Went to local U Pick It Yard today and there is a 1973 Riviera there. Usual bad parts, dash cracked, lower door panels incl arm rest cracked, 40/60 front seats cracked but I think both are power. Power windows car, cruise, excellent back seat in dark saddle. Excellent front and rear bumpers, glass, drivetrain complete, rust speckled 15 x 6 Buick road wheels, no posi, axles gone. Disc brakes present, 455 still had Quadrajet and looked complete (under-hood), has air-injection pump, etc. Will probably be going back in next 2 weeks, so let me know. Cost will be my price plus $5 for gas for the part. Most everything is $10 to $20.
Lou, you mean MaxTrac. It's easy to spot if the car has it or not, look for a little switch on the dashboard, right above the clock :TU:
I am interested in tan/brown buick full size floor mats for the front/back. Please let me know if there are any. Thank you Christian
I would be interested in them as long as they are not torn badly. I can rehab them.... Let me know. Thank you. Christian
Max-Trac was a traction control system used in 71-73 rivs and I believe other large series cars. If you look in the shop manuals you will see it. The way it worked was there was a sensor on the left front wheel and a sensor built into the speedometer gear housing on the side of the transmission. There was a computer in the rs kick panel. All these were tied together by a wiring harness. What it did was sense when the front wheel was not spinning as fast as the rear wheels . The computer did this and then it would "short" out the points to slow the rear wheels down. I am not positive about it being in the 71 models but I know for sure it was in the 72 and 73 models. You wont see it on the models that had the HEI distributor. It DID work. The rear wheel spin was corrected by shorting out the points. There was a ON / OFF switch on the underside of the dash pad near the radio. It was "ADVANCED" for the early 70's.
I know for sure that it was available for the 1973 B, C and E-body cars :Smarty: If you look in the chassis manual you will see it. No HEI at all in the 1971-1973 Buicks, first GM year was 1974 for certain models.
Thanks Lou! I asked because I've owned a '71 Centurion and a '72 LeSabre and both didn't have it. Also, when I was a little kid, my dad owned a '71 Electra and very well optioned '75 Electra Park Avenue Limited and both of those didn't have it either. I remember reading about it in brochures but never "actualy" seen it.
Here's a download of Max Trac info from the manuals and GM advertising etc -- The magazine articles from back in the day are full erro4rs and misconceptions called it everthing from anti lock to traction control - Lou 's descritption and the ones in the GM docs are the correct info - the mags are just interesting reading and the errors in them have been repeated for years. Funny how GS Rivs have this option - pay extra for more power then pay more to defeat it - keep the wheels from spinning that is (max trac does turn off) http://boattail-riviera-by-buick.com/BoattailRegistryDOWNLOADS/Maxtrac.zip
Thanks Rob for the info! Here is an excerpt from wikipedia: "In 1971, the Buick division of GM introduced MaxTrac, which used an early computer system to detect rear wheel spin and modulate engine power to those wheels to provide the most traction. A Buick-exclusive at the time, it was an option on all full-size models, including the Riviera, Estate Wagon, Electra 225, Centurion, and popular LeSabre family sedan. Cadillac also introduced the ill fated Traction Monitoring System (TMS) in 1979 on the redesigned Eldorado. It was criticized for its slow reaction time and extremely high failure rate. 1974 would be the final year for the MaxTrac electronic traction control system as an option."
and yes it was available 71 thru 73 here are Riviera production # 1971 1972 1973 [TABLE="width: 779, align: left"] [TR] [TD]KF2 [/TD] [TD]C2 [/TD] [TD]Max Trac Wheel Spin Control [/TD] [TD]2,376 [/TD] [TD]7.0% [/TD] [TD]1,876 [/TD] [TD]5.6% [/TD] [TD]1,952 [/TD] [TD]5.7% [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Boattail Riviera Option-Production Numbers - Prices - Availability-Colors
It would be great if you could get a few pictures and collect as much of the info as possible to put it in the Boattail Registry as a junk yard dog - when these get crushed that info is going to be gone forever/ - you can simply print form fill it in then scan and send back or build a memebrs account and input the data your self Using "Junk Yard Dog for Name (email with name for your member account - which will get you my download list GB's of Buick old car info just for members) - View attachment 71-72-73 Riviera Salvage Yard data collection check lists.pdf View attachment 1971 Buick Riviera yard report.doc View attachment 1972 Buick Riviera yard report.doc View attachment 1973 Buick Riviera yard report.doc see the ones already there http://boattail-riviera-by-buick.com/registry/publicreg/index.php?qoption=vinsearch&doSearch=Sort%2FSearch&q=junk
Christian I will go back on Saturday. I have been traveling on business and not enough time. I will review all posts prior to going. 99% sure this is not a MaxTrac car.
