1993 Grand Prix GTP - What mods are best?

[R Dubya]

A friend of mine just bought one of these cars.. it's white with white xlace wheels. Nice car, grey interior, it's loaded, like all of these cars were. Anyway, I was inquiring about mods.. potential things that could be done to make it perform better. I have no knowledge of the 3.4 DOHC, seems to be somewhat problematic to some.. others like it. How about a thermostat? That thing runs hot, almost as hot as my TGP before the TG160. Anyone have any ideas about mods? TIA.

[93CutlassSupreme]

TYPE R badge, NOS stickers

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

Best thing to do would be to make sure that engine is tuned properly. I dunno much about them having never owned or worked on one, but check the timing belt, and do a full tune-up on the car. They are a picky performance engine and making sure it is running 100% is probably the best thing you can do for performance.

[Dan94Z34]

10ft rear wing will add about 50hp intake, exhaust, ffp chip, and FFP underdrive pullys I would say.

[MaroonRegal]

If you really wanted to make it fast, you'd order some cams...you'd have to drop some serious cash, but I really wanna see what a 3.4 will do with some performance cams.

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

Get the heads ported/polished, plenum port matched, exhaust work, and a 5-speed and you'll be in the low 15s or high 14s.

[z34_nut]

his car runs high tempture??? weird, because mine will NEVER EVER go above half way, the highest its ever gotten was about 220F.

 

as for 3.4 upgrade....they=cash, but go to fast forward performance website and they have an AWSOME chip for the 3.4, and also a matching undrive pully. you can also fin a cone filter through a numerous websites.

 

i've coupled a few links for you, and yes one of the websites is for a z34, but stuff that goes under the hood will be the same.

 

http://www.geocities.com/luminaz34page/

 

absolutely the best website for the chip, ud pully, and dogbones

http://www.fastfwdperformance.com/

 

and over all great set up of parts.

http://www.rsmracing.com/us/pontiac/34dohcpont.htm

[topless94style]

If you really wanted to make it fast, you'd order some cams...you'd have to drop some serious cash, but I really wanna see what a 3.4 will do with some performance cams.

 

 

 

Check out the 60* website for info on that. $500 and you get a set of cams. $300 for a set of lighter lifters, both I am very interested in, but I dont have the $800 to spend on them...yet. Maybe in the winter.

[R Dubya]

Thanks everyone for the ever helpful replies! Yeah I checked into FFP and looked around, I told him about the site and I'm gonna recommend that he get their chip. About the intake, is their any specifics to changing the air filter setup? Any sensors or wiring needed to be relocated or anything? So the chip is reliable? What does it do? Need a lower degree thermostat to go along with it? It seems to run 220-240 from what I've seen, but I'm spoiled running with a TG 160 in my TGP and it rarely ever goes much above 200, so I may be biased. Thanks.

[z34_nut]

well i put the chip in my car and i'll tell you what, it was the best upgrade i have ever placed in my car. it gets alot more top end, and def. more noticable low end. of course before he does all of that make sure the car runs 110%. you wont get the results you want if you don't make sure it is running perfect.

 

 

 

spark plugs/wires

fuel filter

TIMING BELT-make sure the belt is not shiney! that=bad

all vaccum hoses are working fine with no leaks

o2 sensor.

 

that about all i can think of right now, i'm just tired.

[R Dubya]

I saw a thread on changing the timing belt. I've never done one, how big of a job is it?

[z34_nut]

i've done two.

 

first time it took meh two days to get used to the cramped motor.

 

second time it took me about 6 hours to do.

 

hopefully the alt doesn't go on you either...

[93CutlassSupreme]

 

and over all great set up of parts.

http://www.rsmracing.com/us/pontiac/34dohcpont.htm

 

if you wanna get raped up the ass

 

$800 for an exhaust? i paid $200 for the exact same thing!

[93GTP]

I know a thing or two about 1993 GTP's, hehe..

 

Anyways, first thing he should do is check out whats on the go with the temperature. Definetely replace the thermostat and a coolant flush at least. 3.4's dont run hot, mine only goes about 1/3 up the gauge at the hottest, unless i sit in traffic for a long, long time on a hot day, then it goes to 105C (220F) at the very most.

 

The mods he should do are:

1) Cold Air intake. A member on this board makes them, his nickname is RedZMonte. You can see it pictured in my signature.

 

2) Exhaust. Carsound high flow catalytic converter, and dual magnaflow mufflers are awesome. It's what I have and it sounds and performs awesomely.

 

3) Underdrive pulley. From FFP

 

4) Chip. From FFP or Ben.

 

5) Polyurathane engine mount. From FFP

 

6) Modified cam timing. The 3.4 has the most power when the exhaust cam is retarded 13 degrees. Do a search over the forum to see how it's done.

 

Anyways, those are the mods of choice when it comes to the 3.4. I'll tell you more when he has those done

[R Dubya]

I know a thing or two about 1993 GTP's, hehe..

 

The mods he should do are:

1) Cold Air intake. A member on this board makes them, his nickname is RedZMonte. You can see it pictured in my signature.

 

2) Exhaust. Carsound high flow catalytic converter, and dual magnaflow mufflers are awesome. It's what I have and it sounds and performs awesomely.

 

3) Underdrive pulley. From FFP

 

4) Chip. From FFP or Ben.

 

5) Polyurathane engine mount. From FFP

 

6) Modified cam timing. The 3.4 has the most power when the exhaust cam is retarded 13 degrees. Do a search over the forum to see how it's done.

 

 

Ok, I looked at FFP and those mounts are steep, I can get bushings and drill it out myself and install it for less than half that price, but sounds like a good idea.

 

Who is Ben? Is he associated with FFP? Where can I find him?

 

I PM'd Shane about the intakes, no response yet, they look nice, and would be a good idea I know..

 

Where do I get a lower temp thermostat? And cam timing is a bit beyond me at this time, but I want to learn, does this timing change have to be programmed into the chip? I haven't guided him to exhaust and the pulley yet, but I will, just want to get some basics out of the way first (plugs, wires, temperature, air). Thanks dude.

[93GTP]

Ok, I looked at FFP and those mounts are steep, I can get bushings and drill it out myself and install it for less than half that price, but sounds like a good idea.

 

Who is Ben? Is he associated with FFP? Where can I find him?

 

I PM'd Shane about the intakes, no response yet, they look nice, and would be a good idea I know..

 

Where do I get a lower temp thermostat? And cam timing is a bit beyond me at this time, but I want to learn, does this timing change have to be programmed into the chip? I haven't guided him to exhaust and the pulley yet, but I will, just want to get some basics out of the way first (plugs, wires, temperature, air). Thanks dude.

 

Ben is Vegeta from this forum. He is the person that designed the chip.

 

Don't get a lower temp thermostat, just replace the one thats in it with the identical GM replacement. Like I said, it's not the temp of the thermostat thats the problem, these things run cool.

 

Cam timing is not done with the chip. It has to be done manually. What has to be done is that the exhaust cam has to be retarded 13 degress with respect to the crankshaft. That means fucking around with the timing belt and cam gears. It's not that hard, but you have to do the research on it first. http://www.60degreev6.com has a few writeups on how it's done.

 

It'd be a lot easier if you can find 94+ cam gears. They are broken loose by simply loosening the bolt. But the 93 and older gears have a stupid lockring that makes things a bit more difficult.

 

One mod I forgot to mention was Spark Plugs. so..

 

7) Spark plugs. I recommend NGK V-Power plugs, I find them awesome.

[EurosportZ34]

Look at my sig! There is still more to be done but that gives you something to start with.