Cause he wants it different I guess :icon_biggrin:, all of ours look the same with the "Turbo" whatever emblem and now his will be different than ours and somewhat custom maybe, dunno.  Not thinking of it being a "turbo" GP and just looking at it being red and the emblems being red looks like a good clean match.  Some go with the no-emblem/shaved look and like it, sort of a sleeper look so maybe this setup will be a sleeper version, then later when he races: "dude you got beat by a regular GP" :laugh:.  Or get more mileage by putting it on at your desk so others will say "so you got a grand prix"  :icon_rolleyes: ummm.....maybe not, might want to get the "Turbo" emblem going if you want someone to really notice your desk emblems :laugh:

Jeff M

Yea what he did :icon_mrgreen:  And I am jealous of those big butt pipes :icon_wink: they look good and fill better than most I have looked into for our bumper cut-outs :icon_cool:!

Jeff M

Quote from: R Dubya on June 19, 2006, 06:43:08 PM
I think the only acceptable way to moun those would be just like they are mounted on their corresponding cars, side by side either just below or on the decklid itself, in between the tail lamps.

:icon_mrgreen: then they would look good with the matching red paint :thumb: but need pics to enjoy seeing if our idea works :icon_lol:

Yea, Fidanza, had an old link to them on ebay for a G.M. PONTIAC GRAND PRIX 1988-90:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FIDANZA-ALUMINUM-FLYWHEEL-FIRENZA-GRAND-PRIX-198261_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33732QQihZ019QQitemZ8066905915QQtcZphoto

And for $3,877 (best price on the internet :icon_eek:) the cost of this next item/clutch could get you a one-off auto made to handle 600+ hp :icon_lol: big ouch but for big power :icon_twisted:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EXEDY-CARBON-CLUTCH-PONTIAC-FIREBIRD-98-02-GM013SBMC_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33730QQihZ019QQitemZ8064698019QQtcZphoto

Best of luck with that baby kuntzie, hope it does you well!! :icon_cool:

Jeff M

z284pwr, you are welcome, glad someone could use all that info, guess you are the only one  :laugh:.

As for your H3, and thinking back, when I did the 100 watt H3s as a test I believe I tried using gray (or black) grill/stove paint or high-temp header paint, spraying into a lid then dipping the very end of the very clean bulb to coat the end and keep it from being too bright right in your face, just like the stock 9006 bulbs have I believe, but I know the 55 watts are bare/no paint on the end, and does not bother other driver?s though to test this I just go to a parking lot at night and walk away from the car, looking back and stooping down to a oncoming car driver?s eye level to check the brightness that they would see, the lower you go the brighter it gets but that has to be with all car lights, so much for low to the ground type cars.

Nope, glass does not focus the beam any different than plastic :icon_wink:, both are just as clean and they are cast/formed the same so all the diffusion the glass has the plastic has the same, but really it?s the reflective back area that does a lot of your focusing too, again same in either type lens; glass or plastic.  The Acura?s are the only composite headlights I have yet to see that run HID :icon_cool:, all others seem to have to use a projector :laugh:, which do not work very well and I know, my wife has them and where the light stops at, its all black darkness beyond that so you are totally blind past that point, where as composites allow some light to show past the main focused area and provide some idea of what is either further down the road, and/or what is just up ahead as you go down a hill, that is when projectors suck big time going down hill, your beam range is shorter than shit so you better slow down or you may find a surprise in the road and hit it :icon_rolleyes:!  And I love the crystal blue white the Acuras run in their HIDs, they are the brightest/highest lumen output of the Gen I HIDs because of their sweet color choice :icon_mrgreen:, I can always spot them at night over everyone else?s HIDs.

Yea I have tried a few ideas on the black paint missing on the top of the headlight lens, to no avail, paint, phelt marker, you name it and nothing lasts but after all that did get some good results with the following ideas.  With the plastic ones you can get plastic paint (like for interiors) and then lay down some aluminum duct tape to mask a line, then 1,000 grit to scuff the surface before painting but with glass, little harder to scuff up and get paint to stick to so, I just clean the area very well with alcohol then Windex, then do a very nice lay of 3M 33+ (only!) electrical tape in place of the black paint.  And I say ?only? as this is the best of the black electrical tapes and will last better than any other yet known tape for this area.  Black duct tape would not work, its glue will not last!!  So, me saying ?known? about the tape I suggest is that I am open to anything someone might know that works as good or better than good quality electrical tape?? :icon_idea:, always looking for better or easier :icon_biggrin:.  I have had this setup for a number of years and its still there and holding, though one last trick, never pull or stretch the electrical tape, it must be laid at rest or the ends will pull up later.

Sorry Matt for hogging the thread :icon_redface:, any of the mods can easily split this into a headlight/bulb topic or sticky :laugh: then leave your bad boy clean and mean for all to enjoy :icon_biggrin: its up to you as its your thread ;)

Jeff M

Yea I understand, yellow can have an odd look, especially since I think the bluer the better :icon_cool:.  And if one has lost its yellow glass ring, my as well make them both match :icon_wink:. 

Both you guys with the H3 conversion did not state if it was an 800 series bulb that came with a 55 watt upgrade or you grafted an H3 bulb on yourself?  In either case I found with grafting mine on that if the bulb stuck out too far from the base/too far from where it was stock then the filament did not hit the reflective backing of the light housing properly and went bright all over and no longer a contained beam where you could control the aim onto the road.  Best test was to pull about 10 to 15 feet away from a closed garage door (or any building wall or whatever) and compare next to each other the upgraded/mod?d bulb to a stock one to see how the beam patterns are turning out, the upgraded one should have a nice focused/concentrated beam like a frowny face showing up on the garage door just like the stock bulb one will have, and with one overlapping the other in the middle some. 

I would bet as bright as Matt?s blue bulbs are (thanks Davis for telling us his name, hate having to write out 93luminaz34 or anyone?s long as user name :icon_rolleyes:) they are the real deal meaning no dark ass blue incandescent/filament type bulb that puts out no light even though they are 100watt versions in an attempt to address this downside, not that I hate the blue incandescents as they are a lot less money but once again preference is to have more lumens to light up the night, and maybe see better too :icon_lol:. 

The ones I have much like his are ballasted, high-tension leads, 9006 bulb base, true HID retrofit setup meaning plug and play.  Fortunately I had my head lights out doing some other work so I could stuff the ballast in the area right behind the headlights with ease, would not be as fun with the headlights in the way.  And as for beam patter, god I love these cars and talking about them since I find little to fault with all the gear it has :icon_mrgreen:, no problem running an HID in these non-projector headlights :mrgreen: , its amazing our optics are well focused enough to keep oncoming drivers from getting pissed you put in some high output/lumens bulb and are coming at them on a 2-lane.  Same issue though if the bulb is too far out into the headlight housing like stated above for the fogs, at that point the reflective setup of the optics are whacked and the light goes all over the place and will waste light beaming in all directions including up high where it will blind the oncoming drivers.  But the 9006 retrofit HID setups I have seen have the location proper so should not be a problem :icon_biggrin:.  I will say though that even though I have good Phillips ballast, there was a problem getting both the HID bulbs to strike-off/light at the same time, that since even though they are lower watt bulbs (32 watt verses our stock 55 watt) the amps needed from the ballast to strike-off/get the bulb to light is more than the skinny ass stock wires can provide.  So me I went after that problem (actually common to most cars) by upgrading the size of the power and ground wires for the headlights, as well as added a stiffening capacitor :icon_twisted:.  And yes I have a good electrical system with a 160 amp alternator and a new Optima battery and new/clean power and ground cables (and one of those Kazama grounding system/power buffering upgrades) so it was not a power source problem elsewhere.

Wheel Clean can be had from the Tire Rack and even Summit Racing, sure there are other places.
Part numbers for the TGP are 1320 (ummmm, interesting number)
Part numbers for the TSTE are 1316
And yes they come in a set/2 per package, I did the rears too, about $40 a set I believe.
If you have the better approach of using tapped wheel weights instead of the finish-eating hammered on lip weights  :icon_evil: then you will find the Wheel Cleans will bump into the tapped weights, but since the Wheel Cleans are made of powdercoated aluminum sheet metal, tin snips or even scissors can be used to cut the metal to make clearance (and its funny, I met the factory rep for Wheel Clean at a SEMA show and mentioned this trick, made his day and he said that is why he likes coming to these shows, other than the chicks standing next to the show cars :laugh:).  I just placed the Wheel Cleans into the rim, lined up the 5 stud holes, then noted the contact points of the tapped weights to the Wheel Cleans, marked the area then made 2 small 1/2" snip to allow the metal to bend up a bit to clear the tapped weights, with some care the fit is clean and not seen.

Jeff M

:dunno: no like having yellow fog lights? :icon_eek: no one more than me understands personal preference and supports personal taste differences of others but someone really not liking the yellow fogs :icon_confused:  Once those great fog lenses are aimed (down!!!) properly they do one hell of a job lighting the road all the way into the ditches and up to the area where the headlights are at/taking it from there, and with yellow you get some of the other end of the color spectrum that is more truer (the sun is not that blue as these 8k+ HIDs :laugh:, and I have and love my 8ks) and together with the 8ks or whatevers you really get a good idea of the road and whats on it.  I have to admit the yellow is not the best for cutting fog but its better than getting whiter, what i found in my truck is those amber bulbs from PIAA are actually a big improvement over a yellow fog light bulb, and in a test (oh the stupid things I did/still do?) I had these ambers in my projector fogs and headlights (yep, no other lights :laugh:) and one night driving 70-80 on a deserted highway in nasty fog it appeared to be working great, come to find better than I had expect as I came up on a few cars that were going really slow/much slower than me, that as I passed I could see their headlight beam in the dense fog and could see they were running blind, no wonder they were going to slow, I looked over at my side of the road and it looked normal like no fog that night, it was shockingly better.  But that was stupid fun running 4 ambers and no whites, but there was plenty of "light" on the road to see other times, but being that impressed I have tried to keep something running a fog with these PIAA ambers, trouble is the stupid 881 27 watt indicator bulb they stick in these fogs, yea I have said it many times over the years to go with a 50 watt 885 but no ambers from PIAA in these types of bulbs so, hack-it-up ghetto style :icon_twisted: get some amber H3s in 55 watt and take off the bulb and graft it to an 885 base, fun but now got useful fogs and with some real watts.  Last piece of experimenting I did, on an old fog light housing that needed to be replaced I grafted in 100 watt H3s to test the melting point of the housing :laugh:, it got very warm but never pushing it enough to make me avoid it, though long term the plastic might yellow or dry up or something so I never ran them permanent, but at least running 55 watts in there seems very safe.

Enough info dump, later.

Jeff M

Thanks :icon_cool:.  Enough of the pealing paint problem had been painted before I got it so that helps, though a custom fender bender idea did not turn out so well on the other side :icon_cry: I can't wait to finish my black TGP up enough to drive it and rip some pavement, still my favorite to drive and look at when I come out to a parking lot, that's all I need to keep me loving it when you come out and it still makes you grin :icon_mrgreen:, I am sure you know the feeling :icon_cool:.  Only problem I found when others see the car is their need to mess with it, so other than some different wheel locks (smooth on the outside) got these to keep people from messing with my rides:

http://www.spin-caps.com/

Not sure how your valve stems are setup but they offer a few different versions, long ones and short one depending on your length of valve stem neck, but the idea is for this device to cover the black rubber of your valve stem and dress that part up as well add a theft deterrent.  Also the 2 sets of rims I did had the same "covered" approach to a standard/real chrome valve stem, so that part was basically swapped for the one that came with these spin caps.  There is another type of security cap but you have to pick a logo, of which none are all that great :icon_rolleyes:

Another that for some reason has no web site :icon_rolleyes: is Air Jak Flush Valve Stem 410-956-0240, there is no valve stem until you remove the dress-up cap and screw in your (all metal) valve stem for air pressure needs, totally flush and very clean when put back together, you just need a wheel that has a valve stem hole on a flat surface like on wide lip rims :icon_mrgreen: of which I don't have on my Grand Prixs.

Best of luck with everything, still enjoying looking again at your pics :icon_mrgreen:!

Jeff M

Dude, so much good to say :icon_eek:; lots of high level attention to detail in researching your setup with offsets and overall height and such, later maybe some lowering to keep board members happy :icon_lol: detailing the calipers, then on to the rest of the car with 8k HID (in my TSTE too :icon_mrgreen:) and proper yellow fogs, lots to comment on and all positive :thumb: .  Rims do look bad-ass on the 2-door, would look goofy on my 4-door but on your car, proper!  For those that still have gold crosslace, Wheel Clean!!!!! a flat black insert that goes behind the rim, in 6 years hardly any brake dust every shows up on my gold crosslace, and they are on to stay since I paid to have them refinished, had these on my first TGP back in 1990, and on all three cars now and no problems at all!  If you don't mind, seeing your 18s I would like to share my 18s that are on my TSTE, Kumho Ecsta SPT 235/45/18 with room to go 245 but don't want the daily 4-door to have too heavy of a tire.

I won't put my pic here as I do not want to steal your thread, even then if you would prefer for it to go away, let me know  :icon_cool:

http://www.turbograndprix.com//TSTERims003.jpg

Nice clean Black TGP with blacked-out headlights, after owning these for 16 years just cannot find anything that looks this good :icon_biggrin: or course we all have our own taste, so what ever turns on the other guy is......what he should drive!

Jeff M

Any flat surface is going to help acquire a signal better than not, every little bit helps in getting a faster and confirmed reading before the target can lop off a few mph (and those few can make or break most chances of a ticket/citation i.e. 34 in a 30 or 37 or more in a 30 mph zone), even though instant-on radar is fast, there is still time needed for the unit to get a confirmed reading, one that will hold up in court against the usual claims of radar's old weaknesses, newer ones are faster so maybe in pontiac6ksteawd's day this was more important :icon_cool:.  Running a Stealth negates the K bands quite well (so few X bands in the states its not worth mentioning any more) but most have all gone with the many choices in the KA band region and no jammer works there yet.  Laser jammers at the plate is one trick but they also aim for head lights with their chrome reflective backing so even then that counter measure is not perfect.  I ran a Stealth in Michigan and it made those road-side displays go blank, that was fun.  But I always drive per the road conditions, even then if the road is empty, I don't need to set a new top speed record :laugh:.  Knowing a number of State Troopers and City Cops, as well as reading the books at the State's Law Library (on lunch break  ;) ) adds some interesting info to what is most common in car magazines.  Lucky me living in LA (Lansing Area :laugh: , state capitol) the Michigan State Troopers and Michigan State University joined years ago to form an organization (MRTF) to set the standards for all radar equipment; testing, validation and certification, as well as instructor training, for all states in the US, so, few cops in our state were lame on the ins and outs of speed monitoring, you play you pay :icon_twisted: and seldom got away with it :laugh:.

Jeff M

Quote from: TGPilot on June 10, 2006, 12:22:52 PM
My god it is a license plate bracket folks... we are not mounting a FMIC! :icon_rolleyes: :laugh: Get the bracket and hold it in place...where does it fit properly?

Crazy :laugh:   That is where the holes are in my TSTE too :icon_cool: and same; with no plate, doubt the cops will chase me from the front :icon_mrgreen: though same stupid law here its supposed to be there :icon_evil:

Quote from: TGPilot on June 10, 2006, 12:22:52 PMHere are the factory holes from My TGP bracket that was sent to Canada!

Canada  :nana: bet those Mounties would be anal about it being there too :icon_sad:
Trying to, get along.....little doggies ;)

Jeff M

You are right, valve body was the worst, and no aftermarket kit did much good, you could always get a good 2nd gear shift but that was it, the more that was done to help get 3rd firmer/like 2nd, the firmer (TOO FIRM) 2nd gear got.

Jeff M

Quote from: TurboGTU on June 06, 2006, 04:02:27 AM
Hey..thanks for the props  :icon_wink:. Im suprised myself to find this out. I thought they were suppose to be compleately different....guess not. Its a 60-e with better parts and with more gizmos.

(Also cleaned down to the facts, per request? :icon_neutral:)

You deserve more than that, this is the first time I have seen someone other than me or a tranny shop get that deep into these silly trannies, and talk about it this way, not many into these trannies but there are many wanting it to be so :icon_biggrin: nice research!  :thumb:

One of the key differences is the differential case and gears, which are unique and hardened for longevity/others are not!  There have been no reported failures of these, and with the excess left in GM's coffers, the rest of the inventory was used on the 1995 Lumina Z34 (boy its great when the greedy go silent :icon_lol:) but there is rumor that they were also used on the F7 tranny.  Just once someone did not use our differential in their tranny and with devastating results, big hole in the side of their tranny case :icon_eek:.  Also the washers for the gears are steel instead of the typical bronze so this is another benefit of our setup, though do enough one-wheel burn-outs around a turn and even these steel washers will go bye-bye, and you will no longer have 2 wheels spinning/or putting the power down with a straight-line take-off  :icon_cry: and is often seen when a car spins wildly in 2nd gear on a straight-line take off, with just one tire  :icon_redface:.

Jeff M

Ok good, like Kenny says, just double-checking, even if nothing has happened to anyone's engine yet, did not want to wait to consider something like this.... maybe later  :icon_cry: :laugh:.  So, good to hear the flow still keeps going :icon_mrgreen:, and I know there is no shut-off in the heat core area on the TGP/TSTE so no worries there either (good thought there too) :icon_biggrin:

Jeff M

Ummm, please don't shoot me for saying this :icon_frown: and for just noticing this post :icon_redface:, I think Chris A had figured this out a while ago, and giving it some thought could see it was most likely true but knowing his thoroughness, never tried to prove it for myself, the hose going to the TB is the only one that allows water to flow around in the engine until the thermostat opens :icon_eek:.  Might be good to study this just to be sure its OK to just cap it off/the lines at the TB :icon_wink:

Jeff M