Not Regretting This Decision

[gweg_b]

Labor Day weekend turned out to be an interesting one for me. On Saturday, September 2, I bought a 2005 Bonneville GXP.





It has almost 91,000 miles on it, and drives smooth. It's not perfect, but it's not all that bad for a 12 year old car, either. The inside is perfect (just needs some deep cleaning), and the exterior has some minor paint and rust issues, but nothing major (and expected for an Ohio car). The biggest issues I've found with it so far are that it needs new front brakes, the fog lights don't turn on (no surprise there), the sunroof doesn't vent (doesn't on my SSEi either), the rear air pump doesn't turn on, and the radio cuts out when the defroster is on.

None of these are huge issues, and nothing I shouldn't be able to fix. Best part is no leaks inside or in the trunk, and the Northstar engine appears to still be holding up.

The reason for buying it? The price was good and I've wanted a GXP for a long while now. Once the engine starts having problems, my friend Tim and I are prepared to tackle it. But I'm hoping that won't be for a long while.

And, I'm keeping the '01 SSEi.

[J Wikoff]

Nice! Where do you keep all these cars?

[MattStrike]

Need moar pictures!

[gweg_b]

Haha, yes, in a way, I feel like I'm becoming a prodigy of Matt.

I have these cars all over the place. The SSEi and Caprice are at home. The LeSabre is in a garage about 40 miles away. The G8 is in a storage unit about 8 miles from home, and the GXP is at a friend's place , around 65 miles from home. It would be nice to have them all at home someday, but current living arrangements don't allow it.

I will get more pics as soon as get a chance to get back to it (which I hope involves some detailing).

[gweg_b]

More pics as promised! Still haven't had a chance to detail the car, so it's dirty pics for now.













New battery and no rust (unlike my SSEi at the time I bought it):





There are some minor cosmetic issues that I will be taking care of soon. Here, front driver wheel has a nasty scuff (the rest of the wheels are in much better shape):



Missing a chunk of paint on the lower front bumper:



Got some rust bubbles under the gas door:



Broken window vent shield (they're all going to be removed):



Now, for some beauty shots:



















I'll get some much better ones once I can get the car detailed.

[CMNTMXR57]

My favorite color.

[gweg_b]

It is a color that I really like. Looks amazing in the sunlight - and that's with it still being dirty. I can't wait to run the polisher over it and see how it really looks cleaned up.

[nos4blood70]

Love that color combination. The car looks really clean all things considered! I can't wait to see it all cleaned up.

[crash93ssei]

I still drool over these dang things! I hope the fix for possible future N* issues down the road are not to replace it with a 3800

[gweg_b]

Haha, nope. I already have two 3800 powered cars. I bought this because of two things, the looks and the Northstar. When the issues with it arise, Tim and I plan to tear into it and fix it the right way with the stud kit. I like what Andrew did, but I'm wanting to keep the V8.

[nos4blood70]

I mean if you're already ripping that dirty bastard out of the car, you might as well stud it. Seems like less work than 3800 swap. Getting it out of the car is the issue for most.

Then it'll be as amazing of a motor as some of you claim all the time..

[gweg_b]

Yeah, I was very well aware of the issues with these engines (been hanging around this board long enough), and bought it knowing that. For now, it drives great and doesn't have any engine or trans problems. When it happens, it happens. It'll be a lot of work, but not impossible. And that's the plan, build it to last (because for some reason, I don't like getting rid of my cars).

I mean, I'm crazy enough to completely rebuild a 1995 LeSabre. Might as well give myself something challenging.

[gweg_b]

Here are some posts from last weekend. Tim and I gave it a full detail. It looks so amazing in person now. I'm just loving this color.



















In the spring I plan to give it a deep clean and polishing, and start digging into some of the problems.

[CMNTMXR57]

It is an awesome color. That "pearl" in it makes it.

[VIN_H_For_Hotness]

Yeah, I was very well aware of the issues with these engines (been hanging around this board long enough), and bought it knowing that. For now, it drives great and doesn't have any engine or trans problems. When it happens, it happens. It'll be a lot of work, but not impossible. And that's the plan, build it to last (because for some reason, I don't like getting rid of my cars).

I mean, I'm crazy enough to completely rebuild a 1995 LeSabre. Might as well give myself something challenging.

You know ,I’ve always thought a built up Northstar would be a kick ass motor. Tear it down to the crank, put in new half case gaskets, P&P the heads, swap the high output cams from the 300 HP Northstar, bolt on turbo/N20. It’d be a pain labor wise ,but you’d have a masterpiece of an engine when done.

I may do that someday if I snag a cheap enough GXP. Time will tell.

[gweg_b]

That would be hell of a motor build. It would be interesting to see someone try that sometime. As for me, other than fixes and the engine work that will be needed in the future, I think I'm going to leave this car alone. I've messed with enough of my cars, time to finally keep one as stock as possible!

[nos4blood70]

Definitely a car to leave to stock, giving it more power won't really make it any better of a car. It's a cruise machine.

[CMNTMXR57]

That and the fact that it turns the wrong wheels...

GM already solved that for you (a modified Northstar), RPO LC3.

[gweg_b]

That's my only real issue with the GXP, is the front wheel drive, but that's why I also have a G8.