The GoatBoat: 2006 Pontiac GTO

[Tyler.M]

Car just hit 86k miles and everything still works like the good Lord intended. I'm putting a lot more miles on it then I expected but I'm taking the low gas prices as a sign that I'm meant to drive this car generously. It's starting to show it's age though: Some of the stitching is starting to come out of the driver seat which I need to get reupholstered and it's paint is getting chip-happy. I'm getting some squeaky brake noises and the e-brake is not very effective so its about time to do a brake refresh and do a suspension check up anyways. The mods on this thing are really freaking old: JBA which made the exhaust and headers on this car have been defunct for awhile and the CAI from K&N has a massive cone filter that seems to be tough to find a replacement of for some odd reason. Also, I really miss bluetooth so a head unit update will probably happen soon.
Here's what I would like to do in the near future:

• Brake Refresh and E-brake adjustment (some people use the brembos from a cts-v. A headache but might be a cool novelty sort of thing.)
  
• Oil Change
  
• Interior stitching fix
  
• Head unit update
  
• Cone filter replacement
  
• Tires and New Wheels.
  
• New Pipes
  
• Suspension refresh
  
• Dyno'd and Tuned[*/]
  
• Exterior detailed, front bumper repainted and reset.
  
• Take some videos of the beautiful sounds it makes.
  
  All in all, happy with the car and build quality... I have to admit though, I really miss my FRS. I'll keep this 3700lbs of lard up until it hits a 100k or so but after that I may go back. Or try to find something in the middle between good power and lightness. Perhaps a c6 'vette? I'm really digging these LS engines.
  

[Jake]

Don't bother with CTS-V brakes unless you want the cool blingbling factor. Just put good pads on it, new (RockAuto) rotors and some good fluid.

Any cone filter with the right diameter (where it mates to the intake tube thing) should be fine.

[Kaan]

you should do all of that in the next 14k miles, its totally worth it.

[D_Eclipse9916]

All in all, happy with the car and build quality... I have to admit though, I really miss my FRS. I'll keep this 3700lbs of lard up until it hits a 100k or so but after that I may go back. Or try to find something in the middle between good power and lightness. Perhaps a c6 'vette? I'm really digging these LS engines.
[/list]

'Vette. All the usefulness of the GTO (come on, you can't use those rear seats anyway), with all the playfulness of an FRS. They aren't the best put together cars, leaving a 2004 Corvette in the garage makes my garage smell reminiscent of glue and fiberglass, 11 years later! But the grin to $ ratio is hard to beat.

[ScottyB]

suspension refresh basically sounds like raiding the Pedders catalog....all i remember from my GTO fandays were that they were the suspension 1-stop-shop.

[Tyler.M]

I hear pedders is the way to go. Can't wait to see what that bill will be....

I need to start getting an idea of what to look for in a 'vette. I like the stylings of the C6's but I'm not sure if thats worth the cost. The C5's seem to be a much better bargain.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[ScottyB]

All the usefulness of the GTO (come on, you can't use those rear seats anyway

the rear seats are awesome, they're big inside.

its the trunk that's a total joke. thanks, US crash test standards

[JPolen01]

All the usefulness of the GTO (come on, you can't use those rear seats anyway

the rear seats are awesome, they're big inside.

its the trunk that's a total joke. thanks, US crash test standards

I mean, I fit in one with absolutely zero room to move my feet. I'm not sure how useful they are, but for a 5 minute trip to get some beer they work fine.

[ScottyB]

you don't need feet, you're in a car! silly Polen.

i just mean in terms of your average sporty coupe you get two pretty nice thrones back there. of course it'll take 8 minutes to get in the thing because the electric seat's so slow to move forward but i digress.

[JPolen01]

of course it'll take 8 minutes to get in the thing because the electric seat's so slow to move forward but i digress.

:lol: That was me and 5 friends taking an uber to brunch last weekend as we waited for the electric folding seat in the suburban to fold itself up. Only for it to malfunction and the driver had to come and push a bunch of buttons.

[Tyler.M]

All the usefulness of the GTO (come on, you can't use those rear seats anyway

the rear seats are awesome, they're big inside.

its the trunk that's a total joke. thanks, US crash test standards

I mean, I fit in one with absolutely zero room to move my feet. I'm not sure how useful they are, but for a 5 minute trip to get some beer they work fine.

I like the way there's no footwell room but they have air vents for the back cent out of the center console as if people will sit there regularly. And yes, the trunk is a joke. I had more room in my FRS with the seats folded down. I'm pretty disappointed in that. I took the FRS camping with my girlfriend and myself but I wouldn't be able to get near the amount of gear in the back of the Goat. A valuable lesson this: Overall car size of the car does not dictate the amount of actual storage space.

[Tyler.M]

Check out the exhaust sounds. GoPro makes it easy.


[youtube]pkSGaGpA2fs[/youtube]


Thanks to my man Stephen for helping out a noob figure out how to embed videos.

[RawrImAMonster]

Just put the last section of letters from youtube links like this:

Code:

[youtube]pkSGaGpA2fs[/youtube]

[youtube]pkSGaGpA2fs[/youtube]

[Tyler.M]

So, if you guys read my M3 thread years ago, you know I had a tendency to freak out when bad things happen to my car. Not my finest moment, that. To save you the trouble, here's a recap: I attempted to do a cooling system overhaul on my own to save some cash, screwed it up, waterpump shredded on the first drive and I lost about 1500 bucks on it to get it fixed properly.

Anyways, that was then, this is now.

The Goat's motor has spun a bearing. Not sure why, oil levels were always fine, pressure indicator never took a dump, but either way, the oil pump failed (whether this is the fault of low oil or the pump is the center of the spun rod bearings, I'm not sure). I had a 3rd party powertrain warranty on the car from a place called Easy Care, which, of course, completely denied my claim after I had the motor torn down at a dealership and lost 1400 bucks. They denied it saying I ran the car without oil, dealership argues with them that the oil pump failed, then they get together and decide to join forces against me and say its my fault. It's not, but whatever. You guys know how anal I am about cars and making sure everything is perfect. (I'm the guy that reinstalled the stock head unit on my e36 because the aftermarket LED lights didn't match the other displays). Let's skip this part. Just, FYI, (and most of you probably know this) don't do the 3rd party warranty thing.

My car, as it sits, has no motor and no transmission in it. Former me would probably freak out. But now, older, wiser Tyler sees opportunity.

I essentially have a blank chassis that I can begin to build a project on. I like oddball cars too, and the GTO doesn't get much weirder when it comes to muscle cars. Australian? Check. Limited production years? Check. Brand no longer in existence? Check. Looks like a bloated Cavalier to the average citizen? Check. If I do this right, I could have an interesting build on my hands. Yes, it's fat, but I look at it as a sleeper Corvette with usable rear seats.

So, here's my goal. I'm going to keep this car until the day it turns to ash in a nuclear apocalypse. At this point, there is no way I'm going to recoup any of the cash I'm going to spend getting it back on the road, so I'm going to treat this as tuition in a very expensive school called DIY. Many of you have already gone down this path, I myself have not had the patience to do so until now. I'm okay at working on bikes but cars scare me. They're big, complicated and heavy and every time I'm underneath of a car on jackstands, all I can think about is that head-exploding animation from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I'll get over it.

Every beginner's guide to modification says I have to start my build with a purpose, so my purpose is this: A reliable DD with responsive handling, able to do an autocross and such from time to time. "Shouldn't be tough, do it in a few weekends", says Jack's Achilles-heel confidence.

First and foremost get this motor figured out. Dealership is saying that the motor is rebuildable and the block isn't scored, but since they assisted in my no-good very bad week and then took my money for it, I'm a little wary. I've got some great suggestions for good shops in the area that some of you have recommended. If the motor is rebuildable, I'll probably want to go with stock components and swap in the much superior LS3 heads which can be had for cheap. I could do a junkyard motor which is always the cheapest option, but there's also a shit ton of risk with that as well and not too many options in this area. LS2 crate motors are nowhere to be found now, so if I wanted to go crate, I'd have to do an ls3 and the motor alone (without the other stuff for the swap) would cost me anywhere from 5800 to 6500 depending on where I get it from. I could also get my motor rebuilt from Jasper which would cost about 5500 with a warranty, but Jasper has been getting a bad rap over the past 2 years, looks like quality of service has diminished, and at that price a new motor with .2 extra liters sounds more appetizing. Last thing I want to do is be back where I started 1 year from now. Lots of questions with the swap, most I can figure out except for the emissions questions. I'd hate to drop all this cash and have it fail a $20 state inspection.

I'll probably go ahead and do new headers and exhaust as well while I'm doing the motor stuff, because why not. The exhaust sound okay, but it could be throatier. The headers look like shit and I don't like the design.

Then wheels. Already picked those out. Then suspension refresh and brakes. BTW, Pedders is dead in the States now, which used to be the bread and butter of suspension solutions for the Aussie Goat. That'll be fun. Everyone says Lovells now or some BC coilover stuff. I have done 0 research on aftermarket suspension or wheels in my entire life, opting for stock options. Funny thing though, the GTO has the same bolt pattern as many BMW's, and a lot of people use CSL wheel reps. I'm not doing that because my OCD won't allow it, but BMW is like that heavy breathing kid in Hey Arnold and will never leave me alone, it seems.

Any suggestions you guys have will be appreciated. Yes, I should have kept the FRS and modded that, but the cards I've been dealt are the cards I've been dealt. This entire experience of owning this car has been stupid mistake after stupid mistake on my end and I own that. This motor shit is not my fault, but I should've been more discerning on the people I was dealing with. I've learned from it and I'm using this as a chance to learn a few things that I've avoided for awhile now. I'll document and update on this thread and will take all ridicule and flame as it comes.

TLR Blew my motor, gonna keep the car and rebuild it.

[WRXtranceformed]

Bummer man I'm sorry to hear that. I would personally light up that dealership, and either way I would not give them the business on the rebuild.

Do you really love this car and have the budget to build it right? Having been down this road before I can tell you that to do it right (if you really are keeping it for a while) you're going to want to 2-2.5x your expected budget. Is the car paid off? If you don't love the car and it is, it may make the most sense to sell the shell and use that money to re-up in a newer car. You said it's been stupid mistake after stupid mistake; a stupid-er mistake would be to keep throwing money at it endlessly. Just another voice on your shoulder to listen to or not

[Tyler.M]

Valid advice. I want this situation to not suck, but financially it's going to hurt. I still owe a good amount on the car. An embarassingly high amount. Now, I can expand my time frame a bit and focus on getting the var back on the road this summer instead of straight away which frees up a bit of this burden. Or not do a thing, pay off the car, secure title and sell the shell. Lot of questions only I can answer but in general I hate feeling shackled to this thing. Since I am though, Im trying to figure out a way to make this a positive experience. Only direction I'm thinking is to make it my bucket list project car and have fun with it. I do love it, honestly. For my budget and sensibilities, it's about perfect

[.RJ]

Any suggestions you guys have will be appreciated

You know what you have to do.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.lefthandutes.com/">http://www.lefthandutes.com/</a><!-- m -->

[ViPER1313]

The cheapskate in me says get the block / all parts back and build it / reassemble it yourself. If the motor only spun a couple rod bearings and nothing else came apart, take the crank and rods to a machine shop, have them turn them and put some oversized bearings in, then bolt it back together. A full engine gasket kit is a couple hundred, bearings and machine shop work will be another couple hundred, new oil pump can't be that much. If you still want to do all the awesome things you laid out above, great, but at least it's drivable as you are saving up for all that.

[Tyler.M]

i was going to mention i was considering rebuilding it myself but wasnt sure how stupid of an idea that was, or if it was stupid at all. i have most everything i need to do the rebuild, tool/stand wise

[ViPER1313]

i was going to mention i was considering rebuilding it myself but wasnt sure how stupid of an idea that was, or if it was stupid at all. i have most everything i need to do the rebuild, tool/stand wise

Not stupid at all, worst you are out is < 1g. Building a motor is not rocket science; every shady build I have slapped together seems to turn out OK.