It's official. We've purchased the major components for our $2016 Challenge - Soccer Mom class entry. You crazy people won over Mrs. ShwaneeCreek at this year's Challenge. She decided that:
- We should come back next year
- The minivan competition sounded like fun
- We should build the van together
- We are starting NOW to avoid scrambling last minute to finish
Who am I to argue with that? :-) We did some research and decided that we liked the GM "dustbuster" minivans from the early '90s for their small size and available 3800-series engine. We figured that this would lead to an easy swap to a supercharged variant from Buick Park Avenue Ultra, Pontiac Grand Prix GTP, etc...
I did some digging online and found this van for sale 3 hours away near Flint, MI. It was listed as a "Mechanics Special" because it was brought in under one of those "push it, pull it, drag it" trade in deals. Called them and they said it didn't run "it just clicks when you turn the key." Ok, we really only need the chassis. And the asking price of $275 was hard to beat.
I get up there and look it over. It’s rusty, but fixable and most of the components are there. I ask the salesman if we can try jump-starting it to see if it’s just a dead battery. He agrees and sure enough, it starts right up. The look of surprise on the salesman’s face was priceless. I do a brief test drive around the lot to find any more issues and then get to the paperwork. For a mere $275 (plus $50.25 in taxes and fees) the van is mine. That happened to set a record for the salesman: Cheapest Car he's ever sold. We secured a tow dolly from U-Haul and got it home. I’ll get some better pictures later when we clean it up and give it a good looking over. But this was a luxury model, complete with electric sliding door (yes, in a ’96).
Now we needed a donor vehicle for more power. The original idea was a supercharged 3800, but they all came with automatic transmissions. And Mrs. ShawaneeCreek had requested that the van have a manual transmission (have I mentioned how much I love this woman?). Additional research discovered the 2006-2007 Pontiac G6 GTP. They came with a 3.9L V6 with 240 hp and the option for a 6-speed manual transmission. But, being only 8-9 years old I would need to find a wrecked one to get it in budget. Compound that with the fact that the manual transmission versions were pretty rare. Luckily I found this one on Copart with some front end damage, but still able to run. It also has a cold air intake, so it might have some other performance goodies.
Even better, the GTP was located a mere 4 ½ hours away from me in Lexington, KY. This morning we won the auction, via a broker, for ~$900 (plus $300 in fees). YES!
The current plan is to swap over at least the engine and transmission into the van. But I’d really like to swap in the suspension and electronics to upgrade from the solid rear axle that the van has now. We’ll see how the measurements work out after we get the two in the garage together. And even if the soccer mom class doesn't pan out due to any SCCA / Martin Sports Car Club rollover regulations this will end up as my daily driver. I’m excited. This should be fun.