such as Edelbrock ISAs or Autzone Bilensteins finished off with 15x7 & 15x8 Pontiac ralleys with 235/60s up front and 255 or 275 60s or 50s in the rear or maybe 17" Torque Thrusts or something with 245/45 up front & 275/40s on the rear.

For the rear I prefer the factory GM 8.5 when you can find/afford them with either the factory or better yet one of the Eaton street limited slip differentials. If not you can pick up drum to drum 7.5 3.73 rears cheap sometimes they even have a factory posi and all you have to do is add new clutches & fresh fluid. Add a support cover and you have adequate strength for regular radial tires. Maybe inexpensive aftermarket lower control arms and an air bag to preload the suspension and maybe adjustable uppers if you want to maximise weight transfer and traction.
 
man, fellas. come on over. i'll let ya build while i buy. 😀

some great ideas. that's definetly what i'm looking for. now all i need is pics of these ideas to really get me pumpin.

havne't ruled out a carbed Poncho motor, shotgun.
sometimes i can be a pushover. i get lazy pretty quick too. a TPI maybe too much work. :lol:


i would like a nice stance to it that's for sure. a little lower than stock but not a scraper. i'd like to run factory wheels of some sort, but aftermarket is also doable. i have quite the thing for Torq Thrusts.
this car will be DRIVEN every chance i get when completed. that's why i bought it. keeping all the stock appointments but upgrading motor for spirited driving and reliabilty. the suspension for handling. i love the twistys.

vern, you got any pics of that Hunter Green?
the 00-01 GA spruce green is the coolest green i've ever seen. love the darker foresty greens.
 
Sorry don't have pics to reference. It is a dark foresty green. "DRIVEN every chance I get,- for spirited driveing and reliability" So it has to make good power through the more commonly driven rpm range, be reliable, and do it on pump gas with ideally decent gas mileage. ie reasonable cam, converter, & gears.

Sounds a lot like my 442 goals & build. (Or my GN for that matter) Only its powered by a big Cadillac motor which you can acquire and build pump gas power to dollar very reasonably to roughly the 500HP point but none of the vendors seem to list any crate engines like this except for maybe www.schradersspeedandstyle.com/main.html which would be a stought reliable all new & upgraded quality built ready to run pump gas piece for the $3,995. (did I miss any adjectives?) With a motor mount kit from MTS this would be a bolt in. For a gbody to fit with the larger front sway bar you would want to specify that he used the angled oil pump that originally came on the 425s. The other cool thing about this swap is that now you can get the $355 Sanderson Cad 600 headers that fit the gbody at any Cad vendor makeing even the exhaust cheap & easy. Only thing with the Schrader motor is that you are getting unported open chamber (9-1) stock valve size heads so you would probably hit a wall at about 400HP. But with good street ported late 10-1 heads & 2.19/1.81 valves & a lil more cam you can get 500. If you want to know more about big Cads check out www.cadillacpower.com/forum

For a big Pontiac crate engines you might check out Rock & Roll engineering at www.pontiacpower.com or www.pontiacengines.net or www.krepower.com or www.jbp-pontiac.com or www.precisionengine.com/rebuilt-engines ... index.html for good info & prices on well built engines of various makes.

For a big cube, street compression/cam, street car, I am a big fan of the 800 cfm Q-jet for performance, part throttle driveability, & mileage. For a street strip gbody I am a fan of a well built 200-4r & a working lock up converter. I think these three things with a reasonable cam helps my 509ci get 17mpg hwy. Not great but way better than 10 or 12 and no buzzing down the interestate even with good gears so your $ engine lasts. Have fun building it and driveing it. I plan to take one of mine up to woodman dream cruise in Detroit again this year.
 
Figured Shotgun would jump in with some Pontiac engine or set up ideas for a guy who wants to keep it simple and probably does not want to build it himself.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

GBodyForum is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Amazon, the Amazon logo, AmazonSupply, and the AmazonSupply logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Please support GBodyForum Sponsors

Classic Truck Consoles Dixie Restoration Depot UMI Performance

Contact [email protected] for info on becoming a sponsor