Top5 Grand Am Beginner Mods! 

N body’s are awesome and before thinking about the sway sway bar I’d replace all the end links and bushings like ball joints ..ect, possibly wheel bearing and new tires and alignment first 👍🏼 these cars are pretty old now most of the rubber and tubes are way past the life span 🤷🏻‍♂️

Just out to share what we find and have some fun with it! Funny thing, the black Camaro in our group had a starter inhibitor switch under the dash at one time! Same thing, just all the electronics came one starter wouldn't engage tho!

I had a 94 Grand Am I bought used and the previous owner had a heater core problem but instead of replacing the heater core he bypassed the heater hose. Well, that added extra pressure in the coolant system and the plastic sides of the radiator started to leak and replacing radiators without fixing the heater core was pointless, and I was starting to have electrical issues and with the mileage it was time to either do a full build or cut my losses and at the time I cut my losses. I always wondered what would've happened if I had done a full build on that one though! The sound system in that car was incredible, and the orange tint of the dash at night reminded me of the monochrome screens on the 80's DOS computers. Personally, I think GM should bring back Pontiac to start selling Fieros with Turbo V-6's, Trans Am's, and a RWD GTO to compete with the Challengers you see all over the place! GM could use the GTO platform to bring back the Chevelle SS and that would force Ford to bring back the Torino Cobrajet! Buick could start building the GNX and Chevy could use that platform to bring back the Monte Carlo SS. I think the El Camino would do well too. The thing is, they have electric power steering now, lets just make bigger alternators and make electric heaters so people don't have to tear apart a dash and replace heater cores! If we can add 17 batteries for a stereo we can add another for a heater if it saves consumers $2,000 when fuses are cheap!

Yeah got a 2004 gran am transmission just failed 110k miles and now valves blew out of the head so now I need 2 heads replaced. I love the car but it’s time for a new one

I have a 2003 SE but it’s a 4 cylinder I’m just now getting into fixing the car up I got it for free last year if you have any other tips I’d love to hear it. Also curious if you’d know if the cold air intakes that fit the v6 would fit my 4 cylinder because I’m entirely unsure and the internet has proven mostly useless for grand am advice. RU-vid is my last hope lol

​@@mellonpoop1344Don't know how far you wanna go with this car but for cosmetics I'd go looking around the junk yard for gt trim and wheels. I'm currently looking for gt trim for my 02 SE V6, also if you're lucky you might find the hood with the two hood scoops.

I did a video on aftermarket keyless!, Will be doing an actual install video for the brakes too!. But I'll take that into consideration, thankn you!

Before my turbo setup, that's how mine was. No adverse effects, the cold air intake had holes all through the piping from corrosion so I stuck the cone right on the maf. Even had headers! That car I managed a 14.6 in the quarter!

Its actually ok to do that if you have the ram air hood, just take out the inserts to make it a functional air scoop.

Nice, good luck with everything. For boost, either build something yourself or have a shop make a custom setup. Save yourself the headache of running into issue, my turbo setup needs completely redone. As far as number, right now on 10psi it's about 300 to the wheel, it's a fight getting power out of these motors lol you have a nice start tho!

@@KMaffittGAGT most definitely going the self custom build rout, got the flanges from WOT and I’m a welder by trade so the turbo manifolds , down pipe ect will all be done by me my ocd is to crazy not to. And I definitely hear you on that, once everything is said and done I’m going tubular under framing and gutting most of the interior for max weight reduction but we’ll see thanks again man

@@Tennesseealero901 then your set building everything yourself. Don't get sucked into the pit like others lol

That used to be a thing! But you can get the lx5 for cheaoer

Tuning!. I have a video showing what I use, or you can purchase a tuned pcm from wot tech that includes that.

An upgrade in wires isn't a bad idea. Brand is all a preference! Nothing your gonna notice a difference between. Taylor sells an 8mm set for our cars! It's a great budget brand

All the plugs will be the same, you'll need an adapter plate and to modify the cable bracket.

Could be dirty sensors, or a vacuum leak!

Yes everything will fit fine. The cone will sit behind the bumper, won't actually touch the fender at all! Check out my playlist of broken grand am, that's all common things!

Just by the age difference, that's probably why. Way better technology and I'm sure the Nissan has much more power output. These cars made 150hp at the wheel when in peak shape (from a gt). Stock to stock there really won't be a comparison.

Little more involved for someone just starting out. But I believe I may make like an "intermediate" kinda list!

Nice! I've got videos on a 3.5 top swap it's a nice upgrade. Timing is an excellent note. I've seen a few 00+ snap. Both our motors have double rollers 😁. Can't stress the metal gasket enough either! The 99-05 cams are all hollow core. It's crazy! Our aftermarket came aren't thankfully! Nice bit of info. Check out the rest of the channel!!

@@KMaffittGAGT I also noticed with the top end swap the car seems to run cooler, anyone who owns a grand am V6 knows these things run warm you can get a double core radiator from Milzy but who wants to spend that kind of money lol.

@@martinez1701a there's really no difference to make it run cooler. Probably finally got the bubbles out and a good coolant mixture! I've had plenty stock 3.4s run just find temp wise! As far as the radiator, check out where I found a double core radiator for cheaper!!

@@KMaffittGAGT really? maybe it was just my builds but every damm grand am 3400 i owned ran warm. The only one that didn't was in a 04 impala, i think it was because the impala has a different cooling setup. Ide like to know where you found a cheaper radiator lol

@@martinez1701a yeah when the cooling system is in tip top shape they have no issues and don't even get warm enough to activate the fans! My turbo setup ran that way too before the bigger radiator. Check out the video on it! I shared the info all there.

Yes. The intake on this video was later used on a 65 mm

Right before the throttle body is a small straight piece. That holds the air temp sensor as well as the rear pcv tube!

Yup I have a video all about that as well. Theres a GA here in my garage that's cammed with a 3.5 top swap with port work!

Starfish wheels yes, if they're not chrome. The curved chrometech ones won't work. It's best to up to 17" either way

Nothing on the market, there's a few custom sets floating around people made back in the day but no solid info on them. We only have one lowering springs left to choose from. My advice is grab loaded strut assembles, super easy to install and can be had for a good price on rockauto. My go to brand is kyb.

@@KMaffittGAGTI figured kyb was really the only thing close that I could get since there's nothing really for aftermarket suspension or performance we only really have wheels on the grand ams

@@jbstudio98 there's still quite a bit out there. Just gotta know where to look!. There's a few options for stock suspension replacement, kyb seems to be the best.

4th gens I'm not very knowledgeable on. The security is a different setup and for power yeah it'll take a lot. All the work I did on my turbo GA and it wouldn't touch a hellcat lol

@@KMaffittGAGT nice! I'm not sure if it was your GA, but I saw a turbo'd one run low 12s on a youtube video. That said, at potentially 500+ hp and less than 3k lbs, I think I'd have a power to weight advantage. The hellcats a heavy vehicle, but it's a full on beast. :) it's awesome that theres a following for cars like these.

@@Kingswood7189 that car was built man moons ago and had tons of problems if its the one I'm thinking of. The gm v6 were never designed to be power houses sadly. They say my setup should do 400+. If I had to guess I'm probably around 250 on 7psi!

@@KMaffittGAGT electrical issues and leaking intake manifold as far as I know. Aside from that, they're not bad engines. In my experience, the thermostat is not in a good spot, but meh. I can imagine theres plenty of torque steer. :)

I also want to get some lowering springs any recommendations?

@@tythemanager2092 no tuning required! The computer will make adjustments over time with fuel trims. As far as lowering only one company is left and quality is questionable. H&r is the brand, make sure it's an authorized seller and not off eBay.

@@KMaffittGAGT thanks for the feedback! I want some cheap knock offs wheels (it’s going to be a pain to balance) will I need a different size for the camaro breaks?

@@tythemanager2092 it's recommended to run 17 or bigger for the Camaro brakes! Glad I can help!

There are not. And the last brand of lowering springs were discontinued

That's not a "beginner" mod lol. But no, the trans in these cars are typically trash anyhow so it's pointless to mess with them.

@@KMaffittGAGT You mean paying for a tune or tuning it yourself? I would think just paying for a tune and paying someone to install it is super easy. Now doing it yourself if course not.

@@jefferyboat7428 for this video getting a pre tuned pcm!

So that's the only bolt on kit avaliable (if it still actually is, long story lol) you'll other wise have to pick a Camaro style muffler and have a shop build the rest. Or watch the Facebook pages for part outs and what not, I've come across some exhausts in junk yards and re sold them. On the black car is an old slp muffler that was specific for grand ams, on the silver body kit car we just built is an slp for a Camaro.

@@KMaffittGAGT do you thing the bolt on pacesetter one would sound good? or should i just go to an exhaust shop. because iv watched a lot of videos on the exhaust but i want more of an aggressive/loud sound

@@_Spotty_ it's not bad, very tame and probably not the "aggressive" your looking for. People also report the cheap metal rusts in a year or so. And not just from salt/snow. You'll want something a little more free flowing and remove the resonator. Being a v6 it won't be that loud lol even on my turbo car it doesn't get anywhere near my buddies Camaro.

Not a "beginner" mod! Lol gotta remove the engine just to change the cam! Aftermarket cams are out there. And these engines come with a pretty optimal 1:6 rocker ratio! No one ever made aftermarket versions.

Sure I can help guide you in the right direction!

So these are still the basic beginner things to do with the v6 cars at least. What I mention can still be acquired, which is mostly stuff from other cars lol. The grand am aftermarket has gotten pretty close to drying up. More serious engine mods will come from wot tech. Otherwise gotta be searching the Facebook groups/marketplace and be ready with cash when the rare parts pop up. They become bidding wars lol

Not without tons of fabrication. And then it sticks above the hood. There's a couple people working on making the whole 3.8 able to swap in, which is still a lot of work but more efficient then trying to make the supercharger work. Your better off making a turbo kit like mine honestly, thatd be easier.

No but they do sell a super charger for the 3.4 V6 grand am but it's pretty pricey at around 2000$ because it's a company that makes them and sells them

Wow that's pretty luck you got that. As far as installing. Plug and play. You could try unhooking the battery for 15minutes and see if the iac changes. Worth a shot. But for just a TB change your not seeing enough of a change to effect anything severely

Did you have a problem like that or did you reset the battery and it ran fine ?

@@sethnewberry8736 it should run fine without, but the problem seems isolated to that so I'd recommend the reset, your fuel trims will also reset.

So today I tried again and turns out one of the screws on my idle control valve got stripped putting it back on last time so I had to get a new one but I left the battery unplugged the whole time I was working on it , bolted everything up and it fired right up thanks man 👍

@@sethnewberry8736 awesome! Glad to hear!! Thanks for following up.

The idea of the mods should, but you would need to look up impala specific parts, as it's a different platform.

I have looked into impala parts but u can only find headers for grand am. And the pcm tune I've seen on wot Tech but I was just curious if it actually works on the 3400 pcm

@@cgonzalez7023 yeah as far as the tune, talk with him about it. It's the same style pcm but tuned a little different, plus you use a different trans. I believe the option was there on pcm of nc for a 3.4 impala. You could honestly swap to a 3.8 since they came with those and be way ahead of anything you get from a 3.4

That's actually beyond what it's supposed to. I've gotten up to about 30 highway on all stock gt. 32 or so after a 3.5 swap.

@@KMaffittGAGT any idea why my fuel economy isn’t so great? Like low 20s. Only codes are thermostat and small exhaust leak and it seems to run good

@@KMaffittGAGT 22 mixed highway and city

@@javencharles exhaust leak can cause bad gas mileage. But that's actually better then the factory rating! 17/22 was the official rating. So you're doing really good.

The maf will adjust for more air! Plenty of room on the stock tables for improvement. You'll see a few extra mpgs! My first version of the black gt I was seeing 30+ mpg with intake exhaust and tune! Typically you'll see low to mid 20s!

@@KMaffittGAGT WOW that's a big gain hopefully this summer I'll be building a diy box truck RV and I'd like to squeeze as much mpg gain as I can without straining the motor or tranny thanks I appreciate it 😃✌️👍

@@markwolf9721 no problem!!

I didn’t know there was a grand am world

@@ronniehaines2155 it's there, just limited!

Mines an f40 6 speed. I do not recommend it tho. The f23 5 speed is the route to go

@@KMaffittGAGT thank You so mucho, bro.

Yes they came with 4 cylinders from factory

If your already running a cold air intake it'll still fit over it.

65mm throttle body is useless unless you put a 3.5 upper intake on it. cant get the full 65mm out of a 3.4 upper intake

@@hodgebone1 it's been done. I've had ported 3.4 uppers. 65mm at the opening. Lower ports were opened up as well. However, the tb by itself gets you a little more snappy of response. About it tho.

@@KMaffittGAGT hmmm sweet!!! was told by my local engine builder who I sent my upper to be ported that it was not possible for 65mm. I have a 2000 I race at local short tracks. I will have to do some more research

@@hodgebone1 Ive seen a few people deal with that. I build the engines myself. Same issue with tuning. No one wants to touch my car lol

The old formula, plus gasket material! But I change all my gm vehicles to green!

You can find me on Facebook and Instagram!!

i hope you didn't listen to this guy as he didn't do it correct at all. all he did was waste money. just get an upper intake and a throttle body from the junk yard. its $10 for gaskets. the 3500 intake bolts right on. the map sensor you do have to stretch the wires 2 more inches. the 3400 intake is restricted where it narrows when the 3500 intake is the same diameter all the way across

What are you looking for specifically.

Only been messing with them for 10 years lol. Check out the turbo 3.5 one i built!! lol Funny enough on the stock 3.4 manifold i was doing WOT pulls just fine! but you are right there is not enough material for more then a 65mm. A 3.5 upper is a good one to use i agree! Still need an adapter to use the a compatible throttlebody as they came with electronic ones. So you can't use a 3500 since these cars are cable driven! Be sure to check out the rest of the channel have a couple more builds/revisions coming. this was a quick cheap mod video for those on the pages asking! Thanks for the feedback!

Usually. But not always

everyone can have their opinion. I've tested these things real world in other videos. Have an opportunity to hit a dyno if things line up as well. Its not fun trying to find the parts, and i warn people of the lack of aftermarket for these things.