Help!!

I think we're just going to bring it back and sit it in the driveway. God this is going to suck to see it brought back on the tow truck and just sit there in the driveway. Even though it's not my car it pains me to see this...not to mention our nosy neighbors...

As far as finding another car, I am really liking this deal:
'99 Pontiac Grand Prix GT

$5,000, only 126k miles and a 5 year 100k mile warranty? That's crazy!

I'm apparently much more open to cars than my dad is. Let me ask, what do you guys think the GTP is worth in it's current state? The motor will absolutely need to be replaced - no chance of a rebuild. Had that Aamco transmission put in roughly 15k miles ago, has all the same mods still on it, all the stuff works good on it, the only issue it has cosmetically is the big chunk of car missing under the back passenger door. It seems reasonable enough that selling it with the premise of the buyer putting a motor in it would get more money than selling it all seperate.

There's still the vague chance of finding a motor at the junkyard for like $600 or something and having my dad and uncle putting it in my uncle's garage and working on trying to put it in themselves. This would be the riskiest method as I'm pretty sure the last time my dad had anything to do with taking out or putting motors in was some time in the 70s. My uncle is pretty experienced though, he works for Ford and they had all these Intrepids with the 2.7s that kept blowing up and every time he just kept putting in motors from other cars. That would get the car running where it could be sold but we can't wait for that to happen, we need three cars NOW.

We're about killing each other as it is now sharing two cars and my dad seems to take the approach of "Hey, now I get to browse for a newer nicer car" not the "Hey, we need a friggin' car" attitude. He said he won't panic buy, which I don't think we should either but a rental is pricey, he won't look at a cheap car, I'm just not having much luck here. All these cars I'm listing now are cars I would personally consider but not sure if he would.

One is a '92 Infiniti M30 Convertible. It has 130k miles on it and the guy will sell it for $2,000 and says it runs great. We're not much on convertibles but I wouldn't mind it myself since my dad thinks all convertibles leak and that they make noise going down the road and all that. Not a speed demon but I'm pretty sure that Nissan six is reliable, decent on gas, and that is a RWD car! A plus to me personally but I'm sure he doesn't care. I read where it was one of the top 5 safest cars in the 90's. That's all dependent on if I can get my dad to even look at it, it IS a '92...

The other is a '95 Volvo 850 GLT. It has 111k miles and the dealer who has it wants $2,500 for it. To me, that's a helluva a deal on a Volvo and the five cylinder is actually pretty reliable. Thing is, my dad thought the old 850 we had with a 5 speed was too slow and this thing is the same motor with an auto. He's going to say it's a dog...Personally I think it'd be fun and who cares about that if you get great gas mileage. My dad still thinks he needs a powerful car...I mean I'm willing to compromise here but he doesn't seem to be.

Most likely this means I'll get ganked of the Riv now that I like it and get whatever car we get. Sorta what I wanted but I dunno...like I said I like the Riv a lot now. My mom thinks we don't ever want another 3800 since the GTP blew up, but I tried to tell her it was just that one.

Oh and one last car, a '98 Nissan Maxima with 132k miles for $4,500. I always liked the Maximas but my dad says they're slow and his Maxima was so slow and he lost to Neons all the time (It was a friggin '89 I think...). I just don't want to see the GTP again...it's just going to bring back the painful memory of it running for the last time and then taking its final strokes before it died

UPDATE: I've been looking and found several more cars - even a Riviera with black leather!!! I found two Park Ave Ultras that are '95s with low miles for $5k and a '94 Ultra with low miles for $4k.


lol, my dad would never consider another Riviera because "We've already got one" but I wouldn't mind having two of them. We'd just be that much classier than everyone else around here!
'95 Rivie

And I found a great deal on a Camaro Z28 (lol, one can still dream in a crisis eh?)
'94 Camaro Z28 Convertible

Even found a Regal GS!
'00 Regal GS

UPDATE II:

Found another more unusual color combo for a Riv: Red on red
'95 Rivie Red on Red

For some reason, I would love it if we had two Rivieras but they're all the '95s that I've found. I did find a '98 (Driven by an 87 year old lady no less...damn old women!) for $6k though. Surely a fair price but my dad would probably never do it.
'98 Rivie

And I did find a reasonably priced older body style Riv
'91 Riv

You could probably get that 98 Riv price to come down considerably.

Bert

Clicky

Hmm, my dad wouldn't want to spend $4,500 on a '93 Lincoln (Not to mention I don't trust Mark VIIIs and a V8 with gas what it is now doesn't seem so smart). The only way I could get him to spend that much on something that year is to get a BMW or something like that. I think we're going to look at a 2001 Saab 9-5 today for $5,900. On the high end of the price range, but it would be a great car if it's in good shape like the guy describes.

You'd be surprised on the gas mileage though. I get about 29-30 on the highway with mine.

I was just pulling your chain.

Shintsu wrote:

Put a motor in that isn't just a junkyard special and have someone put it in? Labor for motor install is something like $1,000 everywhere we've looked. I'm sure you can buy a motor for under $1,000 but not buy it and have it installed.

I know many people who have bought junkyard 3800s with 90 day warranties for $600 or less, and installation is not that hard. Find some local GP club members to help out and I'm sure you could get something installed for under $400.

It's definately the more realistic method, no chance we can up and drop 3 grand in the car on a new motor and install. I tried to register on Clup GP but they require some approval from the admin or something and I never got an email saying they accepted me (Unless they don't email you when they do).

hey Shintsu, bide your time and check back in a couple days. Maybe sooner. They are probably doing other things for their day jobs.

Albertj

Just reviewing the mod list on that GTP -

Quote :

'98 Pontiac GTP - 3.4" pulley, aftermarket PCM, Custom 3" CAI, turbo mufflers, 180° T-Stat, 3" DP, high-flow cat, U-bend delete

A 3.4 pulley without supporting mods popping a piston - this is very common. I don't know anybody who could run a 3.4 on a GTP without some extra valve opening (rockers or cam). Pushing all that air in with no place to go causes trouble for a lot of 3800 owners.

One of the reasons I keep telling people over and over who want to put pullies on to start with a 3.5 and scan frequently.

Oh sure, I don't doubt what you all are saying but my dad wouldn't want to believe it (He didn't do ANYTHING at all to contribute to this, don't you know? ). This now means I'll probably not even be allowed to do minor mods to my car like a DP or some of the other mods that don't force more power out of the motor.

Just increase your airflow first. I can't say enough about rockers or cam and how necessary they are if you want to play with small pullies. That air needs a place to go and without it you are playing with fire. Or pistons.... but you already know that

Sucks though, sorry to hear about your dad's problems.

Yeah, and a cam is serious business. I have no way to put it in (No garage or shop or anything) and that is some hardcore modding my dad wouldn't go for. I dunno about rockers though (Excuse the lack of knowledge of direct parts, I may know them but don't deal with any regularly enough to know for certain). Are the rockers what you see if you take the valve covers off that the pushrods push?

Just be glad you were not driving the GTP without a witness when it blew the hell up. He would blame you...

Bert

Shintsu wrote:

Are the rockers what you see if you take the valve covers off that the pushrods push?

Yes. To do it right you should also replace the valvesprings at the same time, with the appropriate ones for your rockers. It took me 7 hours the first time I did them, 5 the second... I can run the 3.4 KR free but I have mild KR with the 3.2. I'm thinking about trying a 3.3 for a while...

ibmoses wrote:

Just be glad you were not driving the GTP without a witness when it blew the hell up. He would blame you...

Bert

No kidding, my mom and I were both greatful for that. My dad thinks anytime something happens someone else did it, but in this case it wasn't his fault. He was driving it when it blew up so it was no ones fault but his (Thank goodness).

Derek, how much do rockers and springs cost? When you buy them do they usually come together with the springs? Is there a write-up on here about rockers? On the difficulty and intensity level where are rockers? Honestly, for my Riv what should be my next step?

I got my rockers for around $300, and the springs and retainers were another $150 or so I think. I bought the Intense/Gen3/Harland Sharp roller rockers. I would more likely recommend today ZZP's modified stock rockers, they are sufficient for most builds. Swapping rockers is not overly difficult, but when you add swapping springs it gets very... interesting. You should find someone in your area who's done springs on a GP/GTP who's willing to help. You need to pressurize the cylinder with air to hold the valves shut while you change the springs. You then have to compress the springs with a valvespring compressor to release the retainers, then you can change the spring. That's what makes the job take so long. Modding this car is what prompted me to find my local Grand Prix clubs - since the same mods apply, it's good to make friends with people who've done it before...

How are you coming on the search for a new car. I would hate to see you lose the riv after just starting to like it.

My parents looked for cars all day today. They're both sick of looking at cars now. My dad is just so picky about cars. Found a 2000 Acura 3.2 TL (I love these cars!) and they said it made a funny squeaking under the hood and the motor sounded weird (God only knows what that means, my dad thinks the Subaru boxer four sounds bad even though they all sound like that so it could be something like that). He hates mechanical sounding motors but I don't see what difference it makes.

Lots of kind of blah cars in his opinion that weren't all that nice or were too slow. He thinks he needs another GTP (Here we go again...). He was riding with me in the Riv and said "See, I miss stuff like cornering lights" and I said "Why not look at the '95 Riv?" I sent him a '95 Riv that was silver with black leather for $3,500 (No mileage listed though) and I said he'd lose nothing because it has all the features mine does! He actually seriously considered it now. Boy oh boy, would it be cool to have two Rivs. I like the idea of another Series II a hell of a lot more but that '98 for $5,995 I sent him he acted like was too much for what it was an all that (I think it's a great deal but he doesn't...)

At this point, about the only way I'll willingly give up the Riviera is for a manual. Especially a Volvo 850 manual. There's a few cars I like enough that are autos I'd drive but particularly manuals are what I want. Tomorrow I get to go look with him so we might find something then. I'll have to wait till then otherwise.

If you could get him to look at the 98 Riv and it is in Prisitine condition and the price can be haggled, he might buy it.
Then after a year or so you might end up with it.
If he will look at it just tell the people you will take the car(if its near perfect) for $5000.00 and give them your phone number. Tell them to let you know...

Bert

http://louisville.craigslist.org/cto/853852029.html

http://louisville.craigslist.org/ctd/853274675.html

http://louisville.craigslist.org/cto/852565360.html

http://louisville.craigslist.org/cto/852534647.html

Thanks Ryan, but I saw those.

1st: It's a VW, not too likely for him to spend lots of money on one because he was the one who originally didn't like VW (I don't like them after hearing the horror stories with repairs).

2nd: Convertible. I think they're okay (Not my preference) but my dad thinks they all leak and are easy to break into and all that. I've gotten him close to looking at convertibles before though.

3rd: Expensive. I'll tell him about it but it looks like more than we wanted to go. Originally it was a plan for 6k and under then it bumped to around 7k with 8k being a max. Looks nice though

4th: Too expensive for a Honda. I don't get why these things always cost so much, they're cheap cars!

1. Ya, my uncle is a mechanic and he was telling me about a rack and pinion he was putting in for friend in his Beetle. The parts weren't too expensive, but the labor was outrageous, I think he said something like $2100, but he knocked it down to $1500, because they were pretty good friends. (Gotta love the family discount)

2. I just saw that it was a Volvo, that's it really.

3. Ya, that's cool.

4. Just a joke.

That volvo is actaully pretty sharp looking. I still think nothing would be wrong with anther riv though.

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-_7_|B-8000|N-N|R-50|I-1%2c7|P-PRICE+descending|Q-descending|Z-40201&aff=national&paId=286220978&recnum=20&leadExists=true

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-_7_|B-8000|N-N|R-50|I-1%2c7|P-PRICE+descending|Q-descending|Z-40201&aff=national&paId=288693332&recnum=21&leadExists=true

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-_5_|B-8000|N-N|R-50|I-1%2c7|P-PRICE+descending|Q-descending|Z-40201&aff=national&paId=288030444&recnum=7&leadExists=true]V12!![/url]

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-_8_|B-8000|N-N|R-50|I-1%2c7|P-PRICE+descending|Q-descending|Z-40201&aff=national&paId=286762670&recnum=8&leadExists=true

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-_8_|B-8000|N-N|R-50|I-1%2c7|P-PRICE+descending|Q-descending|Z-40201&aff=national&paId=286950500&recnum=6&leadExists=true

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-_10_|B-8000|N-N|R-50|I-1%2c7|P-PRICE+descending|Q-descending|Z-40201&aff=national&paId=274846120&recnum=21&leadExists=true

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-_10_|B-8000|N-N|R-50|I-1%2c7|P-PRICE+descending|Q-descending|Z-40201&aff=national&paId=274846340&recnum=22&leadExists=true

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-_42_|B-8000|N-N|R-50|I-1%2c7|P-PRICE+descending|Q-descending|Z-40201&aff=national&paId=136584305&recnum=0&leadExists=true

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-_47_|B-8000|N-N|R-50|I-1%2c7|P-PRICE+descending|Q-descending|Z-40201&aff=national&paId=136339461&recnum=0&leadExists=true

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-_47_|B-8000|N-N|R-50|I-1%2c7|P-PRICE+descending|Q-descending|Z-40201&aff=national&paId=135321947&recnum=15&leadExists=true

Aaron, The "url=" code isn't working, or I'm doing something wrong, but I did it right on the other post. I'm sorry. GO BLUE!!

Copy the whole link and paste.

At first I thought Chicken had translated some more of Kevins rants to Japanese and then back to English.

Bert