1992 Grand Prix Progression

[[ChaosweaveR]]

Either drop the GP, or embrace your 4x4 status like me and rock a set of rally mudflaps.

And yellow fogs FTW!

[Twenty]

' date='Aug 5 2010, 03:45 PM' post='34763']

Either drop the GP, or embrace your 4x4 status like me and rock a set of rally mudflaps.

And yellow fogs FTW!

Coilovers are the plan. But for now, 4x4-which comes in real handy with all of the construction in my city.

[[ChaosweaveR]]

What wheels you going to be using once you drop it?

[Twenty]

I'm thinking I'll just stick with the factory 5-spokes since I really like them, but with small spacers to push them out just a bit. Failing that, OEM crosslaces from a Grand Prix coupe, painted white to match the 5-spokes.

[[ChaosweaveR]]

I'm thinking I'll just stick with the factory 5-spokes since I really like them, but with small spacers to push them out just a bit. Failing that, OEM crosslaces from a Grand Prix coupe, painted white to match the 5-spokes.

If you want to keep it OEM, I'd say these would look nasty of the old school GP:

These would look good too:

[Twenty]

Well, my latest update was lost in the minor glitch the site had. Fortunately, it was also posted on other forums so I can copy and paste it!

UPDATE: Side Skirts (!) and Miscellaneous

The side skirts are on, but boy did they take some effort. About nine hours were spent over two days trying to get all of the pieces on. Why so long? It was one of those classic projects that took more time for supply runs than it did for the actual job.

Day 1:

Because the main skirts are so long, I knew that someone would have to hold them in place for me to be able to mark the holes to drill and to help align them when putting them on for good. I called my usual partner in crime and he showed up at about 12:30 to start the install.

I put the Grand Prix up on a couple of jackstands and started with the driver's side rear skirt. While my friend held it in place, I marked where to drill and put the drill to work. Except the bits I had were too dull and weren't making it into the metal of the car more than a millimeter or two.

Off to Canadian Tire for new bits, and I picked up some jack stands for myself while we were there.

This time, the bits were working and all was going well, until one bit broke. We found another and continued. With the holes ready, I ran double-sided 3M moulding tape along the top edge of the skirt, since my car didn't have the tabs riveted on like it would have from the factory. With the skirt held in place I then went and started putting in the bolts. However, it quickly became evident that we'd need new ones, as the ones I had originally picked out were breaking before they could hold the skirt in-the force needed to install them was too much and it was shearing the heads off.

Off to Rona for new bolts. I was able to find some though that are essentially identical to the OEM bolts for the side skirts.

Now, the bolts were holding up and we were getting somewhere. With the main skirt on, we went to put the rear wheel back on but discovered that my sockets did not fit on my new torque wrench.

Off to my friends' house to borrow a socket from his father's tool collection.

Attempt number three. We got the wheel back on and finally had everything we needed. What else could happen? We got the driver's side skirt completed, and the rear portion of the passenger skirt on. Then we ran out of the moulding tape, but it was okay because we were out of time too. We went out anyway to fill up the cars and grab a drink.

Day 2:

This morning I was back at Canadian Tire for more tape, along with a few other supplies. I then went over to my friend's house and finished up the install there. The GP was jacked back up and the passenger front piece was mounted. After testing both the original and new mudflaps, I decided to drill a new hole in the originals and mount them back in place, using some leftover bolts from yesterday's Rona trip.

And FINALLY, after hours of work, multiple runs for parts, and a little trial-and-error, the Grand Prix finally has a complete OEM lip kit. Finally.

Ignore the slight reverse rake in these shots, the trunk was stuffed full of tools and supplies, weighing the back of the car down.

As for the miscellaneous part, I re-did the red pinstripe on the bumpers with red vinyl, as they'd badly worn out and were a dark burgundy instead of bright red. Once trimmed (Which it's not in these pictures), it's impossible to tell it's a vinyl overlay.

I also had some fun and wrapped my rear-view mirror in carbon fiber vinyl.

And, now that the skirts are on, the exterior (As far as my inital plans are concerned) is done! All I plan to do is a full repaint someday, but that's a ways off.

What's next after all of this? Wait and see.

And now for what I was going to post originally; a new picture of the GP taken by a friend of mine at a local show 'n shine on Sunday. Best picture yet?

[Ringo64]

Sorry about that! Thanks for reposting!

[Jedi3]

looks great!!!!!

again

[[ChaosweaveR]]

I seriously love this GP.

I can't wait to see the coilovers and bigger GP wheels on it.

Also, 3,000 posts. Win.

[Twenty]

Thanks! It's awesome to hear that others love it too.

I should have an update before too long, just waiting to order.

[markpetersonii]

Awesome! lol I didn't realize this was deleted, I love this also!

[Twenty]

Thanks!

Well, next Thursday an appraiser is coming over to appraise both my parents' vehicles and the Grand Prix for updated insurance, let's see what he thinks of it! Ironically, he used to work on our truck years back when he worked at a dealership in town.

[Twenty]

[Ghost]

awesome.

[[ChaosweaveR]]

I was thinking about getting one of those.

[Crimson]

i was expecting some kid with a crap pile at the thread title i must admit but after opening that book after judging by its cover i must admit im impressed with the amazing quality of the small details...GREAT work on this car...keep it coming!!

[Twenty]

i was expecting some kid with a crap pile at the thread title i must admit but after opening that book after judging by its cover i must admit im impressed with the amazing quality of the small details...GREAT work on this car...keep it coming!!

Um, thanks.

I'm still waiting to order my birthday present to myself, hopefully that will get here sometime this decade.

[Crimson]

no really its a big compliment. i saw the year and was thinking some kid bought this for 200 bucks and its his baby but its a POS but this thing could have a dinner served on it it's so clean!

[Twenty]

I know. It's just how you described your initial thoughts, that made me laugh.

[Twenty]

A couple of current pictures taken this past weekend by a friend of mine. The GP will be going into winter mode soon, so it could be a while before good pictures are taken again.

(Yes, I need coilovers...)

[Twenty]

' date='Oct 24 2010, 06:01 AM' post='39261']

I was thinking about getting one of those.

If you want some, I can get some more in pretty much any colour want. A friend of mine is making these.

[Kstorm43]

Sweet! It's nice to see an older less popular Pontiac getting cared for.

[Twenty]

Sweet! It's nice to see an older less popular Pontiac getting cared for.

Thank you!

Here are some photos from this past weekend. My university's car club (Which I run with a few friends) had a get-together. Spot the Grand Prix!

http://www.illmotion.com/2010/10/im-uccc-m...er-23-2010.html

[Twenty]

Coilover time?

One of the hot topics on the w-body forums between myself and a few others lately has been coilovers. Long story short, I've been given an offer on a set of front coilovers, complete with upper plates for camber and caster adjustment. All the parts are there minus a set of OEM front knuckles, which I can pick up locally (Won't use my stock ones as a bracket has to be cut off, and I wouldn't do that the the one and only set I have). For w-bodies, we have basically two options for coilovers. Ones from a company, which many claim are not as good as they could be, and have a slightly inflated price, or a set of 'custom' ones for much less, built using components from a couple of sources, and have been much better received by those who use them. The camber/caster plates are a bonus here, they are rather expensive and rare, and I wouldn't mind them.

Basically, I like them, but I'm also looking for others' opinions, like people who have used 'actual', company-built coilovers before on their cars, as you'd have some first-hand experience to base this on.

FRONT COILOVERS: (Not my pictures, these are all of the ones provided by the fellow member who is selling his setup-this is THE exact setup)

Assembly: http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f313/b12...lover%20Mounts/

Install: http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f313/b12...over%20Install/

It looks straight forward, replace the existing spring and shock with a coilover sleeve for the height adjustability, and a new spring (Rate of your choosing), and of course the camber/caster plates on top. Looks good to me.

REAR COILOVERS:

Assembly: http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f313/b12...oilover%20Pics/

These are much more straight-forward, except for the part where the LEAFSPRING (Yeah, I know) has to come out, but no biggie. All these take are springs, some shocks (KYB GR2s recommended) and threaded sleeves again.

So far, all looks good, and this setup has been backed by some members who really drive their cars hard. I'm looking for DD use, and maybe the occasional track day in the summer. Time to get some use out of my local course.

Thoughts, comments, criticisms? By the way, the front setup (Everything but the knuckles) will be about $350 + shipping.

[[ChaosweaveR]]

Go for it! Front and rear, of course.

You're lucky, there's nothing available as coilovers for my car. At all.