New Owner Questions...

[BAM19]

Hey guys,

Im new here, and im also new to the Grand Am ownership. I am getting a 1999 Grand Am SE 2.4L 4-cylinder with 75,000 miles for 3,500 within the next week. The seller is a women who is the sole owner and was asking 4,600 but I got her down.

My friend has a Grand Am and ever since I saw and drove his, I fell in love with them. I just have a few questions....

1.) I love the GT's, but my price range was under 4,000 and its hard to find a used GT around here for that price that has under 100,000 miles. So I opted for the 2.4 SE. I love the power it has, and aside from that is there any real difference between the two? I know the engine size and the fact that GT's come with V6, but Ive heard many people complain about problems from the GT's moreso than the SE's.

2.) I really like the factory system, but am looking to put maybe some 12's or 15's in instead. Is this practical? Because I have read many things that say Grand Am's are hard to modify, and since I'm new to modifications on cars as well I didnt know if speakers would be that difficult.
Also, looking on certain sites, like Best Buy, just to see what kind of CD player i could put in instead of having the factory one, Ive noticed the ones I like, like the flip screen DVD/CD combos, the site says will not fit in my car. I didnt know if there was a way around this, Im sure there is but like I said Im just new to this.

Im not looking to mod the whole car, probably just the cd player and system. And was just wondering if this would be hard.

Thanks guys.

[b2089]

Do you have the Monsoon system or is it the plain delco? How many speakers? Do you have the little tweeters in the front door?

[LCCUB]

there are v6 SE's as well.. the GT also has all wheel disc brakes and is geared differently, oh and the Ram Air package (not such a big deal), there are also slight differences in the interior, head rests and such

welcome and congrats on the car :)

[BAM19]

Im really not sure what system it has in it because Im still waiting for all the paperwork to go through before I get the car. Ill have it in a few days. I think it does have the side door speaker though.

Thanks for the replys sofar. I just didnt know if Id be able to replace the cd player and system, because that is my main concern.

[b2089]

It should have at least one speaker in the door, but it may have a little tweeter mounted highter up. If so then you'd have to either loose the tweeter or get a set of speakers that will replace it, since it is powered though the other door speaker.

If you have a monsoon system you have an amp that powers it and is a pain to work with. There are no clear solutions to replacing it or the 6*9s in the back since they are dual voice.

IF you do have the monsoon system my advice is to get a subwoofer and a 6*9 and hook the high pass from the factory speaker to the 6*9 and the lowpass to a non-powered sub. There is a drop in replacement from Crutchfield, but I don't remember what it is.

Again it depends on what system it has.

[westtexastiger]

How can I tell if I have that Monsoon system in my GA?

I have the little tweeter on the window in my door.

I don't think I do have the Monsoon system, but I was curious. I believe the option tag I would look on is in the spare tire well, isn't it? I don't know which code to look for, or whatever else to check.

There's an option I found on here in my hour of searching, but I couldn't view it for some reason, even though I have Adobe Acrobat.

Any help is appreciated.

[Brandon]

on the radio (head unit) it will say monsoon... most radios even though they say they wont fit... its a pretty universal size...

you could put 2 12's or 15's in there... not sure what you may need to use your trunk for (road trips or something of that nature) but you wont have much if you go with the 15's.

[Colin]

99s didn't have Monsoon systems ...

[RocketFast321]

^
Correct. The 99-00 had the premium sound system. The amp only power the back 6x9s. To tell if you have that the HU should say premium on it.

[K0RNkid]

I'm getting a Grand Am SE soon, it's in the garage now, but I was wondering if anyone had any tips for custom sound for the GAs, I got a Sony Exlod amp and sub currently, and was wondering if anyone had comments on the choices?

[lowrider2962]

i have an 02 SE and so far for the sound system ive installed a 12"sony xplod sub(it in a bandpass enclosure and sounds better then my friends ported box w/ 2 JLs), TMA 360watt amp, and a Pioneer 6800 headunit. my car had the monsoon system but it never had an amp or dual voice 6x9s. anyways i love how my car sounds with my headunit and since ur kinda moving along the same lines i went KORNkid i would recomend the Pioneer deh-p6800mp. excellent headunit and i love how it looks too. the blue gives a slight contrass to all the red lights i have in my interior so ur not exactly drownding in red. i didnt have any problem at all installing my hu. pretty soon i think im gonna get teh Xm radio module for it. yeah, built in XM radio on a GA. thats gonna be awesome.