Mitch R's TGP Restoration Thread Updated 9-18-18

[GOT2B GM]

Nice work, nice to watch them being saved, not parted...

[Dark Ride]

Thought I'd post an update from the last couple months:

 

Rust coated tank with new fuel tank sending unit and Walbro-255 Pump

 

 

Everything assembled, with new homemade lines

 

Tank and Crossmember in

 

Unfortunately one of the compression fittings didn't hold so I had to take it down and fix it and that SUCKED! But now it works well.

 

New Coilovers and Struts with mounts similar to the TDC Mounts that Chris from GM W-body made for me.

 

Passenger Installed

 

Mmm...Tubular the way god intended

 

Nevermind the chain, we put the wheels on right afterward and trailered it to my garage, so now I can work on it daily.

[carkhz316]

WHAAAATTTT? You have rear coilovers now? I want some! Looking good man!

[Dark Ride]

WHAAAATTTT? You have rear coilovers now? I want some! Looking good man!

 

Didn't I show those to you? Yeah, they are pretty sweet. If I were to do it again though I don't think I would use the progressive spring. The first half of the spring is too soft and it compresses A LOT with just the weight of the car, and I don't know how well it's going to take the road.

[Dark Ride]

Update 7-28-10

 

I put the rear brakes back together along with new lines. I installed the 20mm rear swaybar out of the Lumina. As far as I'm concerned my rear suspension overhaul is done! I still need to do some serious body work, but I'm going to move onto getting the motor swapped. So I spent most of the last few days getting everything ready to pull the motor and tranny out.

[Addicted to eaton]

How did i miss this topic!? Awesome work!.. and its still going to be a grand prix.... and its still going to be turbo right? LOL i dont see the deal

[stockgp]

i'm on the edge here.

 

while i would love to see another tgp restored to like factory condition, the 3800 has a huge aftermarket.

 

also, there are plenty of people making good power with them, especially with the turbo kits available now.

 

i say it's your car. it's going to be a new age hot rod however you go with it, so keep up the good work

[Dark Ride]

Thank you! I'm pretty excited about it. And yes it will still be turbo, I Promise! At first, I'm going to put the L36 in as it is, to keep it movable and more importantly make sure that my OBD II conversion works before starting the turbo process. I have the Motor and Tranny from the lumina sitting ready to go in, but I'm going to swap the Front Knuckles from the lumina for the larger front brakes and 67K Mile Wheel Bearings. I'm also going to do the poly control arm mod as well.

 

New Age Hot Rod = FTW, that's what I'm going for

[Dark Ride]

Wanted to post an update of what I've got done in the last month or so.

 

Got everything disconnected so I can pull the motor and tranny.

Motor coming out!

Empty Engine Bay!

 

I've got some more pictures of more work I did that I'll post tonight!

[94 olds vert]

Sorry I stole it. If you want it back you have to come to Detroit.

[carkhz316]

Lookin tight Man! Maybe I'll have to help ya as part of a meet up

[Dark Ride]

Lookin tight Man! Maybe I'll have to help ya as part of a meet up

 

That would be sweet, I need to figure out what I should about my Radiator support, its totally rusted.

[carkhz316]

Ya that part can be a cut and weld deal. Do those all the time at work, unless you're talking about the bottom part, then that's a little less common. Nonetheless, You 'need' a spot weld drill bit, and a chisel file thing. Don't know how to explain it in text. Use it for cutting the seams apart.

[Dark Ride]

Ya that part can be a cut and weld deal. Do those all the time at work, unless you're talking about the bottom part, then that's a little less common. Nonetheless, You 'need' a spot weld drill bit, and a chisel file thing. Don't know how to explain it in text. Use it for cutting the seams apart.

 

Yeah, it's the bottom where the radiator and condensor sit. I figured as much about the spot welds.

[Dark Ride]

Here is some more progress:

 

I pulled the TGP cradle out, plus I removed the rust and coated underneath the subframe mounts.

 

 

Here is the elusive TGP 2.25 Steering Rack painted black

 

 

And one hell of a wiring mess.

 

I'm adapting the OBD II engine harness to the rest of the car by using the original C100 connector and soldering the appropiate ends of the 3800 harness. It's a mess and I had to add some things, (yes, there is a instrument cluster lightbulb soldered in there) but everything I need is there and everything *should* work.

 

 

Yesterday, I got the control arms off the LTZ cradle (the rear bolt on each side was seized in the sleeve:rolleyes:) and I bought the poly control arm bushings so I can do those since the rear bushings are now shot. Today, I got the knuckles cleaned up and ready to go. I also got the new inner tie rods and boots put back on the rack.

 

I'm starting to burn out on this project though. Every time I look at the car I see how much there still is to do. But I promised myself that by winter this car would have a motor, and every day it gets a little colder.

[Twenty]

Just take care of one little item a day, and before you know it you'll be there.

[carkhz316]

Keep on going man. You're already this far. Don't think of it as a end product but enjoy the little steps that keep you working on it. Make the work and progress the the goal, not necessarily just the finished product, if that makes any sense.

[Mach 5]

what springs are those on your coilovers?? looking good!!!!

[AL]

the last 5 pics dont work

[Dark Ride]

I know I'm trying to fix it, somehow they got all screwed up.

[Dark Ride]

Huge Update:10/08/10

 

After my last post, I took a break from working on it, but after I short break I got the motivation to continue working on it.

 

Here is the cradle from the lumina in: The parts on the lumina are really clean considering it's still 11 years old.

More wiring mess for the OBDII conversion:

ECM/Coolant tank location before being cleaned and painted:

Wiring all cleaned up, it's mostly power lines for the interior since I'm leaving the interior OBD I, with some minor changes for the ALDL Port.

Painted Engine Bay:

Fuel Lines Installed:

New PCM box and coolant tank installed:

Control Arms Rust Coated with Poly bushings, obviously need to be trimmed yet.

Control Arms, Rack, and Sway Bar Installed:

Strut Towers and wheels back on, I swapped the strut towers for the Lumina LTZ towers for the bigger front rotors, but the LTZ springs are much stiffer it seems and without the weight of the engine and tranny it kinda looks like it's jacked up on steroids The alignment being so insanely far off doesn't help.

Here is the radiator core support I picked up from the junkyard to replace mine that's rusted out.

[Dark Ride]

Sorry I don't know why the pictures are showing up sideways (at least to me) but I can't seem to fix them. You'll just have to rotate your head I guess:shrug:

[AL]

Damn, your going all out... Im really excited to see this when its done

[Dark Ride]

Damn, your going all out... Im really excited to see this when its done

 

Me too:lol:

 

If you notice in the first pictures the windshield is clear and in the later pictures I have plastic duct taped over it, that's because I accidently broke it with the engine hoist when I was rolling it out of my garage to paint the engine bay. One of the wheels on the hoist caught and rather than rolling, it tipped forward and drove the bar through the windshield so that sucked!

 

This car's handling should be insane once it's done. I have both sway bars from the LTZ 20mm and 34mm, both aweb's rstb and a 3.4 fstb. For now I'm using the rubber sway bar bushings, but they were free and easy to replace later if I desire, and of course the poly control arms bushings. And I used gen 2 lateral arms to widen the rear stance along with rear coil-overs and GMPP Trailing arms.

[GOT2B GM]

Damn good progress. I admire your drive to fix one so far gone.

 

Changed thread title for you.