Nice car, Larry I have a 1995. Approaching 180,000 miles and it's still a good car. Keep up on the tranny maintenance - that's the only serious problem I've ever had, and it was expensive. Not sure I did anything wrong, but some little bitty bearing race came apart and trashed it to the tune of about $2k.
gauge installation. Well, I just had to have a boost gauge in my new ride. I pulled the ashtray out (I'll never miss it ), and installed some Autometer 2 1/16" Sport Comp gauges ( Boost, and Oil Pressure ) Car seems to run at about 7-8 lbs of boost nailed. Now you see um...
Larry came over the other nite and showed me the new RiviRide WOW....is it ever clean !!! He even let me get behind the wheel for a test spin (What EVER was he thinking ?!?!?!?) The boost/oil pressure guage looks soo good it should have been stock - I was trying to think up a way to have the flip door motorized and operated based on throttle position.....ala kick down switch Good luck with it Hammer
Love the car Larry. I found a black on on the lot back in Sept. of 94'. Went home and convinced dad to take a look. He owned it the following day! It was the second one they had sold in the last body style. It was sooooo ahead of its time back in 94'. Later bought a 96' for my mother. She was hit in the driver's door by a person driving a van at 45 MPH. Never broke a bone and only bruised her. They cut the roof off and pulled her out and were very suprised to see her in that good of condition. One strong structure. Hope you don't have to find out like she did. We went out and found her another one just like it. Got it in the garage staying dry now. What about a couple of add-ons for it? Pulley or other minor mods?
Nice ride Larry! In the July/August 2002 GSX-TRA theres an article on the Regal GS 3800 SC and some stuff the guy did to the car to make it faster. Not that you would want it any faster... ha, ha !!!
Hey Larry, how are you liking the Riv now hat you've onwned it for a while? I've been toying with the idea a little, but haven't talked myself into it yet. There's a 39,000 mile '96advertised close by, although they want alot for it in the tune of $8500. If I can get them to come down to book value I might go for it.
my parents have the pearl white '98 one. really quick fun car same interior as above. the 700 front strut job is a bit extreme though. air shocks in the rear though. never a problem cept the exterior door handle broke. and get some wind noise near the drivers ear from the window. (I haven't tried adjusting it yet.) traction control works great in the snow AND more importantly you can turn it off.
Adam, Love the car! It does everything you want a car to do. The ride is incredible, it's comfortable, it has great power at all speeds, it stops on a dime, handles well, and the gas mileage is phenomenol. I have yet to get under 20 MPG. On a long trip at 70 MPH, I got 28. Couldn't ask for a better car. I had a friend change the struts in front, and the air shocks in back. Wasn't an involved job. I highly recommend these cars.
Leo, I'm not even tempted to do that. This car has plenty of power. When you reduce the pulley size to up the boost, you have to do other supporting mods, like running a cooler thermostat, colder plugs, and opening up the exhaust. When you do that, it impacts your gas mileage. This is my daily driver after all. Just changing the pulley may actually lose performance, because of KR (Knock retard). The computer pulls timing out when the engine detonates from increased boost. Lots of great info on these cars at www.regalgs.org They even have a separate Riviera forum.
Larry - If you only went with a 3.4" pulley, you wouldn't have any issues with a daily driver. Should be good for 25-30hp....or so I've been told. The Riv's were blessed with a better flowing air box...although, you can take out one of the inserts to make it flow even better. Just go with a drop in K&N filter. The Riv's also don't have the U-bend, by the O2 sensor - like the W-body cars do.:TU:
larry: nice ride . i have a 98 regal gs , stock . very quick . at full throttle , it will squack the ties into 2nd gear . these cars need more air as they seem to starve at high rpms . will changing the pulley on the sc upo the boost ? thought the computer controlled max boost . these 3800 engines are prone to rocker arm cover leaks . changed mine last summer & was an all day job , especially when i was sold the wrong gaskets . keep an i for tranny leaks & rear main seal leaks . enjoy
Larry, you have nothing to worry about for many miles. We have a 94 Ultra with 185K still runs strong with the original box under it and all. Just keep it well serviced. Keep those CV joint boots siliconed or armored-all clean and they will also last forever. fernando
Thanks Scott, Been doing alot of reading on the regalgs.org site. From what I've read, the 3.5 pulley can be used with no other mods(no belt or tensioner change) for an increase of ~ 20 HP. I just bought a set of MSD super conductor ignition wires, and some AC iridium plugs(really manufactured by NGK). I also have the K&N filter, and plan to gut the airbox. We will see about the pulley down the road:Brow:
Apparently, the Riv's had a different setup for the serpentine belts (compared to the W-bodies). You can go as small as 3.25" pulley with the same belt (again...this is what I've been told). Have to watch out for signs of slippage though. I've got the Gatorback belts on my Riv. I'll warn ya in advance....buy good belts like these, so you only have to do the job once!!:Smarty: It's not horribly difficult.....just a pain in the butt.ou: Whoever designed that lower engine cradle/bracket should be flogged. You need a reverse torx bit set to take the studs out. The power steering pump has to come off the block for clearance too. I'd be curious to know just how close the exhaust on the Riv is, compared to the GTP's. They both have a similar dual muffler setup in the rear.
I'm glad you like it Larry. What I was looking for was a long-term driver that had enough power to be fun and solid enough platofrm not to be a rattle trap like the earlier grand prix was. maybe I'll make that call today.
I would Adam, The Riv chassis is supposed to be one of GM's stiffest. It's the same as the Olds Aurora, and the 2000 and up Bonneville, and Lesabre. My car is solid and Rattle free with 86000 miles.
