Hi all, I'm in south eastern Nebraska. Mostly into Italian cars (Fiats and Alfas - nothing expensive) but have had my share of wagons over the years. I have an '85 Pontiac 6000 wagon in the barn as a "someday project". The kids went through a couple of GM A-bodies in high school. They were tough, reliable and cheap cars. Good for kids learning to drive. I liked the engine in the Buick, but the Pontiac with it's emissions carburetor an 2.8 V6 was always amazing at how well it kept running. Gutless - but.... Car earned it's keep enough to warrant a rebuilt transmission at 120K. It made it to 165K before the postman pulled out in front of my son. It needs a pull on a frame machine and a front clip. Still runs and drives. If I have a chance over the next week I'll pull it out and get some pictures. Mark
Welcome to the Wagon Forum, Mark! I can certainly understand your love of GM A-body wagons, and particularly the Pontiac 6000, because I love Pontiacs, and at one time, I got to order a new 1983 Pontiac 6000 as a company vehicle. It was a base model 4-door sedan (not an L.E.), and I added a few things at my own expense to make it comfortable for me - bucket seats and a console with the shifter, and also power windows and locks. It was very comfortable to drive. Looking forward to seeing those pics! Marshall
It was a good weekend project to clean all the cars from the barn and wash off the dust. Amazing part is that after sitting for two years at least, I hooked up a battery, shot some ether and it fired right off. Obviously needs some love, but now it is parked in a better area of the barn. The parts car Alfa Romeo went back in its place.
Yes it does. 2.8 V6 with carburetor. Given that this is about the end of the line for emissions strangled carburetors, I've never had an issue with it. Amazing.
It's also a tough old bird. It was "totaled" before I bought it. Someone rear ended and bent the bumper down a bit. Then it was "totaled" with a dear strike. Hence the "kill tags" on the front doors. After nailing the deer, it still ran and drove the rest of the way to work. Required a new hood and radiator. Pulled the radiator support out with a tree and come-a-long. The last strike was when the postman pulled out in front of my son. That one bent the front frame rail and legitimately "totaled" it. Insurance paid, but it does not have a branded title. Some day, I'll pull it out.
Don't wait too long. Do you still need to find a front sub-frame? These A-bodies are becoming more rare. This would make a good fall-winter project, then do the cosmetics in the spring.
I don't think the sub frame is bent enough to matter. It's really the "frame horn" that is pushed sown and to the left. the shock tower is displaced slightly and the bottom of the A-pillar needs to move forward about 1/4 inch. I think a good pull on the frame horn will allow all the rest to come back into place. I really need to find a front clip (hood, fenders, bumper, grill). Good part is the plains states still have windbreaks that people park the old cars in. We even still have a few old school junkyards.
Nice, loved reading about this! I’ve been driving A bodies since 1996, and currently have 2 that I drive. I’ve owned 4 wagons, 2 of them being Pontiac 6000s. I love the red orange instrumentation. On both of them I had swapped 6000 STE rear disc brakes, and steering wheel radio controls. Of course good luck finding one of those now. Same with how my first wagon was an SE with the ground effects and the body color wheels they used on the AWDs. Amazing that the taillights grilles have all the slats intact. One of my wagons was an 86 Celebrity with that finicky carb. When it worked it would scream. Then it didn’t, and after a rebuild to no avail, I wired the choke open about 1/4 of the way to make it driveable. 3 of them had the ever so common trailing arm separation. I welded a stronger tie-in to the body and kept on going. They’re great cars, reliable, easy to work on, still easy to get parts for.
