Riviera front clip on Reatta

[alexhouston]

When I bought my Reatta from a junk yard for parts, I didn't know what I was getting into. I really didn't think this Reatta would ever be driven again due to the front end damage. Turned out it was only sheet metal damage so I started looking for a new front clip. Nobody around here had ever heard of one before much less were there any parts to be found that were cheaper than a new car. I did the next bbest thing, I put on an ElDorado core supportwhile looking for what fenders would come close to fitting. Then I found a Riviera front clip and I set it on the Reatta. It bolted on with no problems. Then I had to adjust some minor sheet metal at the doors only to make it fit nicely at the doors. The results is what you see. If I had not done this, the car would have certainly been lost as a pile of parts only.

[Vincent Vega]

Riviatta?

[JWC]

Now thats a different look for the Reatta...............nice job

[Roadster90]

That is amazing <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

[Jim]

Very nice job.

I have Reatta parts cars and also buy Rivieras for parts and always wanted to show up at a Buick meet with a 5 passenger Reatta. I have Reatta front clips and would like to put on of them on a Riviera. I even did a little measuring once and from memory I thought there was a different curvature between the front fenders of a Riv to the Reatta doors. Is this a problem and what did you do?

If you are not to far from Minnesota, bring it to the National Buick convention in Rochester in July, we would all like to see your car.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

Perhaps the front and rear body panels could be modified to fit a Rivi? Then you'd really have a 5 passenger Reatta

[Vincent Vega]

Or take out the Riv back seat and fit Reatta buckets and a console back there.

[manikmekanik]

NIFTY!

[bwarren]

Great job! Now if we could only get the windshield to fit on a Reatta.

[Machiner 55]

Reattaviera? <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[alexhouston]

About Reatta to Riviera:

The doors would be too long. You would have to cut them to the shape of the Riviera doors. Also, The bottom of the rear bottom of the fender would have to be built up for a wider car at the bottom of the door. Not much of a challenge working on the Riviera fenders to a Reatta but most likely a little more challenging to fit Reatta to Riviera since you are working with plastic. Also the mold line down the center of the fender to match the Riviera will have to be shifted about 3/8 inch. Simple working with metal, not so with plastic?

My job was not done as a show car. It is a daily driver and body work was performed accordingly. A little rough on the shaping along the door but it still amazes everybody who sees it. Nobody knows what it is and when I tell them, they still have never heard of one most of the time!

By the way, I still desperately need an ouside drivers door handle.

[Don B.]

Very Cool. You should spend more time on it to make it a show car.

Nothing wrong with a looker for a daily driver.

[Guest EDBSO]

I like great job!

[Guest F14CRAZY]

I still think old school Rivi's are ugly <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />, but I commend anyone that does an ellaborate Reatta project

[Vincent Vega]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I still think old school Rivi's are ugly <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />, but I commend anyone that does an ellaborate Reatta project </div></div>

What does this young man think an old school Riv is? To me it's a 63 to 66. The boatails are cool. Big 70's boats. Hoods longer than a 00's hybrid. 80's era = "shrug". All I have to say is about old school is 401 nailhead.

[Doug Harness]

Nice job! It's really an interesting look. It also the ultimate solution to the Reatta headlight problems.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

Old school Rivi=a $70 beater a dude my dad knows ditched at our lot behind the shed that I salvaged an IPC and CRT from <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Oh yeah, my dad and I got the ECM and BCM out with our bare hands and a 2''x8''. What a mess!

[Guest Reatta1]

Unique look. Pretty sharp.

Would be easy to fit a supercharged engine under that hood.

F14???

[Guest spyhunter2k]

That is the best pic I've seen this month!

Who would have known this could be done...

[Guest Reattaray]

Nice job!! What do you have it registered as? Bring it to the Reatta Homecoming in Sept.

[alexhouston]

According to every Buick dealership and body shops I talked to, apparently it cannot be done. I guess I did the impossible?

I am not sure if it is the quality of photo that is so good or the subject matter, but thanks.

[Guest MauiWowee]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What does this young man think an old school Riv is? </div></div>

Hmmmm, well let's see. "Old school Riv" in question is an '88-'90.

Young man, 18 yrs old, born in 1988.

Drives 1989 Reatta.

Sounds dangerously close to making his taste in cars.....................

OLD SCHOOL!!!!

<img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

[Doug Harness]

Phil, here's a real "old school Rivi" and it doesn't have an IPC, CRT, ECM, or BCM.

[Tom_O]

I say Bravo!!! Anytime you can save one from the crusher everyone wins. What a remarkable fit. I.de like to see this one in person sometime. Great job.

[Guest Greg Ross]

Alex,

Very, very impressed. Saving one from the crusher is admirable and as someone noted, it sure solves the headlight cover actuator issues. The body peel would look very good here as well.

Do I understand the Riv. Fenders are metal and you alterd the gap line on the fender, not the door?

My '88 has been a Daily Driver for most of its' career with me showing 306,000 miles and I heartily agree, they should be driven.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

Greg, you've got the highest mileage Reatta I've heard of.

Like with the Max-Life thing. Is my car getting near its end of life at 75k? Nope. I've got double that, and its just begun.

[alexhouston]

That is right. I altered the fenders, not the doors. My Reatta could be brought back to a full Reatta just by bolting on a Reatta front end. Nothing is altered. Even the ElDorado Core support is the same GM part number as Reatta.

[handmedownreatta]

i might do this.first question is why did he use a core support from a caddy?unless they all are the same.

 

[Ronnie]

On 6/11/2006 at 1:44 PM, alexhouston said:

Nothing is altered. Even the ElDorado Core support is the same GM part number as Reatta.

 

[padgett]

If the same part number it is the same - GM even changed a part number if the paint changed.

[2seater]

When I looked through the 'yard last fall for a donor for my sons deer hit car, I talked with the counterman about prices and he mentioned some Riviera fenders were steel and others were plastic. No more detail than that but it may have been a model year change. 

[padgett]

Suspect '86 was the change from steel to plastic. That was also the start of the E-platform shared with the Reatta.

[Jim]

For yearsI have also been thinking of doing just the opposite to a Riviera. Put a Reatta front end on a Riviera. I even did some measuring to put a Reatta back end on and then I would have a 5 passenger Reatta.

I had fully intended to do this last fall and looked to buy a Riv. What I ended up doing is buying a '92 Riv that is too nice to modify so instead of the last three years my summer driver being a '95 Corvette convertible and the previous 20 years a Reatta convertible now this summer I will drive the Riv. It has a nice big trunk for my golf clubs.

 

Putting a Riv front on a Reatta is less work than the other way around as mentioned in the core support issues and of course the curvature of the meeting of the fender and door.

If you put a Reatta front end on a Riv the mounting plates for the hidden headlight are different.

[handmedownreatta]

On 4/21/2021 at 8:39 AM, padgett said:

If the same part number it is the same - GM even changed a part number if the paint changed.

can you recommend a good site to compare part numbers?

 

[padgett]

Parts book is the best source. Reatta and Riviera were both "E" bodies.

[ChrisWhewell]

To the OP.... Great Save !!     I don't personally care for the overall look, but my sentiments are irrelevant !   Thanks for providing "food for thought"... I love pioneering thoughts like this !!

[handmedownreatta]

3 hours ago, ChrisWhewell said:

To the OP.... Great Save !!     I don't personally care for the overall look, but my sentiments are irrelevant !   Thanks for providing "food for thought"... I love pioneering thoughts like this !!

im still trying to figure what year front end that is.

 

Edited May 7, 2021 by handmedownreatta (see edit history)

[ChrisWhewell]

Picture it having shiny chrome wire-spoked rims....

[Ronnie]

I've always thought a Reatta would look good with a front clip installed like my old Pontiac Fiero Formula had. I doubt it would come close to fitting. I would still have the Fiero if I wasn't so damn big. I'm much bigger now but I still fit in my Reatta.

 

[handmedownreatta]

18 hours ago, Ronnie said:

I've always thought a Reatta would look good with a front clip installed like my old Pontiac Fiero Formula had. I doubt it would come close to fitting. I would still have the Fiero if I wasn't so damn big. I'm much bigger now but I still fit in my Reatta.

 

one of my thoughts was to find a fiero in great condition but needing an engine and swap the reatta engine in.but it seems to be a major undertaking.