JohnO

Does anybody have a good source for bumper fillers for a 1979 Park Avenue. Plenty of options for a Riviera, but sparse for this car. The only one I see is Replica Plastics and it appears they don't have the front center filler. I checked the catalog for EK Bumper fillers and the years 1977-79 Electra is not there. If the front center bumper filler is not available, can one be made? Any comments would be helpful. Thanks

Looks like a gem to me. The upholstery is correct as well as the door panels. Even the speedometer looks crisp and not all faded out. Pictures do reflect a car that was well cared for.

For somebody in the market for this make and model, it looks like a fine example to me. They don't come up to often and it is ideal for the person who wants to replace the carpeting, sort out the brakes, and use it as is. For the most part it looks like it lived most of its life in a garage, neither being exposed to to much sun as the heat from the rear glass would ruin the tops of the back seat, or salt as the trunk does not look to bad.

I have spent a couple of hours on these and only got one off. The bolts require an enormous amount of torque just to turn them after I got it started. I do a couple of turns and have to take a rest. What is causing all that resistance and is there an easier way? I have been using a 3/8 inch ratchet with a 15mm socket. If something else works better please let me know Thanks.

It looks like there is a set screw. It is rusted in there. Is it necessary to remove the set screw as the rotor will not come off? I tried banging on the rotor with a hammer but it won't budge. Needless to say the rotors are rusted as well. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

I had a 60 Invicta Convert and currently have 2 61s. The devil is in the details and the interior looks excellent. The lettering on those speedometers do fade and this one looks crisp. The same applies to the lettering for the vents on the dash. Good luck to both the seller and the prospective buyer as these do not come up to often.

I did see a blue 68 Wildcat 2 dr hardtop on ebay within the past year and it had buckets in the same stitch pattern as the Wildcat Custom notchback seats. The car had been sitting and needed a total restoration. So, I believe buckets were available. As far as price: where are you going to get another one if your set on a 67 Wildcat 2 dr.

It would be good to know what renders the car to be potentially not driveable between the 10th and the 11th mile. An obvious factor for determining the price. It is a nice looking car if new bumper fillers were installed and the lower side mouldings removed.

The car had a tough life sitting in a garage. I always liked the look of the sport wheels on the 4 door hardtops. A beautiful example that rarely comes up for sale in this condition.

Thanks John for looking it up. It is clearly beyond anything I would take on myself even with help as that is one heavy hood. I was hoping for cut the old cage out, take out the old blower and wiggle a new cage in there and slide the new blower in and assemble the cage to blower in the confined space.

Thanks, the new picture shows one of the bars that was cut from the cage. The blower looks like it was replaced before as the bolts holding in were not to tight. Perhaps the cage on the old blower motor was cut to get it out as there is no way to separate the cage from the blower motor in the position that it is currently in. That additional brace that the hood hinges are attached to looks unique to the Riviera and not the other full size Buicks of that year. Hopefully somebody on the forum has done it before.

I thought this would be an easy swap - new for old. Anyway, it looks like the old one will not come out due to clearance. If the hood and supports were removed it would look easy, but those hoods are heavy and take 2-3 people. I tried wiggling and no results. Any ideas? I loosened all the bolts. Thanks

Hi Pete, I have a 61 Invicta Custom 2dr. I believe the trunk compartment is totally original.

I'm trying to get the A/C going that is set up to accept 134A refrigerent. As a first step, I put refrigerant in by jumping the low pressure switch on the accumulator for the clutch to engage so the refrigerant is sucked in with leak dye; however, the clutch stopped engaging after a while and even if I hot wire it, it will not engage. I did get some refrigerant in the system and noted a few leaks, the compressor being one. So, I'm thinking about a new compressor and new accumulator. The accumulators for an 85 Riviera I see on Rock Auto, while a delco part, does not have the outlet for the pressure switch to plug into, and the outlet to the condenser is not on the bottom as mine is. Both the inlet and outlet ports are on top. 1) Do I have to by new A/C lines to accommodate the new accumulator? 2) What do I do with two wires to the low pressure switch? 3) It looks like there is a receiver/dryer between the compressor and the condenser, so can I just reuse that as I don't see any replacements out there. Thanks

The brake lights stay on after the car is turned off. Also, while the car is still off, if I turn the directional signal to the left, the left rear light will go out and if I turn the directional signal to the right the right rear light will go out. The directional signals work fine when the car is running. My thoughts are a defective turn signal switch. However, I checked a number of sources and the turn signal switch (P/N 26062938) has been discontinued. The only available ones are used at @ $275 on ebay. My question is could it be anything other than the turn signal switch or is there a bypass that one could do? Thanks.

Thank you.

Hello, I have a high decibel reading (an exhaust leak) at the back and front of my intake manifold. I did some checking and supposedly there is a plug underneath the manifold that is in the passage for exhaust. Can somebody tell me if it is more to the front or back and what side. I would like to put a dab of JB Weld over it to correct the noise. Thanks.

Does anybody know of a vendor who can replace the dashpads on 1971-2 Rivieras to look like the factory originals? All to often , the fit around the vents is poor and on the concave section on the passenger side, it just does not look right. It's hard to describe, but the factory fit looks tighter, and there appears to be another section or at least stitching around the "Riviera" script. Thanks

Obviously a scam. The only thing that changes is the price.

I bought a new Riviera in 1983 and a used 1985 Riviera in 1990. I rekindled my interest in this generation by buying an 1982 at a Mecum auction and a 1985 from a private party in the past year. All were coupes. For the subject car, the buyer pool is small and there are a lot of examples out there. The seller should be satisfied with anything over $4,000. So list for $4,500 and drop from there. True story: There was an 85 Riviera listed on Classiccars.com for $13.5K in Texas. It had 70,000 miles, genuine spokes, and was well presented in the pictures. Well, after being listed for ages, it sold at the 2018 Los Angles Mecum auction for $2,750 which included the 10% buyers fee. So, the seller netted about $2,400 since they have to pay 5%. In addition, they had to transport it from Texas to California. Point is, they should have listed that car for $4,500, take $4,000 and they would have been way ahead.

The brake pedal with disk brake embossed in the center are not reproduced. It looks like the original pedal. I've had and seen a few of these cars and the pedals don't hold up with usage over time. Usually they bow and crack. That observation along with others are an indication that it could indeed be a 20K mileage car. The pictures either show poor judgement on how to market the car or conceal flaws.

You can request your own whitewall width and Diamondback tires will make it for you. On my Wildcat, I have 1 1/8 whitewalls. Also, the whitewalls are really white compared to more off the shelve tires.

I have had good luck with the ebay "Buy it Now" option after I ran it through the "Auction". The bidding did not meet my reserve and I posted the "Buy it Now" price allowing for a "Best Offer". "You have to be patient as there are dishonest people who abuse the ebay bidding process and those who ask for a lot of additional information, but have no intentions of buying the car. You have to trust your instincts to rule out the latter. I have sold three $20,000 + cars that were bought sight unseen. Pictures of the areas subject to the most wear are recommended; for example, the dash, drivers seat, and door panel. Also, some pictures of the engine bay, trunk, and close-up pictures of the chrome and the sides of the car would be helpful. You don't want the pictures too close if they are picking up a lot of reflections. The pricing is up to you. It is a unique car that looks beautiful, but unfortunately there is a small pool of potential buyers. +

I am in the process of replacing the rear coil springs on the 82 Riv. The control arm is supported by a floor jack and the rear shock absorber has been removed; however, when I lower the jack the coil spring will not release. It is as if I have to remove something else (such as the sway bar) or the coil spring refuses to let go. I can pull the jack out and everything would remain intact. I think it is the original coil spring. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thank you.

Beautiful car! It was in the car corral at Hershey.