Hey i bought 69 buick Rivi with a 455 in it im about to tear it down so i can get machined. I want to use this car as a daily/weekend car i want to be able to drive this car from CA to vegas with no problem what upgrades should i do and it needs a Carb.
Im not sure you need to do any upgrades other than a standard rebuild. Maybe a TA timing cover/ oil pump assembly. When the carb gets rebuilt, it will be rebuilt with ethanol resistant parts Just make sure the engine is going to be pump gas friendly
Be careful about the machine shop, the numbers they use as a reference, the cam bearings etc. The safest play would be to use a machine shop experienced with these Buick engines. But, this may require shipping the engine somewhere.
Okay thanks guys what about a Carburetor i seen a holly one with a 850 cfm is that good also should upgrade the cam or just re-use everthing and leave is stock.
Unless you want a tanker trunk following you back and forth from Las Vegas, I would have the original Quadrajet rebuilt. The factory Q-Jet will gie you just as much performance as the Holley and get much better fuel mileage. Its the perfect carb for that engine based on what your goals are for it
You want this to be a daily driver/weekend car? Then stay as close to stock as possible. There is no free lunch, you want more performance, you give up something. A cam will give you a rougher idle and may necessitate other changes. Given your intended usage, there is no better carburetor than a Quadrajet built for your engine. Fortunately, there are 2 guys right here on V8 Buick that can build you a QJ. You have Ken (techg8), and Mark (carmantx), links below. The QJ will give you lots of power, and return the best fuel mileage for the longer trips. http://www.v8buick.com/forumdisplay.php?172-Everyday-Performance-LLC http://www.quadrajetpower.com/
Man im taking in all this okay i have Q-jet but its not the one from the 455 i look it up and the numbers from the carb and it. came from 74 pick up truck that had a SBC 350
Use it as a core carburetor. Send it to one of the guys I linked for you. They will build you a QJ. They may have the correct one in stock. If not, they will build one that will be calibrated correctly. A Holley will suck a lot of fuel unless it is calibrated. Out of the box, they will return worse fuel economy than the correct QJ. A Holley will not bolt on to the stock intake without a thick adapter.
Thanks larry ill do that. Okay now what about the Th400 tranny just stock rebuild and the torque converter do i upgrade that.
Another thing the wiring is trash i seen a painless kit for almost 500 bucks. Hot shops gave me estimate of 2k to 3k to wire the car that alot of money on wiring.
Stock rebuild if necessary. The stock torque converter is fine. The only time you need to change the torque converter would be because of the cam. Higher performance cams move the power band of the engine up necessitating a change in stall speed. If your cam choice stays stock or close to it, the stock converter is best for performance, driveability, and fuel economy. A higher stall converter makes more heat and can impact economy.
What does "the wiring is trash" mean exactly? I cant believe the whole car's wiring is no good. The insulation on the engine harness wires do tend to get brittle. But normally you can make repairs to it- cut the wires back in question and solder new lengths on. Afternoon job
Well the engine bay wires have been cut it looks like but the inside is fine just the engine bay. And i want to update the fuse box. Ill try to upload a pic.
No reason to "update" the fuse panel, its not a house:grin: An engine wire harness should only be about 150/200 bucks. I put a new engine harness in my '71 GS a few years ago from M&H Only reason I did was it was original and very very brittle, and I don't like shorts or fires:laugh:
Make sure you get one from a 69 or a 70. Then find yourself a reputable driveshaft shop to rebuild it for you or at the very least replace the bearing insulator for you. Man you sure picked a difficult car to work on! From what you posted so far, you might be better off finding an example in better shape. Do you realize that by the time your done rebuilding the engine, trans, rebuilding the driveshaft and whatever else the car needs, you will probably have invested many times over what the car is worth? 68-69 Rivs are great cars, but they really don't seem to command high prices. Nice examples that are "plug and play" can be had for a reasonable cost
Thank you for the mention Larry. I have a lot of Buick 455 Quadrajets on hand and can build you what you are looking for. Here is a link to the Buick Quadrajet section on my website store. http://www.quadrajetpower.com/onlin...lt-Quadrajets/c/21312377/offset=0&sort=normal
