84'fxrupr

Hello everyone,

Alright, you're all going to hate me for this but i have a question about my 96' grand am gt(My "safe" car). I was in the salvage yard today and found a turbo grand prix. It looks to still have the engine and tranny inside. I can probably get this for little to nothing(i'm trading my LT1 for a new engine for the maro) and i was wondering if i could use the turbo components off of the 3.1 to put on my 3300 series v-6 in my grand am. I've been searching but i haven't found outmuch besides they made 3750 of them. I do know that it is a FWD v-6 with a 4speed automatic. It is intercooled and uses a garret t-25 turbo. The most common power figures i found were 240hp and 285tq. I just wrecked the grand am and i have to replace the front end so i figured this would be the easiest time to work on the engine. Do any of you think this wouldfit? What components do I need? and most importantly, would the engine hold up? I blew my engine in the camaro so this is my parents way of making me drive slower. I just thought it would be cool to have a turbo so even my slow a$$ grand am could race the ****! I know this isn't your thing, but the people on this site are awesome(:hail: ) so i thought i would give it a shot

thanks for any help, and please don't flame to bad!

Jared (84'fxrupr)

FbodTrek

......At least it's a GM product.............You're better off taking the whole motor and trans, if possible. I'm not sure if your motor can handle the extra boost (someone correct me if I'm wrong). If I were you, i'd fix the Camaro and leave the Pontiac as is...but that's jus my .02$

84'fxrupr

oh trust me... if only i could! I just got into my third wreck and I have 2 speeding tickets(none of these in the camaro). My camaro got a flat cam, but the guy who helped me work on it only made it worse to the point that i need a new motor. I then bought an LT1 because he could help me swap it in... but then he gave up. So the local salvage yard got new owners and the new owner wants to trade for my LT1 setup. I am definately getting the camaro fixed, but i thought maybe i could make the grand am a little faster while i was it! Would it be possible to swap the whole drivetrain out?

Jared (84'fxrupr)

FbodTrek

Very possible. Does it (donor car) have a good motor and trans.? I'm not sure if that model has a "drop-out" style drivetrain or not, but that shouldn't stop you from yankin it out and putting it in your GA. You should do a search or two first, if the Turbo-motor specs are the same as yours, Just swap the turbo, exhaust, manifolds-anything that's needed.

84'fxrupr

What kind of specs would i need to look up? How "hard" would this be. I know they said the LT1 swap wasn't "hard" and then my help backed out. This is the first front wheel drive car that i've done any major work on so my experience is lacking.

thanks guys

Jared (84'fxrupr)

FbodTrek

All cars work the same way, not much has really changed over the years. Have you ever swapped a motor before? Just start at the top (coolant lines, throttle linkage, vac. lines, anything that attaches to the car). After you get it free from it's "life support" lines, (did I mention fuel lines?) take the upper bellhousing bolts loose(the ones you can see from the top). NOW, raise the car up and start on the bottom. Remove the exhaust Y pipe at the manifolds and cat (should come away eventually). Remove the flywheel cover, take the torque converter bolts off one by one, by rotating the crank to gain access to each. Now, remove the lower bellhousing bolts. Next, support the motor and remove the upper "dogbone" motor mounts, crossmember (if neccessary), then take the bolts out of the lower mounts. Raise the motor out of the car slowly making sure not to screw anything up (radiator, AC compressor, power steering pump), which, by the way, you'll also have to remove(although you could leave the PWR sterring attached and jus remove the lines...). With some tricky manuevers, it'll eventually come out. NOTE, FWD is usually harder to yank than RWD. Auto is easier than manual.... This is just for a FWD car though. I probably missed a bunch though, go get a good manual or pay someone to do it. If you wanna yank the motor and trans out together, it's a bit easier. Just disconnect every line, non-supporting mount and electrical connector that attaches to the car itself. Pull those wheels off, remove the lower strut bolts and remove the axles from the spinle and trans. Hook up a hoist and yank her out. have fun

FbodTrek

Oh yeah, the "specs" are things like: Compressin ratio, crank type, con rod type, piston type, ring gapping, etc. What you need to know is if the motors are the SAME (bottom end). if they are, you should be able to just put the turbo on (of course you'll need ALL of the turbo harware, manifolds from the othr motor, brackets, wastegate & contoller. I don't have a clue as to where to find this info on the net, i would suggest calling a pontiac dealer....talk to someone in the service dept.

no1kicker

Just curious, where did you get those motor specs? The turbo grand prix had 205 hp, and 225 torque. Yes they made about 3750 of them and it's a very rare car with a lot of expensive parts on it. So if you could get the whole car that would be ideal. The 3.1 turbo block was about 1/1000 inch taller than the regular 3.1 block. Stock times for TGP's are 15.2, but with only a chip many run mid 14's. Check out this forum:

www.netavalanche.com/tgp

84'fxrupr

awesome,
I see you have one of these cars.
Is it even worth it then? Would this engine be smart to use in a daily driver? My grand am is nice looking, and it would be cool if it were quicker, but i still need it to be economical.
thanks for the help. I didn't spend a whole lot of time looking at the car( its to cold!), it looked like all the damage was to the undercarriage and the ground effects. Do you think it would be possible just to swap the turbo parts onto my 3300? I don't know where I got the specs, they might have been off someone's personal site.

Thanks for all the help

Jared

P.S. Sorry if this sounds funny, i kept getting interupted

no1kicker

Those #'s you found were probably for the newer GTP which has 240 hp, 3.8 supercharged. The expensive parts are the crossover ($425) and the master cylinder ($700). Both prices are aftermarket, call GM and you will get $1200 and $2900. The master cylinder you probably wouldn't have to worry about. Other than that the cars are pretty reliable, the 3.1 is a good engine. If you got the car you could make some $$ on ebay with the body, interior, etc. As far as the 3300, I think it's been done, but in a FWD car.

84'fxrupr

thanks,
so you think someone has swapped these parts onto a 3300? This would go onto my 96' grand am GT so it would be FWD. The car was already kind of trashed. I thought it would be cool to get the seats recovered and use them in the camaro. The rear sears are awesome and i want something like that in my camaro... Oh well thats way down on the list.

Jared(84'fxrupr)

no1kicker

I think I remember that someone put those on a Grand Am. I don't have a link though. Those seats are nice, not sure if the'll fit a f body they might be too wide. Never tried though.