Well, me and my wife were talking last night about this. Were leaning away from it and looking into buying a friends grand prix with the l67. This would probably be a better idea huh?? 76,000 miles, $3100, I think its a '97. So after we buy it, we'll have about 3 grand to throw into it (2000 after we get some new wheels) so with $2000 to mod it, what numbers do you think were talking?? Keep in mind its got an exhaust with the offroad DP and I can build a CAI for about 60 bucks.

 

It will be a lot cheaper to buy the Grand Prix. There are a couple of things to consider aside from cost though.

1) How much do you like your Monte? In my situation, yeah, I could have bought a GTP or a Camaro Z28 or something but I really liked Monte Carlos for some odd reason It's a different car that not too many people play with. You'll never be as fast as the fastest Camaro, but you do have the opportunity to be one of the fastest Monte's out there.

2) This actually does deal with cost kind of, lol. What about insurance and other bills for the car? A 3400 powered Monte is going to be a lot less to insure and register, etc then a GTP.

The GTP though is a lot easier to work on just because it has the engine that you want already. With $2k you can get a lot out of it too if you do the work yourself. There is something to think about though. You are going to need to do something about the tranny before you get too crazy with mods. Right now that's what I'm starting to do. I need to save some money and build the tranny up to make sure that it can handle some abuse. I'll do the work myself so I'm okay there, but it's still going to cost some money. Then after that, I need better wheels because I have zero traction in first gear. These kind of expenses are some of the things that I was talking about. Plus you will probably want a scan gauge, wideband, boost, oil pressure, and even fuel pressure gauges which all cost some money. It keeps adding up.

If you want to do it though, go for it and have fun. It's a great learning experience and IMO, in the end it is worth it. Just remember an important rule with cars. Cheap, fast, and reliable. You can only pick two.

 

go with the gtp. no point breaking your back trying to make your monte into that thing. are the gtps all 2drs in those years or are there 4dr gtps in 97? if its the 2dr def go for it. the only reason i wouldnt want it is if it had that extra set of doors.

 

I think im gonna go with the GP then. Insurance and all that wont be that bad cause we got some clean records. And as for the tires, we plan on getting some good ones, probably Z rated pirelli or maybe with a slower speed rating but higher traction. Then after the wheels is gonna come the paintjob(of course what else but bright white) then the modding will begin. Just hope it works out how were planning it to. What else should I consider with this whole deal??

 

Definitely find out the year first. I will admit that a 97 is by far the worst year for them- I'd be willing to throw another $500 at it just to get a 98.

Don't get me wrong, most of the stuff is the same- all the modding and such is still pretty much the same- but the 97's have a lot of differences from the 98+. Here are some from zzp:

Also, I've heard some wiring and such is different too (could've swore I saw a thread on clubgp about a guy going through the process of swapping to a 98+ pcm and engine bay harness.

If you're just sticking with basic bolt ons and normal mods, it shouldn't be a big deal though- and ~75k miles isn't too bad- you've still got a lot of useful life left.

With that kind of money, you're borderline on picking up a used turbo kit. That would probably make the most power for the money, but if you're looking for basic bolt ons, it may not be the best route.

I will say about $1000 will get you high 13's in the 1/4 and about 300 crank horsepower (3.4" pulley, SSAC headers, 1.9 modded stock rockers, pcm, tstat, plugs, CAI/FWI, etc)- throwing another $1000 on top of that, you'll probably have to make a choice- cam or intercooler. You could do either for that kind of money- the intercooler would consume all of that money, but would still keep the same gas mileage and driveability- a cam would be a little less- but a lot worse install, with the possibility of worse gas mileage, etc.

I agree and I feel the same way- however, having something unique generally makes it more expensive- and the more custom stuff you're doing (especially talking something like an engine swap)- the more likely it is to lose reliability.

Honestly, I wasn't paying that much different between my 99 GTP and my 00 Impala LS. There was some difference, but it was very little. I'm sure it varies by company.

I think its a good choice- I mean I don't think you can go wrong having a whole extra car with the powertrain you want for little more than an engine swap- it just doesn't make much sense to go through all the hassle and such unless you specifically want something unique.

The other nice thing IMO about GTP's is they tend to have more options than the chevy's- coming from my monte and impala- my gtp had leather, a heads up display, heated driver seat, a better powertrain, more sporty suspension, etc etc.

Also, the stock gtp muffler sound is one of the best on 3800's IMO- I deleted my cat, and resonator- and the sound one of the better that I've heard from a 3800.

 

Alright, got the whole scoop here. Its the '99, 77,993 miles, no leather, no heated seats ( I thought those 2 were standard??) Heads up speedo and turn signals, 8 speaker bose, ROOF RAILS!!, tuned PCM, 2000 pace car rims, header back exhaust with generic mufflers (hes still got the stock mufflers, you say those sound good?? Should I put those on? Will I loose any power?)
He said he'll do it for for $3000 if I commit tonight, its only 100 bucks off but he said he will park it TONIGHT and wait. Oh, hes got a higher flowing air intake (WAI) and he says it has to be close to 250HP. What do you all think?? Should I give it the "go ahead"?? Is there anything else I should know before I go for it?? This has got me pretty giddy and I am wanting to do it sooooo...?

 

I forgot to ask/mention. Im for sure not wanting to go turbo, even though its somthing ive always wanted on a car. But whats the whole deal with the intercooler?? Now, I dont know a thing about them so dont rip on me for asking this, but you say a thousand dollars will take care of the intercooler, but I see them on ebay for like 200 bucks??

 

Don't get an ebay intercooler, you'll regret it.

And he said 250 horsepower? I hope that's at the wheels, because if it's at the crank, that's only ten HP over stock. Which may mean he doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

$3000 for that is a pretty good deal. Sucks about the leather, but thats no big deal- you could always swap later, lots of people total these things, and there are tons out there.

Before you jump in, I'd get a Carfax report to see the crash history and such- and have an experienced mechanic look it over for any signs of major repairs, or problems.

But, if the car checks out clean- I'd definitely go for it, 99 was the first year of the better TB- and I'd bet you'd be pretty happy with it.

If its modded, I'd wonder if its been beaten on a bit- usually people who do engine mods don't drive around at 10% throttle all day. Has he ever changed pullies on the supercharger? If the SC has a smaller than stock pulley, I'd stay away.

Yes, I like the stock mufflers- especially with no res and no cat. I will say- its not 'loud', it is a little loud on a cold start, but driving around is totally bearable- much quieter than aftermarket exhaust, but it sounds good. Kinda depends on what sound you like- if you like nasty, raspy, loud- aftermarket mufflers are usually better for that.

It does seem kinda silly- blocking off (or deleting) a perfectly good supercharger for a turbo kit- but turbos make a lot more power with less mods. If it were me, I'd rock it as is for a couple weeks- maybe a couple months- its going to be far more power than you're used to, and the supercharger whine will keep you entertained for awhile.

There are no intercoolers for a supercharged 3800 on ebay for $200. The intercoolers you see on there are "air to air" intercoolers- meaning you have to capture the air coming out of the compressor (be it a supercharger or turbo) and run it in a tube through the intercooler, then into the engine. Being that the supercharger is bolted to the engine (and not remote mounted like a turbo)- you don't really have a single tube coming out. There is an Australian company that makes an adapter to do that, but its crazy expensive, and not worth it.

The way we intercool on L67's is by water to air. Basically, you mount a core between your supercharger and lower intake manifold- it is basically a heater core trapped in a aluminum housing. So the supercharger blows through the heater core going into the engine, and the air is cooled (since the outlet air of the supercharger is 250*+, and the water in the core is close to ambient, about 80*)- its the same concept as how the heater core or AC works in your car- blow air through a heated or cooled radiator to change the outlet temp of the air.

The reason why water to air intercoolers are so much more than those air to air ones, is because they obviously need a way to get rid of the heat they soak up- meaning you have to put another radiator up at the front of the car (Specifically for the intercooler system)- and obviously you have to circulate the fluid, which means you need an electric fluid pump as well.

This kit is a bit more pricey than you could piece together yourself, but it gives you an idea of all the parts that go into it:

http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_p...=234&catid=139

The IC itself doesn't add a whole lot of power- but being able to drop to a smaller pulley with it adds a lot of power (you can usually drop a couple pulley sizes with just the intercooler alone).

 

Okay, talked to him last night and he emailed me the carfax, it was rearended with minor damage(no big deal) and thats all, so we worked it out last night. It should be mine in the next 4-5 months (when I got the extra money) I know him pretty good and I know how he has drove it. He hasnt ever changed the pulley, and he says he didnt want to acciidentally exagerate the power so he called it out as 250.

I HAVE A QUESTION THOUGH, whats this about a switch to make it shift different??
But other than that, I gave him the okay and Im gonna take it for a test drive tonight. I CANT WAIT!!!! Never drove anything faster than a stock SRT-4, and that dont even seem that fast these days seeing as I can keep up with it in my car(he pulls away after about 70mph though). But 250+ should be a little fun.
One more thing, Im not wanting leather, its somthing Ive never liked for some reason. Sure it looks good, but I hate slidiing around and getting burnt in the summer.