'98 SC Riv

Here are some pictures of my car (the first ones here are from several years agp). It is mostly stock, but with some additions. This is the only Riv I've seen with this color (a beautiful color, btw) besides Aaron's. So yep, our cars are sisters. His is the evil one. Mine's catching on slowly.

(UPDATE: Did some before-and-after pics of the interior. Added some new stuff. See what you think of it (sort of mild and standard, but I've got a long way to go)

(UPDATE 2: Just had it tinted yesterday, so I thought I'd take it out and get some shots in the sun. Also painted the normally woodgrained area around the climate contol & radio black, b/c the new wood didn't match the old there.)

From the side. Portholes and chrome on the glass partition between the quarter panel and the front door glass


From the front (my favorite view)


The front lenses, with new cornering lenses put in and with some chrome stripping outlining them


The grille, inspired by SpaceBar. Thanks for a wonderful, inexpensive idea.



Look at that tire shine! Some chrome around the gas tank as well.


NEWLY TINTED - 15% on the front 2 and back one, and 5% on the quarters(hasn't been washed in a couple weeks, so excuse the wheels)





Notice how my guy who tinted the windows put some adhesive tape-type stuff around the top rim of the window to cover up the ugly rubber stuff with all the water damage in it. Nice touch that makes it look 10x better than it would have


INTERIOR


Here's how the regular old interior looked before



The neon



Now, take a look at some of my additions. Woodgrain and wheel covering are visible in this one:

WOODGRAIN BEFORE


Of course, I had to chrome the door sills. It actually is pretty nice when the light hits it the right way



Yeah, look at that woodgrain. I covered the old Riviera symbol up. That's just an excuse to buy an R emblem with adhesive on the back and put it on there eventually. And yes, I'm aware that the stereo and climate surround wood color does not match the new stuff. I'm painting it in a few days.


Not extremely obvious, but added some chrome stripping to the rims of the console area. This will be it with the stripping. I'm sick of it and I've done enough damage with it already :PAt least I've tried to do it in classy, subtle ways.


And of course, new cigarette lighter. Like I'll ever even open this panel any more anyway.


So that's it. Feel free to comment.

That car looks awesome.. Can I get closer picture of the chrome on the pillar by the windows?

Nicely done.

Yeah man, here you go. Moved it to the garage though, tried to use the flash, but without much success, so these are a bit worse quality than my others. Still though, a few views:

Perfect.


Thanks I appreciate it

(runs of to Auto parts store to purchase chrome strips)

Looks good, like the color.
You have added a few nice touches.
I did the dark Burl Wood Dash Kit in my Black '95 that has the Platinum Beige interior.
See it here:
http://rivperformance.editboard.com/showroom-f3/1995-riviera-t82.htm
Might work with yours too? Almost any of the woodgrain dashes look good with that color interior. IMHO

wow thats a great lookin riv, how did u do the chrome between the door and rear window

Thanks guys. And yeah, 99, I love that color combination, but I don't like copying others' style, so I might look around at some other options. Yours looks really nice, but I try being a bit different. I mean, after all, that's why I love this car... it's different!

Palermo, I just went to AutoZone and bought the 3/4" chrome stripping (I think that's the width), cut some pieces long enough and just put it on the black areas between the doors. Cheap method, but I think it makes an improvement.

love the colors in and out. looks great. is that door molding?

Props to you, tastefully done! Looks very nice and welcome to the forum by the way.

wow looks really nice, clever with chrome stripping i like it. you thinking about doing any preformance mods?

Actually, yeah, I've always been interested, but I don't really know where to start. I don't want to dive totally into performance modding it, and I don't do much engine stuff myself, but I'd be interested in doing some relatively inexpensive things. Would anyone have any suggestions as so where I should start with something like that?

Thanks for the question, etosino, almost forgot about performance till you brought it up

pulley FWI and exhaust you will be SHOCKED

my suggestion is to hold off on the pulley unless you are ready to do headers, rockers or a cam. Dropping the stock pulley too far too soon will just get you into a very common KR mess. If you want to drop the pulley first (it's easiest mod) don't go lower than a 3.5 unless you are ready to commit to a lot of other supporting mods too.

Looks nice! Welcome!

-Derek

yah i wouldn't suggest a doing pulley until u get headers, rockers, or a cam, believe me thats what i did and now im trying to fight the kr by installing a 180 stat and prefromance plugs it helps a little but i eventually need to get some rockers or a cam.

Our cars are twin sisters! (mine's the evil twin):



I would suggest an MPS (modular pulley system) with a 3.5" (fairly safe), or a 3.6" (very safe). You can then move up or down in size for not much $. Pulleys swap in about 5 mins.

You don't really need a lot of add-ons to run a smaller SC pulley, as long as it's not too small. I recommend you get a good scan after making changes, and getting your own scanner if you plan to go any further. Here's some info on modding Series II engines:

http://rivperformance.editboard.com/series-ii-engine-transmission-f4/how-do-i-make-the-car-faster-t23.htm#25

More Series II FAQ:

http://rivperformance.editboard.com/series-ii-engine-transmission-f4/series-ii-supercharged-faq-t1585.htm#16882

I agree with Aaron, with no other mods you should be able to safely run a 3.6, a 3.5 with a bit of KR, but an MPS really gives you the flexibility to experiment. I'd recommend getting a good scanner or consider a programmer if you think you want to mod. You definitely want to scan before you make any pulley change, some STOCK cars are fighting KR!!

Agreed, there are different ways to mod. There's always some risk involved. To be safe, start big and scan as you get smaller. Back in the day, things were a little different. My first trip to INTENSE in early '03 gave me about 20 HP for $130. They slapped on a 3.4" pulley + 160º t-stat, and sent me on my way. Wow, what a change! And I was hooked after that.

Back then, we took more chances because we didn't know as much. Turns out I was knocking quite a bit, but my stock air box and K&N filter wasn't letting in enough air to cause a serious problem. When winter came, I could hear my engine detonating because the 160º stat caused the engine to run cold. I drove around like that for over 20k miles. The motor took the beating and liked it. Here I am more than 100k miles later... the engine hardly burns a drop of oil!

Bump, just updated some pics. More to come in a few weeks. Still working cosmetically. After all of that is done, I'll move on to the performance mods.

Good Lookin Ride.

Bert

Hey, you know what "ZEP", you've inspired me. If there's one thing I like to see on cars, it's CHROME.

Great looking ride. Very original!!!

nice ride dude................ yah im gonna do the 3/4 inch stripping now....... its a nice addition

Bump again (last time for a while). Just got 'er tinted and did some stuff to the dash. Also, I'm looking for a nice woodgrain shifter. Anyone know where I can get one from other cars/aftermarket?

Next step is getting a full interior detail, removing all hard water spots and doing a full exterior detail. I've replaced most everything in the inside that needs replacing, and everything outside looks nice.

I'll be doing my exhaust when summer rolls around, and will be getting some 20's come winter. I'm looking for some rim suggestions for the car. Looking for some simple ones that don't take away from the car lines. Anyone got suggestions & stuff? Lemme know!

ZEP wrote:

Bump again (last time for a while). Just got 'er tinted and did some stuff to the dash. Also, I'm looking for a nice woodgrain shifter. Anyone know where I can get one from other cars/aftermarket?

Next step is getting a full interior detail, removing all hard water spots and doing a full exterior detail. I've replaced most everything in the inside that needs replacing, and everything outside looks nice.

I'll be doing my exhaust when summer rolls around, and will be getting some 20's come winter. I'm looking for some rim suggestions for the car. Looking for some simple ones that don't take away from the car lines. Anyone got suggestions & stuff? Lemme know!

i think a nice STS knob would look nice

Just felt like getting back on here again and listing progress I've made with the vehicle. At this moment (actually in a few moments), I will be working on piecing together PVC for a 4" FWI and will soon be tinting the tail lights. Btw I just tinted the front turn signals and rear running lamps but don't have pics, will post those soon. Anyway, some pics.

Taken back in January after a snow shower. Snow was very lightly covering the car. Thought it was cool.


Decided to redo my grille. I think it looks sick... was inspired by somebody on this site, whose name I forget. I'll give credit when I look the thread up again soon...


Dual exhaust tips installed




I put a 5% tint strip on the top of the windshield. Not very obvious knowing that the window is already tinted up top, but it does make the interior darker.


This pic shows the clarity of the paint. I used Zaino products to restore it and remove swirl marks. I've got to say, Zaino is a great company for quality car care products. It's made people ask me if my car was brand new at least 3 times. In my opinion, it still looks hazy… but hell, it’s 11 years old.


Got some subwoofers installed. They are Rockford P2 12's with a 1200 watt PowerBass amp. It sounds very good, and I'm more about sound quality than loudness.




Got my new GPS and chromed initials showing, along with blue lights installed under the dash.


Blue LEDs and green neons together during the day time


Final picture for today. I put in blue LED lights all throughout the interior. They look awesome at night time. Sorry about burriness.


Thank you for looking. I will put up pics of the tinted turn signals, the rear running lights, and the FWI when I get it done (will look just like any other PVC FWI). The car has 135k miles on it. I want to do more performance things (not hardcore performance) but don't know if it'd be smart too or not?? haha, what do you all think?

if a girl goes for a ride in yer car and doesnt get all squirmy pants, i dont know what will! beautiful ride!