1989 Chevy Celebrity CL 4-Door
Welcome to my page about my Celebrity. After driving wagons for the last 10 years, this is my first sedan. I like it, though the wagon still has its place. I bought this car in early June 2003, with 100k on it, for $700. Well actually $679, considering that I dug out $21 in change. It needed a few minor things fixed, but overall it was pretty nice. The car is still very solid, the suspension is very nice, and the CL velour interior is very nice too. It was an unusual Celebrity, it has the V6, but had the small brakes and bolt pattern. By 1989 most of them had the larger running gear. This one also had wire wheel covers. They actually looked pretty good on the car.
After fixing the few things it needed (thermostat, inner tie rods, wire to the fuel pump relay, gas tank later on) I decided to convert it to rear disc brakes, so that required swapping the whole running gear to the larger bolt pattern. I also put on some Eurosport rally wheels, and painted them to match the car. Though sometimes I miss the spokes, I think the new wheels look pretty good. And every time I look at the car now, I think of it as a sexy little car, so maybe that will be its name.
On the inside, there were a few things I wanted. First was a steering wheel from a Lumina van or Cavalier Z24, those are just my most favorite steering wheels ever, and the car drives nicer with it too. Then the gauges. The car already had the full gauge package, which on a Celebrity does not include an oil pressure gauge or tach. So recently I performed major surgery to the stock gauge cluster, and with parts from a fellow Celebrity cluster and a 6000 cluster, I made a factory looking oil pressure gauge. I also made a factory looking analog tachometer with the help of some 6000 parts, and some donor Celebrity dash parts.
On 7/24/04 the 2.8 V6 blew either a head gasket or intake manifold gasket. My bday present was mayonnaise under the oil fill cap. So after thinking about it for a week, I decided to pull the 2.8 and put in a 3.1. I completed the swap and it runs great. Id still like to rebuild the 2.8 when I get a chance here and there.
Towards the end of 2004 I repaired the headliner that was always sagging. I removed the board and repaired some breaks and cracks with fiberglass resin. I also used this opportunity to turn the rearview mirror opening around so the spotlights would shine to the back seat. Then I used gray polar fleece, held on by contact cement, for the fabric. That should be totally water resistant. And while I had the headliner board out, I ran the wiring for the maplight rearview mirror that I had been waiting to install. Its the end of 2005 and so far so good, and it looks good too.
Spring of 2005, I ran the CD changer wiring under the carpet, and solidly mounted the changer into the console. I decided to leave the controller in the same place, so I carved out the change holder to let the controller cable pass through.
Ive been contemplating some custom steering wheel controls. To my knowledge, GM never made a set that fit this steering wheel. I wouldnt chop up my current horn pad, but I would construct a new one probably from foam and fiberglass resin, with horn contacts embedded in the foam. The buttons would be from the Gen 1 Pontiac controls, rearranged a bit, with a framework built around them to fit the steering wheel area. The rest of the guts would be from the Gen 2 controls (many GMs). I have one of each and have mapped out the wiring on how to merge the two. Here is a photochop of what it might look like. Id always be able to plop on the old horn pad if I didnt like it.
See Page 2 for overall pics.
See Page 3 for oil pressure gauge pics.
See Page 4 for tachometer pics.
See Page 5 for cd changer pics.
See Page 6 for before and after engine swap pics.
