The '71 Riviera Boattail.... I had to get one and I'm here to begin the journey.

So, here I am. I finally managed to get rid of the "practical vehicle" and go with an impractical one- or so I'm told by my wife.

To start, I used a craislist search engine to find a '71 Buick Riviera. $1000 is the asking price. Had a local repair shop pick it up to take a look at what needs to be done to drive it home...















So, this is where it all starts. Find a car I love. Find that car in a form I can afford to start building that dream. Find a forum where I can share information about how to get it where I want it.

This is a '71 with a 430-4 engine into it...



It runs, which is a good start I suppose.

My last classic project car was a '71 Cougar XR7. I'm really looking forward to getting this Boattail back in shape, and beyond.

Beyond the body and engine work I'm thinking that one of the first things to do is remove the side trim. I know :shock: he's not a purist! Yup, tis' true. Next will be figuring out how/where to get the split front bumper. Front and back bumpers will be painted same as the body color- THAT IMHO makes a huge difference in the coolness of this car. Tinted windows are a must, as well as making sure there's no chrome trim (painted). :shock: Other than that, give the interior a nice fresh look, maybe modernize it- haven't really gotten that far yet. With tinted windows, it won't matter much until I decide for sure.

I'll probably be more of a forum leach than a contributor to start off with, but I do have excellent Photoshop skills so feel free to hit me up if you're considering a mod idea and would like to see it first.

 

Welcome to the board from Florida. Your gonna have a great time with that car and you will find more after market support for yours than I have for my second generation Riv. Incase you did not already know the 430 engine does not belong in that car. yours came with a 455. It could be that someone simply switched the valve covers. On the very back of the block you will find the true size cast into the block center of the intake just above where the trans mounts.

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome to v8buick and the wonderful world of Riviera !!
Looks like you will be busy and have lots of things to do on your new/old 3rd generation '71Riviera boat tail project car. :shock:
Check out the Riviera Owners Association (ROA) at www.rivowners.org when you get a chance.
Great source for parts, Riviera information and fellow Riviera boat tail fans. :TU:

 

The bigger issue is finding rust free body panels for that car. It could be you would come out ahead in the long run by finding a Riv without rust issues. You will need a lot of rust free panels from a donor just to fix this one.

 

430 air cleaner too..

---------- Post added at 01:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 PM ----------

Welcome! this place is full of knowledge! I got my 71 only a few months ago and have cleaned up many of the issues I have wanted to take care of so far.

 

I can't really see in the pictures but does the trunk lid have the louvers in it ? I think 71 was the only year for the louvers. You have a little project there so take it a little at a time and enjoy it.

 

I was wondering that too about the louvers

 

71 does have the vents in the back. It was the only year.

 

Yes, the engine was swapped to a 430-4, not sure why. I haven't purchased the car yet, Now I'm second guessing this one. Might have to do a little more searching....

Thanks for all the great input so far.

Some day.... if I can afford it.... I'll create this gem for myself:



J/K

 

Nooooooooo ! LOL, dont do it man. Just say no to fins on a Riv.

 

if you want fins, buy a Caddy or Plymouth. A BOATTAIL Riviera is not meant to have such things.

 

Thats a nice 72. Have fun with your project, it looks like an unusually optioned car. The interior is the standard, not deluxe interior. Both look good, but the deluxe is more common. The cornering lights are common on fully loaded Rivieras. I wonder what other options you have on your car?

 

Looks like a model year 1971 to me:
1971 tail lights, 1971 grille, 1971 front bumper and no rubber strip on the rear bumper..... just to point out a few things
And also the title of this thread is a big hint:

Quality of the photos is really poor, but you can see that there is a shadow in the area where the louvres are situated:

 

Cant see louvres in pictures - but it has 71 bumpers, grill and tail lights , side molding is not 72 doesn't go back far enough many 71's had vinyl stick on side moulding added at dealers - even though not authorized by GM fo Riviera.

The standard interior (A51 buckets, A53 bench) as seen here interior was called deluxe around 18% of production - The 71 colour and trim is in the library - the long armrest optional interior was "Custom " (Y45 cloth and vinyl notch back bench , A45 vinyl notch-back bench, Y46 vinyl buckets.) made up the the other 82%, breakdown by colours and for the numbers for all boattail options and availability with each other see the.

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Boattail Riviera Option-Production Numbers - Prices - Availability-Colors

Boattail registry members http://www.boattail-riviera-by-buick.com/ who complete their members to min get a pdf of this (and others such as the decode book) as well access to the all Buick libraries

 

I saw the taillights and the side stripe and thought it was a 72. Lots of mix and match on that car.

 

When I create a negative image of the photo, it looks like there are louvres in the boot lid: