Buick N00b, saying hi.

What up all. My name is Kelly. So the neighbor has had this car sitting out behind my barn for over a year since he paid $1500 for a new supercharger and then spun a bearing on the way home. Had it towed to where it currently sits almost a year later. Well went out the other day and just out of curiosity had him fire it up real quick. Started right up. SO I offered him $300 for it and he took it with a smile. So now here I have this 96 Riviera which I never knew anything about and I'm pretty excited about the things I've learned I can do with it. I've taken on my share of other projects from my 1978 Malibu, to my 4x4 Cherokee xj, to rebuilding a totaled crotch rocket and I can tell you that I get more enjoyment out of bringing something back to life than cruising around in a brand new car.

Immediate plans are to pull the motor apart and see if there is major damage to the crank, cylinder wall or piston and what exactly i'll need to do to clear that problem up.

Looks like a very nicely organized site so don't think I'll be needing you guys too much at first unless I run into something not in the FAQ.

Didn't take too much effort is covering up the plates, they will be wall covering shortly.

Welcome to the site!

Not a bad lookin car for sittin around awhile!

Don't think you'll find too much info on the site about internal engine stuff, but some of us have the knowledge and the info! Don't be afraid to ask......

I like the black/ruby red combo. Since you have to tear the engine apart anyway you may as well get a mild cam, ported supercharger casing and lower intake manifold and upgrade to the aluminium lower intake manifold gasket. They are relatively low cost parts and you will be in there anyway.

Looks good for sitting around, and the Pontiac wheels actually work well with the Riv!

Once you have the engine apart, if you want to do mods get cams, rockers, etc. now. Put them in now and later you can drop the S/C pulley size. Luckily you have a Series II engine which is a lot more mod friendly than the Series I in the '95s.

Jason wrote:

I like the black/ruby red combo.

Welcome, ditto on the colour combo. Glad to see your gonna resurrect her. Your interior matches mine, and the wood inlay in the interior looks original, not aftermarket.

Jason wrote:

I like the black/ruby red combo. Since you have to tear the engine apart anyway you may as well get a mild cam, ported supercharger casing and lower intake manifold and upgrade to the aluminium lower intake manifold gasket. They are relatively low cost parts and you will be in there anyway.

Thanks for the heads up. I have the original supercharger (Bad Bearing) as well so I will be playing with that. I've already read about the intake problems so that will definitely be addressed while I have it apart.

BMD wrote:

Jason wrote:

I like the black/ruby red combo.

Welcome, ditto on the colour combo. Glad to see your gonna resurrect her. Your interior matches mine, and the wood inlay in the interior looks original, not aftermarket.

Yeah has to be original, the guy i got it from is the original owner and he's about 70.

IBx1 wrote:

Looks good for sitting around, and the Pontiac wheels actually work well with the Riv!

Have to give them back...lol Hes got the original chrome wheels on his GTP.

hi Kelly welcome!The car is in not that bad a shape.What`s teh mileage?

I wonder if that 'spun bearing' is actually the alternator. when the alt bearing goes it sounds very grave.

I am so very jealous

Welcome, Kelly. If you haven't seen this thread yet, check the link:

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t2840p30-write-up-xp-cam-valvetrain-install

I agree, make sure it needs to be torn apart before you go in!

Welcome. Car looks good.

stan wrote:

hi Kelly welcome!The car is in not that bad a shape.What`s teh mileage?

Hi, you know what? I honestly haven't even looked at the mileage yet. Weird. I'm getting the keys from him tonight and will take a look at that if I can tread though the 1.5' of snow we will have on the ground by then.

albertj wrote:

I wonder if that 'spun bearing' is actually the alternator. when the alt bearing goes it sounds very grave.

Man if thats the alternator then that is the worse sounding faulty alt bearing I've ever heard. I'm going to have to get it up in the air and get under there and we will see. Really would be steal if all it was, was a $200 alternator.

AA wrote:

Welcome, Kelly. If you haven't seen this thread yet, check the link:

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t2840p30-write-up-xp-cam-valvetrain-install

I agree, make sure it needs to be torn apart before you go in!

Thanks man, great write up and I've got that same package put together with the exception of the other things the Xp kit recommends (like double roller TC and front cover.) However, heres my pickle. I'm already building 2 gas hogs(87 Chevy SWB and 78 Chevy Malibu). I know this is a silly question for someone wanting to mod an engine but I'll ask it anyways. What are the chances of building this with the XP cam and other recommended components while still keeping the MPG to 20-25 (when needed)?

The cam will kill your economy. Go with high lift roller rockers instead - you'll see better than 25 MPG on the highway. I average 21 MPG combined.

Bowersk wrote:

Thanks man, great write up and I've got that same package put together with the exception of the other things the Xp kit recommends (like double roller TC and front cover.) However, heres my pickle. I'm already building 2 gas hogs(87 Chevy SWB and 78 Chevy Malibu). I know this is a silly question for someone wanting to mod an engine but I'll ask it anyways. What are the chances of building this with the XP cam and other recommended components while still keeping the MPG to 20-25 (when needed)?

As long as your not on the throttle hard all the time, MPG's stay up there pretty good. Even with a shit-ton of mods, you can still get about 30mpg on the freeway when tuned properly.

MPG may not be an issue if I keep reading about these things. I have a $2500 budget to get this car on the street and all the stuff I'm reading is making me want to scrap the 78 Malibu project.

$2500
-$ 300 - Price of Car
-$ 250- Tax/Title/License
$1950 left

Nah, scrap the Riv and build the Malibu....those cars are just plain mean lookin when done right.

Well maybe not scrap, but delay is a possibility. My first car was a 78. Dad trailered the rolling chassis home when I was 16 and said "here you go, you want to drive a car, make it go". I have pictures on a hard drive somewhere, I'll have to find it and I'll post all my other rides in the "other rides" thread.

Malibu is the long term project as me and my son are building it as his first car (hes 9). I threw my first one together and didn't do everything right. This one is getting everything done correctly starting with frame work which was a huge problem on those old G bodies.

Main reason for getting the riv is so that I can actually drive somewhere in decent style while getting decent mpg. Daily driver right now is a 93 Chevy 4x4 that I traded my Jeep xj for. Stupid trade but when I'm done with that I should be able to flip it for $1000 or more profit.

I see. Well in that case, get the Riv runnin! Wasn't sure of the "condition" of the Malibu.

Even if you don't do too many mods to the Riv, get that bearing (if it is a bearing) fixed, toss a cam in it while you have the engine out, and you could be runnin pretty quick. With a decent cam, some headers, and somewhere between a 3.0"-3.2" pulley (w/o Intercooler), I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the outcome. Obviously, some more mods would be needed, but it's nothing really expensive, and everything is pretty much bolt-on and tune!

Well I got to take a closer look at it this weekend and here is what I came up with. First off the car came in at 177k miles. I started it real quick so i could climb under and see if I could better tell where the knocking is coming from. Definitely coming from inside the oil pan. Car is also running EXTREMELY rough which makes me think there is possibly more problems in that cylinder due to the knocking rod. Also took the engine cover off and it looked like some antifreeze on the side of the motor. I have a feeling that draining the oil this next weekend will prove my theory of a blown head gasket.

I looked around and all I can find is a motor out of a 99 for $750 with 80k on it. As of right now, its looking bleak for this one. That would get me up to $1250 invested and after I get all the parts I WANT for it I'll be over the budget for this car. Unless I can get lucky and find a good cheap shortblock, I'm thinking I will just Part this thing out and move on to another one.

However, the side of my brain that usually second guesses every well thought out decision I make is telling me to increase my budget another $1000 and keep on truckin. These things are going from $2500 to 5k in my area and this thing is really in better shape than the other ones I'm seeing.

As for the Head Gasket.....take a closer look and see if the coolant is coming from the Lower Intake Gasket. On the driver side (front of engine), if the LIM is leaking bad enough, coolant will run down the front of the engine, and down the transmission giving the "appearance" of a Head Gasket leak...looks can be deceiving. It's rare that a Head Gasket blows on a 3800, although they are NOTORIOUS for blowin the LIM. In fact, I've done 2 LIM sets in the last 3 days (GP's). Oil/Coolant can and will puddle up in the valleys of the LIM. Pull the engine cover and look underneath the throttle body, and over under the Alternator. You'll see right away what I'm talking about (if this is the leak).

As for the knock, 3800's do spin bearings occasionally. It doesn't happen on very many of them, but when an internal failure ocurs, it's usually a spun bearing. The engine is quite easy to work on, and will last a VERY long time if properly cared for. If you're going to repair it, you may as well do it right and enjoy the car. If not, us fine folks at RivPerformance would probably love to strip that thing naked

Lol, I'll keep that in mind. I could atleast tripple my investment by just parting it out. I'm going to tear down the top end this weekend and go from there.

Anyone know what wheels those are on the black car in the banner?