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So, are you "just" a Riviera person, or a "car guy"?


Black River

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Just curious if everybody here is just into Rivieras/Buicks, or if you'd consider yourself a car guy or girl?  I love all brands of musclecars and street rods/street machines.  My family currently has about 30 different muscle cars and drag cars between us (my parents and 2 brothers).  Most of them are Mopars (Roadrunners, Demons, Challenger R/T), but we've got a '87 Grand National and '70 Skylark as well as my Riviera on the Buick side, and a few Chevys, Oldsmobiles, Cadillacs, and Fords. I'd consider myself a Ford guy first, with Buick and Cadillac being within a 1/2" of that.  My personal list of what I've currently got that I'd consider "Special Interest":  '63 Rivera, '70 Coupe DeVille, '72 Mach 1, '74 F-100, '94 F-250.  I autocross the Mach 1 and F-100, and drag race the Mach 1, also.  Just curious if everybody else has a diverse taste, or if you're loyal just to the Riv?  Post up your cool cars and trucks if you'd like :)

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Well I'm a car guy.  Still have my first car (79 Camaro), which I bought in 1986 and it has evolved from a straight six to a 509bbc with a/c, gear vendors, and vintage air.

 

The car that first made a major impression on me when I was young was a 67 Dodge coronet.  Also has a 493 that fuel injected, gear vendors, A/C etc...

 

My wife always wanted a 68 charger so we got one of those.

 

We both always liked the Cherokee Chiefs so we got one of those.

 

And I wanted a classic jetson era car that was clean but rough around the edges for a work car.  I was looking at 60 belairs, 59 coronets, and even 61 cadillacs.

I needed a car that rode nice, and was refined, and had nice patina.  I stumbled upon 1st. gen rivs by chance.  I really didn't give them to much of a look at first because there were no fins or bubble top.

 

But after awhile the 1st. gen look grew on me to the point where I wanted one of them before the others.

 

So I found a sold rough desert 64 Riviera with 50 shades of silver.  And made the space age interior more spacey with angle gages and stainless steel to replace the desert cooked wood and then added sebring conv. seats for comfort.

 

I enjoy it a lot more than the other cars simply because its comfortable, Gear Vendors, Vintage air,   I can drive it anywhere without worrying about bugs, or getting it dirty.  And I always get a lot of feedback from the public driving it. (thumbs up and gas station conversations)  I put about 6,000 miles a year on it.

Plus its a cool car that no one my area has.

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Edited by rapom (see edit history)
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I'm a car guy. I live, breathe and eat cars. If it's got a motor and wheels, I'm interested. I wanted to be a car designer since I was about 10, but as a teenager of the 80's, I hated "modern" design. That. and it was an incredibly difficult profession to get into. So I decided I wanted to be a customizer. Only problem is, I don't have that kind of fabrication skills.

 

I was a chevelle guy, mostly because of the design. Strong, and purposeful. I fell for the Riv because it had that similar strong solid shapes, but also incorporated delicate features, and a solid design intent. Every shape belongs there.

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If I may liken my Riviera to Raquel Welch (then) and a ATS coupe to Scarlette Johansen (now)

- I'd admit I could diversify if the later two were even obtainable. ^_^

So I'll just name my Riv' Raquel for now.

 

 

 

 

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Im a wrench turner, I admire the workmanship in a car regardless of make or model.  I lean more toward Chevy/GM products but I complement anyone with a nice ride that did the work.  I rebuilt a Riv just because it kinda fell in my lap and I was biting for a project.  I ended up becoming knowledgeable about them mechanically, but the Riv wasnt for me, Im more muscle and less luxury

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I've loved cars since I could name every car coming down the road. If I had the space and the money I'd own a 64 Chevy SS, 50 Chevy DeLuxe, 53 Buick two door, and a 58 Buick Riviera. I could go on for two weeks telling folks what cars I really like and would own if the least bit doable.I've attached a short video filming and recording my new exhaust system on my 63 Riviera.

Red Riviera Bob.

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Edited by Red Riviera Bob
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Without hesitation I am not a professional mechanic. I can hold my own on basics of auto maintenance, but I'm not an engine rebuilder.

I do a lot of investigation so I"m informed about my problem with the car. The mechanics I do use are independent and I find through referrals.

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Very cool fellas. I was lucky enough to be born into a car family, and did the first engine swap into my Mustang with my dad when I was 12 (I started saving up for it when I was in kindergarten.) I built the 552" stroker that's in it now in my work office when the nitroused Cleveland I built as my high school senior project blew up on the way to my 10 year class reunion. I took autobody and got a degree in metal fabrication, and the bodywork took 2 years. I enjoy (and loathe) doing all the work myself, but I don't judge people that don't have the skills or patience or time to do it, just as long as they don't claim they do when the car is done. Give credit to your body or interior or engine guy, they deserve it.

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Most definitely a car guy, and a novice wrench turner.  My two current babies are my 65 Riviera and my 2004 CE Z06.  Daily drive the Z06 and working on getting the Rivi back on the road after far too long on a heater core and carpeting replacement. Others in the family that have got away include two 1955 chevy two doors, a 1969 Nova, a 1964 Malibu, 1969 C10 short bed step side, and a 1971 split bumper Camaro.  And yes, in case anyone was still wondering, I'm a GM gut till I die.

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I found out later on in life that my ancestors were coachbuilders. Pretty well known at the time coachbuilders.  They even made a body for the 1914 Indy 500.   So guess it's in my genes

im actually a retired Air Force fighter crew chief.  I worked F-111's  A-10s and F-15s.   I now work in the inspection section here on base. Taking apart fighters   That are due scheduled inspections and replace all sorts of components.   

I just have to have wrenches in my hands

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17 hours ago, Black River said:

Just curious if everybody here is just into Rivieras/Buicks, or if you'd consider yourself a car guy or girl?  I love all brands of musclecars and street rods/street machines.  My family currently has about 30 different muscle cars and drag cars between us (my parents and 2 brothers).  Most of them are Mopars (Roadrunners, Demons, Challenger R/T), but we've got a '87 Grand National and '70 Skylark as well as my Riviera on the Buick side, and a few Chevys, Oldsmobiles, Cadillacs, and Fords. I'd consider myself a Ford guy first, with Buick and Cadillac being within a 1/2" of that.  My personal list of what I've currently got that I'd consider "Special Interest":  '63 Rivera, '70 Coupe DeVille, '72 Mach 1, '74 F-100, '94 F-250.  I autocross the Mach 1 and F-100, and drag race the Mach 1, also.  Just curious if everybody else has a diverse taste, or if you're loyal just to the Riv?  Post up your cool cars and trucks if you'd like :)

Best green I've ever seen on a Mach1.

Is that a factory color option?

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I've been a car guy since I was knee high to a pushrod. I can remember identifying cars by their grilles & yrs. when i was about 5yrs. old, 1951 or so. My dad was kinda a car guy, but not a mechanic by any means. He was into Buick,s 1st. & Pontiac,s 2nd. I remember doing a valve job on his '53 Pontiac Chieften my 2nd. yr. in tech school & adjusting the valves on that Flathead str. 8 when it was snowing heavily outside. But, I was ALWAYS into Buick's. My 1st. was a '50 Special fastback. I have many pics of that car, & still do, With mock ups of mods drawn on the pics. Along the way I had owned as many as 13 '55 Buick's at the same time. My favorite was my '55 Special 3spd. which came standard with 3.90 rear end gears.  In it's final days it had a somewhat built 401 out of a '59 Electra I picked up for $35.00. Dual quads from a wrecked '65 Riv. EVERYTHING air cleaner & ALL. Homemade headers & a 6 bolt top cover trans.  This car was pretty fast. I could floor the go pedal at 60MPH & the tires would break loose. Surprised MANY a 'Vette & others at the time. Never took it to the drags. Biggest problem was it couldn't be shifted too fast between 1st. & 2nd. if you did it would lock up in 2 gears at once & break the output shaft in 3 pieces. Sold that one about 20 or so yrs. ago. I bought my Riv. new in '64. It was ordered by a doctor as a birthday gift for his wife. He didn't want to wait for Aug. because Buick may have put a limit on the amount of Rivs. built as they did in '63. So it sat in the showroom until they went to look at new cars. By that time there happened to be the 1st. '65 Riv. just being unloaded off the trailer. One of the 1st. at the dealership. She caught a glimpse of the '65 & immediately fell in love with the looks over the '64. Lucky for me I guess as now the car was BRAND NEW, but still a yr. old. I felt I got a deal on it because of this. It almost worked out to a dollar a pd. The rest is history as after OVER 300K miles & 50+ yrs. I still own the same car I've had since I was 18. After a little over a yr. later I was drafted into the Army & did my time in the military in Vietnam, '67, I got involved with stock car racing, where at the time the KING was the Ford Flathead. After the 1st. yr. rules were changed to allow trans. & diffs. that were NOT original to the cars being raced as long as the body was the same period as the engine. I got the main mechanic & owner to investigate a str. 8 Buick. Heck, it started with MORE cubes than you could bore or stroke a Flathead & you could only overbore a max of a 1/4" NO stroking. So this meant we could possibly go out to 368Cubes. Although we didn't go that far & we were only allowed a 2bbl. carb. In our case a much modded 500CFM Holley we got to flow about 650CFM's. Once we got the engine set-up & tuned we were pushing ALMOST 400HP to the rear wheels on a chassis dyno. We gave many a SBC 350 spankings with the incredible amount of low end torque coming out of the corners. They just couldn't get their R's up fast enough at the time.  We were the 1st. to use slicks on ALL 4 corners & coil over shocks. Remember back when the car was handling when it came into a turn with the L/F wheel in the air??? I asked how can a car handle with only 3 tires on the ground??? Of course 1100pds. over the front wheels didn't want to know ANYTHING about making left turns. Rules stated the harmonic balance r had to be over the front axle so we couldn't set the engine back. We spent much time going over the rue book. NOTHING was said about moving the engine to the left & making a "Slant" 8 out of it to put MORE weight on the left front. We all got that car to handle so well it held the track record for 3 yrs. after the more modern SBC powered Gremlins etc. came out. When we wanted to race with them under the same rules they would not let us set the engine back 20" like they did with the newer cars. Would have had a MID ENGINE car!!! It should have handled even better to give them ALL a run for their money. that car & engine are still around today competing in Nostalgia races.

 I could go on for days about ALL of this as it was an important time in my history. It would take me WEEKS typing with one finger. All I'll say is now I'm fully involved with the "Nails" as I've always been. Designing parts like mini-starters, roller tip rockers, forged pistons, etc.

 

 

Tom T.

 

 

 

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4 minutes ago, PWB said:

Best green I've ever seen on a Mach1.

Is that a factory color option?

Thank you for the compliment.  No sir, the Argent is the factory color, the green is a custom mixed pearl we came up with based on a color off a 2001 Honda Accord, but tripled the pearl content.  It flops a few different shades and looks black in the dark.  All the stripes and words are under the 13 coats of clearcoat, except the "552 RAM AIR" on the hood, because I change engine sizes a bit.  Next go around I'm building a 604" for it, and it'll say "10 Liter" on the plates, so I'm twice as big as a 5.0 Mustang.  Here's a pic of it at dusk.

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Much like Tom, I was identifying cars by their tail lights and grilles since I was about 5 or 6. My dad and uncles are all car guys, so it came natural. Went to the first Street Rod Nats in 73 in Memphis. Couldn't drive yet, but was still a car guy. I have owned at least a 100 older cars, but my 55 Bel Air hardtop, My 58 Apache big window short wide and my 63 Riviera are keepers. Have had multiple opportunities to sell or trade each of these, but I have no interest in selling them. Fell in love with each of these body styles when I was a kid, and don't see that love fading any time soon.

 

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Edited by steelman
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Car guy, I look at appreciate most all makes and models, but gravitate towards primarily Buicks as I feel I know their values better.  Hard to keep current on everything.  Definitely not mechanically inclined.  Collection is ever changing, here are my current old rides. 

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Guys I will be  honest. Don't know anything about Rivs other that always admire the looks. will like to find out  how much do you think this car is worth, found it locally and will go to take a look in person. The seller says has about 93,000 miles and he is the second owner and that "everything works" Are 80's Rivs collectibles, are they appreciating in value? Got my attention due to the rag top. Any info is welcome. The guy is asking 7K

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3 hours ago, Elpad said:

Guys I will be  honest. Don't know anything about Rivs other that always admire the looks. will like to find out  how much do you think this car is worth, found it locally and will go to take a look in person. The seller says has about 93,000 miles and he is the second owner and that "everything works" Are 80's Rivs collectibles, are they appreciating in value? Got my attention due to the rag top. Any info is welcome. The guy is asking 7K

I'll bet you can get it for 5700 cash.  And it would be worth that. And I'll bet the interior will not be as nice as the exterior. Appears wonky.

Let us know. I'm in Fla.

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Edited by PWB (see edit history)
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That's a good looking convertible.  I'm no 70s or 80s Riviera expert, and cars from that era are hard to put a value on, but you'll get the "it's worth what someone's willing to pay for it" line.  I think on cars of that vintage, that line holds truer than any other.  Their market hasn't been set yet, because they aren't truly classics to most people.  I look at it this way:  You could buy that car for $7k, or a 2005 Honda Accord.  I know what I'd do :)

 

Lucas

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ALL Riviera convertibles had maroon interiors.  The seats in this car appear to be a dark gray.  Is is just the lighting in the photo or has someone replaced the interior at some time?  Past some detailed pictures of the interior,  please.

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Also, why isn't the right rear window down?  These rear quarter windows are a pain in the arse if there's something not working correctly.  You need to know own that ALL convertibles started off as hardtops.  They were shipped to a specialty shop where the metal tops were cut off with a Sawzall and then converted into a convertible.   All the convertible parts were custom made.  There are no replacement parts made for those custom made parts.  Including the operation of the quarter windows; quarter windows on a coupe are stationary, they dont move.  If you're truly interested, make sure that all the parts are there and that they're all working. If you put the top down with the windows up, does the top down switch lower the windows about an inch before the top retracts?  Check it all out thoroughly.  You should also check the classifieds on the Riviera Owners Assn website to see what's for sale there.  If for no other reason, to compare prices.  By the way, the bumper fillers on this car have been replaced with aftermarket parts.  The OE parts did not have seams in the middle of them, they were one piece items.  If you can find a picture, see how much nicer the OE pieces look.

 There's a link to the ROA website in my signature. 

 

Ed

Edited by RivNut (see edit history)
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4 hours ago, Black River said:

That's a good looking convertible.  I'm no 70s or 80s Riviera expert, and cars from that era are hard to put a value on, but you'll get the "it's worth what someone's willing to pay for it" line.  I think on cars of that vintage, that line holds truer than any other.  Their market hasn't been set yet, because they aren't truly classics to most people.  I look at it this way:  You could buy that car for $7k, or a 2005 Honda Accord.  I know what I'd do :)

 

Lucas

Reminds me of that most interesting man in the world commercial " I don't always drive a Buick but when I do, I drive a Riviera"

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1 hour ago, RivNut said:

ALL Riviera convertibles had maroon interiors.  The seats in this car appear to be a dark gray.  Is is just the lighting in the photo or has someone replaced the interior at some time?  Past some detailed pictures of the interior,  please.

The guy sent me more pictures, still have not seen it in person. Now he tells me that he was not sure that he wanted to sell and installed what it looks like oversized wire wheels and new tires (sorry don't like those) this is what the picture depicts the interior. Keep you all posted

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On 4/26/2017 at 0:10 PM, PWB said:

Best green I've ever seen on a Mach1.

Is that a factory color option?

I marvel at gasoline combustion engines that still run and work on outdoor power equipment. I use vintage Gravely tractors and implements to manage our two acre heavily wooded lot where we live. I am a member of the Gravely Tracror Club of America.

Gravely, at one time 70 implements that were interchangeable among dozens of its tractors.

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On 4/26/2017 at 11:29 PM, Black River said:

Andrew, I think you and my older brother would get along nicely :) Sorry for the crappy pic of a pic quality.

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damngit that's a cool setup

440 !?!?! must go like the clappers..

 

and i really dig your Mustang. as per previous comments, colour is amazing.

nice old ute too.

Edited by whitewatersky (see edit history)
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On 4/27/2017 at 4:09 AM, steelman said:

Much like Tom, I was identifying cars by their tail lights and grilles since I was about 5 or 6. My dad and uncles are all car guys, so it came natural. Went to the first Street Rod Nats in 73 in Memphis. Couldn't drive yet, but was still a car guy. I have owned at least a 100 older cars, but my 55 Bel Air hardtop, My 58 Apache big window short wide and my 63 Riviera are keepers. Have had multiple opportunities to sell or trade each of these, but I have no interest in selling them. Fell in love with each of these body styles when I was a kid, and don't see that love fading any time soon.

 

 

ho-lee crap that looks good that low.

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Guest Texas Rivi Lover

I'm a owner of a 1985 Buick Riviera Convertible. Although it looks good trust me you can hunt the internet and find them cheaper than what this guys asking. Goggle Buick Riviera Convertible for sale on craigslist and take your time choosing a good car. Word to the wise parts are hard to come by but I love the hunt so if you can hang join the club.. I found mine on E bay for 1900.00 with a new crate motor and had it shipped from the engine repair shop for 425.00 

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6 hours ago, whitewatersky said:

damngit that's a cool setup

440 !?!?! must go like the clappers..

 

and i really dig your Mustang. as per previous comments, colour is amazing.

nice old ute too.

Thanks.  It was a 340 car originally, then the 440, now is a 505 stroker.  The two fastest cars in the brother's and my dad's fleet are my Dad's Skylark and my older brother's Demon was running 9.9s in the quarter, but he put a new alcohol engine in it, so hoping low 9s/high 8s this year.  Little brother's '87 GN is a 10 second car, and he and I are trading places with who's quickest between that and my Mach 1 right now haha......We all street drive our cars, but the GN will still get 20 mpg, where my Mach 1 is lucky to pull 8 mpg if I just cruise at 65 or 70 mph....I guess a turbo 3.8L has some advantages over a naturally aspirated 9.3L hahahaha

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On ‎4‎/‎25‎/‎2017 at 7:01 PM, Red Riviera Bob said:

I've loved cars since I could name every car coming down the road. If I had the space and the money I'd own a 64 Chevy SS, 50 Chevy DeLuxe, 53 Buick two door, and a 58 Buick Riviera. I could go on for two weeks telling folks what cars I really like and would own if the least bit doable.I've attached a short video filming and recording my new exhaust system on my 63 Riviera.

Red Riviera Bob.

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What kind of mufflers are you running? She's got a nice deep rumble.

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Guest Texas Rivi Lover

I'm a true Riviera lover and so is my dad. His first was a Boat tail '73. The curves of the 79-85 melts my heart . The convertibles are my favorite by far. I've owned 3 so far.

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  • 4 months later...

I absolutely consider myself a "car guy" and my tastes aren't just for classics.  Heck, while I always liked the looks of older cars, I really never considered owning a classic prior to about 6 months ago.  Then the bug kind of bit me and I bought the Riv.  Went from just randomly checking out classic car sites just for the heck of it, to must-buy-it-now in a few short weeks.  

 

Alone with the Riv, im a big Subaru fan.  I havent seen a single foreign make posted on here, but I'm currently on my second WRX and can expect for that not to be the last.  I also like older European cars, and besides the Subaru, I also like a lot of newer American cars now that they are finally building good cars again.  I love modern Cadillacs, the new Camaro and I am a huge fan of the Chevy Bolt and Volt.  I don't think being fuel efficient and environmentally responsible is contradictory to being a "car guy".  If it's got good engineering and/or nice styling and/or is just a fun car to drive, I'll probably like it.  If it's a little different, even better.

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