'80s Chevy Celebrity Wagons: Did They Come with Manual Transmission?

[B***@hotmail.com]

Hi there :) I'm a big fan of cars with lots of room for people and
cargo, and the Chevy Celebrity is definitely one of these cars. I am
wondering, however, if the wagons ever came with a manual transmission?
I prefer to shift my own gears, and it would be fantastic if I could
have an '80s-styled Chevy Celebrity wagon with a stickshift. No better
way to take around myself and 5-7 other friends!

=Brendan

[Mike Marlow]

Post by B***@hotmail.com
Hi there :) I'm a big fan of cars with lots of room for people and
cargo, and the Chevy Celebrity is definitely one of these cars. I am
wondering, however, if the wagons ever came with a manual transmission?
I prefer to shift my own gears, and it would be fantastic if I could
have an '80s-styled Chevy Celebrity wagon with a stickshift. No better
way to take around myself and 5-7 other friends!
=Brendan

I suspect most 80's Celebrities wouldn't be worth a tinker's damn today.
Not in terms of value, but in terms of drivability.

[B***@hotmail.com]

What would be wrong with them, driveability-wise? There is one for
sale locally (2.8 L, auto) in pristine condition for $975 (KBB rates an
excellent conditioned vehicle at $710 private party). Any major
problems to look for?

=Brendan

[Rich B]

I owned a 1985 Celebrity and it was a great car right up to the day it
was totalled in an accident. I don't think the wagon came with a
standard transmission but you could try googling it to check. I had the
2.5L (iron duke) in my Celebrity and after 155,000 miles, it didn't use
oil and regularly gave me 34+ mpg on the highway. It was a very
reliable car that was both cheap and easy to maintain. If you can get
a good deal on one, go for it.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
"So why do I drive a big SUV? It's because I have to haul numerous
people and things to places."
~ R. Lee Baxton ~

[Mike Marlow]

Post by B***@hotmail.com
What would be wrong with them, driveability-wise? There is one for
sale locally (2.8 L, auto) in pristine condition for $975 (KBB rates an
excellent conditioned vehicle at $710 private party). Any major
problems to look for?
=Brendan

Just that it's an old car. They weren't the best cars ever built in the
first place and although one can certainly run for a long time, a car in
this class from the 80's is more likely to be a dog than a good car. The
first problem I would look at is the price. It's over $200 more than Kelly
is suggesting for one in excellent condition. A grand can buy a lot newer
car than that in most places around the country.

The 2.8L engine was a pretty good engine. Not a real powerhouse, but a good
enough, reliable motor. I had two vehicles with the 2.8 in them and they
were fine. One was a standard and one was an automatic. The automatic
suffered a bit of loss to the torque converter that was noticeable. The
standard was a much better match for that motor.

The 2.8L has a history of leaking rear main seals so a very close inspection
for signs of leakage is a must.

A well cared for 2.8L is good for over 200,000 miles - but you really would
have no way of knowing how it was cared for. Let the buyer beware.

[Michael Keefe]

Post by Mike Marlow

Post by B***@hotmail.com
Hi there :) I'm a big fan of cars with lots of room for people and
cargo, and the Chevy Celebrity is definitely one of these cars. I am
wondering, however, if the wagons ever came with a manual transmission?
I prefer to shift my own gears, and it would be fantastic if I could
have an '80s-styled Chevy Celebrity wagon with a stickshift. No better
way to take around myself and 5-7 other friends!
=Brendan

I suspect most 80's Celebrities wouldn't be worth a tinker's damn today.
Not in terms of value, but in terms of drivability.

I ended up with a good one.. 87 Eurosport sedan with 34k 2 years ago..
Bought it for $900 and put 40,000 hard CNY winter miles on it before the
tranny burned up..

[Mike Marlow]

Post by Michael Keefe

Post by Mike Marlow

Post by B***@hotmail.com
Hi there :) I'm a big fan of cars with lots of room for people and
cargo, and the Chevy Celebrity is definitely one of these cars. I am
wondering, however, if the wagons ever came with a manual transmission?
I prefer to shift my own gears, and it would be fantastic if I could
have an '80s-styled Chevy Celebrity wagon with a stickshift. No better
way to take around myself and 5-7 other friends!
=Brendan

I suspect most 80's Celebrities wouldn't be worth a tinker's damn today.
Not in terms of value, but in terms of drivability.

I ended up with a good one.. 87 Eurosport sedan with 34k 2 years ago..
Bought it for $900 and put 40,000 hard CNY winter miles on it before the
tranny burned up..

That's a seriously good find Mike - especially in our neck of the woods.
Salt here does a number on bodies and one that old with a still useable body
is a really good find. I'm in CNY too, BTW.

[Jarhead]

"Mike Marlow" <***@alltel.net> wrote in message news:343dc$440363f5$452894e3$***@ALLTEL.NET...
|
| "Michael Keefe" <***@frontiernet.net> wrote in message
| news:C0287F93.1EF9%***@frontiernet.net...
| > On 2/24/06 5:53 PM, in article
a3bd4$43ff8f37$471fb984$***@ALLTEL.NET,
| > "Mike Marlow" <***@alltel.net> wrote:
| >
| > >
| > > <***@hotmail.com> wrote in message
| > > news:***@j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
| > >> Hi there :) I'm a big fan of cars with lots of room for people
and
| > >> cargo, and the Chevy Celebrity is definitely one of these cars.
I am
| > >> wondering, however, if the wagons ever came with a manual
transmission?
| > >> I prefer to shift my own gears, and it would be fantastic if I
could
| > >> have an '80s-styled Chevy Celebrity wagon with a stickshift. No
better
| > >> way to take around myself and 5-7 other friends!
| > >>
| > >> =Brendan
| > >>
| > >
| > > I suspect most 80's Celebrities wouldn't be worth a tinker's damn
today.
| > > Not in terms of value, but in terms of drivability.
| >
| > I ended up with a good one.. 87 Eurosport sedan with 34k 2 years
ago..
| > Bought it for $900 and put 40,000 hard CNY winter miles on it before
the
| > tranny burned up..
| >
|
| That's a seriously good find Mike - especially in our neck of the
woods.
| Salt here does a number on bodies and one that old with a still
useable body
| is a really good find. I'm in CNY too, BTW.
|
| --
|
| -Mike-
| ***@alltel.net

Aahh! ROAD SALT- - The most cruel tax of all! Come down to Texas, New
Mexico and Arizona to find pristine bodies that have had many rebuilds
on the running gear.

--
Jarhead

[Mike Marlow]

Post by Jarhead
Aahh! ROAD SALT- - The most cruel tax of all! Come down to Texas, New
Mexico and Arizona to find pristine bodies that have had many rebuilds
on the running gear.

Argh! You don't know the half of it.

Texas I liked. New Mexico just never did a lot for me. Arizona might be
fine, except that it's about the biggest migration point for folks from CA
these days, isn't it? I like the country in Arizona, and I've spent a fair
amount of time all over the state. I just wouldn't want to be where
everything is suddenly turning on its ear with a mass influx of people. It
was a shame to watch what happened to the Denver/Boulder/Longmont area when
the world discovered the High Plains. Guess I'll just stay right here, or
I'd just be one more of that influx thing.

[Jarhead]

"Mike Marlow" <***@alltel.net> wrote in message news:829d4$44037e01$452894e3$***@ALLTEL.NET...
|
| "Jarhead" <***@excite.com> wrote in message
| news:X46dnQY8Feqr8J7ZRVn-***@amaonline.com...
|
| >
| > Aahh! ROAD SALT- - The most cruel tax of all! Come down to Texas,
New
| > Mexico and Arizona to find pristine bodies that have had many
rebuilds
| > on the running gear.
| >
|
| Argh! You don't know the half of it.
|
| Texas I liked. New Mexico just never did a lot for me. Arizona might
be
| fine, except that it's about the biggest migration point for folks
from CA
| these days, isn't it? I like the country in Arizona, and I've spent a
fair
| amount of time all over the state. I just wouldn't want to be where
| everything is suddenly turning on its ear with a mass influx of
people. It
| was a shame to watch what happened to the Denver/Boulder/Longmont area
when
| the world discovered the High Plains. Guess I'll just stay right
here, or
| I'd just be one more of that influx thing.
|
| --
|
| -Mike-
| ***@alltel.net
|
|
We influxed from Indiana to New Mexico over 30 years ago. Taught school
on the Jicarilla (Hic-ar-eeyah) Apache reservation before coming to
Texas. When I was in the Marney Corps I was stationed in Yuma Arizona.

All three states are a major illegal alien destination. Notice the word
alien as they can't be an immigrant when they aren't legal.

People from the republic of Kalifornia bother me as much or more than
the illegals from Mexico and points south.

They run up the price of real estate and want to change things to the
way they were before escaping Kalifornia. When we left Indiana we wanted
to join the natives- - not conquer or change them.

I worked part time for a couple in Yuma that HOMESTEADED a place on the
Colorado river in 1906 before Arizona was a state. She plowed the field
behind two mules as a newly wed. They were in their late 60's in 1959,
and were in as good of shape as I was. She could drink any Marine under
the table too. ;=)}

--
Jarhead

[bumblebee]

Post by B***@hotmail.com
Hi there :) I'm a big fan of cars with lots of room for people and
cargo, and the Chevy Celebrity is definitely one of these cars. I am
wondering, however, if the wagons ever came with a manual transmission?
I prefer to shift my own gears, and it would be fantastic if I could
have an '80s-styled Chevy Celebrity wagon with a stickshift. No better
way to take around myself and 5-7 other friends!
=Brendan

I drove a 1988 Chevy Celebrity sedan (2.5 liter 4 cylinder and 3 sp auto tranny) for 5 years in the
late 90s for 5 years
.. It was easily getting 35 mpg on the highway..I loved the fuel economy, reliability and roominess
but acceleration was a joke!
too heavy car and only 98 or 100 hp engine! It killed me on the ramps..Also,
lots of carbon built up occurred..One other thing I did not like was the damn bench seat.. It was so
uncomfortable that I used to think twice before going to a long drive. Get one with bucket seats if
possible.

I know that very few sedans had stick shift on some years but wagon with stick shift version never
existed to my knowledge. If you want a wagon with stick shift, you should look at late 80s or early
90s Volvo wagons (240 or 740)

ahmet

[sdlomi2]

Post by B***@hotmail.com
Hi there :) I'm a big fan of cars with lots of room for people and
cargo, and the Chevy Celebrity is definitely one of these cars. I am
wondering, however, if the wagons ever came with a manual transmission?
I prefer to shift my own gears, and it would be fantastic if I could
have an '80s-styled Chevy Celebrity wagon with a stickshift. No better
way to take around myself and 5-7 other friends!
=Brendan

Seems to me that a stick shift, with 5-7 others, would cause the
passenger's (next to driver) legs to be fondled with during gear-changing.
s

[B***@hotmail.com]

Thanks for the input, everyone :) One of the things I really like about
this car is that it does have a bench seat. They seem to be very rare
to find, and I would really like having one in a car.

I don't understand how a 2.8 liter six-cylinder could be getting such
fantastic mileage, even with a 3-speed transmission! The ratios just
must be very far apart, I guess. Does it have overdrive?

Acceleration for me isn't really a problem; I don't step out very
often, if at all. True, the gearshift would be in the way a bit of the
other passengers, but no worse off than a floor shift in a pickup, I'd
presume. There is ample leg room in both the front and rear, what a
fantastically-laid-out car!

What other cars had this engine, the 2.8L V6, which were manual shift?
Who knows, maybe if I purchase this one, then down the line I might be
able to convert it to stickshift ... hmm ...

=Brendan

[Al Bundy]

Post by B***@hotmail.com
Thanks for the input, everyone :) One of the things I really like about
this car is that it does have a bench seat. They seem to be very rare
to find, and I would really like having one in a car.
I don't understand how a 2.8 liter six-cylinder could be getting such
fantastic mileage, even with a 3-speed transmission! The ratios just
must be very far apart, I guess. Does it have overdrive?
Acceleration for me isn't really a problem; I don't step out very
often, if at all. True, the gearshift would be in the way a bit of the
other passengers, but no worse off than a floor shift in a pickup, I'd
presume. There is ample leg room in both the front and rear, what a
fantastically-laid-out car!
What other cars had this engine, the 2.8L V6, which were manual shift?
Who knows, maybe if I purchase this one, then down the line I might be
able to convert it to stickshift ... hmm ...
=Brendan

The stick conversion is not going to happen. You can't even find one of
these on the road. Where will you find the parts to convert?
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." A. Einstein
You seem to have buying fever for this car. Try to bargain down the
price on the one you found. But don't let KBB prices rule your desires
for a mere couple hundred bucks.

[B***@hotmail.com]

Yeah, you're right about the buying fever and donor car for a manual
tranny; if the cars aren't around, neither are the parts. I always
seem to develop a love affair for a new type of car every now and then,
and while last time it was for a VW bus, this time it comes around to
an '80s wagon. The thing with the buses is that they are all over, in
various conditions, but they are all over the place. Not so much can
be said for a Celebrity wagon, but I suppose that's because it's not
really a big deal of a car ... all I know is that I really do like this
roomy car. I should be able to talk this guy down in price if I do in
fact decide to go for it.

=Brendan

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

Post by B***@hotmail.com
Yeah, you're right about the buying fever and donor car for a manual
tranny; if the cars aren't around, neither are the parts. I always
seem to develop a love affair for a new type of car every now and then,
and while last time it was for a VW bus, this time it comes around to
an '80s wagon. The thing with the buses is that they are all over, in
various conditions, but they are all over the place. Not so much can
be said for a Celebrity wagon, but I suppose that's because it's not
really a big deal of a car ... all I know is that I really do like this
roomy car. I should be able to talk this guy down in price if I do in
fact decide to go for it.

Brendan, I own a 1984 Celebrity Wagon with a 2.8L in it. A couple
things you need to be aware of:

1) The Chevy 2.8L had oiling problems. I don't know what the years were
that they fixed this, but the problem was the engines in the bad years had
too small
oiling holes drilled in the crank and rods, as a result the bearing failed
early.
Any competent engine rebuilder knows about this and redrills the oiling
holes, just find one and ask him what years to avoid.

2) These are midsized sedans converted into wagons. They are not as large
inside as you think. They are basically most useful if you have a need for
a
standard sedan for most of the time with the ability to carry a few extra
boxes
around from time to time.

3) The air conditioning system is junk on these. The compressor is the DA-6
and
this is a really crappy design, fails all the time. And the original A/C
system was
R12. The condensor on the front of the car does not have enough cooling
efficiency for a R-134a conversion to produce really cold air.

Ted

[B***@hotmail.com]

Good points on engine troubles there, thank you much everyone. I
currently drive a Saturn wagon, and have gotten stiffed a few times
because I can't fit things like a bureau in there because the rear
strut towers just up to just below the window level. The Celebrity has
a different suspension set up, and the interior room is a big box, more
than the curves of the Saturn which can be tough. This is an '88, so
the oil lubing problem shouldn't be there, I believe. It was an old
man's car (I called the seller), and was very well taken-care of. A/C
I can do without, I don't use it anyway.

And, yes, leg-fondling can be a plus ;)

=Brendan

[Caotic]

replying to Brendo613, Caotic wrote:
My mom ordered new in 1986 a celebrity wagon, center console 4 speed reverse
lockout bucket sests, no air, 2.5l. Orig clutch went over 200k. People always
wondered how i did such nig burnouts, they didnt know it was stick. I used to
drift that car, wheeling between holding ebrake release working ebrake pedal,
clutch, brake n gas, and shifting. Car was a blast, to many stories. Wish i
had it still.

--
for full context, visit https://www.motorsforum.com/gm/ecm-temp-sensor-2004-pontiac-grand-prix-78057-.htm

[Mike Marlow]

Post by sdlomi2

Post by B***@hotmail.com
Hi there :) I'm a big fan of cars with lots of room for people and
cargo, and the Chevy Celebrity is definitely one of these cars. I am
wondering, however, if the wagons ever came with a manual transmission?
I prefer to shift my own gears, and it would be fantastic if I could
have an '80s-styled Chevy Celebrity wagon with a stickshift. No better
way to take around myself and 5-7 other friends!
=Brendan

Seems to me that a stick shift, with 5-7 others, would cause the
passenger's (next to driver) legs to be fondled with during gear-changing.
s

That could be a good thing... depending on who's next to the driver

[Jarhead]

"Jarhead" <***@excite.com> wrote in message news:...
|
| "Mike Marlow" <***@alltel.net> wrote in message
| news:829d4$44037e01$452894e3$***@ALLTEL.NET...
| |
| | "Jarhead" <***@excite.com> wrote in message
| | news:X46dnQY8Feqr8J7ZRVn-***@amaonline.com...
| |
| | >
| | > Aahh! ROAD SALT- - The most cruel tax of all! Come down to
Texas,
| New
| | > Mexico and Arizona to find pristine bodies that have had many
| rebuilds
| | > on the running gear.
| | >
| |
| | Argh! You don't know the half of it.
| |
| | Texas I liked. New Mexico just never did a lot for me. Arizona
might
| be
| | fine, except that it's about the biggest migration point for folks
| from CA
| | these days, isn't it? I like the country in Arizona, and I've spent
a
| fair
| | amount of time all over the state. I just wouldn't want to be where
| | everything is suddenly turning on its ear with a mass influx of
| people. It
| | was a shame to watch what happened to the Denver/Boulder/Longmont
area
| when
| | the world discovered the High Plains. Guess I'll just stay right
| here, or
| | I'd just be one more of that influx thing.
| |
| | --
| |
| | -Mike-
| | ***@alltel.net
| |
| |
| We influxed from Indiana to New Mexico over 30 years ago. Taught
school
| on the Jicarilla (Hic-ar-eeyah) Apache reservation before coming to
| Texas. When I was in the Marney Corps I was stationed in Yuma Arizona.
|
| All three states are a major illegal alien destination. Notice the
word
| alien as they can't be an immigrant when they aren't legal.
|
| People from the republic of Kalifornia bother me as much or more than
| the illegals from Mexico and points south.
|
| They run up the price of real estate and want to change things to the
| way they were before escaping Kalifornia. When we left Indiana we
wanted
| to join the natives- - not conquer or change them.
|
| I worked part time for a couple in Yuma that HOMESTEADED a place on
the
| Colorado river in 1906 before Arizona was a state. She plowed the
field
| behind two mules as a newly wed. They were in their late 60's in 1959,
| and were in as good of shape as I was. She could drink any Marine
under
| the table too. ;=)}
|
| --
| Jarhead
|
|