heres my 1996 pontiac grand am se i had since new,just decided to get it repainted and add some decals to set it apart from all the other grand ams out there.only upgrades is a K&N air filter and a fart can but its my only car and i got to take care of it.i'd put a chip in it but i dont want to stress the engine as i plan on keeping for another 8 years.any suggestions?like the paint?  

Get rid of the fart can as one, but that's just me...

I found a supercharger kit and it comes with brackets, oil lines, belt and pulleys, ECU, adjustable blow-off valve, induction piping, K&N cone filter and all misc. hardware. Yeah for a Grand Am! and its for all the engines

http://www.andysautosport.com/pontiac/1996_1998_grand_am/performance/turbos_and_superchargers/supercharger_kits/rsm_racing/

I only found Eibach Pro-kit springs and those KYB sport shocks and struts. For the rims some black O.Z. Ultraleggera rims to match the Orange paint and some sticky tires.

Watch out though, G.I. Joe and the Autobots might be looking for you...  

uh yeah, repaint the car with a more conservative sense.  Put back on the stock muffler, make it look more stock, and supercharge it.  Make it a sleeper, not some tacky looking piece of junk.  If you can I would sell it before you pump more money in it, and start with something better.  Hey maybe with everything going on you can pick up a new 08 cobalt ss.  

if you're gonna pimp out a Grand Am, dont make it look all flashy with tacky paint, then leave the stock rims on it.
And unless your car can transform itself into a robot, leave the tacky decepticon decals off of it.
I've been to car shows where guys have done up camaros like Bumblebee, and that was pretty cool.
But not even the decepticons would have a Grand Am in their fleet.

If you're gonna pimp your ride, go "All Out"!! A half-ass job just looks cheesy.  

Hey there's rumors GM might go bust by the end of 09! and if they get bailed out maybe 2011! So you could just trade in your Grand Am and get a Shiny Cobalt SS (at closeout prices!) or a used one.


One tip of advice though, Yes get rid of the stickers. Trying to belong or stand out is not the same as "standing out" just following some crowd of people with low self esteem. I know the paint they used and I know it wasn't done right, by the shine. Hint The paint is too opaque (either mixed wrong or too thick)

I could tell you the steps for painting a car and I know Cwytt is very interested...

Kevlar, chill!... He's asking for help. You don't bash on someone who says "hey what do you thing?" I would've suggested Porsche GT3 Orange of Focus ST than flat orange. Either way I've been awake 24hrs straight because I'm bored and perused all over my house trying to find something to *** (My kitchen has never been cleaner )  

thanks for the input.master shake,how much would a supercharger stess the engine,i aint a lead foot or anything.as for a new car well my plan is next year to get a chevy HHR panel SS.all in all,not overly fond of cobalts or any car that theres millions of.it just gets tiring seeing your car again and again.at least the HHR panels arnt that common.i will still keep the grand am as a winter unit/work vehicle.as i said i want to keep this car another 8 year just so i can say i owned a car for 20 years since new.btw,only 95,000 miles on it.not even broke in.as for struts,i actually replaced the originals in spring,before i painted the car,just basic struts,i thought about lowering and such but live in the mountais and drive car in winter at times,roads arnt so good around here.i am looking for somewhere between practibility and peformance.as for stickers,i'm not trying to fit in,just want to set my car apart from millions of its clones.

might go for a battle bumper next summer but not necessary.it saddens me that there is very little aftermarket stuff for this car as many as there is on the road.

as for the paint,i picked orange since i never seen a 90's grand am in orange.it was purple before and seemed like 90% were painted purple.lol.

kevlar,my rims will eventually be replaced or re-painted at some point,just gotta find something i like in a decent price range.

cwytt,i do like my fart can,cars to quiet without it.i do like the throaty sound.now i had a 73 super beetle that had a 4 megaphone exhaust on it.now that car was loud and obnoxious.my grand am is just right.

yes i am always on the lookout for joes and autobots.

thanks,all input is appreciated even contructive critism.  

Thewyseone you must understand that this forum is for cars that just focus on driving feel and a clean fast look than on what everyone is doing. Think about it... You made your car different than other Grand Ams, but how many people have done the same thing you did? Stickers and Exuberant paint. Now I will admit that I have painted a Car orange. But when the guy said he wanted organge and showed us a picture of a pimped out car he saw on a car show (he became a friend of ours so we didn't charge him) we just said "No, you need a better orange" and went with him to the paint store and chose Porsche GT3 Orange. Much better than whatever he chose. But that's off subject.

I'm trying to woe you here into our side with helpful criticism. Cywtt and Kevlar have your best interests in mind so do mid what they say.

On the supercharger, no it won't stress your engine if you prepare right and you have very little miles. The kit comes with an ECU so when you install everything it will be as if your car came with a supercharger from factory. No detonation or feeling that your car is being overloaded. Buy this book and it will open your eyes: Sport Compact Car Engine and Driveline Handbook.   Call it "super hints" It will show you boost efficiency and tuning techniques fore N/A and Boosted applications


Here's a peek though it takes too much to write:

"first you find the PCO (or how much boost)


PCO = (how much boost you run) + 14.7 + 1.5 = X


Then from there you find Intake Density:


Di(Intake air density) =  boost pressure+ atmospheric pressure
_______________________________________________________

R (a gas law = 53.3) x 12 x (460 [degrees rankin] + intake temp)


From that we get the mass flow rate:


Mf = Di x displacement (in.) x (RPM/2) x Volumetric efficiency (.90)


and then the correct mass flow:


Mf x the square root of the compressor inlet temp. / 545
_____________________________________________________

atmospheric pressure/ Mass flow rate


Then you plug this in into an efficiency Island



Then you get this little number to pick the correct injectors:

Horsepower(desired hp) x B.S.F.C.
_____________________                      to metric x 10.5

# of injectors x .80



Yeah, that's our world... No fancy wings or super exuberant paint schemes. Just regular joes with regular cars.

Looking different is not the same as looking at everyone in your rearview mirror.  

I hope I won you over.  

fair enough, just know that you will get plenty of critisism.  Like mastershake said, we are performance oriented, most of us could care less about standing out.  But if that's what you like then more power to ya i guess.  But anyway i don't have the time right now, but i know the same era boneville had a supercharged version, if they use the same engines, that would save some headache.  But be careful mastershake that looks like a centrifugal compressor map, and not a supercharger map.  

oops