Just bought a 1995 Riv S/C

I just bought a 1995 Rivera S/C with a rebuilt engine for 1800 dollars with 226k on the body itself. She's in excellent condition, EVERYTHING WORKS. I love when people have to move states in a hurry.

Anyways, just wanted to pop in and say "hello" and give a bit of history of me and Buick.

My first car was ALSO a Buick Century (1991) with the screwball 3300 engine (no crank position sensor / batchfire). Had intake, 2.5" exhaust, and MSD ignition and a nice set of white letter Cooper Cobra tires. The 3300 was a reduced deck 3800 (I believe pre Series I?) it idle horrible all the time an sounded like it had a massive cam in it. It also had a bad habit of eating N/A 3800's including a 1992 Rivera my friend owned at the time.

My friend had/has a modded 1998 Regal GS (intake, exhaust, PCM, MSD ign, PRJ wires, 160 ºF T-stat, colder plugs, pulley swap) and we did all the work ourselves.

I love the 3800 motor and am so happy to own one again! I just want the "Pref Shift" out of the Regal somehow.

Welcome to the forum!

You'll like it here

I hope so!

I just gotta get my friend to surrender some parts off the Regal that was involved in an accident last winter and parked.

I also left out, some did half an air ride conversion to this car with the fill/release right under the rear bumper...

So basically I can alter the ride geometry in the rear to raise (need air) or squat (on the fly) the rear.

DecoyGSX wrote:

I also left out, some did half an air ride conversion to this car with the fill/release right under the rear bumper...

So basically I can alter the ride geometry in the rear to raise (need air) or squat (on the fly) the rear.

you *might* want to repair the factory compressor & switch for the air ride, they are not that pricey from junkyard.

Albertj

albertj wrote:

DecoyGSX wrote:

I also left out, some did half an air ride conversion to this car with the fill/release right under the rear bumper...

So basically I can alter the ride geometry in the rear to raise (need air) or squat (on the fly) the rear.

you *might* want to repair the factory compressor & switch for the air ride, they are not that pricey from junkyard.

Albertj

I dunno, it was something he was trying to do aftermarket... I gotta get a real good look with a wheel off. When I bought it it was sitting really high in the air, I dropped it down to normal ride height driving it home.

Welcome. I also eliminated my ALC pump (when it burned out). I like having the fill valve under the rear bumper. Can jack up the rear for towing or drag racing, or lower it for daily drive & autocross.

AA wrote:

Welcome. I also eliminated my ALC pump (when it burned out). I like having the fill valve under the rear bumper. Can jack up the rear for towing or drag racing, or lower it for daily drive & autocross.

This must be what happened... Thanks for the insight!

DecoyGSX wrote:

AA wrote:

Welcome. I also eliminated my ALC pump (when it burned out). I like having the fill valve under the rear bumper. Can jack up the rear for towing or drag racing, or lower it for daily drive & autocross.

This must be what happened... Thanks for the insight!

Yep, might be.

If you use the factory setup, when the car is parked the computer lets air out of the system This would have the effect of exhausting moisture. Llook on the chassis above and ahead of the left rear wheel, toward center of car, to see what parts of the air ride the PO left. Alos, what color are your air shocks? OEs are black, Monroes blue I think, and Gabriels white I think.

Albertj

My Monroes were white, and I've heard they also come in black?

AA wrote:

My Monroes were white, and I've heard they also come in black?

Didn't know that, I'll find out more when I have time on my hands.

Albertj

I bought these Monroe's http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C55T7W and they came in black.

They are black, but are shiny and brand new, like, literally a few weeks old looking. They are extremely fat too, probably twice the diameter of a normal strut I'm used to seeing.

Welcome Dan! I was going to say that you could just program the car to have perf shift but not a 1995. What color combo is the car?

Cool that your girl has a Regal too. Love my 2000. Has a few more mods that what yours has. 160* stat might be overkill for her setup (not trying to be a jerk, just constructive criticism). I'd switch to a 180* just for gas mileage reasons. If it seems to be running mint then disregard what I said though. lol

Haha, not girl it just says "Friend", LOL.He has the ZZP PCM that was programmed with 160 T-stat.

It's maroon with maroon interior. Also noticed you are in CT, I'm from RI myself.

Oops... Late night reading owns me. I think I juxtaposed the pronoun you used for your car into somehow leading me to the Regal being owned by a girl. Eek.

Love RI. Went to school up there. Probably will be up there in a few weeks to visit friends.

And I learned tonight... Repair # 1

INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET. WOO HOO!

Could someone possibly come up with some part numbers for me? I already found a couple write ups on the subject.

- LIM Gasket - //FOUND IT// - [MS94918-1 by Fel-Pro]
- Upper IM Gasket (?)
- S/C Gasket - HELP!
- Thermostat gasket (should be stocked locally) / 7203-180 (Thermostat 180ºF) [Failsafe] / Gasket - 35534 [Duralast by Felpro]

I may have missed some parts, I was hoping to find a kit with the O-Rings and everything, but only for the Series II.

This is a 1995 with the Series I, all the info I find is for the Series II engine.

I believe the upper manifold gasket would be the supercharger gasket but I could be wrong. Sorry that probably doesn't help you. Not sure if there are coolant passages running from the LIM to the blower, if there are you might as well replace the o-ring gaskets that go in there.

upper manifold gasket is the supercharger gasket on l67s/l32s. there isnt necessarily coolant running to the supercharger, but through it to the TB, i would definitely replace the coolant o-rings that normally come with the supercharger gasket.
actually, im not sure there are coolant o-rings on the series I, but heres a link to the supercharger gasket at monsterparts:
LINK

I took the car to my mechanic, he cleaned the area and determined its the back of the thermostat housing leaking. (gasket)

I felt really dumb, however he did agree it did at first look like a bad LIM and to keep an eye on it in the future.

DEMonte1997 wrote:

Oops... Late night reading owns me. I think I juxtaposed the pronoun you used for your car into somehow leading me to the Regal being owned by a girl. Eek.

Love RI. Went to school up there. Probably will be up there in a few weeks to visit friends.

My bad.....but being owned by a girrrrl????? Lets Race!!! hahaha