Meet the Dark Knight (92 GP SE w/5-speed)

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[WideTrackGP_92]

Well I finally sold my car, a 2005 Dodge Neon, and ever since I have been trying to sell it, I've been looking for a replacement. Well, I found one about the same time I started putting the car for sale...and now since the Neon is gone, and that car was still around, I went to Brooklyn Park to look at it yesterday. The car is a 1992 Pontiac Grand Prix SE with the 3.4 V6 and a 5-speed! The guy was decent, but was kind of a "know-it-all" and thought he was a Grand Prix guru, which he knew absolutely NOTHING about these cars, saying "the GTP package wasn't badged on the cars as 'GTP' until 1994" and "the 91-93 Grand Prix never had the louvers on the hood"...well sir, my dad had a 1991 GTP with 'GTP' badges FROM THE FACTORY, and also had the louvered hood...what a dip shit. I wasn't going to correct him, as I was trying to buy the car from him. Anyways, I took my friends Laura and Shaun with me to help me look the car over, since Shaun works at a body shop and knows exactly what to look for, and Laura used to paint hot rods. The car is decent...needs some body work, but nothing that can't be fixed. A lot of the passenger side rear quarter has bondo all over and has a big crack in it, which sucks, but isn't a huge deal. Has a few small surface rust spots, but I'm going to sand them down and primer them so it doesn't spread. Needs a totally new paint job, which I wanted to do anyways. Other than that, the car is in very good shape. The car has 171,xxx miles on it, but it runs and drives excellent, and the transmission shifts perfectly in every gear! It sometimes has too low of an idle and dies, but only did it once when I was at a stop light. The "service engine soon" light comes on and off at times, as does the "check gauges" light and the "gas low" light, which nothing was wrong with what the gauges were telling me, and the gas was on half a tank. It has a working heads-up display and a digital compass/information center, which is rare on these cars to all work. The interior is pretty clean (going to detail the car next weekend and see how much better it comes out) and the engine bay is nice and clean as well. Here's some pics of her:















I bought the car for $1800...it might be a little too much, but it's a really hard car to find with a 5-speed around here, and it's definitely saveable...and more importantly, I'm happier than a pig in shit. I also have a parts car as well...my brother's old '91 GTP that he smashed up a little bit, but every panel but the front passenger fender is in good shape (it's the car in my signature). It runs, but there's something wrong in the transmission (also a 5-speed car). Other than that, it's a great parts car, especially for $300.
So there you have it...my next project, and I'm very excited to start on it!

[DiscoStudd]

Holy shit, is that place in Ramsey right off Hwy 10?  I think a buddy of mine bought a car there a few years back.

Ha, what a moron.  The GTP replaced the Turbo Grand Prix in the lineup in 91...

[WideTrackGP_92]

Yup, E-Z Auto. My friend from highschool owns "Perfect 10 Auto" in the same lot. Brandon's a great guy to deal with. And yeah, that guy was a complete dumb-ass. I just didn't wanna piss him off, since I was trying to buy the car. It was funny...my friend Shaun said "this car's doors aren't the correct doors for the car...the emblems say 'SE' and you said it was a GTP", and the guy goes "They never made a 'GTP' in 92, it was called an 'SE' with the 'GTP' package...you guys researched the car, you should know that!" Oh, I wanted to punch the guy in the face.

[Mike]

Looks pretty good! But $1800? Sheesh, I paid $1300 for my '95 and it has fewer miles, is an automatic, and has leather. But, if you were really looking for one with a 5 speed, then I guess you got what you wanted. I don't think I've seen a 5 speed GP in person.

[WideTrackGP_92]

Looks pretty good! But $1800? Sheesh, I paid $1300 for my '95 and it has fewer miles, is an automatic, and has leather. But, if you were really looking for one with a 5 speed, then I guess you got what you wanted. I don't think I've seen a 5 speed GP in person.

Well I guess I paid for the rarity of the car. And I wanted a 5-speed...those damn sluggish autos are so boring. Yours is a 3100 though, not a 3.4. And I will have custom upholstery, since I work at an upholstery shop. I'm going to try to work on the seats this winter and see where I get.

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

i paid $900 for my auto with a blown motor..... paid another $900 for a motor, mind you this is in canadian dollars, last year. so thats like $900 total american dollars.
Post Merge: December 13, 2009, 10:31:10 AM-oh and this must be the SE. lol looks nice, almost a full load, eh? missing one button on your steering wheel though!

[Mike]

Personally I prefer my 3100 over the 3.4. But, thats just my taste. 3.4 = too complicated and difficult to work on.

[WideTrackGP_92]

Personally I prefer my 3100 over the 3.4. But, thats just my taste. 3.4 = too complicated and difficult to work on.

Yeah, the 3100 is much more reliable than the 3.4, but hopefully I won't have that motor forever...I'm going to drive it till it dies and then I'll replace it with something more reliable and fun

[Mike]

Hah, I mentioned a week or so ago on this board that if I had money I'd drop the 3100 and put a supercharged 3800 in there, probably a Series II (wanted a III but DiscoStudd said its drive by wire, making it difficult to hook up)

[WideTrackGP_92]

Yup, that's my plan as well. Someone on the MotorSwap forum did the swap with the 284 trans, so I'm pretty excited for that.

[Mike]

for me thatd be going from 160 horse power to 260. Thats some scary stuff actually The 3100 isnt THAT slow
Post Merge: December 13, 2009, 11:17:32 AMBy the way, does the parts car have a power sunroof too? I'm kind of looking for a motor for mine...

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

3.4 isnt bad if you keep up on the maintaining. oil changes and belt changes when it needs it. the operations that people say take 11 hours (oil pump drive seal) can be fixed in alot less than 2 hours. so its more of a puzzle than anything. a reasonably intelligent man can usually figure out how shit is done on it.
sometimes it just takes some starring and a few beers before you start work.

but i will agree. the 3100 is easier to work on, but its not worth the 40 HP less to me.

if youre gonna swap anything go with a 3400 and 3500 top end. (atleast this is where i would put my money after all my reading)

[WideTrackGP_92]

I'm planning on doing the L67 supercharged 3800 swap when the 3.4 craps out on me.

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

if you push the shit out of it, it shouldnt be long. lol but i also know of a local guy selling a Getrag rebuild kit for your trans... he just wants a retarded amount of money for it, depending on how you look at it. it has almost EVERYTHING inside the transmission, brand new. and some of the syncros are a little heavier duty, but i think he wants like $1,600 or some shit, maybe more. i forget.
Post Merge: December 13, 2009, 03:31:25 PMoh, and a Boosted 3400 > L67   and more fun

[Jay]

if you push the shit out of it, it shouldnt be long. lol but i also know of a local guy selling a Getrag rebuild kit for your trans... he just wants a retarded amount of money for it, depending on how you look at it. it has almost EVERYTHING inside the transmission, brand new. and some of the syncros are a little heavier duty, but i think he wants like $1,600 or some shit, maybe more. i forget.
Post Merge: December 13, 2009, 03:31:25 PMoh, and a Boosted 3400 > L67   and more fun

$1600 for something that is otherwise unobtainable isn't bad at all.