FWD Pontiac Grand Prix donor

[HarmalloyX]

my donor is a FWD 2003 pontiac grand prix. im not a fan of the extra height of the FWD drive train but it is simpler since i can easily put the back wheels anywhere i want without having to modify the drive shaft. While searching for a donor i was tempted to use my 2014 nissan leaf but i got this at a government auction for 950$. i am pretty sure it was a special ops police under cover car! see the registration card i found hidden inside the shifter. also i found an unspent shotgun shell behind the back seat. Since getting it i have been stripping out superfluous stuff from the wiring harness and getting ready to remove the engine. i should be lifting it out tomorrow.

hey what did yall do with your donor airbags? im tentatively planning to leaving the steering wheel in and operational. the passenger airbag is in a box in the garage and i need to find a way to get rid of it. did yall leave airbags in your cars?

[HarmalloyX]

getting ready to engine life

[B85]

Is it the SC motor ?

[HarmalloyX]

Is it the SC motor ?

no, its the SE 175 HP, but i think thats what you meant?

[HarmalloyX]

engine lift day was a huge success. it came right out as soon as i was on the center of gravity. (ive never done that before)

[HarmalloyX]

if i keep my build nice and tight around the engine the only things that wont fit are the battery and that electrical junction box. hopefully i can relocate them to where usually the cars HVAC blower and coils are at under the dash

[HarmalloyX]

found my seats! theyre from a bus. even has an armrest and seat belts. not sure ill want to use those tho. - best of all they were free.

[HarmalloyX]

well the subframe came out easier than i thought it would. i pushed the car out into the yard into its final resting place, may it rust in peace, took off the steering wheel, dropped the subframe and carted it into the garage. tomrorow i can start to build the new car

[HarmalloyX]

went with Orange since my son loves everything orange. using Krylon Rust Tough tintable enamel. seems pretty good. thick and goopy. ill probably use the same for the rest of the chassis.

[HarmalloyX]

it was outside drying for two days. felt pretty good. then it rained and the paint wrinkled up real bad. oh well. i dont care too much for the asthetics of that piece, motly wanted to try out the paint.

[HarmalloyX]

well i see i dented the transmission-driveshaft port pretty good trying to pry it out. hope thats OK. if anyone knows one way or the other i would appreciate if you shot me a comment about it.
but i got all the steering components off the sub-frame. i should be able to start cutting it down and welding onto it tomorrow!

oh, i also noticed that it would be pretty easy to modify the steering rack to have the steering wheel right in the middle. i always wanted a center-drive bullet car. but dont think i would want to sit on top of the drive shaft.

[HarmalloyX]

i got the radiator mounted and the outline of the engine bay frame. i am very impressed by how stiff and rigit these tubes are. and i am taking the time to weld caps over the open ends despite it being tedious. for the bolt holes i guess ill use some sort of nylon washers to keep moisture out of my tubes. should i put in drain holes too?

[HarmalloyX]

i brought in the rear end and got the back suspension on. and got the wheels and such positioned. wow this is going to be a very square car. next i need to frame out the pasenger area, put on the floor, and figure out the roll bar. - i dont like those seats.

[HarmalloyX]

got the people area framed out and wisely flipped it and welded on the floor while i still could. guess i should seal and paint it now too.

meanwhile, my donor gas tank is a bit silly. i could make this work get a generic one. are sending units openings and connections all the same? will any sending unit go in most any tank? -- i would like to delete the EVAP stuff but i dont want to deal with a check engine light or reprogramming the computer.

[HarmalloyX]

today i attached the rear end! took forever to get it aligned just right but i figured thats important. and now its tack welded in place with scraps to hold the alignment while i permanently attach it.