HORROR during the swap....

So.... I was horrified while this Guy was getting everything unhooked and unbolted to swap the engines...

- found out the metal pipe after the AC condensor is broken.... not sure how... But its done... I don't think I will have AC this summer.. so that sucks..
- found out this "cold air intake" is so rigged. First off its homemade PVC pipe... second it goes right in front of the front driver tire.... second... it is right where water will get kicked up... and third.... the filter had already fell off... was probably sitting there for years.... and fourth... it was super rusty...
- found out the radiator I bought is not going to fit... so that sucks
- found out the the radiator I have in there now has a couple broken brackets and half the bolts were not there to begin with...
- found out that the trany fluid is not looking so good... at all... almost black.. and almost appeared to have little crusty crap in it... but might of been dirt from around the line.... so this Guy said that that's going to need serviced or replaced... which is never cheap...
- oh.... and looks like I am going to need to replace a lot more hoses than I thought...

What did I get myself into.... I need a lot more than I thought I would. Also does anyone know if I can get half of the entire AC system.... or even the whole thing... I can't find it anywhere... my ass is gonna stain a sweat mark in the leather... this blows... the little f*ck I bought it from said the condensor was new... doesn't look like it... and now I need the trany rebuilt.... f*ck me....

sounds like you're playing catch up. Sorry that it all turned up at once for you.
it all sounds doable, but sucks to hear it all at once.

just like eating an elephant though... one bite at a time.

Yeah... seriously.... on top of 800 for the car.. 80 for the tow... 500 for the engine 40 for the radiator... 600 to get it swapped and gasketed... 200 for the gasket set... and 100 at least for various hoses and crap like wires plugs coolant oil thermostat detailing stuff and whatever else.... I need to drop about 1000 more for the AC to get fixed and 300 to get the trany rebuilt... not in eluding replacement parts... so lame... I think it was one step away from being a parts car.... every panel is straight... the ONLY things looking up for me are that every accessory works... for now... the body is nearly emaculate.... and the sequential lights... oh.. and the new shocks.... its garbage otherwise... I'm looking at nearly 2400...

Oh... and to add to it... what I forgot due to everything else... the brakes and rotors... that's easily almost 200... for a grand total of $2600.. but I wont have to worry about the engine.. is that even worth it?

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Anyone on here who has had a riv more than a few year has had a day or 2 like yours where it seems everything on the car is broken.

As for the fender well intake; MANY people build theirs out of PVC on the rivs because there are no aftermarket ones. Nothing wrong with a good 4" PVC intake drawing air from the fender in front of the tire. Unless you dive the front end under water you shouldnt have a problem. As for the filter falling off, that's an easy fix with a new clamp and some patience.
link for a PVC intake
https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t107-write-up-building-a-custom-pvc-fenderwell-intake#363

I believe Rockauto sells almost every piece for our A/C system. if there is something they dont have Ed Morad can get it for you off a used riv for a good price.

wee-one wrote:

Yeah... seriously.... on top of 800 for the car.. 80 for the tow... 500 for the engine 40 for the radiator... 600 to get it swapped and gasketed... 200 for the gasket set... and 100 at least for various hoses and crap like wires plugs coolant oil thermostat detailing stuff and whatever else.... I need to drop about 1000 more for the AC to get fixed and 300 to get the trany rebuilt... not in eluding replacement parts... so lame... I think it was one step away from being a parts car.... every panel is straight... the ONLY things looking up for me are that every accessory works... for now... the body is nearly emaculate.... and the sequential lights... oh.. and the new shocks.... its garbage otherwise... I'm looking at nearly 2400...

Oh... and to add to it... what I forgot due to everything else... the brakes and rotors... that's easily almost 200... for a grand total of $2600.. but I wont have to worry about the engine.. is that even worth it?

Sux to be u right now,but in the end you'll have a special car that wont be on every corner taking up space.

Yeah... everything is right... I hate eBay but I'm going to have to check out morads. .. it is like... so exhausringim looking at about $4000 to get it back to original... and that PVC thing is not going back on... ill get an intercooler before I do that... plus this guy doing the work said he refuses to put it back on and that is the reason why the old engine blew in the first place.. and his buddy said the same thing too... so that's a no go.... they said the combo of that and the intake manifold gasket did the engine in.... I just really hope nothing else happens... I'm just going to have to grind the rust off the brake rotors and swap the pads... maybe just turn the rotors.... I think the trany issues are the most depressing..oh yeah... the tires are bald too.....

I feel like Earl in my name is Earl.... all of this on top off the month it has been already.. along with finding out I HAVE to get it inspected before I can even title it... along with the 150 down for my insurance on it because I need an sr-22... all the sh!t at work and bot getting paid enough and at relationship issues and an 8 month old daughter.. and having to owe the IRS $5000 for refiling my taxes so my gf can go to school... paying way too much for rent... and all my health issues.. pretty sure I have a thyroid thing or throat cancer.... the Dr bills are stacking..... and my debt... a letter saying. I owe Wells Fargo bank $2000 and. Another $4000 for an accident 6 years ago that I already paid for and am just now getting sued for.... again... for the same damn thing....

It is killing me... its like its karma or something

Wow! the world is welcoming you with arms wide open! cheer up big guy it could be worse.
you could be forced to work on a civic for the remainder of the year.....
hope things turn out ok.

How do you have cancer at 23? Do you work as a tobacco product tester?

I'm sitting here with a sore throat and you've made me super paranoid

Mr.Riviera wrote:

Anyone on here who has had a riv more than a few year has had a day or 2 like yours where it seems everything on the car is broken.

Not me.

There's nothing wrong with the Riv, it's the former owners causing the problems. Trashy people can trash anything, doesn't matter how good it starts out.

I think Matthew's referring to those of us who put daily miles on our cars. The Riviera is extremely durable, and proper maintenance keeps the failure rates down, but as these cars age things can go unnoticed or add up with even slight neglect, resulting in 'events' like these. My car has been above average, but I happen to be a bit behind on maintenance as well. I know if I don't catch up on it, things can spiral out of control. Another factor is cost, which might prevent some of us from faithfully maintaining our cars. I calculated an honest monthly cost report, excluding fuel, and came up with $120 per mo based on 2 years at 25k miles per year. That's not quite a new car payment, but it's not the same as driving for free. Also consider that's a performance mod budget mixed in with a daily driving budget.

Quote :

- found out this "cold air intake" is so rigged. First off its homemade PVC pipe... second it goes right in front of the front driver tire.... second... it is right where water will get kicked up... and third.... the filter had already fell off... was probably sitting there for years.... and fourth... it was super rusty...

The PVC job can be effective if done right. No, it's not the same as a custom welded job, but that's the difference between $20 and $250. There are some generic pipes out there than can work with fabrication, but we didn't always have that option.

The position of the filter low near the wheel isn't really that big a deal. The filter may need cleaned more regularly, but you won't get enough water splashed up to hurt the engine unless you drive through a flood area.

The chance of filter falling off is probably the single most dangerous aspect of a FWI install. It happened to me once. The trick is to use as large a filter as you can cram into the fenderwell, so that it's supported by the structural elements from the bottom. That way gravity won't be tempted to pull down on your filter and possibly detach it.

Cut your losses. Buy a lower mileage, better condition riviera with no such problems and keep your car as a parts car.

It may be worth pointing out that a nice body is worth a lot. '96 Pearl White on Ruby Red leather with every option is pretty hard to come by - there's not that many out there with that color combo and all options. I know- that's the car I have and I just spent over $3000 for body work to fix some fairly minor damage. Replacing mechanicals is only worth it in a car body that's not beat up. You've got a car that's worth fixing. I had a guy in a BMW eyeing my car yesterday.

Like jonly said above, break it down into single, simpler tasks so that it doesn't seem so overwhelming. Once you're mobile things will start looking up.

If you're stuck paying others to fix things for you, it's going to cost you whatever you drive. If you have some tools a lot of the A/C work can be done yourself to cut into that $1000. Until then you've still got 2-70 A/C.

Fixing things one at a time also provides useful info about what exactly went wrong, which could help in diagnosing a future problem. Sometimes if you fix too many things at one time, you don't really learn anything from it.

The bright side is at least you live in a time where you can access the internet and this site versus just 20 years ago when you were limited to your local mechanic. $800 for a Riv - you had to know there were some issues. Don't worry though, it could always be worse...

Yeah... I hear ya... I knew the body and accesorues were nice and made it worth the cash... I also knew that the engine was blown... that's why I bought the engine before I even paid for the car... and lined up my mechanic to do the work beforehand too.... but DAMN I was NOT expecting some if the issues.

I'm thinking I know what happened to the AC too.... I got it towed on a flatbed to this guys garage.. well.. I drove it up the flatbed(frickin engine sounded like a machine gun when I gunned it up that thing) and when he went to wench it he hooked it under the front... I was thinking a crossmember or something. ... I think he accidentally hooked it to this AC line... which runs parallel to the radiator... he just felt metal and hooked it.... because when he started wenching it I heard some stress sounds then a pop... I thought it was the wench itself or the cable tightening.... but bow I know it had to be this AC line.... so I'm gonna see if they can do something about it... I don't think I ever signed any waivers or any papers. .

And yeah... it will be worth it in the long run when all I have to do is plugs. Wires. Brakes.and oil changes for the lfe of the car...plus a couple other various things

What do u mean by "2-70 AC"....?

And yeah... I also have to get it inspected to getting plates... so he better do everything right...

So... yeah.. I'm not going to buy another.. I know how great these cars CAN be... its just this one is kicking my ass... and I am not going to use it as a parts car... like he said... its a nice rare color combo just to part out. I am just going to have to bite the bullet and just self medicate myself out of this headache... and all the other BS... I am going disc golfing this weekend with a buddy and just turn off my phone while I am gone...

I'm going to spend the next few months looking for a junked Riviera... can I use another AC like a regal or park avenue or something? Because I like never see these things... so it will be a while... and us UT hard to get everything out? Especially without killing myself or blowing refrigerant in my face? And what tools would I need... I have all the basic stuff but nothing specialized for this....?

Oh... and to answer u Jack the r... yeah not sure... the Dr suspects a swollen thyroid or nodules But he said not to rule out cancer because I smoke a pack a day for the last 6 years... it just costs too much to get a camera stuck down my throat.. but I've seriously almost died from it... like near death whit out experiences... like getting pills stuck in my throat and can't breath for 10 minutes... 3 seperate times... one was real bad and threw up blood when I came to.... he thinks thyroid mainly because my heart beat was 140 when I last went... which is way way too high for not doing anything physical... Im 23 and he ran an EKG on me... the nurse thought he made a mistake and said "usually their at least ttwice your age" LOL.... and I get this heart arythmia where it beats off schedule because its racing so fast..... so yeah... its kinda scary and I've been throwing off to go back because of this damn car....

*starts humming "time is on my side"*

2-70 AC means open two windows and drive 70mph for "Air conditioning"

wee-one wrote:

I'm going to spend the next few months looking for a junked Riviera... can I use another AC like a regal or park avenue or something? Because I like never see these things... so it will be a while... and us UT hard to get everything out? Especially without killing myself or blowing refrigerant in my face? And what tools would I need... I have all the basic stuff but nothing specialized for this....?
"*

Although I'm no expert on auto A/C repair I have retrofitted my R12 Datsun to R134a and replaced the compressor in the Riv when it went out. Both repairs worked fine. Others on this forum may know more than I do about it and can chime in if they disagree:

Assuming you're correct that the A/C stopped working after the towing guy ripped out one of the hoses and it worked before, I'd think the fix would be pretty easy and inexpensive - as long as the system isn't contaminated with broken metal pieces, water (and moisture), or non-system oil, dirt, etc... The longer the system remains open the more likely it will require more parts replacement.

This is what I would do: (1) change the broken refrigerant line, (2) verify the system is free of contamination (orifice tube screen is clean), (3) verify the compressor isn't frozen and spins freely, (4) use a vacuum pump to evacuate all the air and moisture from the system, (5) monitor the system vacuum over 24 hours to verify that there isn't air seeping back in through a leak, (6) recharge the system with the correct amount of R134a and type of refrigerant oil.
(7) test for proper operation.
All the refrigerant (R134a) and probably a lot of the rerigerant oil has escaped from the system so nothing should spray out anymore. Conversly, moisture and other contaminants can now enter the system which will deteriorate the dessicant material that reside in the receiver/dryer and probably cause other mischief.

Two "special" tools you need to complete the job are a vacuum pump and A/C gauges for an R134a refrigerant system. I've known people that have "made" a vacuum pump by brazing appropriate fittings onto an old refrigerator compressor and using that to evacuate the system. It worked for them. I have a pro-quality two-stage vacuum pump that draws a vacuum to 25 microns but it cost me $250 - also gauges

That's the short story in my view and the particulars can be gleaned elswhere- probably on this site in a writeup or elswhere. Really, you can do everything with pretty simple tools right up until the system needs to be recharged. I haven't searched the site to see what's there on A/C repair. There's probably something.

Just having an A/C tech charge the system shouldn't cost more than $100 I wouldn't think. But I trust auto shops about as far as I can throw them.

Yeah... from what your saying it looks like I am going to have to do the install myself and take it somewhere to do the vacume and maybe charge it too... otherwise I can do that... I've done the switch to 134-a on NY gfs car... super easy.

Ill look it up.. see if there are any threads on it... a how to version anyway... the hardest part is going to pick it at a junkyard... that's gonna suck.

2-70..... LOL.... I wouldn't mind it myself and I hate running the AC unless its over 90 for several reasons... but I don't think my 8-month old would really enjoy that... shell get this deep set hatred with the Riviera subconsciously and take it out on my car unconcsiously later in life.... I walk out to leave and shell be in the driveway whacking it with a stick..... not cool

wee-one wrote:

2-70..... LOL.... I wouldn't mind it myself and I hate running the AC unless its over 90 for several reasons... but I don't think my 8-month old would really enjoy that... shell get this deep set hatred with the Riviera subconsciously and take it out on my car unconcsiously later in life.... I walk out to leave and shell be in the driveway whacking it with a stick..... not cool

brutusk1 wrote:

It may be worth pointing out that a nice body is worth a lot.

An excellent point...

Out here in Leftifornia, a single front fender that got backed into cost nearly $2,000, even finding the damned parts myself!!

Yeah.... I did find one "writeup" it kinda lost track and was more along the lines of "this is where I got this for cheap... and this is what this is called and where it is located" rather than here is how you do it step by step and the tools needed to get the jobdone...

Yeah... in set on trying to find the parts at the yard.... buying a new variable valve thing and maybe a compressor and do it myself and pay someone to do the vaccme bit and charge it since it will cost about the same buying the refrigerant myself...

I am going to have to let it slide for a few months tho until I can get the cash to even do anything about it.... and see if I can do something with the tow company seeing as how I didn't take pics before of it and really have no proof...