Forum member “Mater” and I go way back, to my early days at a Dodge Diplomat forum. That means that for at least a decade and probably more, we’ve shared a common bond for the rear-drive Mopars nobody seems to love. But Mater also loves GM W-bodies. I like them alright…I’ve got great memories from owning a 2001 Regal GS, but Mater’s Pontiac Grand Prix kick has always been strange. He lives deep in the Rust Belt, and usually ends up dragging home parts cars. And his latest acquisition, this 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix SE two-door, is par for the course here: rusted rockers, overall thrashed.
So what is BangShift worthy about a ragged out Grand Prix? It’s what he is going to do with it that has our attention. This time around, he knows he’s got a pooch. But he’s got a ton of spare parts (and engines!) laying around from projects past, and the GP came with an engine in the trunk that could be a builder. And since our boy has been watching past episodes of Roadkill, he’s also got a Garrett GTP38, a 60mm turbocharger that was stock equipment for a 1997 Ford PowerStroke.
Nothing about this car is pretty, and nothing about this build will be. But Mater has hopes of putting down 500 force-fed horsepower to the ground before he either nukes a hastily rebuilt 3.8L V6 or shrapnelizes the half-dead 4T65 transaxle he’s going to back this up with. Why go to all of this work? Well, he’s cleaning up a pile of amassed parts that otherwise would be going to scrap, he’s going to have a ball with it (or, at least, learn quite a bit from the build) and if he succeeds, this GP will fry hides as long as the transaxle stays in one piece. What better way to treat a $500 car that was supposed to be a “rust-free shell”?
BangShift Project Thread: 1999 Grand Prix Dirty Turbo Build
As a W-body owner myself, I’ve sometimes pondered what you would end up with if you tried to cure their notorious transaxle weakness by rotating the engine 90 degrees and swapping in a V6 Camaro transmission.
Well then you convert the car to RWD right? This requires frame building and tons of fabrication. I have a dream build in my brain like that: A late model big block rear wheel drive Buick Park Avenue Ultra sleeper. Like tubbed, roll caged, and still seats four or five. Crazy?
Not that crazy. I’ve thought of building a late model (95-99) Riviera as a rear wheel drive phantom factory build. That car looks too nice to be wrong wheel drive.
They did build it, it was called the GTO
the builder should check out vids on youtube by davida1hiwaaynet. He has a Turbo charged A body century that puts out over 400 Dyno proven HP, and builds th400/4T60/4T65 hybrid trans axles.