5 years ago I bought a 2001 Grand Prix GT.
I kinda fell in love with it, took a while but I finally got it driving right, then some idiot decided to park his bro-dozer in the trunk.
It still ran and drove, but the insurance company totaled it out. Bought it back for like $250. but never could bring myself to part her out. for two years she's been sitting and I've been trying to find another one. Sedans all over the place but I can never seem to find a coupe. Over the past couple of months I've been kicking around a dumb idea. Converting her into a 1-tonner. If you don't know that a 1-tonner is...
... It's only the perfect vehicle.
I've only got about $3500 I can spend right now, I don't have a garage, a welder or any bodywork skills at all. Also I'm kinda dumb. I can only come up with reasons to not do this, yet I still want to. I want the GRM hive mind to talk me out of it. Or into it. Tell me the things I'm missing.
Also I'm kinda dumb.
No sense of failure means success. Go for it.
Love the look. Had a 92 Regal 4 dr. I couldn't kill. Wife wouldn't let me do that. But the suspension it would take to put 2000 lbs on the flatbed would prolly adversely affect already marginal handling. Now making a "1/2 tonner"....
BTW, most call the a "ute"
03Panther said:
BTW, most call the a "ute"
Nope. the Ute is more like an El Camino or Ranchero with a full integrated body. The flat beds are called 1-tonners.
Go Camino ?
a 1 tonner needs duallys in the back.......
It's a 20 year old wrecked grand prix. It's worth scrap value. So adding weight makes it more valuable. I say do it. And look into a drivetrain swap from an AWD equinox if you wanna go crazy with it. Which you should.
Edit; where does the rear structure come from after cutting up the unibody? It seems like a neat concept, but you can buy and actual pickup for $3500. I say dont do it.
The Holden YV in the small photo is rear wheel drive. Factor that into your Pontiac.
You need the drivetrain...out of another W-body it the back. Twin engine, AWD, no-berks-given.
Utes are Utility Vehicles; that (in Australia) covers El Camino things, flat beds and all pickups.
I like the idea, but would reconfigure the flat bed a bit differently.
Mndsm
MegaDork
2/18/21 8:13 a.m.
gearheadmb said:
It's a 20 year old wrecked grand prix. It's worth scrap value. So adding weight makes it more valuable. I say do it. And look into a drivetrain swap from an AWD equinox if you wanna go crazy with it. Which you should.
Edit; where does the rear structure come from after cutting up the unibody? It seems like a neat concept, but you can buy and actual pickup for $3500. I say dont do it.
I like the adding weight adds value logic.
A local guy builds these things. Front wheel drive with basically a trailer flat bed.
This is one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard and I love it.
That's a 4WD truck with the rear drive shaft removed, or did they fab up a long rear shaft?
They use a 5.3LS and a 4L60E tranny. Front wheel drive. Haven't actually crawled under one to see how they make it work, but there is no rear differential.
The only way to go wrong at this point is NOT to do it.
The idea is sound, and Utes of all types need to come to America but.....you say you don't have a garage, much money, a welder or any body work skills.
That usually ends with some bubbaing and not what you hoped for, I'm not sure you'll be happy with the result
914Driver said:
That's a 4WD truck with the rear drive shaft removed, or did they fab up a long rear shaft?
I've seen some of them done with a BOP engine and a transverse TH400 from a FWD caddy or olds. That's how they did the FWD GMC motorhomes.
Not sure what he did with the above trucks, but I do know that most transfer cases are capable of sending 50% torque to the front, but don't like it if you send 100%
Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:
The idea is sound, and Utes of all types need to come to America but.....you say you don't have a garage, much money, a welder or any body work skills.
That usually ends with some bubbaing and not what you hoped for, I'm not sure you'll be happy with the result
As much as I love this idea, I have to agree.
When you start cutting, make sure you have some support framing in place first. My buddy and I got wasted one night in college and decided to turn his K-car into a topless ride. We got 2/3rds of the way across the roof with an abrasive blade in a circular saw and the blade got hopelessly stuck. Gave up, and the next morning we found the car bent in half, the roof buckled, and the middle of the car sitting on the ground. Rust was involved, but I would just be cautious of cutting a critical thing before you have something collapse.
Basically you want to do a Smyth build?
Would be better with a 4 door donor, but its wrecked anyhow so not much to lose. Build some braces under it before you start cutting. The rear strut towers will have to stay so build around that point maybe?
