I was asked to post my feedback here in a new thread about my having gone to look at it, so here it is; Yes, it's a "1973 Buick Riviera Stage 1 NON-GS", CA car on Ebay, The car "may" have correct trans, hard to read the old tag to say 100%,as always the parts you need to see most are the hardest to read! Rear seems NOT to be posi, and ratio seemed closer to a 2.73, I jacked up and checked by spinning tires, so maybe the rear diff was likely swapped out at some point. Carburetor #7043240 is same as regular 73 Buick, and is NOT the 7043242 I think it should be, Distributor #1112110, same also a regular Buick, and NOT the 1112087 I'd think it should be. Engine: Almost impossible to read the engine codes, and the VIN# part is blocked by the power steering if on that side, or the alternator on the other... so simply could not get a view or access to clean it to even find those numbers, so that also could not be confirmed... Best part, that it's a 455 , but it does not run, and could not even see if it turns over, interior seems fair but requires complete restoration, Worst parts about the car is all the RUST!, RUST!, and more RUST! Around the rear window is rusted through BAD and water leaked in to and sat and completely rotted out the part under the package tray, I would think this would be a tricky and expensive part to repair and most of the Boat tails seem to have rot near the rear window so to find a good donor piece would be hard as well. I was shocked to see how bad the Rust was and can't figure out how it got so rusted out, and the trunk and quarters are likely more damaged than I could see as when I tried to lift the carpet it started falling apart, so I did not want to make a mess of someone else's car. Also the rust is pretty bad around the rear wheel openings, And~ The top of the left rear 1/4 near the trunk has rust through, again hard to imagine how that happened, can bee seen in seller's Ebay pics. the front fenders seem like they'll be rusting through soon and on the hood under the stainless trim part near the windshield, The Ebay pics make the car look a lot better than it really is. Oh I almost forgot, More bad news... on the engine (that does not run), the water outlet is broken off the timing case, so would be a big labor job to fix and as most of us Buick followers know, the timing covers wear out and can be hard to find in good shape and the few NOS ones that pop up from time to time usually sell for over $400+++! To restore this car would take a LOT of $$$$$$$ and TIME! and for parts, for anyone considering shipping it, I'd avoid it, I happen to live within 15 minutes to where this was so was glad I could go see it before consider to bid, The Owner is nice but I feel he wants more than its worth due to sentimental value for time he's had it, but sadly during the years it was rusted away... I was extremely surprised to see so much rust on a CA car he said was originally sold in the L.A. area! He did say the car spent some years in Oxnard near which is very near the ocean so I think it was getting a lot of salt air, but even still the rust was surprisingly bad, mabe the owner had a beach house! Even for parts I feel it's not worth the $750 starting bid, especially when you factor in any kind of shipping, either for the car or parts Thanks for the reply.
I read in your post that you would expect distr# 1112087. I just pulled such distr from a 72 regular riv yesterday. I'm not real familiar with distr#'s only that I know 1112110 is the standard 73 455 and if 1112016 is the Stage1. You should be able to get a clear shot at the engine code after you removed the rust/grease. If its XA or XFA than chances are big it also carries the serialnumber near the altenator, when so little XA blocks were built. Tranny Tag may be greasy and painted letters are gone but the code is also stamped on the tag. Should be easy to verify. Indeed strange places to develope such extensive rust... I recently bought a 73 RIV GS Stage1 which body is real bad, but have a complete donor body For the rearend, check the code stamped on the rightshaft somehwere in the middle facing front/floorboard, this should say NB (2,93 open), NC (3,23 open), RB (2,93 posi) or RC (3,23 posi) Cheers, Menno
I doubt I'll see that car again, it needs way to much work! On the distributor #1112087 i read on some site for stage 1, so maybe it is or not? But this car has a regular one for sure. This car has the same carb number and distributor number of a regular 73 Riv, and the engine is a lot cleaner than the trans, so I'm thinking maybe the engine was swapped out, because why would it have those regular parts on a suppossed stage 1? I'ts not too likely only the carb and distributor were changed with those for a regular 73. The seller did mention having had other boattails and some cars stored elsewhere... Boattail73, are you sure the 73 Stage 1 comes with a #1112016 distributor?, if so, then I'm more inclined to think this engine was swapped. I could not get to see any numbers near the alternator, and I likely would have had to remove it. If the starting bid was a lot lower, then maybe I'd be more inclined to take such a gamble, and I even have a decent body shell from a 73, the 1/4's are a bit dented but fixable for sure, I made another post on this site a few days or so ago somewhere asking the best way to cut it up to store the parts! Found the post, http://v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=131304 so even with a good spare body sitting here, and this Ebay car being local (so little cost to transport it) and all, I feel the starting bid too high for what it is and a lot seems unverifiable and questionable for the $ and work at stake. On the rear even if the code is right, likely the internals were swapped out. I forgot to mention, the reverse lamps are also missing and the 73's 1 year only rear bumper is also dented! THose are 2 more things not mentioned in the Ebay ad that anyone following it may want to know. The terrible Rust and broken timing cover are huge deterents on this one. Thanks for the info.
Are the heads suppossed to be different on the Stage 1 in 73? and if so, are there any visible diffences when installed on the engine, like casting numbers or codes?
