I've got the rag top! I will never get rid of it, it's such a fun car to drive. I also have an 83 seville, and say what you want about how it looks, but the ride on that kills the Riv, it's a cloud. The ride on the Riv *IS* nice, though.
Nice emerald color! I got a burgundy 85 with a white convertible top but have to fix the trunk because someone crashed into it and ran off while I had it parked outside 😢 so my project is almost finished 😅
I've never seen one of these 79 to 85 Rivieras in that gorgeous blue green color. It has to be a very rare color because I love Rivieras and I can't recall ever seeing this color choice. These were the last big Rivieras before GM downsizing. I prefer the base 4.1 V6 for better fuel economy although most were ordered with the optional V8. Great car.
Useful Entertainment I thought that color wasn't original. The dark blue I remember but this color actually looks much more beautiful. Hope you keep it a long time. You just don't seem them on the roads anymore.
@@UsefulEntertainment it does but when i pulled those GM repair books up to that mechanic's face he found the short in my trunk and the opera lights were working when i left that dealership.
I loved this gen of the Riviera. I had 3 of them. My favorite was an '82 with the Diesel. It had been upgraded to the Goodwrench 350DX diesel. They were pretty well bulletproof. I let it get low on coolant & it burnt up the engine real good. I was a Dummy!
Steve Holsten I like them too but their too slow with the 307. I had another 85 with a sun roof but I was going to put an olds 350 in but that car is gone so I put the 350 in a buick wagon instead. That's cool I never thought about a diesel in these cars before.
I think that car has style. I like the dash and the interior. The seats look so plush and comfortable. No I've never seen someone put that many milage stickers on the window lol. I just change my oil every 5k that way I don't have to write it down, it's easy to keel track of. I know oil change is recommended every 3k but I think 5k is fine. Sharp car there, I like it.
james myers hey thank you. lol we don't do oil changes by mileage we do it when it starts to discolor, since the last owners sludged the motor it gets done more often. I think he compares stickers vs mileage to see if it's lasting longer than the last haha
@@UsefulEntertainment found it, man they really got it hidden back in there, man I'm trying to change the stereo, I pulled out the original and put it a aftermarket, but it didn't work, now I put back in the original and now that won't work, I checked the fuse but it's not blown .... damn I gave up for now 🤦
What happened to those filler pieces that go behind the bumpers? I hear they disintegrate to pieces over the years and replacements are nearly hard to get.
Billy Bradley its complicated, what I did was take the lens out of the housing that screws in to the roof. what I did was gut the light so it was just the clear lens with the r left on it. I painted the inside of the housing white so it would reflect light and I cut the connectors off the wiring harness and spliced in a single small dash light bulb (not like the normal light bulbs but the mini kind that come in a string on dash lights) if you do it like this, they won't glow any more but they will be bright and they will look better than ever before. so basically gut the L.E.D out of the lens ( be very careful you don't crack the lens) and use any mini bulb you can find and hook it up to the exsisting wiring harness.
Billy Bradley the only thing I didn't mention is you need to cut out a piece of sheet metal shaped like the ovel housing. cut it slightly smaller in size tho because you are going to sandwich it in between the housing and the roof. you will need to drill holes through the sheet metal for the screws that hold the housing to the roof. next you need to drill a hole in the center of the sheet metal the size of your bulb so it can fit through. you are basically using sheet metal to hold the bulb in place. I'll tell you what, I'll just make a video in a few days how to do it if you like.
I like this style looks reliable and classical antique vehicle wish they came in rear wheel drive for size of this car still for 32 years old it's a beautiful car. On my way home yesterday evening saw some senior citizens driving a beautiful white Riviera convertible with the top down as hot as it was not sure what year but it looked good as this one which haven't seen one in years. I wish these cars could been made for another year until made them smaller and boring although packed it with technology for a late 80s car still prefer the B-Body platform one thing got me too why was it standard in front wheel drive instead of RWD. Overall these B-Body cars were better from the early 80s instead later on making them smaller in (FWD) which suffered problems.
yeah I know the fwd sucks but I love oldsmobile to death so I look at it as my toronado lol seeing how it is basically the same thing. ohh god the 86 and up are a hideous looking (k car) is what I refer to them as, I still see some of those shat boxes running around but ive got the only 79-85 body running around in the Harrisburg area. yeah I love the b bodys also, ive got 2 buick b body wagons, an 83 and a 90. thanks for checking it out btw.
Useful Entertainment No I didn't even know that I grew up on Buick's that was the first car that learned being a car and truck lover ever since I was 2 years old my aunt and uncle bought nothing but Chevys and Buick's still loving Buick's they are some of the best cars ever built the last Buick my aunt was a '95 Roadmaster a yacht but one nice car that was reliable.
Hmm, That car is in Great Shape. Not even 130,000 miles on a 31 year old car! That's surprising! Me myself: I never did like these bodies too much but they're definitely better looking than the ones that came after them... And yes: the Seville was bad ugly... What really made me kind of admire that year eldorado was when I first saw The Junkman... You're definitely right. I don't know why something like FWD happened to american cars in the 80's... That was for foreign cars... This car would be utter badass with RWD! Hahaha, I'd never really seen too much of this year Riviera... But as you said: The Body lines really work for this car! Buick was in the luxury game anyways so this is a really good personal car. Do you drive it everyday?
71 Plymouth. oh god yeah the 86 and up were junky unibodys almost resembling a Chrysler K Kar lol. my dad used to drive it everyday till I bought him the dark blue wagon for father's day last year. he still drives it but not as often as he should. it runs better than the wagon, it has reverse unlike the wagon hah but he won't stop driving the wagon. believe it or not I bought a charcoal 85 riv 2 years ago for $500 with 65000 on the odometer and the car didn't have a spec of rust on it. what happened is it got totaled in the early 90s and a local junkyard fixed the frame, replaced the whole drivers side and hood, sold it to my friend in 2014. he was in a money pinch so I bought it from him and my ex took it when we split. that one was all jacked up with huge homie wheels (the fat tires & stiff susspention helped alot) oh and it had a sun roof. my dad claims he hasn't been driving this one because the undercarriage has not been hit by road salt yet this year & he's keeping it that way. oh and by the way I know less then 130 on a 30 year old car is crazy but the cutlass has 126 on it for an almost 50 year old car, it had 121 when I bought it hah. I know it does remind me of the Cady from the junk man. 1 more thing, this fwd design was realised in 1966 on the olds toronado but they had 400 horse 425 big blocks hah and in 1968 they came with 455s.
Useful Entertainment Wow!!! I'm surprised to hear that they fixed the entire left side! But the fact that your 68 only had 121,000!!!!! I'm blown away to say the least! I'm more surprised that the fwd came out way back in the 60's?!! Talk about a power plant back then, Hahaha. I'd probably say that those models are kind of rare today? ... Hahaha, You've taught me a lot today, I'm going to do some research on that: This is something I definitely want to see!
71 Plymouth. yeah dude the cutlass was sitting since 1996, sitting and rotting. yeah check out the toronados (66-69 that is) they're more classy and luxurious than a Cadillac. they were top of the line. they got better looking around 68-69,then they started getting ugly in 70 but they even had door handles in the back of them so if you were in the back you could let your self out as they were all two doors. Jay lenno build a rwd twin turbo version you can look up. oh also check out the speedometer on a 66 toro. let me know what you think
Useful Entertainment Wow!!! Hahaha, That Dash was *SO COOL*! It looked like a spaceship inside with that speedometer and steering wheel! Far ahead of its time! Someone was a genius to come up with that, Wow... GM had the goods I have to admit... And like you said: when compared to that Buick. What Cadillac? Hahahaha! I'm glad to know that Jay turned one into RWD, I'll be sure to check it out, Thanks Again Olds!!!
71 Plymouth. I've got this little theory all foreign engineering aside, if you take chryslers unibody + GMs front wheel drive + Ford's McPherson strut design, replace all metal with plastic and it equals today's junk lol. glad to hear you checked it out.
I use 89. The the timing and and compression on these motors aren't near enough to need 93.if you start advancing ignition timing, you can squeeze a tiny bit more power out of them but you will need 93 at that point but it's totally unnecessary as it's not a race car lol.
DARRELL GRADY JR. Tell me about it, everything we drive falls into that category. No replacement panels. Lol I've got a 79 Cordoba and I can't find a rear bumper.
I know your pain! I was told there are several junkyards throughout California that have older parts for our cars. Sorry I don’t have any other particulars.
sosuzguy just find the wire for the windows that goes to the accessory on the fuse box (factory location) and relocate it to a constant hot lead on the fuse box and run a 30 amp breaker imbetween.
Landau roof is bad, rust is an issue all around, and the bumper fillers are gone but can be replaced. The car has had a normal to rough existence. It's a beautiful model, best of GM design in the 80s. Mine has 122K, looks great, but currently has the manifold issue. So it's being stored till the funds are avail for 307 rebuild, new motor mounts & vacuum lines. Here's mine: www.google.com/search?q=1985+buick+riviera&rlz=1C1RNZZ_enUS542US547&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiE5Pf90NfTAhVJ92MKHUw4CvYQ_AUICygC&biw=1489&bih=942#imgrc=hnaFzgg1XlJU3M:
There are several companies that produce them google it. Guys that have replaced them say they come rough & need to have a little TLC to assemble, I never had a reason for the aftermarket ones. From what read on the FB group page, ABS plastic ones are better.
Cirus61 they have very reliable engines, just make sure you have the timing chain replaced around 100k. over all they are stylish, comfortable & the handling I would say is more nimble than a cruise ship like an old caddy but more like a sport boat. I love to drive ours around. they sound terrific if you throw on a cheep thrush welded muffler. the down side of the car is they are pretty underpowered.
I've got the rag top! I will never get rid of it, it's such a fun car to drive. I also have an 83 seville, and say what you want about how it looks, but the ride on that kills the Riv, it's a cloud. The ride on the Riv *IS* nice, though.
Going to go look at one this Friday. Good informative video
Glad i could help. Good luck man. Good cars
Nice emerald color! I got a burgundy 85 with a white convertible top but have to fix the trunk because someone crashed into it and ran off while I had it parked outside 😢 so my project is almost finished 😅
Had a brand new one just like this ...real pretty green. Thought I was really livin!
You were
I've never seen one of these 79 to 85 Rivieras in that gorgeous blue green color. It has to be a very rare color because I love Rivieras and I can't recall ever seeing this color choice. These were the last big Rivieras before GM downsizing. I prefer the base 4.1 V6 for better fuel economy although most were ordered with the optional V8. Great car.
Kenneth White hey thanks man. The car is a repaint, it was the factory dark blue but now it has more green with bigger flakes.
Useful Entertainment I thought that color wasn't original. The dark blue I remember but this color actually looks much more beautiful. Hope you keep it a long time. You just don't seem them on the roads anymore.
Excellent video! I love learning new things, and you explained things very thoroughly. Much appreciated!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Mine had a short in the trunk
that sucks
@@UsefulEntertainment it does but when i pulled those GM repair books up to that mechanic's face he found the short in my trunk and the opera lights were working when i left that dealership.
I loved this gen of the Riviera. I had 3 of them. My favorite was an '82 with the Diesel. It had been upgraded to the Goodwrench 350DX diesel. They were pretty well bulletproof. I let it get low on coolant & it burnt up the engine real good. I was a Dummy!
Steve Holsten I like them too but their too slow with the 307. I had another 85 with a sun roof but I was going to put an olds 350 in but that car is gone so I put the 350 in a buick wagon instead. That's cool I never thought about a diesel in these cars before.
The diesel was sweet. Mine got 32 mpg running the A/C at 65 mpg
Those came with the Buick 4.1L V6, as did the Toronado. It was the base engine. My 85 Toro had the 307 tho.
JoeyPete I know as if the power couldn't get any worse, they stuck a 6 cylinder on them lol
Useful Entertainment Hahahaha no kidding. My 85 Cutlass Supreme 4 door that I had in high school had the 231. It was a dog, holy shit. Lol
I think that car has style. I like the dash and the interior. The seats look so plush and comfortable. No I've never seen someone put that many milage stickers on the window lol. I just change my oil every 5k that way I don't have to write it down, it's easy to keel track of. I know oil change is recommended every 3k but I think 5k is fine. Sharp car there, I like it.
james myers hey thank you. lol we don't do oil changes by mileage we do it when it starts to discolor, since the last owners sludged the motor it gets done more often. I think he compares stickers vs mileage to see if it's lasting longer than the last haha
Hi, where is the fuse box at?? I need to find it
Should be above the emergency brake under the dash
@@UsefulEntertainment found it, man they really got it hidden back in there, man I'm trying to change the stereo, I pulled out the original and put it a aftermarket, but it didn't work, now I put back in the original and now that won't work, I checked the fuse but it's not blown .... damn I gave up for now 🤦
Check out this 1985 Buick Riviera for $5000 on OfferUp offerup.co/ZjBbZpzzt5
I sent you a link of mine
@@caylee3277 hey ill search for it when i get home, the link isnt showing up. Thats strange btw.
What happened to those filler pieces that go behind the bumpers? I hear they disintegrate to pieces over the years and replacements are nearly hard to get.
That's exactly what happens and I can't find new ones.
Question,, how do you fix those side lights on the outside vinal
Billy Bradley its complicated, what I did was take the lens out of the housing that screws in to the roof. what I did was gut the light so it was just the clear lens with the r left on it. I painted the inside of the housing white so it would reflect light and I cut the connectors off the wiring harness and spliced in a single small dash light bulb (not like the normal light bulbs but the mini kind that come in a string on dash lights) if you do it like this, they won't glow any more but they will be bright and they will look better than ever before. so basically gut the L.E.D out of the lens ( be very careful you don't crack the lens) and use any mini bulb you can find and hook it up to the exsisting wiring harness.
Useful Entertainment thank u.. Mine both been out lil over a year now.. Ive pulled out OK bit is wired w\ no bulb ha was lil confused.. 👊
Billy Bradley the only thing I didn't mention is you need to cut out a piece of sheet metal shaped like the ovel housing. cut it slightly smaller in size tho because you are going to sandwich it in between the housing and the roof. you will need to drill holes through the sheet metal for the screws that hold the housing to the roof. next you need to drill a hole in the center of the sheet metal the size of your bulb so it can fit through. you are basically using sheet metal to hold the bulb in place. I'll tell you what, I'll just make a video in a few days how to do it if you like.
I used to love those "R" side lights on the outside....
I like this style looks reliable and classical antique vehicle wish they came in rear wheel drive for size of this car still for 32 years old it's a beautiful car. On my way home yesterday evening saw some senior citizens driving a beautiful white Riviera convertible with the top down as hot as it was not sure what year but it looked good as this one which haven't seen one in years. I wish these cars could been made for another year until made them smaller and boring although packed it with technology for a late 80s car still prefer the B-Body platform one thing got me too why was it standard in front wheel drive instead of RWD.
Overall these B-Body cars were better from the early 80s instead later on making them smaller in (FWD) which suffered problems.
yeah I know the fwd sucks but I love oldsmobile to death so I look at it as my toronado lol seeing how it is basically the same thing. ohh god the 86 and up are a hideous looking (k car) is what I refer to them as, I still see some of those shat boxes running around but ive got the only 79-85 body running around in the Harrisburg area. yeah I love the b bodys also, ive got 2 buick b body wagons, an 83 and a 90. thanks for checking it out btw.
Useful Entertainment Yeah I miss Oldsmobile too death GM should have been ashamed killing off Oldsmobile they were some nice cars too besides Buick's.
Ramon Carter did you know oldsmobile and buick were the first two auto manufacturers to join together and form general motors.
Useful Entertainment No I didn't even know that I grew up on Buick's that was the first car that learned being a car and truck lover ever since I was 2 years old my aunt and uncle bought nothing but Chevys and Buick's still loving Buick's they are some of the best cars ever built the last Buick my aunt was a '95 Roadmaster a yacht but one nice car that was reliable.
Ramon Carter that's cool, what happened to the roadmaster?
Hmm, That car is in Great Shape. Not even 130,000 miles on a 31 year old car! That's surprising! Me myself: I never did like these bodies too much but they're definitely better looking than the ones that came after them... And yes: the Seville was bad ugly... What really made me kind of admire that year eldorado was when I first saw The Junkman... You're definitely right. I don't know why something like FWD happened to american cars in the 80's... That was for foreign cars... This car would be utter badass with RWD! Hahaha, I'd never really seen too much of this year Riviera... But as you said: The Body lines really work for this car! Buick was in the luxury game anyways so this is a really good personal car. Do you drive it everyday?
71 Plymouth. oh god yeah the 86 and up were junky unibodys almost resembling a Chrysler K Kar lol. my dad used to drive it everyday till I bought him the dark blue wagon for father's day last year. he still drives it but not as often as he should. it runs better than the wagon, it has reverse unlike the wagon hah but he won't stop driving the wagon. believe it or not I bought a charcoal 85 riv 2 years ago for $500 with 65000 on the odometer and the car didn't have a spec of rust on it. what happened is it got totaled in the early 90s and a local junkyard fixed the frame, replaced the whole drivers side and hood, sold it to my friend in 2014. he was in a money pinch so I bought it from him and my ex took it when we split. that one was all jacked up with huge homie wheels (the fat tires & stiff susspention helped alot) oh and it had a sun roof. my dad claims he hasn't been driving this one because the undercarriage has not been hit by road salt yet this year & he's keeping it that way. oh and by the way I know less then 130 on a 30 year old car is crazy but the cutlass has 126 on it for an almost 50 year old car, it had 121 when I bought it hah. I know it does remind me of the Cady from the junk man. 1 more thing, this fwd design was realised in 1966 on the olds toronado but they had 400 horse 425 big blocks hah and in 1968 they came with 455s.
Useful Entertainment Wow!!! I'm surprised to hear that they fixed the entire left side! But the fact that your 68 only had 121,000!!!!! I'm blown away to say the least! I'm more surprised that the fwd came out way back in the 60's?!! Talk about a power plant back then, Hahaha. I'd probably say that those models are kind of rare today? ... Hahaha, You've taught me a lot today, I'm going to do some research on that: This is something I definitely want to see!
71 Plymouth. yeah dude the cutlass was sitting since 1996, sitting and rotting. yeah check out the toronados (66-69 that is) they're more classy and luxurious than a Cadillac. they were top of the line. they got better looking around 68-69,then they started getting ugly in 70 but they even had door handles in the back of them so if you were in the back you could let your self out as they were all two doors. Jay lenno build a rwd twin turbo version you can look up. oh also check out the speedometer on a 66 toro. let me know what you think
Useful Entertainment Wow!!! Hahaha, That Dash was *SO COOL*! It looked like a spaceship inside with that speedometer and steering wheel! Far ahead of its time! Someone was a genius to come up with that, Wow... GM had the goods I have to admit... And like you said: when compared to that Buick. What Cadillac? Hahahaha! I'm glad to know that Jay turned one into RWD, I'll be sure to check it out, Thanks Again Olds!!!
71 Plymouth. I've got this little theory all foreign engineering aside, if you take chryslers unibody + GMs front wheel drive + Ford's McPherson strut design, replace all metal with plastic and it equals today's junk lol. glad to hear you checked it out.
Hey i just bought one. Do you use 87 or 93 gas??
I use 89. The the timing and and compression on these motors aren't near enough to need 93.if you start advancing ignition timing, you can squeeze a tiny bit more power out of them but you will need 93 at that point but it's totally unnecessary as it's not a race car lol.
Are you trying to part it out? Just curious. I have the same vehicle.
DARRELL GRADY JR. Lol I can understand that question because of how hard it is to find parts but nope, it gets used daily.
I appreciate your response. There some parts that are irreplaceable.
DARRELL GRADY JR. Tell me about it, everything we drive falls into that category. No replacement panels. Lol I've got a 79 Cordoba and I can't find a rear bumper.
I know your pain! I was told there are several junkyards throughout California that have older parts for our cars. Sorry I don’t have any other particulars.
Hey how did you make the windows work with no key in? Thanks
sosuzguy just find the wire for the windows that goes to the accessory on the fuse box (factory location) and relocate it to a constant hot lead on the fuse box and run a 30 amp breaker imbetween.
Landau roof is bad, rust is an issue all around, and the bumper fillers are gone but can be replaced. The car has had a normal to rough existence. It's a beautiful model, best of GM design in the 80s. Mine has 122K, looks great, but currently has the manifold issue. So it's being stored till the funds are avail for 307 rebuild, new motor mounts & vacuum lines. Here's mine: www.google.com/search?q=1985+buick+riviera&rlz=1C1RNZZ_enUS542US547&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiE5Pf90NfTAhVJ92MKHUw4CvYQ_AUICygC&biw=1489&bih=942#imgrc=hnaFzgg1XlJU3M:
Pat Currie where can I get the bumper inserts?
There are several companies that produce them google it. Guys that have replaced them say they come rough & need to have a little TLC to assemble, I never had a reason for the aftermarket ones. From what read on the FB group page, ABS plastic ones are better.
Pat Currie cool thanks
I'm considering buying one of these. Are they any good? How's the ride quality?
Cirus61 they have very reliable engines, just make sure you have the timing chain replaced around 100k. over all they are stylish, comfortable & the handling I would say is more nimble than a cruise ship like an old caddy but more like a sport boat. I love to drive ours around. they sound terrific if you throw on a cheep thrush welded muffler. the down side of the car is they are pretty underpowered.