Turbocharged Riviera History

Information on the turbo V6 Rivs:

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/abouttur.htm

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/riviera.htm

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/evolution.htm

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/production.htm

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/accel.htm

Why was it killed? GM getting uncomfortable selling good product?

Jack,
The Turbo Riv's died for two reasons, lousy transmissions and a new, smaller designed body. The 3.8 V6 was turned to a transverse layout and the underhood was much tighter than on the 79-85 cars. The 440-t4 automatic was unable to hold up well behind N/A engines, a boosted one would have killed it for sure. GM and many other manufacurer abandoned Turbo-Charging in the late 80's all together because of stiffening emissions regulations.
Tim

i dont know if my trans in my 81 was a 440-t4, the only markings i remember were 304 and that trans took more abuse than any trans should take and that was bolted to a 5.0

I noticed that in the previously listed articles there was no mention of production figures for the 1984-1985

Here is what I have found from the ROA site.

1984:
T-Type 1,153
T-Type Convertible 11

1985:
T-Type 1,069
T-Type Convertible 47

Another reason was that the Grand National rivaled that of the Corvette.

AA wrote:

Information on the turbo V6 Rivs:

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/abouttur.htm

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/riviera.htm

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/evolution.htm

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/production.htm

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/accel.htm

BROKEN LINKS

ghpcnm wrote:

AA wrote:

Information on the turbo V6 Rivs:

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/abouttur.htm

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/riviera.htm

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/evolution.htm

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/production.htm

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/accel.htm

BROKEN LINKS  

What he said... Any chance these pages could be resurrected?

Tip: nothing really dies on the internet. There's an archive if you look. Using one of the above links, for example:

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/abouttur.htm

When you click this link, it doesn't work, but read all of what the message says:

"This Personal Web Pages (PWP) site has been discontinued.

As part of the ongoing evolution and consolidation of our Internet services, AT&T will no longer support the Prodigy Personal Web Pages (PWP) feature as of June 1, 2011.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. Archived versions of these pages may be found at the Internet Archive."


Web grammar rule: if it's underlined, it's a link to somewhere else. Where to you suppose "Internet Archive" takes you?

Answer: it takes you into the Wayback Machine, a graveyard for "dead" links. At the top there is a field with a button named "Take me back". Paste in the original link URL, then click the button.

You should see a timeline with logged activity and a calendar. In this case, you can see clicks from 2011, shown as blue circles on the calendar. There's more activity prior to 2009. Click on one of the blue circle dates in 2009 and you'll be able to view the page as it was on that day.

Good luck fellow web-savvy Buick owners!

About the 1978-1983 Turbo V6 Buicks

Buick's V6 story dates back to the early sixties when it debuted the engine in 1962. In the time of cheap gas and big V8's, the V6 wasn't very popular, so in 1966, Buick sold the tooling to Kaiser Jeep (later part of American Motors Corp.) where it found its way into many Jeep vehicles. But by 1974, small displacement and fuel economy were the direction of the future and Buick bought back the little V6 from AMC.

With the success of the '76 Pace Car, Buick began work to adapt the Turbo V6 to production vehicles. The idea was performance and economy. Buick wasn't trying to make a "musclecar", but rather a compromise between the V-8 power and V-6 fuel economy. In 1978, Buick added the Turbo 3.8 (231 cid) V6 to newly designed Regal and LeSabre. Both cars were given the model designation "Sport Coupe." Each subsequent year, engineers refined the little Turbo V6. It found its way into several models, including the FWD Riviera and Chevrolet's Monte Carlo,but the most popular model, by far, was the Regal. In 1982, the power and economy focus was shifted to just performance and in 1984, the most significant change occurred; Sequential Fuel Injection (SFI). This and the introduction of the all black "Grand National" package, helped give the Turbo Regal "Beauty and Brawn." In 1986, intercooling was added and horsepower was up 235. The Turbo Regal had become a true "MuscleCar."

In 1987, with the sales and popularity of the Turbo Regal at an all time high, GM pulled the plug. They dropped the RWD Regal, Cutlass, Monte Carlo, El Camino, and Grand Prix (G-body line-up). Buick however, went out with a bang and produced the GNX (reminiscent of the '70's Skylark GSX). At an estimated 300 HP, the GNX became an instant legend.

Much coverage is given to the very popular 1984-87 SFI Turbo Regals. However, the earlier 1978-83 Turbo Buicks are also of interest to many restorers. Hopefully this Website will be helpful in understanding and restoring the the pre-SFI Turbo Buicks.



MODELS FEATURING BUICK'S Turbo 3.8 Litre V6

YEAR REGAL LESABRE CENTURY* RIVIERA** MONTE CARLO*** TRANS AM
1978 Sport Coupe Sport Coupe - - - -
1979 Sport Coupe Sport Coupe Turbo Coupe S Type - -
1980 Sport Coupe Sport Coupe Turbo Coupe S Type Coupe -
1981 Sport Coupe - - T Type Coupe -
1982 Sport Coupe - - T Type - -
1983 T Type - - T Type - -
1984 T Type, GN - - T Type - -
1985 T Type, GN - - T Type - -
1986 T Type, GN - - - - -
1987 Base, Limited, WE4, GN, GNX - - - - -
1989 - - - - - Pace Car
Notes:
* The Turbo V6 was available in any Century model, except wagons.
** Some years, The turbo V6 was optional on the standard Riviera and could be substituted on the Sport model.
***The Turbo V6 was an optional engine on the Chevrolet Monte Carlo Coupe.

____________

lil messy but thats what i fished and found for the one you linked aa
heres the link i got http://web.archive.org/web/20080414214213/http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/abouttur.htm

Added image links to your post - they still work!

http://web.archive.org/web/20080407201033/http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/production.htm


http://web.archive.org/web/20080414214241/http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/riviera.htm


http://web.archive.org/web/20070216020743/http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/evolution.htm

http://web.archive.org/web/20080105155644/http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/accel.htm

How about the 1983 Indy Pace Car? A twin turbo Riv convertible. It was a 4.1 but still badass.

pbrktrt wrote:

How about the 1983 Indy Pace Car? A twin turbo Riv convertible. It was a 4.1 but still badass.

I know lots of Turbo Buicks that have gone to a 4.1 engine. The torque is awesome and everything bolts right up. You have to be careful on the internals but properly built it destroys the 3.8.

Did anyone mention the turbo Trans Am? It used the same 3.8 turbo motor that all the Buicks did. Apparently theyre pretty rare.

Sir Psycho Sexy wrote:

Did anyone mention the turbo Trans Am? It used the same 3.8 turbo motor that all the Buicks did. Apparently theyre pretty rare.

A friend has one, heads and crank are different and the exhaust is very restrictive but a stock one is faster in the 1/4 than a stock GN. The ride is awful compared to a G body, rattle rattle creak creak.

I would much, much rather have a G body, i just remember hearing about that somewhere and thought it was interesting. Different heads and crank so it can rev higher?

They threw a turbo on their 301 V-8 also. Not the greatest engine, but it kept up with the Vettes & Z-28's of the day.

Sir Psycho Sexy wrote:

I would much, much rather have a G body, i just remember hearing about that somewhere and thought it was interesting. Different heads and crank so it can rev higher?

Probably, and also to withstand 16+ lb of boost. Still, the engine only made 250 HP. Good power, but the TTA was fast because it was made extra lightweight and aerodynamic. '80s V-6 firebirds weren't bad on gas as a result.