65 rivi gs owners

[arnulfo de l.a.]

how many of you have the original 425 and tranny without either having been rebuilt or even had the heads off? how many miles does it have ? im 90 % sure thats the case for mine. when i changed out the timing chain, the gaskets on the timing chain cover and oil pan looked to be the original ones. i could be wrong though. the car has over 100k . i cant say exactly what the milage is because my odometer does not work right. when ever it reaches a number like 59999 it takes at least another 1000 miles of driving before the numbers flip to 60000. currently the odometer reads 58383.other than the occasional stuck lifter noise on first start up, the car runs great. no smoke from tail pipe, no major oil leaks from oil pan or valve covers.the tranny does leak. i think its coming from the front seal.i never drive the car hard. average speed 65mph,no burnouts or hard pedal to the floor accelerations to reach highway traffic speed.i change the oil every 3000 miles and always use the highest octane gas.

after reading about the recent misfortunes of mr.tneugent and a couple of other forum members, im kind of worried about when my engine will have a major break down.it would be a heart breaker if the block were ruined.

arnulfo

[Guest clamshells]

how many of you have the original 425 and tranny without either having been rebuilt or even had the heads off? how many miles does it have ? im 90 % sure thats the case for mine. when i changed out the timing chain, the gaskets on the timing chain cover and oil pan looked to be the original ones. i could be wrong though. the car has over 100k . i cant say exactly what the milage is because my odometer does not work right. when ever it reaches a number like 59999 it takes at least another 1000 miles of driving before the numbers flip to 60000. currently the odometer reads 58383.other than the occasional stuck lifter noise on first start up, the car runs great. no smoke from tail pipe, no major oil leaks from oil pan or valve covers.the tranny does leak. i think its coming from the front seal.i never drive the car hard. average speed 65mph,no burnouts or hard pedal to the floor accelerations to reach highway traffic speed.i change the oil every 3000 miles and always use the highest octane gas.

after reading about the recent misfortunes of mr.tneugent and a couple of other forum members, im kind of worried about when my engine will have a major break down.it would be a heart breaker if the block were ruined.

arnulfo

I'd take a matching #'s LX apart at 100k just to be safe, if by some Nailhead Magic you only need rings, bearings, timing set, lifters, heads done and a new oil pump you have lost nothing. The cylinder taper is progressive getting worse at a increasing rate/ mileage. Those blocks HATE sleeves and what a shame it would be to lose that block :-( OR If you get on that now and can get by with 30 (good), 20 (better) or 10 (best) over on the pistons your set for another 100k with little to zero issues. Let it go and these bores don't clean up until 40, 50 or 60 you're luck may not be so good.

Talk to Russ Martin @ http://nailheadbuick.com/buick-parts-3

Better safe than sorry

[RivNut]

One of the original ROA gurus, the late Leonard Scott, said that any nailhead should be rebuilt somewhere between 90 and 100K. I've got all of the old Riviews, but I don't think I could find it in any kind of time frame that would be of any good to anyone. But, that was almost 30 years ago. Perhaps better oils and better maintenance, and the fact that these cars are no longer daily drivers could have a bearing on how far they'll go before needing anything major.

Ed

[lrlforfun]

OK Arnulfo: My experience with these cars when I drove them as a daily driver was such that the 100K mark was when they started to show signs of being tired like lifter noise and some blow by. If I had a strong freshly rebuilt engine in the same car right away I might have been able to dramatically tell the difference but I wasn't presented with those circumstances.

I haven't yet seen an engine shop that would do a hone and re-ring. All machine shops are in business to make money and the liability that comes from getting away from a complete rebuild is not worth their risk. The type of rebuild they reccommend includes things like cutting the crank, cylinder bore, full head job and hot tank and a master kit with quality parts.

I'm presently on my 3rd rebuild. This 401 engine ran sweet, 150 lbs per cyl, hitting on all 8. The oil light went on and after a gauge test, dropping the pan and inspecting the crank it was determined that the crank was mildly scored. After a complete teardown we found several cylinder bores to be out of round. A rough cut was made to determine the piston size and .30 overbore was the recommended size. I have also had two other 425 engines rebuilt, both .30 over.

As far as the matching numbers I'm going to disagree with Mike (and probably a bunch of others) in the fact that to me it makes no difference if an engine has been replaced with a like kind. If the car is good and the engine is good...I'm good. Finally, even a low mileage car with a sweet engine is extremely vulnerable to fall apart with moderate use. Like I say, and you can quote me, "Father Time casts his giant shadow on everything". Mitch

[arnulfo de l.a.]

thank you all for the replies

arnulfo

[65VerdeGS]

how many of you have the original 425 and tranny without either having been rebuilt or even had the heads off? how many miles does it have ? im 90 % sure thats the case for mine. when i changed out the timing chain, the gaskets on the timing chain cover and oil pan looked to be the original ones. i could be wrong though. the car has over 100k . i cant say exactly what the milage is because my odometer does not work right. when ever it reaches a number like 59999 it takes at least another 1000 miles of driving before the numbers flip to 60000. currently the odometer reads 58383.other than the occasional stuck lifter noise on first start up, the car runs great. no smoke from tail pipe, no major oil leaks from oil pan or valve covers.the tranny does leak. i think its coming from the front seal.i never drive the car hard. average speed 65mph,no burnouts or hard pedal to the floor accelerations to reach highway traffic speed.i change the oil every 3000 miles and always use the highest octane gas.

after reading about the recent misfortunes of mr.tneugent and a couple of other forum members, im kind of worried about when my engine will have a major break down.it would be a heart breaker if the block were ruined.

arnulfo

I rebuilt the original LX motor and Super Turbine (THM-400) transmission on my '65 GS when the care had over 250,000 miles on it. No engine work had been done to it. I did replace 4 or 5 water pumps - later I learned this was probably because I was over-tightening the fan belt! I bought the car when it had just over 100,000 miles on it. Before I rebuilt the engine it ran reasonably strong (still) but had plenty of blow-by and the oil leaks were starting to get to me - the fumes from oil burning on the exhaust manifolds weren't too pleasant after a long drive (read: wife would not ride in my Riv any more!)

When torn down the rebuilder found two broken rings and a bent push rod, nothing major. The engine was bored 0.30 over and everything put back together - standard stuff. Boy, did the rebuild make a difference! I could really feel the extra performance. After the rebuild the engine overheated on me once in high 90's F. weather during a traffic jam - this car had never, ever oveheated on me before in hot weather. Perhaps the thinner cylinder walls after the overbore were the cause? I doubt it was due to the cooling system as everything there was rebuilt, including the radiator. I pulled over to let the engine cool off before setting off again, so nothing seems to have been damaged. I was also impressed that the transmission lasted so long without a rebuild. These Buicks were strong, and well built! Short of running it her out of oil, or overheating it drastically, you're probably going to be just fine with your engine

[arnulfo de l.a.]

thanks alex, i was hoping there was someone out there that had a car with that kind of milage. my car runs so good ,i just cant justify a complete overhaul mainly because i dont want to bore out the cylinders if its not needed. my car has no blowby and as stated earlier, no oil leaks other than the tranny.ive got a 1987 elcamino with well over 200k on it and never been rebuilt. she still runs smooth and passes cali's stringent smog tests every time. i don't know if thats a fair comparison to a nailhead. i think i am going to keep driving my rivi without a overhaul for now even though it goes against what the majority of the men here have said. again, thanks to all that replied.

arnulfo

[65VerdeGS]

thanks alex, i was hoping there was someone out there that had a car with that kind of milage. my car runs so good ,i just cant justify a complete overhaul mainly because i dont want to bore out the cylinders if its not needed. my car has no blowby and as stated earlier, no oil leaks other than the tranny.ive got a 1987 elcamino with well over 200k on it and never been rebuilt. she still runs smooth and passes cali's stringent smog tests every time. i don't know if thats a fair comparison to a nailhead. i think i am going to keep driving my rivi without a overhaul for now even though it goes against what the majority of the men here have said. again, thanks to all that replied.

arnulfo

Alnulfo,

That's exactly what I would do. Run your existing motor. Rebuilds aren't cheap, and you'r Riv isn't your daily driver.

Enjoy your ride.

[arnulfo de l.a.]

Alnulfo,

That's exactly what I would do. Run your existing motor. Rebuilds aren't cheap, and you'r Riv isn't your daily driver.

Enjoy your ride.

well i do drive it almost everyday. the car does get driven a lot,but the driving load is shared with 3 motorcycles and two other cars. one of the many perks of living in beautiful Los Angeles california is its so spread out, you do lots of driving or riding, whatever the case may be.like women that have to change clothes every time they leave the house, i change modes of transportation every time i leave the house;) thanks for the words of encouragement alex!

arnulfo