A present from Me to Me

[swampthing]

those Riv's are startin to grow on me. you got me looking and I found this

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?c ... dard=false

price is a little high and I'm broke anyways

[Z-type]

Well, an update finally...The brakes work! All new lines were put it, all four calipers, rotors, and pads all-around were replaced. Still needs the plugs and wires done, a piece of fuel line/fuel filter, valve cover gaskets, and fluids changed. I need to weld those few things on it then it should be good to go. Not too much work involved so I may be rolling within two weeks!

Yeah i know what you mean swampthing...they are kinda goofy looking cars but at the same time, they're really stylish and aerodynamic looking. The look had to grow on me but I relaly do like it! Honestly I'd put the Aurora back end on it, but thats just me.

[labonnevillastrangiato]

That's a very nice car. The interior is mint!

Had to chime in on the premium fuel thing: It is a must. My car runs like a bag of turds if I put regular or mid grade in.

Once you get it running the way you like, if you really want to HEAR the Supercharger whine, an aftermarket / home made air intake is a must. You could go with a fenderwell type, or go with a "Rice Pipe" with a K&N filter. A heat shield is a must! Your butt will swear you just found 10 more HP, and the whine it makes is sweet music! The factory air intake is far to restrictive for our greedy S/C's.

Can't wait to see how this turns out. Do all the goodies and buttons work??

Adam

[Z-type]

Thanks man! I appreciate the comments and advice/suggestions a lot. I DO want to hear a supercharger whine eventually...I haven't had the chance to dig around the engine bay yet as I haven't actually had the car to myself yet (been at the garage this whole time) but I'm not sure if I can do a fenderwell intake like we can on the H-bodies. I just don't know yet. A CAI would be easy to do as long as I could make a shield, because there's plenty of space for that behind the headlight - seems like at this point that would be more likely than a FWI. I have to do some kind of cool intake though - every bit helps! I do know I want to use Intense hose though.

As for the goodies and fun toys working, as far as I know everything works but the seats and mirrors. I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm hoping it's just fuses, and someone mentioned to me it may be grounds. I hope it's fuses...that would be easy. Problem is, my manual doesn't list seats or mirrors on any fuses on the list. So I'll just have to go through the most likely ones one-by-one and see if any are broken. The radio works, moonroof works, trunk and fuel door releases work, windows and locks are good, runs great besides needing valve cover gaskets badly. Lots of stuff to list. I haven't found too many operational problems - the lowish mileage seems to have helped that. I'll be happier when I can play with it though .

[Z-type]

Finally some news...my cousins were taking their good 'ol time on the car, but I'll get it back next week. Unfortunately I'll have to give it to another garage to do some inspections for a new title...what a pain. I hope I can at least get a temporary tag so I can use the car....

[Z-type]

I should be getting the car back Monday or Tuesday. Can't wait to get working on it!

[Z-type]

Here's a couple pictures - more tomorrow when I get some work done on it!

Here's the paint I have to work with...


Took off my 1/4 panel RIVIERA emblems - looks good! I just wanted to make the car more mysterious :D .



Polished my cornering lights so they're not yellow and faded.


And here's something you usually don't see even if it's planned...my phone matches my car inside and out...

[Z-type]

Well...I got the car back last month, had to take it to the dealer for some things, and I got it back yesterday. Want to know where it is right now? My garage? Haha that'd be the day. Nope - back at my cousin's garage!

My fuel pump quit yesterday. I was about 5 miles from home and it sputtered and quit. Pump doesnt prime and the gauge I put on shows no pressure. My cousin is going to make sure that's all that's wrong but I have a feeling I'm making another costly repair. When will it end? Seriously?

I'm just trying to keep this situation as positive as possible in my head. I just keep thinking 'it's going to have a ton of new parts on it when it's done, and when it gets back, you get to play with it more and paint it'. It's keeping me going. I'm actually looking forward to changing the supercharger coupler in it. And boy does it need it. Oh well...it'll get done eventually. I just want it for winter. I do NOT want my T-type in that weather! We have salt here...

[unirok]

I always though the riv of that era was fugly looking but seeing it more and more its looks are starting to grow on me. Good luck with it.

[Z-type]

Well, here's something you don't see ALL the time, but maybe once or twice. Remember how I said it seemed like my fuel pump was going bad? As it turns out, my gas gauge sending unit is on the fritz and when it said I had 1/4 tank left, I was actually OUT OF GAS! So thank goodness for me and my bank account, all I had to do was fill up my tank. My cousin called me and said that my sending unit tested bad on some piece of equipment so they put gas in it and it's fine! Awesome! I do find it strange that I really couln't hear the pump from inside of the car but the relay was clicking when and how it should have. Oh well - no sign of failure. I enjoyed a nice few miles around town with it and plan to start paint and interior work tomorrow! Pictures to follow as always.

Unirok - Yeah i have to agree with you that at first, I wasn't a huge fan but it really grew on me. The only thing I'd change is I'd give it the Aurora's back end/taillight. I am in love with the interior though....and thanks for the 'good luck' - it should behave itself a little better from now on!

[Z-type]

Well, so far so good today with how the Riviera is running and whatnot. I got a lot of little things done, mostly cleaning. Enjoy!

My car was the first to be worked on in our newly paved garage! (well, one of the garages anyway...)


Painted the lower body plastic black - the gray was clashing and it looked awful from fading anyway...



The interior and trunk are now spotless except for blemishes in the plastic (ashtray door, console latch, etc.)





Painted the exhaust...looks better than rust anyway


My Lesabre T-type in the background (my grandma's house)


Random shot of the day...



I plan on getting the paint on the car started Sunday night. Gonna be a lot of work but I'm just doing temporary stuff. Maybe a full paint job next year - no telling what's to come of that.

Lots of little things still on the list to do, and she goes on a trip tomorrow! First road trip!

[K-OtiK]

a full paint job?? bring it thru and we'll paint her right up

[Z-type]

Maybe one day! But for now I'm satisfied with how this turned out:

I got the paint done that I wanted to get done. Took me a looooooooong time but the results at the end made it worth it.

Problem spots being worked on




After a lot of anger, sweat, some Mt. Dew, and sitting down, paint was applied. Out of some miracle from the heavens, the color is about almost exact!


Wet sanding...


Some results after buffing...*dang* car reflection making me look fat...


The last of the sanding and buffing...


The end result!



The last pictures are terrible because it's night time, but I'll be getting much better ones tomorrow after it's waxed and whatnot. I still have some work to do on the front bumper but it'll take me all of 5 minutes. Hope you like it! Those faded spots were bothering the hell out of me...

This was only temporary paint but it should hold up for a couple years. Maybe I'll change my mind and have you guys do it one of these days .

[Jrs3800]

What all did you use to paint the car? It looks pretty good...

[Z-type]

Well, all you ACTUAL paint and body guys are going to kill me when I tell you this, but I used Duplicolor for the color paint and Rustoleum clear coat. BUT....I have my reasons: I can't afford decent paint equipment, I have no facilities for such painting activites, I don't paint cars all the time, and the paint I got is reliable. Especially that clear coat - I've had it on a spoiler on one of my dad's cars for YEARS and it looks brand new from the day I painted it. But like I said, it's a temporary paint job but I'm going to make it last as long as I can.

Not too shabby for a rattle can, eh?...

[harofreak00]

amazing work for rattle can. I'm impressed!

[Jrs3800]

I am very impressed as well.. I have only met one other person who can rattle can like that... Very amazing results

[myfirstbonnie]

Can't see the pictures here at work so I guess I will have to wait until I get home. I get this message;



You attempted to visit a site that is in violation of Intel acceptable use guidelines or may pose an Information Security threat to you and Intel assets.
Intel IT flags and blocks sites that are known to threaten Intel systems, networks and informationor contains material that is offensive or illegal.
Identification: 137.102.103.132
Restricted Category: Pornography
URL attempted: http://www.zamiska.net/z/riv22.jpg


Date/Time of Attempt: 2009-08-27 12:53:14
Client Identification: 137.102.103.132


If you feel you've received this in error, please contact the Service Desk.

[Z-type]

Thanks guys:-)

Another update - I finally got the SES light checked out. The verdict? The scanner can't communicate with the computer. Wonderful.

In other news, I found out what the noise was coming from my front passenger wheel - broken sway bar end link. Broken in HALF...it was pretty gnarly. So I replaced those the other morning and forgot to pick up my supercharger/manifold gasket.

I did, however, change my supercharger coupler thanks to a few write-ups on this website among others, which I greatly appreciate the authors doing. The exhaust heat shield part was confusing but it came off. i can't wait to start putting vacuum lines back together...even labeled it should be fun. The coupler in the supercharger itself was extremely worn out. I didn't get a picture but the holes are noticeably out of round and should definitely be the source of my idle rattling. Can't wait to idle in peace...

[00Beast]

Shouldn't wax the areas you painted for a few weeks, to let it de-gas.