Pontiac Grand Prix 91 air housing box

[Adam 240468]

Good morning, everyone on the forum.

I live in Poland in Europe and I have a Pontiac Grand Prix 3.1 LE (1991 vin T) I bought it in 1995. This is my beloved car and a member of my family. However, I have a problem because I am looking for an air filter housing for this model, or even just its upper part. My housing is mechanically damaged and I would like to have an undamaged housing. I looked everywhere I could, but no one has such a housing for sale, no one even offers it. Maybe, dear colleagues, you could help a friend from Poland to buy such a housing. I am asking you for help in this matter. Regards, Adam.

[Frosty]

Hi Adam, welcome to FP. 

We love pictures around here. Can you share a photo of your problem and help us understand what exactly you need to replace?

I will defer to my good friend Last Indian for more specific advise as he is the FWD Grand Prix guru of this forum. However, I see one of two possible solutions. Either find a stock replacement air filter box (mostly like from the states) or purchase an aftermarket cold air kit to replace the air intake system to the engine.

I have a list of junk yards here in the states that might have the stock replacement you are looking for. Last Indian may have others I don't too.

[Adam 240468]

Of course, I'm sorry I didn't add photos. I'm really only interested in the original air filter housing, even just the upper part that is in the photos. The general view shows the casing in the engine compartment, which is only put on for the photo because it is cracked and broken. It looks good but it doesn't work.

[Frosty]

Okay - two things come to mind.

1. Is it possible to simply repair your existing air cleaner assembly? I can't see what is damaged in the pictures you shared with us.

2. We have to expand our search of used parts. The W-body 1991 Grand Prix shared it's engine and engine bay with it's sister cars, the Buick Regal, Chevrolet Lumina, and Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. So we should be looking for air cleaner assemblies from those cars as well. So looking for 90-96 air cleaner assemblies for a 3.1 engine from one of these other cars should be identical to the one in your Grand Prix.

[Adam 240468]

I know that the photos don't show these damages, but believe me, they are there. The housing has broken fasteners, they were only glued to take a photo. The upper part is also broken and glued. The damage occurred when the alternative fuel, LPG, detonated. In Poland, it was quite popular to convert a car to run on a different fuel, such as LPG. It was also popular in Western Europe, e.g. Italy, the Netherlands etc. Sometimes, due to ignition errors, the gas and air mixture in the intake manifold detonated. The effect of such detonation is the destruction of the filter housing. It looks undamaged but is cracked in many places. I removed the LPG gas supply system a long time ago and now the vehicle runs only on gasoline. The filter housing is made of a material that cannot be glued with any glue, even specialized ones. That's why I need a second one that would be intact. I only need the upper part, because the lower part is undamaged. I know that this housing is also found in other vehicles and that's what I was looking for. Unfortunately, without any positive result :(( This part is probably unattainable for me

[Last Indian]

1 hour ago, Adam 240468 said:

I know that the photos don't show these damages, but believe me, they are there. The housing has broken fasteners, they were only glued to take a photo. The upper part is also broken and glued. The damage occurred when the alternative fuel, LPG, detonated. In Poland, it was quite popular to convert a car to run on a different fuel, such as LPG. It was also popular in Western Europe, e.g. Italy, the Netherlands etc. Sometimes, due to ignition errors, the gas and air mixture in the intake manifold detonated. The effect of such detonation is the destruction of the filter housing. It looks undamaged but is cracked in many places. I removed the LPG gas supply system a long time ago and now the vehicle runs only on gasoline. The filter housing is made of a material that cannot be glued with any glue, even specialized ones. That's why I need a second one that would be intact. I only need the upper part, because the lower part is undamaged. I know that this housing is also found in other vehicles and that's what I was looking for. Unfortunately, without any positive result :(( This part is probably unattainable for me

Adam I do understand your problem, so obviously the real fix is a replacement. That said I do believe you can repair your current top, at least for the time being, if you can get the right materials.
You need .020 - .025 thick aluminum. This material is very workable, I.E. easy to shear & easy to form. Than you need a good quality construction adhesive. The type they use to glue woods together, like wood subfloors to floor joists. You will need to form the aluminum to contour to the shape of the inside of the lip of the box & extend the aluminum up the inside of the box a couple inches. Run the aluminum the entire side of the box & on each side where there is a broken ear.

Take a 120 grit sandpaper or something close to that & rough up the inside of the plastic box where the aluminum will attach. After you rough it up take some lacquer thinner & wipe down what you have sanded. Now you will need some thin pieces of wood or something like that so you can cut pieces to go on the inside & outside of the box to sandwich the aluminum using C clamps to clamp the entire aluminum piece in place. Spread the construction glue on to the plastic box where the aluminum plate will go. Put the aluminum piece in lay the wood over the aluminum, put the wood pieces on the outside & clamp. Leave it clamped over night.

Frosty is correct you should be able to find something here in the states because the box was the same across GM’s platforms for those years.

Edited January 18 by Last Indian

[Adam 240468]

Currently my Pontiac is in the garage and I won't drive it until April. This car does not drive in winter, only from April to November :)) Of course, I could repair it, but I don't want to, because I need a part that will not be glued and repaired. I think that since I repair and renovate engines, automatic transmissions and deal with electronics, I can also repair this casing. I only want to buy what is in the picture :)) and only the upper part. It is truly surprising that this filter housing was in so many types of GM cars and is nowhere to be found. I have a request: if you have the addresses of scrapyards in the USA, or those that have their own websites, I would be grateful if you could give me some addresses. I will write to them and present my problem. Maybe we will be able to find such a housing Thank you very much for your help so far. I am very grateful.

[JUSTA6]

Found this while searching Ebay for you. Nice package to have if you are missing these items.  Once on Ebay you can make an account for yourself.  Good link for almost anything you can think of and are looking for, new or used. Just click the link.....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166452529541?hash=item26c1580985:g:tzYAAMXQCgpRxdDs&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAABAPuMHBLj0sf6HIWXxXZyjKpyBkD%2B7rUhNmsC8yYGnWTR5sRgjAofkK6VjuaGxHRO6ahJzSh3b%2Bo12zM2vqkQOsT0wPiqLxS6SGv5x6%2FDWI4kXJ3gEltS5DoibsQpd54Q6vCo0Eeo692K7nKaQKHK1Wx4Hw2NwnJfx01EjTVkmTvUvQn57rp3qOByMw%2BEmCj4ZFFDyu41zlEMkZrOcb569YhcuMa%2BHvPhPxxzaijURO2CBu6N50BbixQtcvQYLJiPeW5HHyy%2BPUrCVJBNKR27zi6GesFwwxfx3q8SglFfLd5qySVKq0V4F1rze2JUbbJUWfv4V1ExW8NnDH%2BbNijfAV4%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR7KV99GjYw

Sorry search came up with a few, but not correct for your car.  I will check a couple more places to look for you. 

Here is a link to search American Junkyards.  You may want to search yourself to deal with shipping when/if they come up with your part.  Good Luck!

https://www.junkyardpartslocator.com/

Edited January 18 by JUSTA6

[Last Indian]

13 hours ago, Adam 240468 said:

Currently my Pontiac is in the garage and I won't drive it until April. This car does not drive in winter, only from April to November :)) Of course, I could repair it, but I don't want to, because I need a part that will not be glued and repaired. I think that since I repair and renovate engines, automatic transmissions and deal with electronics, I can also repair this casing. I only want to buy what is in the picture :)) and only the upper part. It is truly surprising that this filter housing was in so many types of GM cars and is nowhere to be found. I have a request: if you have the addresses of scrapyards in the USA, or those that have their own websites, I would be grateful if you could give me some addresses. I will write to them and present my problem. Maybe we will be able to find such a housing Thank you very much for your help so far. I am very grateful.

Not the most plentiful of parts. That said I have found a few that are around in neighboring states. Unfortunately I can’t tell you if they really have them or not. Or what condition they are in. Give me into next week to see what I can find. If I find that there is something worth chasing I’ll let you know & we’ll go from there.

[Adam 240468]

Thank you very much I have already searched everything that could be searched in Poland. I believe that these cars are no longer available in Poland. There was a moment when they drove, but corrosion took its toll. The subframe was damaged and the vehicle was scrapped. Or breaking the rear plastic spring. I take care of my car and do everything with it. I bought a DIGITAL odometer on eBay in the USA and I will install it. It looks very interesting The only problem is that this counter has a higher mileage than my original analog one. This is another problem to change this course to the correct one. But I'll ask you about that later.

[Last Indian]

On 1/18/2024 at 9:57 PM, Adam 240468 said:

Thank you very much I have already searched everything that could be searched in Poland. I believe that these cars are no longer available in Poland. There was a moment when they drove, but corrosion took its toll. The subframe was damaged and the vehicle was scrapped. Or breaking the rear plastic spring. I take care of my car and do everything with it. I bought a DIGITAL odometer on eBay in the USA and I will install it. It looks very interesting The only problem is that this counter has a higher mileage than my original analog one. This is another problem to change this course to the correct one. But I'll ask you about that later.

Adam, I talked to three salvage yards that have the air box/cleaner you are looking for. I will give you their names & phone numbers. All of them said you would have to make the arrangements with a shipping company to get the part to you, as they do not do that. The yard in Michigan was the most helpful.

Pit-Mon auto inc 1-800-245-1203 (this is near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. part cost - $35

Central Avenue auto parts 1-800-843-7580 (this is in Detroit Michigan. Part cost - $75

Jay’s Auto Wrecking 1-800-736-8214 (this is in Edinboro Pennsylvania. cost - $38
 

 

[Adam 240468]

Thank you very much . This is a big deal for me. I will look for a friend who could call them and make an appointment with them. This will take me some time. I personally cannot call them because I do not speak English fluently. To write here with you, I use Google Translator, which is very helpful for me. Of course, I will want to buy it as cheaply as possible, because I still have to transport it to Poland, which will definitely cost more than the part itself. But $35 or $38 for a filter housing is good to me. Thank you very much for this help. I'll start working tomorrow because it's 0:43 in Poland now. Regards . I will write to you what I managed to achieve in this matter.

[Frosty]

You are most welcome. Please keep us updated on your progress.