introduction and a few questions

[slayer]

Hello eveyone. I'm new here and don't own a w-body....yet. My girlfriend ownes a 94 cutlass supreme though. I'm 20 years old and currently drive 98 s-10 snail..er..I mean truck. I'm a huge performance nut. I had to sell my GTA trans am, and I've had the itch ever since. Being a college student I'm looking for a low budget/high performance car.

 

I have two questions for y'all.

 

1. I the other day I was driving and noticed an early 90's gtp for sale for $300. I called the guy and he said the timing belt broke while he was driving. He basically just wants to get rid of the car and not go through the hastle of fixing it or paying someone to do it. It has about 150k miles on it. When a timing belt breaks on one of these cars, what does it take with it. Should I expect the valves to be dammaged? I am mechanacally enclined enough to fix it myself(and I read the walkthrough on 60degreev6.com). so how much money should I expect to shell out on the new belt, pully, tensioner, and possibly valves?

 

2. about how much do these cars weigh.

 

Thanks. Any general info will also bu much appreciated.

 

slayer

[TeeJay3800]

Being a college student I'm looking for a low budget/high performance car.

I'm a college student as well, so I hear ya, BUT w-bodies do NOT make good low budget/high performance cars.

 

They weigh between 3100-3500 pounds generally (the convertible Cutlass was the heaviest).

[maybe2fast]

Oh! do they ever! bend the valves that is, you will have to have the valves replaced or replace the heads. Get them shaved and the car will haul ass, with them off already! good performance upgrade!

[gp90se]

w-bodys are easy 2 swap motors in

 

if you can turn a wrench and not afraid 2 get in over ya head, the 3.4 motor is a great motor. You can also bolt in a 2.8/3.1/3100/3400 if you want something a bit easyer to work on without as much power.

 

low buck hi perf - camaro/mustang/LT1 into your s10, etc etc etc

 

welcome 2 the site

[Justin]

I thought they only bent valves if the belt went at higher RPMs?

[NORBI]

I heard that 3.4 DOHC doesnt bend valves, but i know that 2.8 and 3.1 does because when my timing chain broke it bend 2 valves on my 2.8 but for 1200$ i got a 93 3.1 in my 88 CS.

300$ is a good price if you fix it and they are fun cars to drive.

[White93z34]

Oh! do they ever! bend the valves that is...

 

um... the 3.4 is a non interference design, except for the 95? and 96 3.4s

 

ask him what speed he was going when he broke the belt and if he was accelerateing or not.

 

other then that if you can get it cheep enough and don't mind doing your own work it should bea good car to you.

[slayer]

Thanks for the info so far guys. More information is always welcome though.

 

The car is a 92. The owner said the belt blew while he was getting on the highway. He also agreed to drop the price to $200(i think he just wants it gone). For that price, I just can't pass it up. Even if I can't get it back into running condition, I could make a good profit parting it out. Also, if I wanted to completely rebuild the engine for boost, how much would I be looking at? So far, I haven't been able to find many options for strong engine internals. A turbo build might be a fun senior engineering project . any ideas are more that welcome

thanks

slayer

[RedCavyRS99]

do a L67 swap you should enjoy that

[Guest Anonymous]

Is the GTP startable?

 

There isnt any way that I know of to tell if there is engine damage due to timing belt failure until you tear the 3.4 up and put it back together. The belts went on my 95 and there was no engine damage at all; they went on my 92, and well... its ruined. Early 3.4's are supposed to be non-interference engines, so its anyone's guess at this point.

 

But if its a GTP it should have a bunch of goodies inside, right? whats the rest of the car like? if its in good shape minus the belt problem, it would be worth it to fix up.

 

ohh sorry i forgot but welcome to the board.