My '96 Rivie

Thanks Bill, but what the pictures neglect to show are the little scratches and nicks all over it. The back bumper has seen better days, little pieces of it chipped and scratched from where the idiot in his F-150 bumped me (you can see this in the last pic with the scratches near the license plate). Tiny little nicks where the paint has come off (the size of a pen tip). Not to mention I can't wax the car...it kills me so as I would wax it if I could but waxing it only makes all those ugly scratches stand out even more. It isn't glossy. Even the damn old F-150 you see next to it has nice paint that waxes well. But no not me, not my car which I have plenty of time and desire to do such things!

To me the grill looked kinda blah with the original look. I like this look a lot especially since it looks factory. I took many hours cutting those pieces as accurate as I could so there aren't any gaps where you can see that they are just stuck on there.

And hey, what can I say - I'm a fan of this look



Plus for me to get a clean car with a nice paint job I certainly wouldn't do it to this (just not really an option, too much to spend on this car with these miles and given the various dents and dings and other cosmetic issues - plus I'd worry about the paintjob too much since I would've paid a lot to get it done). So given that, to get a car I can wax I'd also get something with less miles and possibly a manual. These incentives attract me to BMWs among other cars.

i will give you this, them are some very nice tips

Deleted

Yeah, I see what you're saying. Years ago, the paint job on my old boattail (in my signature) needed re-doing. So I sprung for a "good" one - - $2500. You might say "That's cheap". Well, 25 years ago it wasn't!!!! It was actually more than I paid for the car when I bought it!!!! So I can see where you're probably in a similar situation. Whatever a good, quality paint job would cost is probably more than your car is worth (and whether or not your parents gave it to you doesn't matter in this case). In my case, the '71 boattail Riviera was actually my "dream car". With you, the Gen-8 Riviera is obviously NOT your "dream car". So that makes a difference. I can see that.

Now, 25 years later, that "expensive" paint job I had done on my boattail is in desperate need to be RE-done again!!! So I'm kinda in a similar fix, too. Of course, in my case now, it's a deal of do I want to sink thousands into the paint when I could totally destroy the whole thing in a crash the next time out at the salt flats.

And you did a good job on the chrome grille slats. They look good. Let me put it this way; If I went out and bought a Gen-8 Riviera, and it had the chrome grill slats like you did, I certainly wouldn't be putting it on my "to do list" to remove them!! But at the same time, if I bought one WITHOUT them, I don't think it would be on my "to do list" to do the chrome, either. I guess I just like it either way and wouldn't see the need to change it from one to the other.

I really like those exhaust tips. I'm going to put on the headers in the next couple of weeks and would like to install / weld on a pair of those.
I know you posted somewhere, where you bought them but I can't find the link. Could you please re post that LINK for me or direct me as to where it is.
Thanks

EDIT: I found the LINK and sent a message

i will be honest i do like ur tips

Thanks guys, I do try my best to keep the Riv clean and looking good. Honestly, I wish I had a black Riv - love how well they wax up. I think either a black Riv with red interior or with white (or the cream color - whichever one is closer to white which I believe is the grey) would look great. I also think a black Riv with black interior would be sweet (Hell, the black interior would be sweet in general - I'd love it if I could get mine with white exterior and black interior).

Ah, all but fantasy though. I rarely do see other Rivieras for sale and when I do they have lots of miles. Usually in the 200k+ club. I'd almost trade for a '95 with lower miles that had the black exterior or interior. While I'm talking about it, do they make black Park Avenue Ultras? I think that would look so badass in shiny black!

Yes they do. My favorite is a black w/silver two-tone PAU "Presidential" I see driving around here from time to time. The old timer driving it looks like he'd still run it if I pulled up next to him, too!

deekster_caddy wrote:

Yes they do. My favorite is a black w/silver two-tone PAU "Presidential" I see driving around here from time to time. The old timer driving it looks like he'd still run it if I pulled up next to him, too!

Ohh man, what I'd give for this:


















Where can I get those rims!? They look great! Still like the Lucerne/LaCrosse rims better but these are good looking no question. That's an '04 with 79k miles for $12,990. Seems kinda high to me, but damn does it look good! The wood steering wheel accents look excellent and are what I think the Riv deserved. Damn, if only they kept making the Riv we would've gotten the HUD among other cool features.

Never let it be said that only one car is my dream car, I've got a ton of them lol.

One thing that really bugs me about the Riv is the lack of a HUD option. PA had it, GTP had it... Riv? No? Personal LUXURY coupe? Hello Buick?????

deekster_caddy wrote:

One thing that really bugs me about the Riv is the lack of a HUD option. PA had it, GTP had it... Riv? No? Personal LUXURY coupe? Hello Buick?????

Maybe I'm alone here but HUDs don't really impress me that much. I'd rather not see these annoying numbers floating in the middle of the windshield - not that hard to look down a second and the much more attractive gauges.


BTW those tips look sharp Shintsu Nice!

Shintsu, If you think people are giving you crap about driving a "grandpa car" now, wait until you drive a PA.

AA wrote:

Shintsu, If you think people are giving you crap about driving a "grandpa car" now, wait until you drive a PA.

Look at that one I posted pictures of. That's classy and luxurious. Look at how damn good it looks, how does that look like an old person's car? I'd have the windows tinted dark too. In that regard I couldn't care less what people think. I love the Park Avenue's looks (like a four door Riv).

I really did like the HUD in the GTP. When I was still a fresh driver I liked it more because I hated taking my eyes off the road to look at my speedo. Plus it was digital and instantly recognizable the speed you are going. You can turn it off if it bothers you IIRC. Corvettes have it, and I love theirs with the gear number and the tachometer in it along with the speed. So sweet!

I get along fine without the HUD now, it's just a nice feature to help you keep your eyes on the road. I'm amazed too that GM didn't do it. Did the Cadillac Eldorado ever get the HUD? I didn't think it did, which seems odd again.

AA wrote:

Shintsu, If you think people are giving you crap about driving a "grandpa car" now, wait until you drive a PA.

Having a brother with a PA , i can indeed vouch for this. He gets a lot more crap for his PA than i do for the riv. And i'm younger than he is....

The Riv has a nicer interior , although the HUD and the DIC and other in-dash features are very nice. The PA has kind of a thrown together looking interior IMO , where as the Riv's is definitely deliberate.

That said , there is a white diamond PA in town that pulls my eye every time i see it. Gourgeous car. Also there is a Black PA with a red interior thats pretty sweet too in town.

Nice tips too!

The PA does give off an older guy look. The older the car looks the more i like! most of the time... Did you ever get that stitch job on the riv's steering wheel done yet?

.

.

dont worry about people giving u crap about your old man car. i get that too. they talk mad shit, but cant even hang with grand pa's car

palermocorey90 wrote:

dont worry about people giving u crap about your old man car. i get that too. they talk mad shit, but cant even hang with grand pa's car

Erm, no one gives me crap about driving my car...you drove the car that looks like this didn't you?


...but then you got this?


Just taking a stab here but is this next?


If so I'm afraid the prognosis is bad...you could end up here:


j/k

Ah, Shintsu. There you are!!!!
And it's really nice to see you still have the Riv.
Looking good, too.

.

Shintsu wrote:

The paint looks like velvet on that rear quarter...all the hard work really pays off! I think the shaved trunk helps sharpen up the look, too.

Also that want of a V8 car for the sound over the speed and performance is like the new Challenger versus the new Camaro. The Camaro is the high end sports car but the Challenger is nice and relaxed while still being very fun to drive! I've seen the blue you're talking about that they painted the SE-R's with, and I like it too. A manual small truck could be fun but they tend to be heavy clutches so it'd be tiring to drive for a long time.

A Ranger would be a nice 'whatever' car. You could beat on it, then fix it yourself when something happens, or load a bunch of stuff up in the back and go to a beach, then load all your friends in the back and go for a spin! As you decided though, the best thing is to hold on to your sure-thing Riviera until you have the money for a 2nd car, then you'll realize that the money is better spent maintaining your Riviera, and you won't have to worry about car troubles putting a dent in your finances because you've saved up enough to buy a whole other car.

.

Haha no problem, I added some more to the end of that post so be sure to re-read it. I always get complimented on my XK Jaguar, by the way.

I bought a new Mazda B4000 back in 2000. Same as the Ranger only slight different body panels, but had the Motorcraft 4.0 engine w/5spd manual.
Very easy to shift as it had an hydraulic clutch. I really liked the truck but someone offered me more than it was worth in 2003 so i sold it.
Wish i hadn't, I always seem to find the need for a pick up now and then to haul or tow stuff.