A little background to get you started. My 13 year old son was granted a wish by the Make-A-Wish foundation. For those who are unfamiliar with this charity, it is a charity for children. They grant wishes to children who suffer from life threatening illness, wether it is terminal illness such as cancer or an illness that threatens life. My son has very severe asthma. I know some people don't realize just how bad asthma can be or get or how quickly. To make matters worse, he is also anaphalactic to multiple things. That means at anytime an allergy can cause his airways to close completely and his organs to shut down. There is usually little warning.

Last year when he was 12 he saved his own life by giving himself an injection of Epinephrine and calling 911. At 12!! His doctors felt it was worth a reward and nominated him for a wish.

Anyways, his wish is going to be to have a 1987 Grand Prix restored to all her glory for when he is 16. He was given this car by his sister's boyfriend.

Here is where you boys come in

It has a 305 in it. They will restore.

The body is of course in need, but they will have that covered as well.

My question is, is if this was your car what would you do to it? What would you add to the engine in the way of modifications? What kind of air exchange things would you put on it? What kind of exhaust would you put on it? How would you paint it? Pics are appreciated of course, on the paint thing. He is currently making a specific list for what he wants, right down to the brand name parts he wants. I will let him read the replies to this thread. He is pretty knowledgeable when it comes to cars considering he is only 13.

He won't be racing this car. He is very responsible. But I do know he'll want to show it. And there are some places where we live that will provide him opportunity to show it. < <<<< this is huge, because he will show it off.

Bring it on boys!!

~Jenna

 

From personal experience I'd rather have a 350, but if the car is mainly a show car then I'd stick with the 305 (my car and my sister's Ford 410 are the only vehicles out of six that are not 350s) As for mods that would all depend on how much more performance was wanted and at what cost. In my opinion the exhaust note is something that depends on what he wants his car to sound like, would he rather have something loud that really stands out, or something quieter with a low rumble? I'd say the same for the paint, I've always be partial to a nice two-tone or rally stripes. What color(s) is he thinking of at the moment? I think what it might boil down to is how much Make a Wish will be putting towards this and if you son would rather have something that looks amazing, drives amazing, or both.

 

He wants both. Looks and drives amazing. But I think fromhow he talks its more about the looks. He is thinking white with blackstripes but not pinstripes. He wants an amazing paint job. I'm thinking to direct him to go mother of pearl with the white so that it changes colours according to light and weather.Exhaust wise he wants low rumble. He doesn't want insane loud. Which is good because there are times that you just want the constant hum to go away.

He can't ask for a bigger engine. That is against the rules. So, he has to work with what he has. I don't know that there is a price cap because most times parts and labour will be donated. What will be spent is what can not be donated. Or rather what they can't get donated.

I ask here so that he can get a variety of ideas. At 13 he wouldn't exaclty know what he wants so it is good to get ideas outside of his group of advisors. And what his parents have to say, he doesn't usually take as good advice! Teenager.

 

on a car like that it seems as if a good paint job of 2 tone charcoal on top black on the bottom. and where the two colors meat have a sinlgle color stripe of like blue or red. then some very nice 18-20" wheels that stick out the wheel wells a bit. for the sound i would like it to be nice low tone with a nice deep rumble. and if he wants it loud a eletric cut out would be sufficient.
i like the wish!!!

 

Sound's like he's gonna have one helluva car when he turns 16, I was just happy to be driving at that age...

Anyways, someone else will have to chirp in about the engine as I don't know much about the 305. I agree with the Mother of Pearl color, my dad had a buddy with an Impala when he was younger, said at night someone's headlights would hit that pearl white and colors would just pop from nowhere. Personally I'm not much of a fan of white cars, the white pearl is a sweet color though. I'd say to have him look into maybe throwing in an accent color, like a nice red or blue in small amounts. That way instead just a white/black interior you can go with some color too. I decided I didn't want any color in my car, all that's left is the yellow in the headlights and red in the seat covers, oh and the underglow is in color but that don't count

Here's a question I feel is important, what style wheels will be going on the car? If you tell me they're gonna be 30" donk style then I probably wouldn't be of much help as I don't like the donks, boxes, or bubbles.

Oh I forgot to say earlier, I'd never be able to give myself an injection, I'll let others give me shots, but no way could I do it to myself so buddy I've got respect for ya already.

 

He liked the two tone silver and black that I showed him. But no, he doesn't want that. He is thinking going black with the white stripe. The problem with that is, is it seems that nearly all restored GP's and Grand National's are done that way. He will figurethat out and that'll stop that. I do think if I show him the mother of pearl he'll go with that. He wants the stripe to go up the sides, not the hood, roof and trunk. He can still have that with out making it a pinstripe.

He has specified that he wants his exhaust to sound "humble". I asked him after posting. And you know, humble is a good word for a car that will have more under the hood then anyone would expect. Performance speaks for itself, so says my 13 year old. Smart boy.

I'm not real partial to white cars either. They kind of have a cheap air to them. Or I think they're cops. Oddly I do like the 06' Monte in white. Not just saying that because we have members with white Monte's.

I always thought the 305 was just the small baby sister to the 350.

I don't know about the rims and tires. I think he wants the wider ones. Low profiles, nice rims. Not the shiney "pimp" rims. He has a book full of those too. I have no idea what a donk, boxes, or bubbles are? S'plain for me please.

~Jenna

 

Oh, and those needles are scary stuff!! The ones he has are auto-injectors, so he doesn't have to load them or anything. Just put it on his thigh and push. Not a big deal really. Or its that I've been doing it so long that I've become accustomed to what they look like and how they work.

I do know that I'll never grow accustomed to racing to the hospital to get to him. And now they have glass partions so I have to beg to be let in. I'm not opposed to screaming over the line that I need in

~Jenna

 

Thank you knightfanIts unfortunate and seems to me that asthma has become the designer disease. Why anyone would want their kid diagnosed with asthma is beyond me. But whenever a kid gets a cold asthma meds are administered. And then a diagnoses, is chased after by the parents. Thus making my son's very real and very severe asthma get shrugged off. I do realize that my son is not the only one. But experience and study have shown me that it is becoming the designer disease.

But thankfully, he has a great doctor to work with him, and who understands the difference between real asthma and the designer asthma. Because it is ultimately up to him wether he got that wish or not. And from how I understand it until my son he'd not granted a wish to his asthma patients. Only to his cystic fibrosis patients. I could go on and on. But this is not the place.

I can't wait to see him in that car. I'll be honest, I'm jelous!! Took me 31 years to get the car I wanted and its not even exactly as I want it!!

~Jenna

 

There is nothing wrong with a 305, just not as powerful as a 350, but better than a 6. When he gets older, he can swap out the 305 for a 350. Something to look forward to. Maybe even a stroker 383, a 350 with a bigger crankshaft to give more cubes. Same engine. Wish list kinda thing, ya know? I agree on the wheels, go with a set of 18s. 20s are more sensative to chuckholes and the such, and I'm not much on "donk" wheels either - the extremely large wheels, like 26s, that are so large, you have to lift the car to put them on, like you would lifting a pickup for big wheels. It screws up the whole geometry of the steering and suspension, and makes the cars hard to drive, let alone unsafe, because you now have raised the center of gravity. Stick with 18s, and keep the car as low to the ground as is possible. The rule here should be to keep the tire height the same as stock. Tire dealers can help here, or better yet, go to tirerack.com for LOTS of specific info.
As for the engine, I had a 305 HO in an 84 Z28 Camaro. Does the rules say anything about beefing up the engine with a bigger cam, higher compression pistons, new intake heads, or things like that? You can WISH!
You might try GP sites also, like clubgp.com
Good luck in your sons endeaver. He sounds real special. You should be proud of him as a parent, Jenna.