Tyler's 2000 Grand Prix GT

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Sampuppy1

Diesel nut
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
10,856
Reaction score
1,223
Location
West MI
Edit: so here it is. My new beater/daily. It's a 2000 Grand Prix GT sedan. Naturally aspirated 3800 and a 4t65e trans built by me. Has 238k on the odometer. Bronzemist in color. I really like the color now that it's cleaned up.

Wheels are MB motoring with almost new Goodyear assurance tires. They cleaned up pretty good too.

Car has tan leather, power drivers seat, three button DIC. Tails are shot which is normal. Lens separates from the plastic horizontal interior trim. Headlights are newer but way out of alignment. Shooting the tree tops. Parking lights are newer but mounts are cracked which is another common issue. Fogs are in/op. Gotta figure out what's up with them.

I bought the car for $900 with a broken forward band. Seller told my buddy that it didn't work in auto but manual 1-2 and reverse worked fine. It was nasty inside (smoker) and hadn't seen washed in awhile. Has rust. Trunk lid bottom edge, passenger rear wheel well and rockers on both sides. Not horrid and nothing trim wise is falling off. Door bottoms have bubbles. Rear strut towers are rough. Floor pan is pretty damn good for what it is though.

Fuel gauge sometimes works.
You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach
plans aren't much at all for this. At some point the junk lighting will be changed. I'll do LED tails and halo projector head/park lights. Smoked of course with 6,000k HIDs. I'll keep the stocks in case I sell it or it goes to scrap and I can resell them down the road. They ain't cheap so it'll be sometime this summer I think.

Ride height will stay unchanged. I can't lower it. My driveway approach is way too steep. The hitch drags if I back out of the drive.

The radio is decent. Might throw my spare pioneer in it but I wanna put some miles on it before I start messing with mods too much.

Tint is on the list. 20% all around. 6-8" 5% brow on the shield.


Ok first post edited with the basics. Anything you want to know about just ask. Next up is the guts after I address the first few replies.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

white_trash88

Im too drunk to taste that chicken
Joined
Jan 7, 2015
Messages
274
Reaction score
26
Location
Edgerton, Wi
I'll get more into this car shortly. But I have a beater/daily now so I can start building/working on the truck. Here's a couple quick shots. I'll be here later today editing the post and adding details and pics so far.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images
You must be registered for see images
You must be registered for see images attach


Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Hot damn your car is clean, and ive always thought your truck was gorgeous too
 

BowtieBrody

Jesus Murphy!
Joined
Dec 2, 2014
Messages
3,080
Reaction score
1,379
Location
North Carolina
Looks damn good! What're the specs on this?
And your poor truck, so much damn rot. The little bit of surface rust on my 97 drives me crazy everytime I look at it.
 

Sampuppy1

Diesel nut
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
10,856
Reaction score
1,223
Location
West MI
Hot damn your car is clean, and ive always thought your truck was gorgeous too
I take pride in everything I own. Even my beater has to meet certain standards in reliability and cleanliness for me to run it. It gets maintained above average, never gets junk parts, and it stays clean.
Looks damn good! What're the specs on this?
And your poor truck, so much damn rot. The little bit of surface rust on my 97 drives me crazy everytime I look at it.
Specs are in the edited first post above. If I missed anything feel free to ask.
Those are good cars. 3800's are good motors. Great highway cars.
Yeah it gets about 24 highway. 20 or so around town.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 

Sampuppy1

Diesel nut
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
10,856
Reaction score
1,223
Location
West MI
Alrighty. I bought the car with the engine and trans already out. My buddy picked it up planning to get the trans built and keep it for himself as a daily but he offered it to me since he already had a beater and he knew I was looking for something cheap. I never heard it run, never had a chance to drive it. But I figured for the money it couldn't be a bad deal and I trust my buddy's word. We've been really close for about five years and make a pretty good tag team for working on stuff.

I separated the engine and trans and dropped the trans pan and found the broken chunk of forward band sitting in it. Not bad. Relatively clean break and it dropped straight into the pan. No little bits or anything to go through the system. That was a good sign. I then began the tear down process.
You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach



Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 

Sampuppy1

Diesel nut
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
10,856
Reaction score
1,223
Location
West MI
After joining up a couple GP forums I got some references as to where to get parts and a manual. I had never been into a transmission before this so I was just winging it and hoping it worked out in my favor. I also was pointed to some other common failure and wear items and good preventative maintenance parts I might want to toss in to ensure the trans lasts a good long time before needing any work again.

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images attach

Off I went to a few stores to get my parts. I picked up an engine mount from ZZP seeing as the old one was absolutely trashed.

Got all new bands (forward, manual 1-2, and reverse) as the forward band was broken and the others showed some wear and they were pretty cheap. I got a master seal kit, trans-go shift kit, a couple thicker 2nd gear clutch steels, a Convertor lock up control solenoid, and a pressure regulator.

Also a new trans filter and pan gasket. I ended up finding a broken lube dam so I got a new one of them and a few other seals and gaskets that I had damaged during reassembly of the system.

I got an ATSG manual which was a life saver. And a master catalog for parts which helped with parts identification a ton. The guy threw in the catalog and a tub of assembly lube at no charge. Needless to say I will be returning to transtar if I ever need trans parts again.



Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 

Sampuppy1

Diesel nut
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
10,856
Reaction score
1,223
Location
West MI
I cleaned out the engine bay, the trans housing and all covers and cleaned all the internals and inspected them. Also cleaned the engine off as it was pretty gross from oil leaks.

Installed the valve body parts and the shift kit parts. I then began reassembly of the transmission. Recleaned everything and oiled it all before installing. Then came the valve body and drive parts.
I was meticulous about everything. No dirt, no dust, no grime, no dog hairs. If it got dropped it got cleaned and lubed again. No matter how many times it was dropped.
It all went together smoothly. Had a couple minor setbacks in the form of broken parts during reassembly but it didn't stop me. Just took some time to go get new ones.
You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

While setting up to mate the engine and trans I learned the oil pan gasket was "leaky" oil filter extension housing had been pulled off for no reason and half the spark plugs were cracked and the wires had been ripped from the boots. Front manifold was removed to ease engine removal which is general practice. Vacuum lines had been broken and the throttle body to intake seal was worn. Neutral safety switch was broken and the oil pressure sensor wire was never unhooked and got ripped off when the engine came out.

Off to the junkyard I went. I grabbed a ton of extra bolts and nuts just in case as well as an updated oil fill neck, a brand new air filter, and some other odds and ends. Walked out of there for free.
You must be registered for see images



Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 

Sampuppy1

Diesel nut
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
10,856
Reaction score
1,223
Location
West MI
I went to the parts store and got an oil pan gasket, oil filters (Napa silver for the car since the oil system looked pretty gunky and I want to clean it out, and Napa platinum for the GP, Mazda, and truck since they were on sale) 5 quarts of Valvoline syn power, oil filter extension housing gasket, exhaust manifold gaskets, downpipe gasket, autolite iridium plugs top shelf Napa wires, green coolant and Valvoline dex6.
You must be registered for see images attach


Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 

Sampuppy1

Diesel nut
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
10,856
Reaction score
1,223
Location
West MI
I changed the oil pan gasket and cleaned the oil pan and sealing surfaces. Got the pan back on. Got the oil filter housing gasket on, cleaned the manifold sealing surfaces, got the rear manifold on again and I put the rear plugs in. Got the lower engine mount on, mated the trans and pushed the car into the garage.
You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images


Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
Top