7th Oct 2007, 21:20
Another update from me. Well, my car is at 326000km now and shakes, rattles and most importantly, rolls down the road. I managed to get my air conditioning working nicely with the recharge kits. There is quite a bit of valve train noise so I think one or two lifters are acting up. Somehow, it continues to run. I am planning on getting another Celebrity which I just came across the other day. Low miles with a good body. I still swear to this day, they are one of the longest lasting beasts on the road. Its like the old Impala's with the V8's in them, they could be driving forever if the body was in good shape. Keep comments coming!
19th Oct 2007, 03:59
Thank you for continuing to update your page here, I enjoy reading about a Celebrity that keeps on going! When I was VERY young, my mom owned a 1982 Celebrity that reached 178,000 miles (not sure on the km distance) before she sold it. Then in 1998, my dad got a 1988 Celebrity Wagon Eurosport with the 2.8L V6 with 130,000 miles on it. Right about then is when I first learned to drive, and took over the rights to that car. The exterior wasn't in great shape, but I soon fell in love with that car.
To make a long story short, I babied that car until its final day on June 25, 2007 when it was no longer reliable to start every day (even after spending $300 on fixing the module, spark plugs, etc). It was sent to a junkyard after 199,600 miles and faithful service. When I drove it to the junkyard, I hammered the hell out of that car, and the tranny never once slipped, and that motor still had as much pickup as the day I bought it.
I went on a chase for another Celebrity, and found the EXACT same car out of Missouri; the only difference being 1986 vs my old 1988 and carbureted vs FI. I live in Wisconsin, yet bought it pretty much without hesitation. The exterior is in FANTASTIC shape (I would rank it 9/10), but a lot of things were wrong when I got it. I replaced the cracked radiator, alternator, starter, tranny fluid, oil, and other various things, and boy do I have a car that's gonna go the distance. If you're bored sometime, check out the pictures of my old and new car I've linked below. Take care, I'll be checking back on this a lot!
OLD CAR: http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o208/goldenjimbo007/100_3399.jpg?t=1192784190
NEW CAR: http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o208/goldenjimbo007/question10.jpg?t=1192784291
18th Jul 2008, 00:01
Hi everyone, my grandfather just gave me his '86 Celebrity station-wagon. With only 65000 miles on it, it has a oil leak and a little transmission leak; nothing too bad. But it is the best car I have ever owned.
18th Jul 2008, 05:53
Free Celebrity!! Yes I got a call from a friend who said his neighbor had an 88 Celebrity wagon and wanted it out of his driveway. FREE for the taking. Naturally I dragged it home. After freeing the wheels (parked for 2 years) replacing the brakes and fluids it started first turn of the key. (2.5 FI)
Inspection for MVR revealed no issues so it is currently happily adding to the original 96,000 Km as my daily driver.
Figure I spent $500 plus my own labour to fix up my free car. It is now an excellent reliable vehicle. The $500 is probably a payment or 2 on some new computermobile. Love old chevys!!
21st Oct 2008, 21:14
The old Girl has rolled over 340k now and still clattering down the road. I changed some of the valve train but noises still exist. I was close to pulling the engine but didn't have the time late in the summer. I am considering doing that in the spring and rebuilding it. The engine shop said the 2.5L cylinder heads are known to crack so that would be extra money (maybe they just want to make a couple hundred bucks for the head). In any case, she still starts without any drama, drives great and still returns decent mileage for having a tired engine. The best thing is, everyone knows the car is mine and I can never miss it in a parking lot (and don't have to worry about shopping carts or other cars hitting it). More to come...
14th Feb 2010, 17:48
I have a 1987 Celebrity with a 104000 on it. In Park it has a noisy engine. Is there any thing you can use to make quieter?
28th Feb 2010, 12:52
About the 1987 Chevy with 104000 miles on it with a noisy engine... I know that using 10w30 or slightly heavier oils seems to make the valve train quiet down a fair amount. What kind of engine is it, 4 cylinder or 6? Either way, that oil should give it a bit of silence. I hope that helps out. Keep us informed on how it works for you.
Now on another note:
On February 27th, 2010, "my old baby"... blew the head gasket. My father was driving it and it had started to blow a lot of white smoke and just after getting off the highway, it was a smoking mess. So, at nearly 360K, the engine seems to be calling it quits.
I am curious to see the condition of the cylinder head, particularly the valves. At the same time, when I have access to the pistons, I will have a look at the piston walls and see how bad they look. I think the #2 cylinder was burning more oil than the others. Depending on what the condition is of the cylinder head and the cylinders is like, I can decide if I will invest time and money into doing the repairs on the engine. The body doesn't look really bad or anything, but does need some bodywork which I am really not good at, so I will get a quote from a friend of mine to do the work. The brakes and the rest of the mechanicals seem in fine order, so time will tell on what I will do with the old girl. More to come as I find out more details when the weather warms up. Cheers!
31st May 2010, 15:39
Update!! The engine has a cracked cylinder, number 2 to be exact. That pretty much my ends my hopes of it just being a head gasket. It's hard to find a good used or rebuild engine for these cars that isn't in bad shape. If I could find a good 2.8, I'd try that out, but it would involve drive-train upgrades too. Well if anyone has ideas or would be interested in a parts car, email me at rumnut23@hotmail.com. I live just outside of Toronto, Canada.
6th Feb 2007, 17:33
Just an update on "my old baby". I still have the old girl. I've reached the 21 year mark of ownership with this car in the family. I've reached just over 308000 km right now and with it being -20 Celcius lately, she still starts and goes strong. I've had to replace some exhaust parts (luckily I had spare parts from my neighbours old car). I've had some suspension parts replaced, but they were surprisingly cheap. I am considering keeping this car even if I have to refresh or rebuild the engine someday :). If anyone has experience with rebuilding 2.5L 4-tech engines, please let me know. "Keep 'em going! "