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TGPforums.com is now working again. It is still in archive status, meaning no new member registrations are allowed, but the forum is searchable without the need for a registered account.

...and it was terrible when GM did it too. FWIW my Northstar has zero stop leak in its cooling system as the problem was fixed correctly, no thanks to the General.

I painted mine. Masked off the brake pad contact area. Held up pretty good 20+ years later, but I never drive it in winter.

Dude.... I own this car now.... Mine is exactly how your describing yours... From florida originally but Ohio car, hail damage, salvage title, center line wheels and the black hood and spoiler... Bro I have your car lol.

Short answer, not really. Long answer, yes but I'm not nearly smart enough for that and I think the number of people that mess with the 94/95 ECMs is in the single digits.

For anyone who has visited the TGPforums.com website for the last few years, it is no mystery that the membership and posting traffic has slowed down to a crawl. The Turbo Grand Prix is slowly fading in to the past, and that has left me with a decision to make in regards to the future of that forum. Starting January 1st 2021, new member registrations will be disabled for the forum, and new topic creation will be turned off. Starting February 1st 2021, topic replies will be turned off. At this point the forum will enter an "Archive" status and will remain on the internet as a large resource for the Turbo Grand Prix. I will enable guest access to all previously hidden forums (with exception to administration forums), so all topics can be accessed without a registered user account. This has been posted as an announcement on the TGPForums, and I am cross-posting it here for informational purposes only. LukeZ34 Tgpforums.com Admin/Owner

very happy to see it back up and running. I just went on there the other day for some part numbers. Thank You Luke.

Hello all -- 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. The driver's door catch is annoying. It has 4 loud metal clunks sounds when opening and closing door. I can see the hinge is wore out, and lubing doesn't help. It will need to be replaced, but I am finding this part is NLA. Any suggestions? I scored some perfect Centerline Nitro 2 wheels on craigslist. They were on a 2002 Monte Carlo. 17x7. 5x115. 42MM offset. Polished Aluminum. WOW, are they light. Tire size calculators say 235/55R17 or 245/50R17 would be stock tire diameters and work with the 7" rim. I'm just starting research. Any thoughts or PICS on these sized tires for this style of car?

LED third brake light modification. To preface, my 1994 Z34 Lumina was driving down the road, and the third brake light trim cover fell onto the back seat. Upon a little inspection, the 3rd brake light housing was in sorry shape, and had been glued together in the past. Ordered a used light off eBay. So the factory bulbs are halogen 891 bulbs. There are a handful of sellers on Amazon that say they sell led versions of them. I was skeptical that they would fit in the housing. I had 194 led bulbs and sockets on hand, and decided to go with those. So the first thing, is to pop off the red lens, easy enough. Then use a uni-bit on a drill to open up the sockets to 5/8th inch From here, need to cut some lugs into the light housing for the 194 bulb sockets to thread into. I used a small 3 sided file. Took all of 15 mins to do. Then a little bit of wiring to do… splice wires and old connector together. Clean it up, snap the lens on it, and enjoy. This took all of 30 mins to do, with stuff I had on hand. I’m not a fan of the oddball bulbs that were in it, and glad I changed them.

Looks like a good mod to do. They use the same oddball bi-pin bulbs in the Cutlass Supreme spoiler rack as well. I would recommend using red LEDs, even behind a red lens. You'll get a better color, especially since LEDs are a cooler color than the original halogens and tend to look even more faded behind a red lens than halogens. The 194 socket will also fit larger T15 sized bulbs since they have the same wedge base. You can use 921 LED replacements for more brightness which is always a good thing with brake lights. I've tested some 921 LED replacements that are insanely bright.

Frame rot, damn. He said it was rust-free when he got it. I guess 8 years of Ohio winters was too many.

They installed plugs correct for mid to late 90s 3100 engines, not the early 90s 3.1L. The symptoms fit the extra large gap. I also installed new AC Delco wires and a new O2 sensor, but I’m thinking the plugs were the problem.

Looks like the quick connect fitting is ok. And the leak has otherwise dried up. Only time will tell though.

I've never used that product, but I'm generally not a fan of stop leak products. I've used them in the distant past. In my experience, they tend to cause more problems down the road.

Thanks I will check that out. I did buy some of Bar Seal's best stuff and already it seems to be working. I'll know more about that in a few days. There was coolant on top of the hold down bolt (for the oil pump drive) and moving on down that way. But, I cleaned it all off before putting in the bar seal, followed the instructions and then drove the car a bit. No leaks last night and no leaks this morning, it's all dried out. Hopefully this will be the end of that, but I will keep my eye on that fitting.

It should retract. Almost seems like it could be getting bound on something as you said it drops slightly below the close point. You can check for it getting mechanically bound by removing the fuse and connecting a multimeter in Amps mode in place of the fuse. When it stops moving, see if it's drawing any current. If it is, the motor wants to move it, but it's getting mechanically bound. If no current when it stops, then a switch or relay is electrically preventing it from moving further.

Well, that's not fun. Got all the aftermarket audio equipment pulled. Plugged in the factory radio and... sounds distorted on the left channel, right channel completely out. Pop sounds when I push the buttons. It worked fine when pulled 32-years ago, so I'm guessing something that ages has gone bad. Probably electrolytic capacitors. I've read there are some green ones that like to go bad and leak. I just learned today the amp/radio module is the same as used in GMT400 pickups. I guess that explains why these radios are modular and can be taken apart into smaller modules. Vehicles with the split radios used the same modules with cables connecting them.

The booster is held on with a 1/4 turn lock. Make sure the locking tab isn’t holding it from rotating, (push/pull it into unlocked position.) then get a prybar on the master cylinder studs and rotate it off. It’s so simple it’s stupid. Just an odd ball design.

Don't know how important this was to the corrosion resistance, but I forgot to mention I primed mine with Rustoleum Cold Galvanizing Compound spray. It worked surprisingly well as a primer on bare metal. It never chipped, flaked, or peeled. I don't know if it's the same formula today as the one I used a couple decades ago. Photos looks like it's now a smooth gray primer appearance, but mine was a very sparkly shiny bright metallic silver color. Almost looked like fine very fine glitter. Still have the can and looks like it's the same can as the current product though, so who knows.

You get it, you have those rims that visually open up the brake/suspension components much like the rims I have. When the rims and tires look good the rusty looking parts stand out. All the replacement parts for our 1st gens almost immediately flash rust out of the box and most 1st gen rims are mesh or solid so it never mattered, until 2026 when these are the "newest" classic antiques. I`m not trying to build a show car but something resembling a higher optioned factory 1 off that might show up at a show or randomly in traffic because the MPGs on a 3100.

I don't remember there being too much different in the wiring. I had installed a GM Accessories alarm in the '88 and was able to completely go by the wiring diagram and service manual of the '89.

UPDATE: I was just advised the mechanic is going to elect to go the RTV route; the head will not be pulled for this job. I think you can all hear the huge yell of relief coming from this desk. I'll be sure to post once completed.

So I've had 2 GTP's so far, but this is my first Buick Regal GS. bought it from a grandpa and it was very basic looking when I bought it. Since buying it a couple weeks ago, I've tinted the windows, installed 4 Buick puddle door lamps, white face gauges, scangauge ii, black-housing headlights, zzp F-body brakes, tinted the taillights, installed red reflective lettering on bumper, custom front license plate and holders to match car theme, and took out the window and shift bezel wood trim and painted it flat black to match the rest of the car. I'll post pics when I get it all done, still in the process of some of it

UPDATE - I believe I may have found a shop with a mechanic having the experience to have worked on these motors that will do the job. My first hunch was to go to a Chevy dealership as the Lumina had these motors as well, those Z-34's you almost never see (?). As soon as they found out I was in no rush to get the car back, they were more open to the idea of working on it. I guess they thought I wanted it done yesterday. Not the case, anytime between now and July 22 will do........ Stay tuned

One should have the service manual within reach for electrical diagnosis.

Hi, I’ve just stumbled onto this forum, and i figure I’ll probably need to post here eventually acquired my luminator last year, 2nd owner from a grandma. 70000 (got w 55000)miles. Here’s some pics; thx yall

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

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.

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”)

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.

Gotta love that quality 80s GM fit and finish! And that Regal is very oddly equipped. Bench seat, manual locks and windows, no rear reading lights.....but it has alloy wheels. Then there is this: That cluster must be from a pre-production vehicle, as the tach was never red like that on any of the production ones. My old 88 Regal was a November 87 build, and the tach was green like the rest of the cluster.

Both of those pieces aren't available anymore NOS. A parts car or junkyard run will be your best bet. I actually found my pieces that way. For the door weather seal, it's part #10283235. For the windshield cowl base, that rubber piece is apart of that metal base where the wipers rest. That part # is 10122028. I actually have the door seal but I need it for my STE. Sorry, I think I might have got the last NOS one. I bought it 6 years ago or so. Possibly...a Lumina/Regal/Cutlass sedan might be the same? I don't know for sure though. Also, a local glass shop might have the rubber piece in stock or could order it for the windshield base. I'm going to the junkyard soon and If I find a good one...either one of those parts, I'll grab them for ya.

My 89 Grand Prix was not in use for many years, the radio degraded in that time. It started to give a lot of pops and bangs. So much it seems to have blown a front speaker in the few moments it has been turned on. The speaker is an easy fix, just remove the dash pad and screw a new one in (16054362 is replaced by 15173233 and can be easily found). My system is a 4 speaker with Remote control head 16075882, the optional Cassette+equalizer 16050912 and steering wheel controls. The amp and receiver (16072780) which is located above the glovebox is the one that typically causes issues. I found the documentation here on the forum, unfortunatley the link for the amp doesn't work anymore: But even better than documentation, I found a common cause and fix for the pops and bangs: I tried exactly this procedure: https://reattaowner.com/roj/component/content/article?id=198:radio-capacitor-replacement-instructions. The 6 green capacitors were indeed shot. I found d4x5mm (not d5x5mm), 1uF, 50V, 105°C replacement capacitors at RS and had a specialist to put them in. The radio now works well, only some very minor pops are still noticable when the volume is turned to 0. I am very happy with the result and recommend this fix. However, I did notice now that my FM tuner apparently only goes up to 104.05MHz... Scanning, or manual tuning to get past 104 make it jump to the bottom of the frequency band again. I wonder if anyone else had a similar issue or fix for this?

Just to prove I’m not full of it. Here from the parts manual is the entirety of the LG5 engine air intake system

I bought this 1994 Cutlass Supreme from the auction and who ever had it didn't finish the swap but I found out it's a 3.8 out of a Grand Prix.

HERE'S MY CAR AFTER ALL THE VISUAL UPGRADES

That's it in a nutshell, accurate cam timing is dependent on the condition of the timing chain, the chain will wear/stretch over time, the longer the engine (for example...original parts) has been in use the more wear the chain will see. It's possible for an extremely worn chain (under just the right circumstances) to jump a tooth on the crank gear. The attached pic is an example of a well worn chain. Pull up the tension on one side & the opposite is extremely loose.

Hey Iv'e browsed around here for a long time, but just actually joined for much needed help. My rear pads are completely gone and have damagd my rotors pretty bad. I went to replace the pads and rotor but noticed the rear calipers have the e-brake attached to it. How do i remove the caliper with the e-brake in the rear? I think i can remove the cable but the actually ebrake unit itself in the the way of the caliper bolts. any help is appreciated, thanks!

Yup. That'll do it. Not the best/most efficient method--but that'll work. Pistons definitely twist back in--unless you remove the one nut and one washer, and pull the eBrake cable bracket. Pushing the piston STRAIGHT in with a c-clamp is a thousand times easier than spinning it back in, and there's no special tool needed. Instead of the huge friction from the large piston seal, you have very little friction from the small O-ring that seals the small threaded post that the e-brake cable bracket is secured to. It could not be easier--except to have a caliper that doesn't have the e-brake mechanism. All four of my rear calipers have had the pistons pushed straight back in, one car has been done two--three times as the pads have worn out. E-brakes and service brakes still work just fine. This does NOT destroy the calipers IF (big IF) you REMOVE THE NUT, WASHER, and BRACKET. No promises on this working on the newer-style calipers, but it certainly works on the first-gen style.

That is the official procedure. My way is far faster and easier.

'92? Caliper piston does NOT need to be TURNED back in. In fact, that's the most-difficult possible way to retract it. Remove one nut and one washer from back side of caliper--remove the little bracket that the park brake cable attaches to. Remove caliper from rotor. Secure so it doesn't hang from the brake hose. I pinch the rubber brake hose with a needle-nose vice grip or the special hose-pinching tools. (Can't do that with aftermarket steel braid-over-Teflon liner brake hoses!) Open the brake bleeder valve on that caliper. Push caliper piston back in with a C-clamp. The spinning is done by the shaft that the nut, washer, and bracket were attached to, not the piston. Brake fluid squirts out bleeder valve, might want to use a length of vacuum hose on the bleeder nipple to direct the fluid into a drain pan. DO NOT allow the old dirty brake fluid to push backwards through the system so that it contaminates the ABS hardware. Remember that the caliper is adjusted by REGULARLY USING THE PARK BRAKE, so if you go months at a time without setting the park brake, expect caliper problems.

OK Got this knocked out yesterday. Gave the TGP a rear suspension overhaul. For those that wanna do it themselves. 4 REAR gen2 lateral links work great, and are like $24 brand new off rock auto. the front ones have to be shortened by 1.5 inches to work properly and have a good range of adjustment. The guy who cut and welded mine put a piece of 1/2in round stock inside the joint (fits nice and tight) and chamfered a 45* angle on the edges before welding them. I am confident that they will hold up great. for reference I used RAYBESTOS Part # 5762115 but anyhow. here we go. and yes. you have to drop the rear subframe to get the old ones out, gas tank is in the way of the bolts coming out through the rear. I turned the rear bolts around so if i ever have to drop the links off again its not nearly as bad to do, pic of that shortly. maybe that is why my car was impossible to align. I'd bet some tow truck driver once upon a time did that old crap removed, new lateral links fit like a glove I am so happy with how this worked out, will be doing this to the z34 100% for sure.

L26 Swap Electrical portion C100 Connector, 96 Harness on left side, 95 Body harness on right side. Directions follows for harness changes: Cut E1 wire, reposition into A3 Connector. Run wire through fire wall and through A1 Port after disconnecting J2. Disconnect K1 and isolate. For K1, Battery Fused wire will need to be fused. I Spliced into the 60 Amp Maxi fuse circuit for the 3.4L Air pump circuit. Pump consumes 25Amp (No longer used). Spliced into a circuit requiring 15 amps for Sund Roof/power windows/locks/Digital Temp Control. Wire pulled from K1 DOHC Harness and reconnected into 1996 Regal harness circuit. Also Trans wiring. Verify Which harness you have on the 1996 trans. OBDII Conversion: Cut off OBDI Connector, Cut off OBDII connector from junkyard. Match up all colors the same. Orange to orange (needs to be fused into B+) Both Black wires spliced into OBDII Black wire, Tan to Tan. Note the purple wire is spliced into my Serial Data wire I fed through C100 connector from A1.

VATS does not care about VINs. in fact, it has no way of determining what the VIN is that's stored in the PCM since it doesn't communicate at all, it only acts based on inputs.

I'm not sure if there's room under the gen 2 intake. Never tried them, then went gen3. The can be made to work in a gen 3. You would need the following brackets. http://wot-tech.com/shop/all/l67-injector-rail-brackets/prod_119.html You'd also have to splice in different connectors. Might be more effort than it's worth for your application

yes. a 93 W with a 3.1 is OBD 1 and has the electonic tranny... so do the 91-93 3.4 cars

A junkyard. OldSkoolGP just converted his GP over to OBD-II. You may want to get in touch with him for any advice or tips.

For a conversion, youll need an OBDII wiring harness, all the extra sensors, the ports, computer. Sounds MUCH easier than it really is...

I'd take OBD-II over megasquirt. MS is really more of a hobbyist thing.. I wouldn't put it into something I drove every day.