Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera in AF/S. There is one for sale near me with the 307 and I think it would be a pretty neat car. I'm not that concerned with setting a record and my local S/SS series does not do heads up races. I figure I could run it there and chip away at the ET.

So, what do you think? Would it be fun or would it just end up being a bunch of head aches?

Thanks

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

They have been run. They have been competitive. A guy from New Jersey ran one and so did Bob Shaw. Not sure how they would do against an SRT4 Neon though.

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

The one from NJ was a V6 turbo don't know what Bob ran in his. And there was Scott North that ran a turbo out of Colorado. Don't know if any were 1985 but the NJ one was and 82 that I know.

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

...Or even a supercharged Grand Prix.

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

>>>> don't want anyone seeing double<<<<

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

My Riviera was sometimes a 1982 with V6 turbo and 4 barrel and sometimes a 1984 with V6 turbo and efi. Biggest problem was traction.
A 307 should run the index but there will be faster cars in the class.

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

Bob, What do you think of the GP 231 supercharged? Traction issues?
Seems to me you could take all the timing out of it and still launch it.. Hard to do with a turbo car.

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

I will have to show this one to my Wife. Her daily driver is an 84 Riviera we bought new. Always thought it would be fun to up the 307 a bit and let her give it a try :)

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

Mark,
I have never studied the supercharged GP. I don't know how much boost it would have leaving the line. I'm sure that retarding the timing would help the traction problem a lot.

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

Mark,
We've had a few of the supercharged 3.8s. We've contemplated building one for a while just for fun. I had one that had a pulley swap, good down pipe, exhaust, no headers and it would run mid 14's on a decent day in full street trim. That's at over 200lbs heavy for a/fs. I sold that a few years ago.
However, dad still has his that just got retired from daily driver status this winter. It went a 14.9 bone stock with the luggage and spare in the trunk. With headers, drag radials and some tuning they will run in the 13's. There was/is a company that made a posi unit and even had a different gear set as well for them. I think we still have one of the posi units. I think it would make a fairly decent inexpensive car. I don't know if it would run with the srt-4's but I think it go low low 13's with some time and playing.

Rick

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

Thanks Rick ,Bob..
You know, the elec. version 440 O.D. trans, started out as the 125 3-speed, so a lot of the parts will interchange and therefore would be just as strong.
The 125 is actually similar in function to the T 200 ...so low drag tricks would apply there as well.
There's a little hint for somebody out there ...;-)

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

Mark,
The later models have a 4T65-E in them. I used to own a 1995 Bonneville SSEi with the 440 version and a 1998 which had the 4T65-E.

I did many mods such as pulley, headers, Magnaflow exhaust, trans mods, changed coils, cooling fan sensor changed, better fuel pump and had the ECM recalibrated. The Bonneville is way heavier than the GP and I made a pass with sticky tires and went 13.65.
There is a lot of aftermarket parts out there to make one go pretty fast.

There is also a link for the Factory GM racing Manual for the 4T65 Trans:

http://cowan1984.xtreemhost.com/gmtu...build_book.pdf

For my trans, I got the trans from Trasher:

http://www.3800performance.com/Merch...ode=TEP-TRANNY

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

Right.
What I said... From Wiki :
The 4T60-E (and similar 4T65-E) is a series of automatic transmissions from General Motors. Designed for transverse engine configurations, the series includes 4 forward gears. The 4Txx family is an evolution of the original Turbo-Hydramatic 125 transverse automatic introduced in the late 1970s.

The "-E" transmission is electronically controlled and features an automatic overdrive transaxle with an electronically controlled torque converter clutch.


Maybe some missed my point: Stockers don't need to run 4th gear overdrive.

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

The Riv that ran Div. 1 was Tony Massari (of Yoo Hoo Too fame).Unfortunatly he smacked the wall at the Dutch (think it was that race) on the top end.Did enough damage to end it's career.Tony called it quits too.It was a fairly rare car,only a few hundred made I believe.

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

The turbo Riv was actually one of the more common of the Turbo Buicks in the early (78-83) era. The intake and turbo differs from the Regal/Century/Lesabre. I have a wrecked 79 in my stash, mainly for the longblock.

Re: Thoughts on running a 1985 Buick Riviera
 

I have a rare 1985 Riviera T-Type V6 turbo efi (same engine as the Grand National) that I would sell. I was planning to make it a race car but it never got to the top of my list.