Just posting for the first time. Here's what I got and have done: 1970 Buick Riviera: Frame off (started in Oct 2006) Whats modifed from Stock: 455 has TA Stage 1 cam Upper ball joint converted to '81 caddy Front drum to '81 caddy disc Transmission from TH400 to 4L80E (custom electronic shifter and mounting bracket). 2.93 (3.08) rear end to `67 3.42 Posi. Work remaining: Exterior paint Install grill and headlights Replace (If possible) rear tail lights (lens) Interior (mostly complete) Install glass. New Tires And then maybe drive legally down the road . anybody know where to find '70 rivi tail lens in good (not faded) shape. -thanks
Welcome to one of the best Buick sites on the internet ! Plenty of '70 Riviera owners here - to quote Dale ". . . the red headed step child of 2nd generation Rivs" ! Check out the Riviera Owners Association (ROA) at www.rivowners.org when you get a chance - and please post some pics ! :beer :TU:
Welcome aboard! Sounds like it will be nice when done. I rebuilt the engine, detailed under the hood on mine last summer, and now just need to get the paint done. I am trying to work up the motivation to start prepping the body. I know those tail light lenses are hard to come by. Almost as hard as finding good fender skirts! I've heard of that disc brake conversion using Caddy parts before. I have always been happy with the large drum brakes my car came with though. The last time I took a pair in for turning, another customer who brought drums in looked at mine and asked if they were for a truck! :laugh: He had some dinky drums in his hands that were most likely from an import. They looked best suited for a lawn tractor. Anyways, I'd like to see some pics of the car when you get a chance. :beer
Here a few pics for those curious...not sure if I post them here or elsewhere. First pic is actually the car in 1999. I have no pics of it the original gold or when I first worked on it. It was then painted black and well the Arizona sun is relentless and the vinyl top and clear coat didn't last long...that happens when you don't have a garage. Anyway, I finally bought a house and had a garage etc etc and decided to do a complete rebuild. Last pic is exactly how she is now.
Wow, you did go to town on it! What's that bracket pictured in the lower right of the last group of pics? Did you happen to notice how the sweepspear trim on the front fenders is attached on your car? The assembly manual shows nuts on each end, and push type clips running the length. But, myself and a couple of others have found them fastened with nuts running the entire length on our cars. I had no choice but to remove the fenders to get the trim off. Which started a snowball effect resulting in rebuilding the engine and detailing the frame and firewall when my original intent was just paint. A case of the while I'm at it's. Oh, and I still haven't gotten it painted.
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Thanks for the compliment. I sometimes get bummed out over it because I feel I am not making headway. Time and money you know. :dollar: Yes, that is a 2.5" TA exhaust system. I didn't like the hangers that TA supplied, they allowed the pipes to hang way too low, and as you know these cars are already low to the ground to begin with. I took my original hangers and replaced the clamps by welding 2.5" clamps to them so I could tuck the pipes up closer to were they should be. It's pretty tight in spots, but works. My biggest problem that I have gone over in other threads, was were the pipes go over the axle they ran too close to the tires. I thought I had adequate clearance, but on my 1st drive after installing the system I had a guy on a motorcycle inform me of the smoke rolling out of the rear wheel wells caused by the pipes rubbing against the tires. I had to pull the pipes back off and with a torch and a hammer put flat areas in the pipes to give the tires the room they needed. So much for the nice mandrel bent pipes! :af: If I were to do it again I would have a muffler shop bend up a system for me. I would have been money ahead, and saved myself the anger and frustration.
inserted buttons into steering wheel to shift transmission. There is enough flex in the plastic horn button to get away with it. The right side is to shift up the left side is to shift down. Its like a paddle shifter:Brow: . Gunna also play with the 4L60E in the tahoe some day. (essentially the shift signals are opposite of the 4L80E) -Chad
I was told that that trans stock will take 700hp I like your way of getting around the computer with the shifter buttons. are you able to mess with the other functions like pressure? Did you need to work the tunnel? I have a 350,400 and a 200. But i think the way to go is 4l60e or 4l80e with 500+hp if you need 4th gear.
Tail light lenses can be polished to look near new even if there is minor cracking. Plastic lenses fade on the surface. Elrod.
Chad I am in the process of doing some restoration work on my 70 Rivi so I have read this thread with great interest. I really enjoyed looking at the photos of your progress. Very nice work. I currently have the bumpers, the hood, all of the stainless and other trim off my car. The fenders were removed in order to get to the retaining nuts on the fender spears. I did not realize prior to their removal that the tabs and inner fender support at the bottom of the passenger fender were gone. This wasn't evident until I removed the fender because there was no rust through on the sheet metal. When I saw your photo of the body removed from the frame I started considering the possibilty of a frame-off restoration. I have some questions if you would be so kind to share your experience with me and anyone else considering a frame-off. How difficult was it to remove the body (sans front fenders) from the frame. Were the bolts connecting the body and frame rusted so badly that you could not get them off? Did you break any of the bolts in the proess? I assume that both the black body mount and yellow insulator had to be replaced due to age. Where did you find replacement parts for anything that was broken in the process or was just old and worn out?
Sorry Randy and others for the delay...I didn't subscribe to my own thread.o No: Elrod thanks for the tip regarding polishing. I've been told that before...but I think mine are too far gone. I ended up buying another set in excellent condition. Randy, Regarding the frame off..it is much simpler than you would believe. There are six bolts holding the body to the frame two more bolts on the core support. The only bolts that broke were the core support because of corrosion/rust. Not a big deal I went down to the HW store and bought grade 8 replacement bolts. The body mounts are standard GM mounts, 4 are neopreme replacements I stumbled on while surfing ebay the remaining are the original rubber mounts. Regarding replacement parts, yes some items were difficult to find, most notable was the upper ball joints, one I broke while removing. However, the taper on the '81 caddy upper ball joint and several other bolt-in ball joints are the same. I do not know if you're wanting an all orignal restore or not...but you can run the original spindles with the caddy ball joint. To make it fit you will need a drill press to modify the A-Arms. Let me know if there are more specific questions I can help you with. If you don't want to post here just send me a personal message (PM). thx, -Chad
Welcome and it sounds like you covered all bases on your build. lost of neat mods on shifter buttons to exhaust. Nice car!
