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

[WideTrackGP_92]

Well I finally sold my 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 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!
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[img:261f8ddb1e]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g18/supertrick_05/sigs%20and%20avatars/GPsig1.jpg[/img:261f8ddb1e]
1992 Pontiac Grand Prix SE - 3.4 LQ1/284 5-speed

[Automosity]

awesome find! any plans for an engine swap in the future? from what I've heard, those 3.4s are crap as far as reliability is concerned. Would be sweet to get a L67 with the 5-speed under that hood.
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97 Pontiac Grand Am GT
3800 SII SC, white
aesthetics: debadged, blacked out headlights, black 18"x7.5 Falken Torque 5's, Intrax Springs
go fast mods: L67 swap, 3.4", 180* t-stat, , Autolite 104s, CAI, custom exhaust, DHP PowrTuner

[WideTrackGP_92]

Yes, that is exactly what I'd like to do with it...I'm going to drive the car till the 3.4 dies, then get going on the L67 swap. I'm hoping Brian (brianteel) can help me out with as much info as I can get to get it done right.
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[img:261f8ddb1e]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g18/supertrick_05/sigs%20and%20avatars/GPsig1.jpg[/img:261f8ddb1e]
1992 Pontiac Grand Prix SE - 3.4 LQ1/284 5-speed

[CraiGM]

Thats awesome dude.

Honestly, for what the car is, I wouldnt swap engines at all. You never see those anymore.

BUT, if you did swap, you couldnt have picked a better transmission to go with the L67.

Sweet ride dude!
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http://WWW.AZGMPERFORMANCE.COM

[WideTrackGP_92]

Hey, thanks! I know these cars are rare, but with the miles on it, it'll never be worth anything...so why not modify it?

Anyways, I picked up a Haynes manual today so this weekend I can start picking at the engine bay and check stuff out, and plan for the Spring tune-up.
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[img:261f8ddb1e]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g18/supertrick_05/sigs%20and%20avatars/GPsig1.jpg[/img:261f8ddb1e]
1992 Pontiac Grand Prix SE - 3.4 LQ1/284 5-speed

[WideTrackGP_92]

So I came across a few extra bucks, so I bought something to make the back of the car a little more appealing...



Got these on eBay for $40 for the pair of tips. They are stainless and bolt on, but I'm gonna have them welded on as soon as I can afford to do the entire exhaust system. For now, I'll hack off the ugly-ass stock tips and screw these on for the time being. It may still sound like a shitty stock LQ1 exhaust, but it will look much better
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[img:261f8ddb1e]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g18/supertrick_05/sigs%20and%20avatars/GPsig1.jpg[/img:261f8ddb1e]
1992 Pontiac Grand Prix SE - 3.4 LQ1/284 5-speed

[93grandprixgtp]

i have a 93 gtp with the 3.4L and i loved it. it was a stout engine if you take care of it you just have to remember its like an mg midget, maitnence maitnence maitnence i raced mine all last spring and summer in stock autocross and drove it a lil harder than was intended now i will admit im currently swaping out the drivetrain for a l67 and 4t65e-hd to get some more power and for better aftermarket support i still plan on racing in autocross with the swap....if you plan on scraping your 3.4 in the future drop me a line i might purchase it off you for spare parts for mine as i plan on putting it in something to have as a play car

[WideTrackGP_92]

I recieved the exhaust tips today! Well...one anyway. I don't know if they forgot to send the other one or if they shipped them separately and one box is on another truck. Not sure, but I contacted them to see what the deal is.

ANYWAYS, here's what it is. It's beautiful! They are going to look great on the car! I made sure they fit and they tuck in the exhaust outlet very nicely. Now I have to get the rest of the exhaust pieced together (mufflers, resonator/glasspack, piping, etc).




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[img:261f8ddb1e]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g18/supertrick_05/sigs%20and%20avatars/GPsig1.jpg[/img:261f8ddb1e]
1992 Pontiac Grand Prix SE - 3.4 LQ1/284 5-speed