Hey All, Just picked myself up a 71 Rivi. Just wondering about the power of it. Seems kind of detuned for such a big engine. I see there is a device to stop the vacuum advance from working till it's into third gear. Is this the normal power of this car or is there more I'm not seeing. It has 64000 miles on it. I can tell you one thing It rides real smooth. Car runs and idles fine but thought it should be more powerful. Hank P.S. Right now she is no beauty, but not bad.
You might want to check for vacuum leaks and make sure all your ignition system is up to snuff. Even a stock 455 Riv will blow the socks off a Mustang:grin: Also check for crossed plug wires. Those can hurt power....a little:gt: I think the bone stock 71 455 was 315hp.... the step up 455 was 330.... the Stage1 was somewhere in the ballpark of 350. I don't have my book handy to look. If you have problems making the tires chirp, then you have problems
Checked timing,at specs 4 degrees, vacuum and centrifigal advances working. Cap, rotor and plugs new and wires going to correct plugs. Checked for play in timing chain movement about 1/2 inch before distributor moves, so that seems good. But it will not burn rubber much less chirp tires when shifting. Could it still be possible to have a bad carb?o No: o No: o No: Hank
Power After driving it for a week the power seems to coming back to it. Now I can do a burnout no problem and the acceleration is way better now. I'm guessing it could use a carb rebuild. It's probably gummed up inside there and slowly trying to clean itself out. I was tinkering and up the base timing from 4 degrees to 7degrees. No pinging even on regular gas. Well time to do more cruising and see what else it can do as it wakes up from sitting all those years. Hank
I had a 73 Olds 98 455 that when well, would fry the tires. The torque converter went bad and it lost all its off the line punch even tho the engine was as strong as ever. Lee
Need Opinion OK All My 71 Riv seems to be better the more I drive it. But, at idle maybe once a day when I use it the engine seems to cut out or has a big miss for a split second then continues to idle ok. Ok in the sense that it has an idle that I would not call the best but good enough. Do these 455 timing chains have problems at 69000 miles. Is there a problem with something in the electrical system that I don't know about. o No: Just a note to say that following a thread here on this board led me to find a method of adjusting my POA Valve to work with r134.This made all the difference in the world!!!!!!!:TU: Thanks to All who posted about A/C concerns. Nothing like cold A/C :beer . Hank
Re: Need Opinion If it's the original, you can bet money on it. The original cam gear has nylon teeth that crack and even break off. It's not just mileage but age your dealing with. I'd start with a good tune-up. The works. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor and points. Along with a carb rebuild should make a big difference in how it runs. Advancing that timing was a good first step. :TU:
