My riv might be gone forever :( [somewhat totaled, needs new windshield]

So basically a while ago, a fedex truck slammed his brakes last second to make a right hand turn right when I checked my blindspot and the rear bumper of the truck cleared my bumper and smashed my hood in, busted my headlight, shattered my grill, andbusted my radiator. Legally it was my fault and he claimed no damage which is kind of good I guess, dunno.

Anyway the airbags deployed so basically the passenger airbag shattered my windshield.

I have a 95 Parts Buick so I can replace the hood, the headlights, grill and possibly the radiator (I don't know if a series 1 radiator will fit my car)

But anyway, how would I replace the windshield and airbags? I'm thinking pretty much using a razor blade to cut the molding off and possibly the adhesive, then take both windshields out, buy urethane adhesive from an autoparts store and use like dent puller suction cups to place it in with adhesive then let the adhesive cure and glue the molding back in?

As for the airbags, could I just replace the airbags from parts buick?

If it's not generally straightforward to replace my windshield then I'm probably done with this car. There's no point in spending more than my entire bluebook value to get my windshield fixed. The car runs fine, and will run even with the busted radiador, I drove it a couple miles to my brothers house hoping I wouldn't get pulled over so I could get it towed at my convenience lol.

So yeah it's like either replace stuff or part the car out.

Sorry to hear about your car. Glad you're okay though. It sounds like you'd be better off just finding another used Riviera, only this time one with an L67.

ohh man,sad to hear but....as long you're OK-no problem!yeah i think you should get another Riv.Man we loved your exhaust try to keep it and keep this car for parts...

If I were you I would take the salvageable parts that you added/modified and get a Rivi with an L67. Or, take any performance mods and just get any car with an L36/L67 in it. It just all depends on what you want. My plan for the mostly inevitable time when I have an accident is to take the engine out and throw it in a Camaro (I'm a massive fanboy).

I agree with Jordon. Salvage what you can (like that hot tail light) then scrap it, bring the total number of gen 8 rivs down in the world, and find yourself an L67 equipped Riv.

Haha....

the listing for the rads for 95 to 97 are differant according to Rock auto.as for the air bags? if the engine is still good why not? save her and keep driving. I would.
as for the windshield it might be better to have a pro replace it.cheaper too.it is a major PIA.no joke.
what ya gonna do?

When it rains, it pours. Sorry to hear this, but your Riv has its share of problems. Might be time to move on. Replacing air bags can be risky business. Make sure you know what you're doing if you try. And windshield repair isn't for the average DYIer. I have 2 friends who work as installers for Safelite. They break glass once in a while. It happens. If they brake it, customer only pays for one piece. If you try and it breaks, you're out about a grand.

SC Rivs are affordable and available. Salvage the better parts and consider finding a new one, or maybe a different car? A salvage yard will give you a few hundred for the metal. Rivs are nice and heavy!

Sorry for your loss.

AA wrote:

SC Rivs are affordable and available. Salvage the better parts and consider finding a new one, or maybe a different car? A salvage yard will give you a few hundred for the metal. Rivs are nice and heavy!

BLASPHEMY! A DIFFERENT CAR!!! WHO SAYS SUCH THINGS?!

Sorry this happened to you and your Riviera. You did not say if you had collesion insurance.
If airbags deployed, most cases insurance company list the auto as totaled. It becomes salvage.
Airbags very expensive to replace.
If you are on your own for body repair and replace airbags perhaps you should just sell it for salvage and move on. Any resale value of your Riviera just amounted to $0 if airbags deployed.
.

charlieRobinson wrote:

BLASPHEMY! A DIFFERENT CAR!!! WHO SAYS SUCH THINGS?!

Lol, says the guy who jumps for joy every time he hears another Riviera died!

I'm that other guy who would rather see the last remaining Rivs fall into good hands. No offense to Corey, but despite his good intentions, results have not been positive. I'm only speaking from experience - sometimes its better to try something new rather than keep going down the same old road. There are cars I owned years ago that I'm glad I let go of - not because they were bad cars, just weren't right for me at that particular stage in my life. Take with grain of salt...

The damage to the car is severe, and it wasn't in fair shape to begin with. To make a responsible decision, Corey needs to weigh his options, including parting ways with the Riv. Doesn't mean he can't fix it, but he needs to be honest with himself and decide if now is the right time for a project like this. Being a Riviera Performance member is not an obligation, the site provides access to the needed information, that's all. It's up to each member how they use it.

Also sad any time I hear of another of our family of Riviera's sold for parts. No pleasure learning another Riviera is off the road.

Al, i feel the same way. Good news is that car has opportunity to live on. Parts are getting scarcer each day. Thanks to Riviera donor cars, my Riv lives on. It's really not as bad as it seems.

Sorry to hear about this. At least you're not hurt or paying the other guy tons of money in damages.
The airbags themselves are relatively easy to replace. Disconnect bat. and take precautions of course. The windshield is probably doable from what I've skimmed over in my FSM's but personally, I think I'd still pay for the pros to do it. In deciding if it's worth it, well my thought process would be is the car otherwise in nice shape? Minimal rust, nice paint, etc. and how bad really is the damage? Bent core supports and stuff like that complicate things quite a bit.

AA, agree with you in principle.
Fact is our last generation Riviera's were not produced in high volume. Fact is our last generation Riviera's replacement parts currently not easy to find.
Two years ago had to replace one motor mount and one transmission mount on my low milege '98'. Serviced at a Buick dealership here in Ottawa Canada. After weeks of the dealership looking for mounts, one new mount was found in GM parts inventory (the last one in GM parts inventory), one mount was found on a low milage Riviera trade-in somewhere in the states. Bottom line, a 15 year old low production Riviera model parts are hard to find.
Each year it becomes more difficult to replace parts on my 1998. One more Riviera sent to the junkyard in the states or parted out does not help me find replacement parts here in Canada.

Well the thing is I have a whole parts car with every part needed to be replaced. Are there any guides on how to swap a windshield? because that's the only hard part imo

Thing is if I have to buy a whole new car, sadly I wouldn't buy another riv unless it was retarded cheap and a good L67 riv. The sad fact is the car doesn't work with my driving style at all. It's huge. That and visiting DC all the time..Driving in Georgetown with a 17.5ft long coupe with slow acceleration really sucked. I'm surprised I lasted that long in the city before something like that happened actually.

I might be able to revive it one day I guess. for a road cruising car, there's not much else I'd take over my riv for comfort. Also doing things like modding it here and there and fixing everything that goes wrong..swapping an entire interior and replacing half the wiring as a newbie 21 year old kid with no official mechanics or car training who didn't use his owner manual out of sheer stubbornness while doing it will do things..like make him attached to his car, lol.

so basically time to weigh my options, see how viable fixing the windshield is and if I Can't fix it for now, probably get a beater crappy car for a while until I can find something like a really cheap used 300zx, used eclipse GSX, possibly a 240 sx, 280z, or if I can find a cheap enough rx7 (probably impossible unless I find a shell car). RWD and small would be preferable, but I'd still like to fix the riv up to working well some day for road trips alone.

The other option would be car payments but I'd rather not be driving a car I don't own lol.

you wont find a decent fairlady for any cheaper than an awesome Riv. And who you gonna turn to when you need help with your JDM? You havent even uploaded photos of your Riv, unless I missed them somewhere. Let's see it.

I still think you need to scout for a 98+ Riv. With an L67, you will have no problem with acceleration. Dont get another series II whatever, get a Riv. Like AA said, they need to fall in good hands before they are all gone.

I love seeing ghetto banger Rivs full of shame and neglect. I hope they all die quick deaths and stay well preserved for us in bone yards.

charlieRobinson wrote:

you wont find a decent fairlady for any cheaper than an awesome Riv. And who you gonna turn to when you need help with your JDM? You havent even uploaded photos of your Riv, unless I missed them somewhere. Let's see it.

I still think you need to scout for a 98+ Riv. With an L67, you will have no problem with acceleration. Dont get another series II whatever, get a Riv. Like AA said, they need to fall in good hands before they are all gone.

Haha I sense a little hate towards JDM maybe? :p

It's dark and snowy so I'll take a pic tomorrow. Thing that pisses me off the most is I had some busted fuses from my voltage regulator going apeshit and was being a little lazy about it for a few days. My airbag fuse was out TWO DAYS before that happened. If I was more lazy about it then my airbags and windshield would be fine. Epitome of my luck lol.

Anyway there are 300zx 2+2 on creigslist under 2 grand here and there. The twin turbo would never be that cheap but it wasn't a 4 seater. the 4 seater has a better weight distribution, more functionality and is cheaper on insurance, same engine block too just with higher compression pistons I believe.

I'll admit I don' t like most JDM. I don't really like honda other than the S2000, I don't like mazda other than the fact the rx7 has nearly a perfect chassis for an aluminum block v8 swap. I love the eclipse GSX though. The new nissan 350z and 370z is actually worse than the 300 zx though in my opinion engine block wise. 280z's look gorgeous but wouldn't perform super super well. the problem with camaro's and firebirds would be the bad weight distribution and the fact wheelbase is a little long and track width should be wider.

when it comes down to it, I'm just really picky with cars. I believe brand loyalty is retarded, ad yet iv'e always been obsessed with vipers and Iv'e hated ford, but I'll still admit that the new ford mustangs are amazing for the price, even though I'd rather drive a scion FR-S or even a genesis 3.8L coupe than a mustang lol, but I ac tually like older cars more than the brand new ones for some reason, so used is my best bet

i dont know how its is where you stay but i got my windshield replaced for about 60bucks mys be its because its so many out here but id save it.....LONG LIVE THE RIV

Long live the RIV.
FOREVERMORE.

simba510 wrote:

i dont know how its is where you stay but i got my windshield replaced for about 60bucks mys be its because its so many out here but id save it.....LONG LIVE THE RIV

I already have a whole parts car with a brand new looking windshield in it in my backyard right now. I have the part but I just need to figure out how to swap the windshield from parts car to my car. if it only costs 60 bucks to have a pro do that then I'd have it done in a heartbeat. and continue driving my riv.

i would look into it if you already have the windshield is should be only labor ind if they are good it should take them all of 30mins to an hour it took my place an hour and thats with the wait time for the new windshield to get there

simba510 wrote:

i would look into it if you already have the windshield is should be only labor ind if they are good it should take them all of 30mins to an hour it took my place an hour and thats with the wait time for the new windshield to get there

not a bad idea to check out if there's local shops that do that. what would I search in google maps to find a place that does car window repair? It's much easier to find listings usually on my phone in my maps application than searching online, instant info like their location, phone number and gps in seconds :p




Here's a horribly compressed 50% resize jpg of a pic I just took because imageshack won't let me upload a 25MB uncompressed pic off my camera lol. Copy image url and open in a new tab to see a bigger resolution for a closer look

damage to the actual body seems minimal other than the fact my fender got folded in a little which can be fixed with some vise grips, and if I can't get that to look perfect, I can cut off the fender from parts buick and weld it on mine. Irecently learned how to weld. I can use oxy-fuel welding, stick welding and TIG welding so far, but for some reason I'm much better at TIG than stick welding lol.



That was my first TIG welding bead ever lol, turned out I had the amps way too low but I'm a little better now. With filler rod and borrowing a TIG Welder, I'm confident I could cut and replace that fender and make it look brand new after grinding the metal down

I could probably also pull it off with oxy-fuel but I'd wanna practice on sheet metal first for a little while lol

Anyway, I'm pretty sure the buick still has life left in her. She won't quit that easily :p

...ohh 25MB file!25 MB Raw file you mean?that's what i get from my 1Ds Mark III.What you shooting with? 1Ds Mark III or D3x?