Back in Black

Oh ok, cool thanks Aaron. I didn't think I was the only one with an issue like that. And that's exactly what happened...oil slung all onto the hood pad and the firewall.

Speaking of mileage, it's going to take me a while to get to even 10K to check the oil . If past cars are any indication, I usually only drive 5-6K per year. I think I'll just make sure not to park leaning to the passenger side for now, and check it every few months. Thanks!

No pics of either, but I also finally fixed my front driver's wheel well trim. I got new clips from my local Buick dealer a while back and put two new ones on to keep my trim from flapping in the breeze .

Hello all,

I had a bit of time today to get the Riv ready for Winter, though maybe a bit early. Last week I had my winter tires put on my stock wheels, and today I cleaned and waxed the car to prepare the surface for that nasty crap we know as 'snow' . Just did a layer of Mothers pure carnauba wax on the body and the current wheels. Tomorrow I'm going to do the interior up a bit because it's about due, and clean the stock wheels to make them look decent for when I put them on in a few weeks!



Obligatory ass-shot, as always ;-) .









I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm SO GLAD I painted those lower moldings...

Gorgeous car

Thanks Dave! So when are you coming up here with your Reatta ?

A few more pictures. I decided to clean the rest of the car, for the most part.

My driver's side turn signal housing was pushed into the bumper somewhat and was loose, so I decided to fix that since the smaller 194 bulb was out anyway. I remembered the air filter was in the way so I pulled that out and cleaned/re-oiled it while I worked. It turns out the signal housing was missing the 3 of the 4 retainers that held it to the bumper, so I found a clip that would work and stuck it on there. Now it looks right, and all the bulbs work.

It was a nice day...81 degrees and sunny, so I brought out a nice set of small speakers I had and blasted music while I worked. I also clean the interior of the car and treated the leather again.


Dad got home and we waxed his '04 GS, then I got out my winter wheels with the nice new tires on them and cleaned the wheels as best I could.

Not too bad, really, to start.


Except for this one. Anyone have any clue what this is that's baked onto the wheel?


I cleaned everything with an Armorall Extreme wheel cleaner, and it works pretty well, even on most stubborn crap.


The 'bad' wheel turned out a lot better than expected, but still looks like butt. At least the main face is clean.


All the wheels done. They'll be pretty nice Winter wheels! Even the center caps came out really nice, they're not TOO chipped.

I might even make you dinner too!

Damn...that's a tempting offer, no doubt

Wow, that black Riviera of yours looks great!! I agree, I REALLY need to paint my lower molding black, it's a ugly faded grey right now. May have to wait till spring though, we will see.

The black stuff is probably baked-on brake dust and road dirt, you could get it off with a scotchbrite then repaint the wheel. Wheel cleaner will remove it over time if you wash the wheels often enough (weekly) for a while (might be months) and use a wheel brush (like $5 from a parts store like autozone or walmart).

You can take consolation in that it takes years to bake the brake dust on.

You might want to look for a wheel cleaner that contains ammonium bifluoride or Ammonium Hydrogendifluoride but you will have to scrupulously follow the label directions, the ammonia solvents are widely regarded as dangerous (see LINK). I used to use those wheel cleaners but I found that cleaning the wheels a bit more often, and using household ammonia (yeah, dollar-store ammonia) worked fine followed by a rinse and then polishing with never-dull wadding or blue magic metal polish for the chromes, or a wipe with armorall for the painted wheels.

Albertj

IIRC a detailer on the Grand Prix site (very good work) said muriatic acid would work on very stubborn brake dust but you need to dilute it a lot to make sure it doesn't actually damage the wheel. May be worth looking into.

IMO, if a wheel is really shot with previous owner brake dust.. I'd just scotchbrite it and shoot new paint.

Car looks amazing though. Love the Regal chromies on there.

What color interior does your Dad have in his 04? I just picked up an 01 GS and it has the dark gray. Looks really nice.

Thanks everyone! And thanks for the wheel advice Albert. I'll probably be putting the winter wheels on next week so I'll see what I can do before then.

And thanks for the tips Rick! Also, he has the light gray interior on his Regal. It would be nice to have dark gray in it, but the car is nearly immaculate even with 98,000 miles on it. In the Spring, we're doing and upper end overhaul and some small mods. It's due for the intake gaskets, and we'll change plugs, thermostat, the usual.

So, I actually have something worth posting about. The car has been great, but the driver's side axle is slowly getting worse. Time to fix it. Also, my rear transmission mount is slowly (but noticeably) getting worse. So, it's going to my good friend Bob who did the brake lines and a bunch of other jobs for me again. I don't have the time with the holidays coming up to do the rear mount and axle. He's going to do both of those, but I'm also having him install my Hogan downpipe I got a while back. I have the cat gasket, and I just ordered the manifold gasket.

Maybe at some point I get a puller and install my MPS lol. I've only been talking about it since I bought the car. I need an Aeroforce gauge too.

What are you noticing from your bad axle and rear mount? I'm getting a groaning/grinding sound when I hit the throttle a bit while the wheel is turned right. Not sure if it's the axle, mount, wheel bearing?

I'm getting a little bit of groaning too when i turn right, usually uphill, or reverse all the time at low speeds, and an odd fluttering noise between 2000/2500 RPM depending on load (uphill grade). My 2000 SSEi did the same thing.

As far as the rear mount, the front mount is brand new and i get a lot of engine movement shifting into reverse, and a little bit of movement shifting between gears. Enought o make me realize it's shot lol.

Wheel bearing is noticeable only when driving, and it's a hum/groan.

Yea, it got worse after I added my powah mods, so I'm pretty sure driver front wheel bearing is going bad on me. I'm sure my mounts could use replacement after 145K miles. I read it's a real pain to change though, and from the looks of it under the car I believe it.

Just picked up the car from Bob. Everything turned out great! My axle noise is gone, and the car shift 'feel' is much better since the rear mount is done.

He installed the Hogan downpipe as well, but I haven't been able to 'test' it yet because it's raining outside. When it's dry, I'll see if there's any butt-dyno improvement on a stock supercharger pulley. He said it installed very easily though, like everyone else's.

Matt - if you don't think you're mounts have been changed, yeeeeah it might be time lol. Especially with as much power as you have now. Bob said the rear mount was a nightmare lol. At least they last a while once they're done. I'd consider poly-filling yours so it lasts a bit longer .

Yea I think it's time too...haha. I'm positive they are original. I don't know about poly, I would be worried about vibration at idle.

the black lower molding really works with the black paint.

Thank you Jason! I can't imagine ever going back to the gray again. It's so much nicer and classier.

So...it's the middle of December, and it's about that time.


To change to Winter wheels and tires ...


Not like the car looks bad, but it's not the same. Speaking of that, a few weeks ago I found myself digging through the wheels and tires thread on here, and it made me want to get new wheels. I've been pondering it since I bought the car so I think I'm going to start saving for these for the Spring:




The good 'ol Sport Edition SE-14 's. I'm going to try and find the 17" I think when the time comes.


I also have plans for the Spring to make a neat little spoiler. Details will have to wait until I start making it...

Haven't had to do anything to the Riv in a while, but I got my new front struts and mounts installed today - KYB-GR2's. I've only gone 10 miles so far, but I'm extremely happy with them. I didn't realize how awful my old ones were. $280 for the parts, $125 for the labor - I'm happy with $405 for something i won't be doing in a long time. Next up, do a small repair on the subframe before it becomes a problem and remove my slowly dying air ride compressor.

I have most of a Monroe air line kit so I can do the 'ol manual air fill. Doesn't bother me, and it's nice to have some control over the PSI and ride height.

Z-type wrote:

Haven't had to do anything to the Riv in a while, but I got my new front struts and mounts installed today - KYB-GR2's. I've only gone 10 miles so far, but I'm extremely happy with them. I didn't realize how awful my old ones were. $280 for the parts, $125 for the labor - I'm happy with $405 for something i won't be doing in a long time. Next up, do a small repair on the subframe before it becomes a problem and remove my slowly dying air ride compressor.

I have most of a Monroe air line kit so I can do the 'ol manual air fill. Doesn't bother me, and it's nice to have some control over the PSI and ride height.

I got over 100,000 miles out of my KYBs, just replaced them for a set of Gabriels because they had both popped and were seeping fluid. They had not actually failed yet though.

I was thinking about removing my air ride compressor to clean it and replace the air dryer (or at least the dessicant). I have almost 270,000 miles now.

What I like about the SE-14's is that they resemble the wheels on the latest Riv Concept

I completely agree Scott. They're close! same number of spokes and whatnot.

Finally had some dry roads tonight to test out the new struts, and I'm extremely pleased! It's hard to compare old blown-out struts for new ones, but body roll is at a minimum. Just like I like it. Tomorrow I'm installing a new window switch I got from Ed Morad, and switching my air shocks over to a manual fill valve, as long as I have all the parts for the kit still (long story). My compressor has about had it.

Ehem... Addco sway bars...