My 1973 Grand Am...

[sk8400048ks]

Yeah, so I'm new here. But I'm just (finally) starting to work on my Grand Am, and I figured I'd find a site devoted to nothing but Grand Ams to help me out. Got it for $700 with only 73,349 miles on the original engine. 6.5L V8, automatic, power steering, etc. Ask for details if you really want them... It needs paint, and a new nose, and some minor work (the alternator belt just snapped, it needs minor parts replaced, there's a crack in the windshield near the bottom, and the driver's side door won't open from the inside). But for $700, I'm not complaining.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3462/dscn11752mh.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn11752mh.jpg)

http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/1392/dscn11765dw.th.jpg (http://img162.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn11765dw.jpg)

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/7299/dscn11773zt.th.jpg (http://img86.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn11773zt.jpg)

Let me know if you want more pics... I'll gladly take them.

[rainbowbriteboy]

:welcome: I wouldnt complain either.

I cannot wait to see during progress.

[XoticGA]

:jaw: :wave: I'm pretty sure you're one of a kind (or atleast close to it) I don't think we have very many 73's

[ga5speed02]

:wave2:

[sunrunner_pei]

Welcome David!!! Very nice restoration project you have there! ALL Grand Ams are welcome here, including 1st and 2nd generation, but I have to admit our membership base is geared towards the 1985-2005 FWD N-Body Grand Ams. I hope you stick around, but I also will direct you to http://www.grandamregistry.com a website/forums dedicated to the 1st and 2nd gen A-Body Grand Ams.

Enjoy your stay!! :)

[Big Joe]

Dam would I love to have one of those.

[ManktheTank19]

Originally posted by Big Joe
Dam would I love to have one of those.

:agree:

:welcome:

[coupe]

Originally posted by XoticGA
:jaw: :wave: I'm pretty sure you're one of a kind (or atleast close to it) I don't think we have very many 73's

iirc he is the only 73.

[Bouchie11982]

yea i think he is the only 73 on the board as well. awesome though! welcome David! good luck with the project :) keep us updated.

[sunrunner_pei]

Originally posted by coupe
iirc he is the only 73.

No, he's not. We have several other members with 1st and 2nd gens, they just don't post often.

[skyhawk62507]

Wow! That looks like a great project... from the looks of the pics, the body is relatively straight.

I hope you stick around the club. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

[sk8400048ks]

Thanks, guys. I'll definitely keep you updated on its progress... I think if I get the chance, I'll go picture crazy with it later on today...

[red98grandamse]

that would look so hot in black:) once i get a real garage to work in, I wanna restore a 1st gen. You got a good deal on that one :)

[03grandam]

Wow that is great, a 6.5l v8. Cant wait to see some progress. Great find.

[Dallas_95GT]

Nice looking car! I've seen a few around here for sale, but they're all for well over a couple grand...

[ramairgt2]

welcome to the club and very nice find btw. What plans do you have for it? I bet that car would look even hotter with a silver exterior and black interior. Anyways glad to have ya here.

[99blackSE]

Wow that is a pretty wicked find! I don't think I have ever seen one of the old Grand Am's with my own eyes, in person. Keep us updated!

[Chain]

That is awesome... reminds me of the lamans ....

Cant wait to see this build... YOu better keep us posted with pics, pics, and more pics.

[sk8400048ks]

Originally posted by NiteShadow82
welcome to the club and very nice find btw. What plans do you have for it? I bet that car would look even hotter with a silver exterior and black interior. Anyways glad to have ya here.

Well, I'm working on minor stuff right now... Filters, fluid replacement, spark plugs and wiring, etc.

I need to get it a new nose, and I'm contemplating between getting a new paint job on the whole thing. Oddly enough, my two main choices have already been mentioned here... Black and silver are high on my exterior choices, along with a deep metallic indigo blue.

I dunno what I'm gonna do with the interior... If I get it painted, the brown just wouldn't go with it, but the seats are in pretty much perfect condition, so its really a toss up on if I really want to spend money on just changing the color. They're also super comfortable bucket seats, especially when you add in the fact that they're stock, and 33 years old... Oh well. The only solid set plan for the interior is to fix the driver's side door.

I should post a poll somewhere down the line on these things, because I'm horribly indecisive... I think I'm gonna go nuts with my camera in a few minutes... I went ahead and tried taking the trunk and hood off, and they were really easy to remove (4 bolts hold each one on, and the trunk had a cable going through it to the trunk light that unplugged relatively easily), but they were really hard to handle by myself... So I'm not doing anything with those unless I've got some help.

And to close out this post, quick question: My trunk has a dent in it, and as you might have noticed, has a TON of rust. www.frankspontiacparts.com has a trunk in the same original color as my car for $200 with no rust. Should I buy it and replace my trunk? Thanks again for the comments, guys.

[Gumpo]

Now there's a car with possibilities. Good luck with it.

[Rennation]

ga w/ a v8, dont get to say that often lol

[ephiny526]

ohhhhh very very nice. i would do the car in silver, black interior. keep the seats, just reupholster in black. you can probably sell the skins at a swap meet or on ebay for a decent price. just my two cents. great find and have fun working on it!

[TA^Guy]

Very cool. Good luck finding parts for it, it won't be easy. But just think once it's restored you won't have to worry about seeing many others around it on the streets or at shows!
Originally posted by Chain
That is awesome... reminds me of the lamans ....

Cant wait to see this build... YOu better keep us posted with pics, pics, and more pics.
The LeMans, Grand Am and Grand LeMans were all simular and built on the same chassis. Kind of like a Chevelle and Malibu were.

[sk8400048ks]

Bunch of pics. My rechargeable batteries died after the first pic, which is why its darker in all the pics after that one.

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/4760/dscn21328yk.th.jpg (http://img221.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn21328yk.jpg) http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/7465/dscn21353gs.th.jpg (http://img221.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn21353gs.jpg) http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/3369/dscn21382wn.th.jpg (http://img46.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn21382wn.jpg) http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/6601/dscn21409mm.th.jpg (http://img54.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn21409mm.jpg) http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/516/dscn21434vj.th.jpg (http://img160.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn21434vj.jpg)

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/9420/dscn21333sh.th.jpg (http://img221.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn21333sh.jpg) http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/1865/dscn21379yy.th.jpg (http://img221.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn21379yy.jpg) http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/1654/dscn21391lb.th.jpg (http://img54.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn21391lb.jpg) http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/4351/dscn21412ao.th.jpg (http://img160.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn21412ao.jpg) http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/177/dscn21454an.th.jpg (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn21454an.jpg)

And now for everyone to fully understand the deal with them all... Going from left to right, top to bottom...

1. Front shot, should be obvious. You can see the rust on the hood, and that it clearly needs a new nose...
2. The interior. Besides the minor tears on the driver's seat, everything is perfect inside.
3. The back seat. Comfortable as hell.
4. The engine bay from the side... I dunno why I took it from the side, but whatever. It needs a battery and an alternator belt. And it looks like there's a big fat tube that needs to be put in, but I have no idea what it would be for, and whether or not its necessary...
5. Showing off the 6.5 badge, and the rust... The dent isn't as bad as I remembered it being.
6. The rear. It glows...
7. 73,349.0 miles. The "wood" trim could use a touch-up...
8. The engine bay from the front.
9. The right side. I forgot about the shit all over the door. I could probably find a new one for pretty cheap, though. Either that, or repairs won't be too much.
10. The dent on the rear left. Probably an easy fix.

EDIT: Dammit, it didn't do 2 rows of five... Whatever.

[coupe]

That GA needs a minimum of $10K to get it back in decent lookin and runing shape. Overall its in really good condition.

[sk8400048ks]

Originally posted by coupe
That GA needs a minimum of $10K to get it back in decent lookin and runing shape. Overall its in really good condition.

Haha, damn, I hope not. What makes you think it would cost 10K+?

[coupe]

Well it needs alot of body work so figure about 3$-4$ right there.
Everything rubber most likely needs to be replaced, thats 33 year old rubber lol
Engine is gonna need to be rebuilt, remember its 33 years old and engines back then if they got 100K miles that was considered VERY high miles.
Same for the tranny.

Those are just the big things, you will find TONS more once you start tearing it down.

[Artic]

Wow nice to see someone that takes pride in a older ga :) rl with restoring it

[03grandam]

here is a sight you could check out to see factory specs.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h247/03grandam/Image2.gif

http://www.grandamregistry.com/new/1973.cfm
^link^

[sk8400048ks]

I dunno if I should post this in this topic, or make a new one, but I've got an update on my car and its progress. I went and got an alternator belt for $9.78 (including tax) down at the Kragen a couple blocks away, and took a couple handy dandy pictures, two of which are kind of question-ey pictures as well.

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/5595/dscn21745nz.th.jpg (http://img239.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn21745nz.jpg)

I took off the top of the fan housing so that I could see what I was doing a bit better, and somehow I failed to acknowledge the fact that there's another belt that I need to take off in order to get the alternator belt on, as shown here:

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/4826/dscn21772vg.th.jpg (http://img50.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn21772vg.jpg)

So until I get that other belt off, which I have no idea how to do, I'm a little stuck for the moment. Suggestions/advice?

As for the question-ey pics...

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/3761/dscn21752bj.th.jpg (http://img158.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn21752bj.jpg)

^The hell is that thing?

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/1079/dscn21766gt.th.jpg (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn21766gt.jpg)

Should those two fat hoses be connected, or are they both supposed to be open-ended like that?

[coupe]

I can tell ya right now that engine needs to be pulled and rebuilt, i can see its leaking oil something fierce.

That "thing" is your A/C compressor.

I dont see 2 fat hoses, i can see the intake ducting isnt there though.

[sk8400048ks]

Well, I feel like an idiot. after a little over 2 hours of trying to figure out how to get the power steering belt off, I ended up taking off the alternator, some little metal plate, and a good dozen or so bolts, some of which I couldn't even see when I was taking them off, just so that I could find out that if I just loosened a pair of bolts on the engine block, the power steering fluid thing would just swing to the side, and the belt would come off. So I did that, got the alternator belt on, trial/errored my way back to completion, and everything is set and tightened and what not. Now I need to either put my battery back in, and have someone jump it for me, or lug my battery down to kragen to have it recharged by them and pick it up the next day... I'll have pics up when my batteries to my camera are recharged...

Overall though, I feel kind of stupid, yet at the same time I feel like I learned something, so it wasn't a complete loss. Except now my shoulders are sore. And if that's the result from just putting an alternator belt in, I don't even want to think of what kind of aching I'll go through when I get to the hard stuff... Oh well. It's all fun.

[SE2000]

Hey Dave, great project car. Here in the NE, the rubber nose is probally all thats left of any GA. I would get some vinyl and carpet dye and paint the interior with it. The original is too faded and would look crappy in a newly painted car. I'd go with silver or blue but I remember the white ones looking hot and you could keep the original interior. You don't need $10k to give yourself a great ride.

[coupe]

To get that car back to original build it will cost him that much at very least.
Restoring a car is VERY expensive and time consuming.

[1999GA_Bentley]

This *everyone* assuming that Coupe always knows what he's talking about. He 'sounds' intellectual, but I sometimes wonder if he's really right. And I'm starting to think everyone else gets that feeling when Coupe posts, too...

BUT ANYWAY... David, if you really are 19 years old and restoring a 1st Generation Grand Am, the KUDOS for you!

I never even knew what those cars were or even looked like until I saw pictures of your car. My dad has worked at the GM Grand Am plant for almost 30 years, and I never knew. Lol! :lol:

I think it's going to be a long-process for you and it will be really fun! Even if Coupe is right about the 10K thing, it's going to be spread out over a long time if you take your restoration one step at a time until it is finally (and satisfyingly) everything you want it to be.

Keep us all updated throughout the course of you recreation of history (and adding a little modern)!! I, for one, would love to see the end result!

-Kristelle


P.S. Are you really in California? I was thinking about driving out there this summer... What part are you located in?

[sk8400048ks]

Thanks, Bentley. Right now I'm in Oakland, but there's a pretty high chance I'll be moving north to Santa Rosa (which is only about an hour away from where I am now...) sometime during the summer... If you're in the Bay Area, come see the rust bucket. I've only seen one other 1st generation GA here, and it was a '74...