Grand Am GT build.... yup! A Grand Am lol

[_HeC_]

long story short I like my GM 60 degree V6s and stumbled across this 30th anniversary edition grand am gt for a rather decent price just over a year ago

bought the car with this clear coat peeling hood and a broken coil spring so first things first I dropped it with some Canuck Motorsport springs and swapped hoods with the 1 from my old GA(this is my 3rd one lol)

[IMG][/IMG]
bought some sand blasted 18x8s that I tried to repolish/paint but couldn't get all the pit marks out

got 1 rim this far and IMO it wasn't good enough(pitting)

a bright yellow aluminum primer inspired my next color combo which probably isn't for everyone lol also HD lip added and a few other small things

245/40/18s and no rubbing so guess I need more low...






which leads us to the boring slugomatic drivetrain(V6 never came stick) so some upgrades started to get planned

-LX9 engine(3.5L Pontiac G6)
-Getrag 5spd with LSD
-6puck clutch
-headers
-65mm TB
-bigger injectors
-2.5" exhaust
-HP tuners
etc

bought a 4 banger 5spd Alero for majority of my 5spd parts(grand am and Alero are both N-bodys)


which then lead to hording parts lol Cavalier getrag F23/clutch being used with a OBX LSD and the other N-body 4banger 5spd parts

[_HeC_]

other cars/trucks kept on getting in the way over the last year but finally got the garage empty and some free time so started to get ready for my swap!
prepping my LX9

test fit of the J-body 5spd transmission in the N-body 4cly 5spd subframe(only the front mount needs to be made)


my 4cyl/5spd sub frame was pretty rusted and when I wire wheeled it I discovered this hole

searched local junkyards and could only find 2 other subframes at $200 each so I started to make my template

cut and coat the inside

new metal and POR-15


with that stuff out of the way I started to rip apart the car



goodbye 3400/automatic!

couldn't put my clean engine/trans into this bay

bit better.... at least till it comes back out over the winter build


have some more updates but that's enough for now....

[SnazzyQ]

God those green wheels are horrible.

But still excited to see how this thing turns out. Ive never seen these "stanced"

[loekaaz]

I like the progress, but damn my eyes are sore from those green wheels
Just do gunmetal grey or something. Or IF you want to stand out, gold maybe?
nevertheless, Your car, your choice, my 2cts keep up the progress!

[mrNitroSleeper]

Can't wait to see this!
Not sure f23 is strong enough for v6 tho. I think they are rated at ~200 nm tq.

[cavy00]

Can't wait to see this!
Not sure f23 is strong enough for v6 tho. I think they are rated at ~200 nm tq.

I tjink it would be strong enough for just a turbo. now if he had the Isuzu trans I'd be concerned

[244Brick]

Man at first, when i saw the green wheels i thought.



but this could be different.. something like along these lines

[SHOoff11]

Holy shit I like where this engine swap is going!

[Tuck&Poke]

This is really cool. Love everything you're doing except the wheels. Some wider wheels, stretch, and coilovers would take this to another level. I actually dig the styling of this car, and it comes with pre-pulled fenders

[_HeC_]

haha ya the wheels are either a love or **** type thing I find, surprisingly I've got a lot of compliments out and about with it... as for the strength of the F23 I'm not to worried about it, bunch of boosted 4/6 cylinders running the F23 in cavalier/fieros and such, some fieros are even bolting a SBC to the F23! F23 looks so tiny bolted to this beast


coilovers are in this winters plans hopefully and since no one makes coils for my car I will probably take a closer look at what Wybrow did to his Z24 since hes running N-body IRS and front hubs/control arms on his car

when the polished route wasn't going my way I bought enough paint to do them all black and started it

but then I tried a new aluminum primer that made me really want to try a more wild color

grabbed a set of very rare Speedbuilt swaybars

J-body prothane rear trans insert and control arm bushings arrived control arm bushing are a direct swap but won't be going in till the winter build when I get a chance to source some aluminum control arms and only thing needed for the trans insert is to drill the sleeve out for a slightly larger bolt

3rd pedal, shift cables/shifter and most of the interior back in shift boot is from an Alero so fits like shit but better then a massive hole... very happy I didn't have to pull the dash to get that 3rd pedal in but let me say it wasn't fun especially being my size(6'4" 220ish lol)


that pretty much brings things up to date... my car had bad tie rods and a leaking steering rack so I've been holding off on putting my new drivetrain in as it's much easier to install those parts while it's out and that bigger swaybar is a BITCH to bolt in

but got my order from Rock Auto today and grabbed my "new" steering rack from a buddy so more progress tomorrow if all goes well

[jalenda9]

this is sick man! putinwork! thank you stanceworks gods for giving me a reason to live. but on a serious note this is really interesting man!

[_HeC_]

and thanks guys, I'll be honest I was expecting a slighty different reaction from this board and my car haha afer tomorrows shift I have a 4 day weekend for Thanksgiving and no plans except for family dinnter 1 day so hopefully a lot of wrenching takes place

[coconutt]

This things got potential. Looking forward to further updates! I love awkward builds like these lol.

[DeltaAlpha9]

Huh, I never knew the Alero came with a 5 speed. Not sure why, but this has piqued my curiosity.

[BBBDDD]

I'm in for a 3500 swap. Are you going with 3400 intake or adapting a throttle body off something else to bypass the electronic throttle body? Those green wheels...kinda bright