The Budget Friendly Mod Thread

[Booba]

Hey everyone,

 

I searched and didn't find one, so I thought we could throw together a budget friendly or "cheap" mod thread. I know a lot of us have the mentality where if something breaks, replace it with something better, if economically feasible (is worth the$ ). I've been playing around with my 2000 GP GTP for about a year now, so I know mainly 2nd Gens, hopefully someone can chime in with some 1st and 1.5 gen stuff!

 

So to be clear, for now, unless otherwise mentioned, this stuff is for second gens. A lot of it may fit\work on 1st and 1.5 gens, but if you are unsure ASK!

 

Suspension:

 

Trailing Arms - If you haven't looked at yours, they are probably bent, rusted, and dangerous. You should replace them. One of mine was bent, and I was able to bend the straight one in my bench vice with my bare hands...they're weak, I'm not that strong. You have a few options, but only 2 that are budget friendly; GMPP and Dorman. Dorman's are cheaper and more readily available unless you find GMPPs at a JY, but there's more on that later. You can get Dorman's at your local Parts store, Rockauto, eBay, etc. they're part number 905-501. GMPPs are a little more expensive than the Dormans, although they are a bit better. They came factory on 9C1 Impalas (Cop car\taxi's, pop the trunk at the JY and look at the sticker on the trunk lid), and they're dealer discontinued...

Stock awesomeness:

 

Sway bars - Stock front sway bars are hollow 19mm, Dorman is solid 33mm, and GMPP is hollow 34mm. Again, there are others, but these are the cheapies. I personally went with Dorman, since they are solid, and I found one at the JY for $20. Dorman part number is 927-100. GMPP would be a major upgrade over stock, they came stock on 00+ Monte Carlos, and 9C1 Imapalas. GM part number for the kit is 12498643. Either way get some new endlinks, the endlinks provided with the Dorman bar are junk. Endlinks are cheap whichever way you go, typically around $5 per side. It should be mentioned, if you have an 04-05 Grand Prix, you need to swap lower control arms to use these sway bars. 04-05's have the front sway bar's endlinks connect to the strut instead of the LCA. In 06, GM went back to the old style where the endlinks attach to the LCA. 04 Comp-G's do have a GMPP front that you can use, but they are harder to find, so they'll be more expensive.

 

Rear Sway bars - GMPP rear is really the only budget friendly mod here. It's been kinda hard to find information on what cars these came factory on, but I know for sure they came in 9C1 Impalas, Grand Prix Comp-Gs, and the Grand Prix GXPs. As I find more information on this I'll update this post. Anyways, stock on every Grand Prix I have seen is 17mm, some Buick Centurys, and Imapalas I've seen down to 14mm. I assume those were Dorman replacements, because that;s the size Dormans are, which is why Dorman is not on the "upgrade" list. The part number for a new GMPP Rear Sway Bar is 12498642 , and they run around $60 plus shipping. Mine was around $70 shipped to my door, for reference.

 

 

Strut Tower Brace(STB) - Found on 97-03 Regals and most 00+Impalas\Monte Carlos, these are the cheapest solution for strut tower braces. I bought mine for $5 each at a JY, be sure to grab the bolts, nuts, and keepers that hold the STB down(referred to as "the dual bolt bracket below; you NEED these, more on this later). Installation is pretty easy on the front, you can buy some brackets or you can mark and drill holes up front, back is a bit more complicated. For the rear, if you have a small or short friend, give him a call. Jack up\support the rear end, take the wheel off, and take the top 3 strut bolts out. You'll be using 1 of the strut mount bolts for the STB, but you have to drill the other. From under the car, hold the dual bolt bracket up to the strut mount bolt hole you'll be sharing with the strut, and mark where you need to drill the other hole. DO this on both sides. Cut the dual bolt bracket in half, put half in each hole you drilled, with a keeper on each to keep them from falling out. Reinstall the struts, but only put 2 of the 3 strut nuts on, leaving the third (the one that will have the STB on it) off. Set the STB on, and just start the nuts. Put the wheels back on, lower the car, and tighten everything up.

 

As a bonus, GMPP offers a kit that has a Front Sway with bushings and Endlinks, rear sway and bushings (no endlinks), and 1 STB for ~$140, part number pk12456148.

 

Brakes (Front):

 

12 inch brake upgrade - Found on 00-04 Le Sabre, 97-04 Park Avenue, 97-99 Riviera, 97-05 Deville, 97-02 ElDorado, 97-04 Seville, 00-05 Impala, 00-04 Monte Carlo, 97-99 01-03 Aurora, 98 intrigue, 00-03 Bonneville, and 04+ Grand Prix. This is by far the easiest brake upgrade you can do. To my knowledge, they'll clear 16 inch wheels, which is also a plus. All you need is the rotors and caliper brackets off of any of those vehicles. Everything is a direct swap, no bleeding needed.

 

F-Body brakes - Dual Piston, larger rotors, but harder to find and more expensive. You need the rotors, calipers, and 18023646 bolts, I personally have not done this upgrade (I plan to). That being said, I've read about it quite a bit online, and from what I've read, those bolts will make it a bolt on swap. It's best to get new brake lines, but some say you can use your stock lines. They are on 98-02 Camaros and Firebirds.

 

Engine:

Dog bone flip - It's been covered before, but why not go over it again. Take your top engine mounts off. Put the bolt back in the mount on the core support (not the engine), snug it down pretty good. Take a flat blade screw driver and hold the rubber back while spraying WD-40 in between the rubber mount and the metal bracket. using a wrench and a ratchet (pushing both away from you) turn the bolt you snugged down toward the back of the car. The mount should start to rotate with the bolt, if the bolt slips, tighten it more. Stop turning when then rubber mount rotates 90*. Basically, Turn this:

Into this:

 

Series III engines: Better heads, better connecting rods, better pistons, and slightly larger intake valves, the short block and heads are better all around. The Gen V supercharger produces a cooler charge, has better teflon coating on the rotors, and flows better. Changing to a Gen V supercharger will net the same benefits as a 0.2" pulley drop on a Gen III. To install the supercharger on a Gen II vehicle, you need the SC itself, the LIM, and an adapter plate for your throttle body. The Series III engines have a 4 bolt flange for the throttle body when the Series II engines have a 3 bolt triangular flange. ZZP and Wbodystore carry the adapter plates, they run about $100. You also need to drill\tap your existing throttle body for functioning PCV (see pic) For the N\A engines, you can upgrade to a Series II intake, but the only advantage I know of is that they are metal so it's not really a budget friendly upgrade (no cost: benefit ratio at all). ZZP adapter, for the Gen V supercharger or the N\A intake:

Drilled\tapped TB:

 

Alternator: CS144. Most of our 3.8l's come with the pitiful CS130D, which put out a measly 30-50 amps at idle (102 MAX), and runs HOT thanks to the internal fan and bad cooling. The CS144 puts out 80-110 amps at idle, and maxes out anywhere from 140-160+ amps. CS144s come factory in a 96-99 Buick LeSabre, 96 Park Avenue, 98-99 Lumina, 98 Monte Carlo, 96-99 Olds 88, 96 Olds 98, 96-99 Olds LSS, 97-98 Olds Regnecy, or a 96-99 Bonneville. REMEMBER: If you have not already, upgrade your charge wire from your Alternator to your battery. There is 1 wire to cut and splice on the CS144, and you need a 99 Camaro (3.8l) alternator bracket. If you have a 97-98 Park Avenue, 96-98 Regal, 95-98 Riviera, 98 Lumina, 98 Monte Carlo, 98 Intrigue, or 97-98 Grand Prix, this will be a bolt on swap. If you have one of those cars and you ever need to replace your tensioner (alternator bracket), replace it with a 99 Camaro 3.8L bracket. The stock brackets for those cars have an integral coolant elbow that is prone to breaking the timing cover during removal; the Camaro bracket utilizes 2 coolant elbows, like the 99+ tensioners. You'll also need the connector for one of these altenators, a junkyard is probably your best bet for this. The simplest wiring on these is to connect your current red wire (NOT the charge wire, but the red wire to the connector on the alternator) to the red wire on the alternator connector. If there are additional wires, post here or consult Haynes\Chiltons\Interwebs for wiring diagrams. You'll also need a 94 inch serpentine belt to complete the swap. Finally, if you have a supercharged engine (mainly a Gen V) you'll need to grind a bit off the back of the alternator case. I'll get pics of that later. Pics:

99 Camaro bracket:

My engine bay, you can see the CS144, Gen V with the ZZP adapter, and STB:

 

That's it for now, I'll bet adding more and more as I have time. I'll reserve the next few posts as well. I'll probably come back through and post pics as well.

Edited May 7, 2014 by Booba

[Booba]

Other:

 

One Touch Modules - Roll your window up or down with one touch, close your sub roof with one touch, move your seat all the way forward\back with one touch, etc. These work on any reversible DC motor. More here: http://www.w-body.com/showthread.php/78735-How-To-One-Touch-Modules-(Auto-Up-Down)

 

Sound Deadening - Looking for Dynamat, Hushmat, Fatmat, or something similar on a budget? Peel n'seal. It's sold at Lowes\Home Depot, and is actually designed for roof applications, around the bases of chimneys and such. I just put 50 sq ft (4 rolls) in my car for $60. This covered the trunk lid, rear quarters, tail end, rear deck, and outside\inside of all 4 doors, with about 4 feet left over. Here's more details in my build thread. http://www.w-body.com/showthread.php/78728-2000-GTP-then-to-now-Lots-of-pics?p=1225616&viewfull=1#post1225616

Some pics:

and installed, you can see the 2 one touch modules (one for up, one for down):

 

More coming, I'll be doing a aluminum subframe\oil pan swap very soon on my car, so more details will be on that list. L67ss is very proud of his Regal steering rack too, so maybe we can get him to chime in on the specifics of that...

Edited May 7, 2014 by Booba

[Psych0matt]

Awesome idea! However, IMO it would be beneficial to add what years/engines it might apply to. For instance, I have a 1st gen and a 3rd gen, some things apply to me in one way, some another, some maybe not at all.

 

EDIT: I do see you said you mainly have knowledge/info regarding your 2nd gen, so that helps. Also... RESERVED. I may add a few things if it's cool to make this a collective thread

[Booba]

Character limit reached on post 1, on to post 2. I'll probably end up using up post 2 and adding some into this post as well...

 

Also, the way I am getting the years of all these vehicles is Rockauto. I look up the part on the year vehicle I KNOW it comes on, then click the model number of the part. It'll tell you what all vehicles that part number applies to.

[l67ss]

Regals(98-04) have a 13.2:1 ratio, as do 00-05 montes. Regals have mag steer, montes dont. As long as you get 98+ mag racks you dont need to wire it. For reference, 95-99 monte/luminas have 14.5:1, 97+ gps have variable rates of 15.3:1-17.?:1. To use the gen 2 rack in a gen 1 you just use gen 1 outter tie rods

[l67ss]

And dont forget the gen two rear brake upgrade for gen 1s, in my top five fav mods

[Booba]

Mind elaborating? What all do they come on? Anything special needed for the swap or is it a direct bolt-on? IIRC 2006+ Grand Prix (maybe more) rear calipers have the e-brake on the caliper itself, no drum setup. It's not really a worthwhile upgrade for someone that already has 2nd gen brakes, but if someone is in the midst of converting over, they might as well get the best they can!

[l67ss]

Mind elaborating? What all do they come on? Anything special needed for the swap or is it a direct bolt-on? IIRC 2006+ Grand Prix (maybe more) rear calipers have the e-brake on the caliper itself, no drum setup. It's not really a worthwhile upgrade for someone that already has 2nd gen brakes, but if someone is in the midst of converting over, they might as well get the best they can!

 

Yup. 95-99 monte. Straight bolt on other than needing rubber lines from 1990 lumina euro 2-door(mebbe others but thats what I found them on), on every other 1 g w you hav to go rear coilovers. Also on 95-99 monte/lumina gen 2/3 rear struts are drop in(like gxp fe4s)

[l67ss]

Yup. 95-99 monte. Straight bolt on other than needing rubber lines from 1990 lumina euro 2-door(mebbe others but thats what I found them on), on every other 1 g w you hav to go rear coilovers. Also on 95-99 monte/lumina gen 2/3 rear struts are drop in(like gxp fe4s)

 

Gen 2 rear brakes come on 97+ regals, gps, intrigues, 00+ monte/impala

[l67ss]

Another one that applie to ALL gen (non lq1) ws is to upgrade to an lq1 radiator. kver an inch thick and drop in. Gen 2/3s do need a 98-99 z34 lower radiator hose I believe

[Addicted2bass]

Anyone have a good writeup on making your own CAI on a L67 motor?? The K&N and Wizzaird intakes are a bit on the expensive side for what they are.

[l67ss]

Anyone have a good writeup on making your own CAI on a L67 motor?? The K&N and Wizzaird intakes are a bit on the expensive side for what they are.

 

Take ur stock tube and planned filter to home depot and rummage thru pvc

[Booba]

Pick up a cone filter from an auto parts store, with a 3.5" inlet. Then, go to a hardware store and buy a 3.5" 45* PVC fitting and a rubber 3.5" coupler. Cut a hole small hole in the filter's RUBBER or the rubber coupler for the IAT sensor. Remove your IAT sensor from your stock air filter tube, and put it in the hole you cut for the IAT sensor. Connecting the rubber coupler to the PVC to the 45* fitting will be a bit of a pain, heating (but NOT melting) the rubber coupler up helps, a lot. Then you just assemble it all, it goes in this order: Throttle body->rubber coupler->PVC fitting->air filter. Once thats all assembled, you'll need to find a sway to secure the PCM down (some just let it sit there, I don't). I used some bailing wire, but zip ties, duct tape, etc. Use your imagination, they don't need to be protected from the environment, you just need to make sure it stays down. You can see mine in this pic, I sanded my PVC pipe down and painted it black to make it pretty:

PVC sanded down:

[Imp558]

On the Gen II rear brakes, the old thread on that shows not getting the E-brakes to work? Has anybody figured it out yet? I'd like to do the Aluminium knuckes and all.

[Booba]

I know L67ss has it done, but I don't know on the e-brake...

[l67ss]

On the Gen II rear brakes, the old thread on that shows not getting the E-brakes to work? Has anybody figured it out yet? I'd like to do the Aluminium knuckes and all.

 

Ive seriously thinking of going to 99-04 grand am rear calipers and and running an actual e-brake,

[Imp558]

I REALLY REALLY want to re-design the entire E-brake system and eliminate the jackass "Push-To-Release" pedal! How are we supposed to do E-brake donuts with that stupid ass thing?

[Michael Savage]

Pertaining to cheap mod cut a hole in the bottom of your air box near your freon canister and it gives more a bit more air to flow in without going full intake conversion. Drop in a Sprectre/k&N filter and you'll notice a difference. Also my Monte Carlo had a loud growl when going to WOT.

[tornado_735]

I REALLY REALLY want to re-design the entire E-brake system and eliminate the jackass "Push-To-Release" pedal! How are we supposed to do E-brake donuts with that stupid ass thing?

 

1.) Push parking brake down

2.) Push to release lock

3.) Don't release parking brake all the way

4.) Parking brake can now be used without locking. Lock resets when pedal is released all the way.

[Imp558]

Ohhhh, now I kind of wish some of the ice was back to try that. It would be cooler if it just had a release lever though.

[Booba]

There was a DIY somewhere online about someone putting a hand e-brake in...want me to look for it?

[Imp558]

WOW! On this site? I've got a console and always watching for seats so that could work.

[Booba]

Other site, so if you do this swap, please make a write up!

 

http://www.clubgp.com/newforum/tm.asp?m=5075343

[l67ss]

I was planning on a fiero e brake handle, mounts between driver door and seat

WOW! On this site? I've got a console and always watching for seats so that could work.

[Imp558]

That's awesome, I'll have to start looking at those at wrecking yards. I suppose a lot of cars could technically donate a handle mechanism.