Introduce yourself thread! (56k warning!)

[ibhwrd2]

Pics of my baby:















Cheers,
George

Great looking ride there George...not like I'm partial to the jade stone metallic Century or anything

[Geoaidan]

LOL, thanks, that's a fine ride in your signature as well.

[6000]

I figured I'd sign up beacuse I just bought a 1985 Pontiac 6000 LE, 2.8 cabureted. I'm a mechanic, and all the other local mechanics around here make a face when I tell them about the Varajet carb lurking under the hood. Theres a Good Year next to my shop and one of the younger guys from there came over and said, "what is that, the first FWD engine?", Well, yeah the first GM FWD V6 engine...

Anyway my car has only 54,000 miles on it. Before I bought it, it was sitting in a garage for about 4 years. Before it was parked there, they painted it and put new tires on it so it looks pretty good. The woman died, and her son was selling the house so he needed to get it out of the garage so I picked it up via Craigslist for only $300.

I drove it to my shop, about 10 miles, on the old gas, it wouldn't go any faster than 20 MPH. After new gas tank, fuel pump, fuel sender, carb rebuild, EFE, spark plugs, 3 fuel filters, rear shocks, front brake pads, cutting the rotors and drums, (drums would lock up from rust, right front rotor was totally warped from a stuck pin) R12 freon charge (the Good Stuff!), the car is running pretty good. It seems to have a miss on light throttle, and on the scope, cylinder 1 is showing a relatively weak spark.

I use Rock Auto's catalog all the time to look up part numbers, since this is for myself with no customers waiting I figured I'd give them some business, so i ordered a cap, rotor, all the radiator and heater hoses, all 4 belts (Alt, AC, PS, and AIR), thermostat and gasket, PCV, PCV grommet (it's leaking oil from the old grommet), etc. Still waiting for most of the stuff to come because I ordered all ACDelco parts that are apparently stored at "outlying warehouses".

Soooooooo, anyways, if anyone else on here has an A-Body with a carbed 2.8, I'd love to hear from you so we could learn off eachother's experience. Not many people know about these engines anymore as the X-bodies are almost non-existant and very few carbed A-bodies are still on the road.

My previous cars included a 92 Crown Vic, 94 Crown Vic, 89 Lincoln Mark VII, 81 Olds Delta 88, and now the 6000.

I'll post some pictures after I wash the car....

[Prospeeder]

Ha George, I have the exact same seats in my 6000, but red, i got them from a century.

And to 6000, wheres the pics of your car! I love seein other people 6000's!!!

[RIPBARNBURNER]

welcome! lookin foward to the pics

[turbokinetic]

I figured I'd sign up beacuse I just bought a 1985 Pontiac 6000 LE, 2.8 cabureted. I'm a mechanic, and all the other local mechanics around here make a face when I tell them about the Varajet carb lurking under the hood. Theres a Good Year next to my shop and one of the younger guys from there came over and said, "what is that, the first FWD engine?", Well, yeah the first GM FWD V6 engine...

Anyway my car has only 54,000 miles on it. Before I bought it, it was sitting in a garage for about 4 years. Before it was parked there, they painted it and put new tires on it so it looks pretty good. The woman died, and her son was selling the house so he needed to get it out of the garage so I picked it up via Craigslist for only $300.

I drove it to my shop, about 10 miles, on the old gas, it wouldn't go any faster than 20 MPH. After new gas tank, fuel pump, fuel sender, carb rebuild, EFE, spark plugs, 3 fuel filters, rear shocks, front brake pads, cutting the rotors and drums, (drums would lock up from rust, right front rotor was totally warped from a stuck pin) R12 freon charge (the Good Stuff!), the car is running pretty good. It seems to have a miss on light throttle, and on the scope, cylinder 1 is showing a relatively weak spark.

I use Rock Auto's catalog all the time to look up part numbers, since this is for myself with no customers waiting I figured I'd give them some business, so i ordered a cap, rotor, all the radiator and heater hoses, all 4 belts (Alt, AC, PS, and AIR), thermostat and gasket, PCV, PCV grommet (it's leaking oil from the old grommet), etc. Still waiting for most of the stuff to come because I ordered all ACDelco parts that are apparently stored at "outlying warehouses".

Soooooooo, anyways, if anyone else on here has an A-Body with a carbed 2.8, I'd love to hear from you so we could learn off eachother's experience. Not many people know about these engines anymore as the X-bodies are almost non-existant and very few carbed A-bodies are still on the road.

My previous cars included a 92 Crown Vic, 94 Crown Vic, 89 Lincoln Mark VII, 81 Olds Delta 88, and now the 6000.

I'll post some pictures after I wash the car....

Welcome to the group! I had the non-computer Varajet II carb and vacuum-mechanicaldistributor on my 83 Century ex-diesel (previous owners swapped it). It was a good engine but that carb took alot of tinkering and tuning to get the secondary metering rods and secondary air flap dashpot adjusted right. Once I got all that tuned; it was very troublefree.

You did good to find that car low mileage for that price.

Anyway glad you're here and please post some pictures!
David

[6000]

OK here's some pictures:











And here's your's truly changing the thermostat (which solved most of my driveability problems)

[SilentWing]

Wow that is one beautiful car, $300 was a steal, even if it had a blown motor the body would be worth that much.

[LordDurock]

yea very good looking indeed

[Prospeeder]

Wow awsome!!!! I cant wait to get you that full cluster, that will make the inside look bad ass

[Geoaidan]

Looks like a great buy! Congrats

[turbokinetic]

Looks really good! Not as many of the flat-back-window cars left, and yours is in great shape. Paint even still shines!

Too bad it's been smoked in, but that is minor. Otherwise the interor is golden!

Thanks for posting the pictures!
David

[Oklahoma]

I figure this may be a bit late after almost a year and already having sold a car to someone else on this forum, but better now than never I guess. My name is Jack Bell, I'm 18 years old, and I lived with my parents and younger sister in Roswell GA until a couple months ago. Fun fact, that's where Jeff Foxworthy lives; I have run into him 3 times but never actually said anything to him. I have a 1996 Oldsmobile Ciera SL wagon. I bought it in September 2006 right after I turned 15. I saw an ad for it in the paper for $1900. I called the guy up and asked if the price was negotiable, and he immediately replied, '$1000 cash'. He was the original owner and had only put 91,000 miles on the car. It had a few problems; it needed an AC compressor, a side mirror, window motors, and a headliner. The blinkers didn't work, the rear glass didn't shut correctly, and there was a dent in the liftgate. But the interior and exterior were in great shape overall, as were the engine and transmission. So I paid $1000 cash for it, and fixed all the little problems it had (if you consider a large Centennial High School magnet a fix for a dent, that is) with a Haynes manual and occasional help from my uncle who was a long-time mechanic. I didn't have any experience working on cars before then, and that's what got me started. Anyways, the car has been great. Best decision I could have made. I drove it all through high school but unfortunately, I couldn't bring it with me to Georgia Tech this fall. I mean I could have, but parking is $600 a year... not worth it. So my mom quit driving her old van and is about to sell it; she's driving my Ciera until probably next spring when she will buy something newer. After that point, I may take my car back (depending on my living arrangement) or I may just let my parents keep it for another year or two. There are a few reasons why I really like the car--the front seats are very comfortable, it seats 8 if I need it to, I can fit alot in the back with the seats folded down, it gets good gas mileage, and it rides and drives nicely. I'm not really into modifications, but I did put on a set of 16" wheels from a Lumina Z34 (with Michelins) and my cousin convinced me a couple summers ago to put a glass pack on it, lol. Now I really want a full cluster for it, and maybe a CD player and a nicer set of speakers. Last winter I bought a 1986 6000 STE from the original owner with the intention of fixing it up for my sister. I was told it had a bad valve so I pulled the heads and had them rebuilt, turned out it was a blown ring... my bad! I should have tested for that before I pulled the heads. Anyways, I sold the car to a guy on here, The Mad Hatter, who I think is trying to sell it now. Instead my sister got a 1996 Grand Prix which, as I like to say, I trade her free labor on in return for shares of false sense of ownership, lol. Like my Ciera, it needed a few things when she bought it but is an overall nice car. Also, my Dad has a 2000 Toyota 4Runner 4x4, which is not even close to an A-body, but it's worth mentioning because it's a fun truck to take up into the mountains and fool around with.
In terms of my own interests/hobbies outside of cars and working on them, I like to play disc golf and I'm a long distance runner (I ran Varsity XC through high school and was captain my senior year--only thing I'll miss about HS). I mostly listen to classic rock, but my music tastes are relatively broad. I'm in my first semester at Georgia Tech majoring in Nuclear and Radiological engineering and so far I have been really enjoying college life. Like every fall, I am enjoying watching college football. I grew up in a big-time 'Bama family, but I thought when I came to Tech I would quickly become a Tech fan... but now I don't know. I think 'Bama is in my blood too much, nothing wrong with that though!
This is the most relevant picture for me to post of myself on here, since, after all, it is a picture of me working on an a-body (pulling the heads on that 6000):

Here's my car with the new wheels. It has Oldsmobile center caps now:

And I'll throw this one in for kicks since it's automotive related:

Oh, and if anyone here has ever seen the 'Flea Market Montgomery' video on YouTube... this is me with the guy:

Oh, and a question for David, if you read this, do you ever go to Archibald's barbeque in Northport? It's a pretty small place. I go whenever I'm in Tuscaloosa to see a game, and it's great. I always remember how to get there because it's at the corner of Martin Luther King and Lurleen Wallace, lol!

[turbokinetic]

Jack - thanks for the detailed post and pictures. You must be pretty smart to be entering that field of study!

In your pic working on the car - you could be a LA Machinery Power Systems tech - most of us wear gray (or black) tee shirts with oil on them in exactly the same place yours has it!

Oh, and a question for David, if you read this, do you ever go to Archibald's barbeque in Northport? It's a pretty small place. I go whenever I'm in Tuscaloosa to see a game, and it's great. I always remember how to get there because it's at the corner of Martin Luther King and Lurleen Wallace, lol!

Archibald has gone in with his brother (or cousin) Woodrow and opened a second restaruant in Northport. It's on US43 just north of McFarland Blvd. There used to be a seafood restaurant there. I've eaten at this one several times, but never at the original Archibald's. Remember I "live in Northport" but until a year ago I really lived on the road all over the southeast!

If you like Mexican food, I can steer you to some of Tuscaloosa area's best Mexican places, though!

Seriously - next time you're in T-town deop me a PM I'd love to visit if you have time! I'm in town 1 to 2 weeks of every month.

Thanks!
David

[Oklahoma]

Yeah, that was my designated 'working on cars shirt' until I went to Montgomery over the summer to put an A/C compressor in my cousin's Accord (well, I actually ended up fixing the old one) and my grandfather went ahead and threw the shirt out and gave me one he didn't wear anymore!
At the original Archibald's, the pit is about the size of the entire rest of the place! It's really small, there's just a bar with stools for 5 or 6 people. They serve some great pork sandwiches though; my dad likes it at least as well as Dreamland.
I have a close cousin who's a freshman at Bama so I'm sure I'll be in Tuscaloosa at some point this fall even if I don't necessarily have tickets to anything. If I have any spare time I'll let you know; I enjoy following your projects on here and I think it would be cool to see them in person.