I have a 92 Chevy Lumina Z34 automatic with the V6 DOHC. It's all stock.

I am new to fixing cars and got it a year ago.

Any tips or suggestions is appreciated.

The current thing I'm working on it wiring and brakes.

New to me 1996 Grand Prix SE.

I will fix this car up and my son will use for college.

An experiment for me, too.  How many miles can I get out of this car.  Goal=200k.

3.1 motor.  Auto trans.

102k miles.

I live in Ohio.

Florida car.  Minimal rust.

I see clean rockers, pinch welds, subframe, rear trailer arm connection!

Clean, Dark gray cloth interior. 

Salvage title from hail storm.

Good:

Clean car.

1 year old rotors, pads, struts, front hub, 2 tires,

New fuel pump and serpentine belt.

AC works.

Pioneer head unit.  Looks to have nice specs and fitment.

Bad:

Hood hail damaged.

3 hail dings in front fenders.

PO used duplicolor spray paint in a few spots.

ABS light on.

Windows and regulators kinda work.  Needs inspection.

I bought car and further inspected.

Repairs so far:

Transmission cooler lines rusted and leaking.  Replaced.

Changed transmission filter and fluid.

Cooling system flushed (remove thermostat, fill and drain with distilled water 4 times), refilled with DEX 50/50, new thermostat, hoses, cap.  Checked fans and they are working.

Oil change to synthetic.

Car is now running and driving.  I plugged my Autoscan tool in and went for 2 hrs spirited driving.  No codes and temp stayed between 170-190. Hot heat and cold A/C.

No leaks

I am experiencing "piston slap" when car is cold.  Seems a common issue on 3.1 motors.  I guess I keep the car maintained and live with it.

Repairs in the next 2 weeks:

Bad rear hub.

Leaking gas filler.

Windows and regulator.

Interior light bulbs, some are out.

Underside, door seams, inner fenders, and every nook and cranny will be oil sprayed with Fluid Film.

Repairs in the next 2 months:

I found and bought a NOS hood for $160!

Body work on the front fender dings.

Paint work on rear quarter.

Front fascia needs to be attached.

Replaced front  door speakers with Kicker 41KSC54.

Replace rear deck speakers with Kicker 41KSC6934.

Trunk subwoofer.  Kicker, not sure which one yet.

Some vinyl graphics.  I'm thinking a swoop on front fenders, or a rear quarter panel stripe.  I saw a Gran Prix with Firebird on the hood, that was cool looking!  I am thinking about a Firebird on the hood!!!

Law says I needs a front license plate.  I hate the offset look.  Will related to center of front fascia.  Not sure how that will look.

My name’s Ryan, I’m from Long Island, NY, and I’m new to the Monte Carlo platform. I recently picked up a 2003 Monte Carlo SS and I’m excited to finally start a build thread and be part of the community.

By trade I’m a licensed marine engineer, so I’m very hands-on mechanically and enjoy learning the technical side of things. On the automotive side, I’ve worked on and tuned a variety of platforms, everything from basic bolt-ons and wiring to full tuning using HP Tuners, Hondata, and standalone setups. I enjoy both the mechanical and tuning sides of builds and documenting the process.

For the Monte, the plan is to start simple, catch up on maintenance, fix worn components, and do some basic bolt-ons  while I sort out the body and cosmetics. Once the chassis and body are in better shape, the goal is to turn things up. I’m currently torn between a Gen V M90 top swap or going turbo, but either way the end goal is a "reliable", fun street car that still rips when you get into it.

I’ll be sharing progress, asking questions, and learning as I go. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s builds and being part of the community.

I've got it on good authority I'm only the second owner. It started life in central NY but spent the last 10 years parked in a sweltering hot garage in central Florida. It was never ever even registered in FL.

So it's got some internal heat damage, which I've been repairing. The door upholstery glue had given up years ago. The stereo was a mess, but I replaced all of the capacitors on the amplifier boards and even plumbed in a bluetooth module to the cassette inputs.

I'm not much of an auto mechanic myself, I do cybersecurity for a living, but I don't mind getting my hands dirty on projects like this.

On the serious mechanical side, I've had it at a local "rural mechanic" who's did a flush on all of the fluids, changed out the master/slave cylinders, and replaced the brakes.

I seem to have dodged the bullet of any serious rust or corrosion, but I know these are prone to rotting out their rear strut towers so I plan on installing a strut tower brace and blast the insides with as much cavity wax as they'll take.

Any other "gotchas" tips, tricks, or suggestions for keeping something like this roadworthy? Google's AI guestimates, based on statistical analysis of scrap rates versus production numbers, there may only be 15-25 "roadworthy" versions of this model, trim, and transmission combinations left anywhere

I didn't buy this planning on a super rare preservation "duty" yet here I am...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Don't worry, despite living in the salt-belt, I don't plan on driving it in winter for that reason...I do hope to drive it during the warmer months though!

An 88 GP was my very first car when I turned 16, so I'd always been looking for a decent one, "just for fun". I never planned on ending up with a bigfoot-riding-a-unicorn of rarity...something I'm not all together happy about...yet here we are!

Time has marched on, and I am now in a position where I have the time and resources to be able to own a “weekend” vehicle.  As luck, or possibly fate would have it, this beauty quite literally fell into my lap at the perfect moment…

A 92 Regal GS Coupe.  Black, Grey leather interior, low milage, One owner, garage kept its entire life, ordered new with every option box checked off…save for the sunroof. It’s truly worthy of the term survivor, and it’s exactly how I would have ordered one myself back in the day. 
 

Gotta say…it feels sort of strange to be back here posting again about a 1st gen coupe…but I can get used to that   I am also surprised at how many screen names I still recognize as well!

My first w-body was a '91 Grand Prix SE that I got in 1997. It served me well over the years, till I sold it in 2003 and got a '95 GP SE with the B4U package. I'd still be driving it today if the rear suspension/frame hadn't rotted away due to that horrible brine/salt they put on the roads here.

Who knows, maybe I'll get another GP someday...I really enjoyed driving that car!

1994 Chevy Lumina Z34 (stock for now)

Hopefully image appears, if not onto cover page on www.keithcoleman.net

I currently have 3 Grand prix, one is a 1996 grand prix se that is lowered with cut springs in the front and custom coil overs in the rear. It has a customer 2.5 inch exhaust all the way back, 97 ecm upgrade so its able to be tuned on HP tuners, cold air, ported intake, and some nice plugs and wires. Thats the Summer time daily. Fun car, not fast but fun. Hence the screen name.

now onto the other two. I have a 94 GP se I pulled out of a barn in WV back in 2022 with a buddy of mine. guy said it needed a fuel pump and that was it. I got it running in his yard, drove it on to the trailer and back 900 miles home. well after getting into the restoration I found that it had a stuck lifter. SO it got a new valve train. 100 miles later it developed a really bad rod knock. Then I got the idea of LS4 would be cool and im going to be pulling the engine lets manual swap it. Later i went on to buy a 91 gtp with a 5 speed. currently working on getting the fly wheel back from the machine shop and building engine mounts for the 5.3. its going to be fun when its done!

BUT this is where I need your help. my 94 did not come with power seats factory. I swaped the whole interior from tan to charcole from a donor car which I no longer have. In the manual it says the power wire is a orange wire with a black tracer. I cant not find that wire anywhere. now in the fuse box it has a solid orange wire coming out of it, probably a 10 gauge or so. I thought I found said orange wire but when I check it with my DVOM I cant  find continuity. Has someone installed power drivers seat in a 94 that didnt have one factory or does someone know where this pre wired in power wire would be? I would really like to use the factory equipment if I can.

Thanks guys look forward to hanging out here!

I still keep my eyes open for cool w-bodies even 9 years removed from owning one. I have even raced against a couple of them in lemons racing!

I’m in California. I have a non running 93 Regal and my GF has a lovely 93 Regal with 50K.  Both Customs with the 3.8.

Looking forward to document my fixing the white one up and keeping the red one going!

I'm thinking there must be a coil bracket missing, or the second belt tensioner don't fit.

Any ideas?

I am the recent recipient of a 1992 Cutlass Supreme International Executive Edition. I think it's one of 25 built. It's in very good condition, running and driving,has a LQ-1 with a five speed transmission,lot's of bells and whistles, original with new tires, and fuel pump.

I was wondering if anyone has an idea as to value on this rarity?

Thanks 

Kelly

hope I am in the right place.  I am trying to help my sister get her 95 cutlass convertible up and running. It has sat in a garage in Palm Springs for about 20 years and I am looking for info on steps to take before trying to start it.  I assume it turns over, but have not looked to see how I would check that. Been thinking to put some WD or Mike Marvel oil in the cylinders to soak a bit, but the rear plugs look intimidating.  Any info & suggestions appreciated. I wrenched a few old SBC & 60/70 Buick V6 in jeeps, nothing as modern as this.

thanks

Right now I've got a 1991 Pontiac Grand Prix SE 3.1L LH0 as a project and I daily a 1997 Pontiac Sunfire GT 2.4L LD9. I rebuild the Sunfire Quad 4 engine from the ground up a little more that a year ago; machine work done on the block, cylinders were bore .020 over, mild exhaust cam, new head. Nothing too crazy but it really runs like a top and I only have to fill up the tank on it once a month haha.

The Grand Prix 3.1L started out with a really loud knock in the bottom end of the engine. The odometer only read 79k when I bought it. Come to find out after pulling the engine and tearing it down it had a bent connecting rod on number 1. I think it got really hot at one point. I didn't have the money to do too much with this at the time so I found a donor connecting rod and piston, bought new rings for all pistons, new gaskets, and slapped it all back together. The crank, rod, and camshaft bearings still looked really good and there were no lips on the cylinder walls so I believed the odometer at this point. It runs great now, but now I'm dealing with an ECM issue. I think the pins on the ECM are either dirty or loose because the ECM is losing voltage and resetting itself. I would really love not having to go through the whole idle relearn process every time I want to drive it haha. OBD1 is fun!