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The *actuator* was discontinued approx 20 years ago.......finding an NOS piece would be a challenge. The item IS serviceable..........

Its likely a pre-production thing that never carried over, as that episode was filmed prior to the 88 cutlass being released.

Greetings forum members! New member, so thought I'd take a moment to introduce myself. Last Spring (2025) I acquired a relatively pristine (54k miles) 88 Pontiac GP SE. I hadn't even known they made these with a 5-speed, so I hadn't explicitly been looking, yet lo and behold here we are. 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!

Automatic equipped FE3 springs from a 3.4 DOHC car seem to be the stiffest. The manual trans springs are slightly less stiff (as compared side by side, and they have different part numbers). In other words your automatic Z34 has the stiffest ever available factory.

I know it's been done before. I think the biggest issue is always switching the vehicle over to OBDII. But if you aren't going for a Series II L67 a Series I L67 from a Bonneville that is OBD 1.5 might make a better option.

So I was watching old motorweek episodes on the 1st gen W-Bodies, and grabbed some screen caps comparing the times motorweek got. I realize this isnt bible but its interesting nonetheless! Of note - the quad 4 manual cutlas was the fastest of all to 60, but had a lower trap speed than the TGP and Z34. Clearly the Quad 4/manual was a good choice for this car performance wise - and their commentary on handling was that it was excellent (the most praise of the four) The TGP had the quickest 1/4 mile time, but not trap speed. The video showed very little wheelspin which clearly aided it off the line. The Z34 5-speed had a ton of wheelspin and tire smoke which seems to have limited its 0-60, but its trap speed is by far the highest. Clearly without the wheelspin this would be the “fastest” w-body and demonstrates the best power to weight. The 90 STE turbo was painfully slow compared to the rest, and especially the TGP. Given that its the same powertrain and the coupes and sedans are negligibly different weight-wise, this was either on a very hot day, or they just didnt have a very fast example (maybe a “friday car”)

I guess I've been here long enough to say this, why are we bumping 15 year old threads? I didn't even read the comment, but it sounds like it's a bot that is advertising.

was this badge a 88 or maybe 89 year option or standard feature? i've never seen that besides in this video

I do not believe that the 1994 Cutlass Supremes had the "Audio Bass Control" slider switch as an option, but I am not certain of this. The slider was located below the fog light button if the car were so equipped (there were two versions of the fog light switches). Here's an image of one (sorry it's so big): If the car was equipped with this feature, it also had a small amplifier located behind the dashboard, to the left of and slightly below the instrument panel. My 1992 Cutlass Supreme was pre-wired for this feature. The harness was folded and taped under the dashboard. I had a hell of a time getting the amplifier out of a junkyard car. The slider does definitely make a difference in the bass response in the 6x9s. It's been a really long time since I've posted here. I still love this site because it hasn't changed and people are still tinkering with their Ws.

What you see is actually *6PY* ....goes with *7PY* possibly front suspension FLH *6PY, FRH *7PY* 6PY 4 2 0 3 7 P FLH M COMPONENT FRT LH COMPUTER SEL SUSP (6PY) 8 9 0 2 0 1 E 1 E A 7PY 4 3 3 3 3 P FRH M COMPONENT FRT RH COMPUTER SEL SUSP (7PY) 8 9 0 2 0 1 E 1 E A

amended

W body spring codes *paste this into your web browser address bar* my fronts are FYB, the rear is RFK *let's try this again.......this should work*

I should have specified contacting a spring shop that specializes in making custom coil springs like this website https://www.coilsprings.com/classic-car-coil-springs No idea what numbers you'd have to give them, I wish I had a spec sheet from a discontinued aftermarket performance option for reference but I imagine those are very hard to come by.

Spring shops can only install what's available in the aftermarket, & FE3's are not one of them. The springs availability is *generalized*, only the basic spring would be available.

I did a bit of digging on this a while ago and unfortunately if you want to change anything about the suspension rate in these cars now past what FE3 gives you'll either need to contact a spring shop or figure out how to fit coilovers on the car. There were custom coilover mounts available here but the last batch sold out years ago. I'm sure there are springs out there that fit the car and provide a stiffer rate than stock but as far as I'm aware nobody has come across ones that fit.

The springs are not a *Chevy* thing....all 1st Gen W's with the FE3 got the stiffest coils available. What's under your Z34 is also under a GP with the FE3 suspension.

There are no longer aftermarket *performance* springs manufactured for the 1st gen W's, if you've got the FE3 suspension under the car then you've already got the stiffest springs available. I take it that you want lower the front to match the dropped rear's ride height?

I’m leaning toward an injector issue. Belt and tensioner are new with the engine install. Vacuum lines are good. I’m going to replace the MAP and TPS. Definitely seems fuel or air related.

I would`ve liked that badge to be illuminated on the door pillar with black powdercoated door handles/lockplate vs the vertical pillar handle design we got.

Ive been getting water collecting in the spare tire well in the TGP and havent been able to figure out where its coming from. Thanks for mentioning the sealer failure, I will take a closer look.

When retracting...... the entire glass frame lowers to below the roofline & then retracts along the runners to the full stop position at the back end of the runner assembly. When the assembly is in the *closed position* the glass is flush with the roofline exterior.

I had a buddy of mine take a look at my Lumina for the same issue, in the trunk opening and below the rear window. Seam sealer cracked and allowing water in. Also I can see it leaking/starting to rust underneath the taillights just below the rear bumper support. Seams of panels. Might want to look there. My body shop guy will probably sand blast it, reseal it, then paint.

I ordered one to try. Thank you. I’ll keep you posted if I have questions about it.

They're supposed to retract. They don't "fully" retract in the sense you no longer see them, but they're supposed to retract nearly all of the way. When I had my 92 Cutlass many years back, the sunroof didn't move properly. I believe the drive gear was stripped, and I ended up just pulling an entire sunroof unit from a car in the junkyard and replacing it. I also had the sunroof in my 2000 Regal break, to where it wouldn't retract properly, and would only tilt. I never looked into fixing it...but it acted similar to a power window with a broken track.

Agreed. I always buckled up after closing the door. That said, I really liked the door-mounted belts for their better access to the rear seats. On my '95 convertible, the more traditional floor and ceiling mounted belts and shoulder harness become an obstacle to rear seat access. While I've never ridden back there, I have become entangled in them, and even had a couple of falls, when climbing in and out to vacuum the rear area. That's the one aspect of the updated interior that I don't like.

I should check my timing belt again, its been a while. I know it has lower miles-ish on it, but I've owned it for 15 years now. My list for this spring is a new starter (gets heat soaked and doesn't wanna crank), and a new window regulator for the drivers side, and while in the door I may clean out or replace the power lock motors, not sure if they're weak or just old and gummed up Doesn't answer your question but it got me thinking haha

What they liked the best: The brakes. What folks complain about the most on this site: The brakes. I've said it before, I'll say it again: The biggest problem with Gen 1 brakes is not the brakes per se, it's the brake booster.

When I first saw this I was wondering why this logo was placed on the door handle.

I think youd have to do it by generation, as there are some significant changes by generation as well as intent (when you get to the later years there was more of a focus on handling handling vs the earlier focus on comfort handling). In addition, its important to consider that skidpad Gs do not equal handling. Ive driven race cars that would do an epic skidpad number but are so ill handling in transition/under braking/whatever, that they are virtually undriveable. I have the most experience with 1st gen w-bodies, and my vote there would be for the FE3 level Grand Prix coupe with the 245 wide tires. Though I suspect/wonder if the 1990 olds international with FE3 and the quad 4 would be the ultimate iteration for handling. Ive never driven one (almost nobody has) so I cant say definitively, hence my mention above of the 245 tire equipped GP. For gen 1.5, Im not sure. For the last generation, its most likely the 2008 GP GXP. The fact they fitted reverse stagger tires (and engineered the suspension to utilize this setup) tells me someone understood how to make an FWD car handle.

It’s been just a little over a year now since I got the Regal…so what better way to celebrate that than with some more recent pictures. Nothing much visually has changed except for the refinished wheels and new tires…which was a fairly large, yet subtle change on its own. My intent is to keep the car as stock as possible, and to keep it up to snuff mechanically to be used as a reliable, fair weather cruiser. And to shake things up…. This is the final picture I ever took of my 89 GS before it was parked for good in summer of 2008.

i got the front end by exchaning the motor (0 mile dohc) and a few hundred for bumpers and hood, the hood had really bad rust on the front lip so it was junked and i bought a new one for $300 so i'm not sure how much they go for but i know it's more than a few hundred. Later Jay

did i change my front end!? LOL i changed my whole car! j/k but yeah i did i put all the parts from the Z34 coupe on my base model 4 door, and the side skirts are from Razzi. I got a n ew white paint job and all the parts and labor for about $5500. lot of money i know but i love my car, next is to sell my coilovers and get a air cylinder set up. Later Jay check out my www tab on the bottom and see what it used to look like