Delta Force79

I'm only on page 4...not too shabby

:rotflmao:

Unfortunately the Olds is another heap of problems and isn't road worthy currently, thus leaving me as an owner of 2 cars and yet I'm without a car for God knows how long. It's things like this with the Riv which all snow balled into GM's lackluster reputation, one which even some of the best cars on the road today that they produce can't seem to shovel away that pile of $h! known as GM's past 30 years.

The search continues for a Series I 3800, however some research has shown that the pre '95 supercharged Series I motors differ from the '95's and the '96 and up motors are Series II. Making my engine according to the shop as well as what I've seen online, one year only. Thus the search for a '95 Series I supercharged engine is proving to be somewhat of a challenge. At this stage I'm leaning towards rebuilding my engine rather then search for another used motor which could very well be a pile of $h! too.

Well the thing is I've just put 4 grand into it a week and a half ago on a tranny rebuild, water pump, oil change and inspection. If I try to sell the car for parts I won't get anywhere near what I've put into it. I bought it 3 years ago with 64,924 miles on it. Carfax showed it had to previous owners prior to me and that it had been involved in at least one accident ( there are two accidents listed but both as listed as happening on the same date) Having done auto body work in the past I could tell where it had been hit which was the drivers door and left quarter panel. So no engine damage as far as I can tell from any sort of impact. To answer your question on whether I want to sink more money into, the answer is obviously no, however I'm kind of in a no win situation as I do not have the means to purchase another car. If I were to buy anything else it would have to be new or slightly used meaning 2-3 years old. I will not settle for another car with over 50K on it. I originally paid about 6K for he car 3 years ago. I'm weighing all my options as far as the repairs go, if a good deal on a 3800 present itself soon, I will look into determining exactly what is wrong rather than saying the engine is a total loss. Does anyone know what would be required to swap in a later series 2 3800 motor into a series one car? Aside from having to change the computer and so forth, what am I looking at to make it happen, both in parts and price. The reason I'm asking is because I'd rather have a series 2 over another series 1 due to higher torque and horsepower ratings on later 3800's, plus more aftermarket support. Anyone in the know please help, any and all suggestions are welcome.

As some of you may know I posted a thread recently about the Riviera needing a transmission. The the day I got the car back the water pump went and ripped my belt to pieces. The grand total was roughly $3800. Now Monday night while driving on the interstate going about 65MPH my car shuts off. I coast to the shoulder and wait 2 and a half hours for a tow truck. Have the car towed 14 miles with my friend's AAA, and still pay $90 for the tow, and now for the good news. I just got a call from the shop telling me I need a engine. The car makes a very loud knocking noise and keeps shutting off. So now he's gonna get some quotes on an engine. I'm sitting here in absolute shock that all of this has happened within a 2 week period. So much for "bullet proof" 3800 V6's. BTW it only has 110K on it. :angry2:

Brad Sucks-Dirtbag

Stone Temple Pilots-Sin

Update: Got the car back on Friday ad the bill was about $670 after tax. I gassed it up and got on the parkway and beat the $h! out of it to make sure my 4 grand wasn't a waste. Nothing broke and I made it home alright, save for my service engine light coming on. I plugged in my scanner and pulled a code for the EGR Pintle Position?? One for the boost solenoid, both of these codes have been ongoing issues I just haven't had the time and money to really get into, especially now. But another code was for the torque converter clutch. But I'm thinking it was a code that wasn't erased after the rebuild, we shall see...

Update: Finally got the Riviera back on Wed, the final bill at AAMCO was $3,107.98 for a complete tranny rebuild plus refurbished torque converter and other various parts not covered under the flat rate. After picking up the Riv, i took it to have it inspected and have the oil changed and tires rotated. That was an additional $109 bucks. Finally at 5:30 PM I had the car back thinking everything was fine, and took her out for a drive to make sure she shifted good and such. About 45 minutes later I stopped for gas before my planned mini road trip ( 45 mins or so ) to a self service car wash I enjoy going to. I pull up to a pump, when my car begins making a loud clanking noise, suddenly smoke is coming from the engine bay, I back away from the pump and off to the side, shut it off and pop the hood. I get out and see a stream of coolant running down the pavement and pop the hood to see my belt shredded to bits and my water pump pouring out coolant. Haven't even had the car back an hr and I'm broke down. So now the car is being worked on and the estimate is $650. So tack that on to what was already spent on it this week and I'm nearly 4 grand in the hole on repairs in one week. At this point my friend's are suggesting I just go ahead and do whatever other repairs are needed in due time and basically do a full on restoration now. Not that the car needs to be restored in the sense it's an old beat up mess, but it is 15 years old and could use some tlc. Well all that is going to have to wait now, I just hope nothing else goes on it any time soon

Alice In Chains- I Stay Away

Pontiac's demise comes as really no surprise to me, and not so much because of the current crisis at hand. I learned a very hard lesson when GM killed Oldsmobile, nothing is sacred. At the time that Olds died, GM was in a far healthier state. I'm saddened to see another classic American brand being killed off by bean counters who have no vision of a brighter tomorrow because it involves actually working to get there. There WAS hope in Pontiac, the G8 was the first step towards the light at the end of the tunnel. Granted sales aren't through the roof, but the old saying 'Rome wasn't built in a day' applies here as well. There is no excuse for this, kill Hummer, stop wasting time trying to get a buyer for a company who's entire line up is gas guzzling bricks. The shift from truck based SUV's to CUV's has been gaining ground for some time now, it's time to wake up and smell the roses GM. Going back to Olds for a moment, the mere fact that Oldsmobile was killed, only to have Saturn "take it's place" and have that fail in less than a decade just goes to show you, when you alienate your core customer base ( which for Olds was very different than that of the original Saturn's) you are destined to fail. History has repeated itself with Pontiac and the outcome is the same. However IMO Pontiac was been raked over the coals for many years and truly has suffered the most long painful death. And what a f@#king disgrace, the Vibe will be the last Pontiac, a damn Toyota in disguise. What a slap in the face to Pontiac's history, GM is a joke. That is why if I were to buy a new car today, it would be a Challenger, because even in the face of death Chrysler had the balls to say this is our history, we're proud of it, and if we're going out, we're going out fighting. So long Pontiac, rest in peace.

It only took nearly 2 years...

Pink Floyd-Time

Blasphemy

Well to make a long story short, two years ago I had a transmission fluid flush done on the Riviera at around 85K miles. At the time there was nothing "wrong" with it, I just wanted to treat my car to a bit of preventative care. Well I soon came to find that my decision to prevent possible transmission problems down the road was actually the cause of them. Soon after the car was serviced my smooth shifting transmission started slipping into overdrive. At first it was only when the car was cold and once it was at full operating temp it was fine. This went on for awhile until it became more and more frequent, and began to not go into overdrive at all. Finances have been lacking to have the car worked on so I just tried to baby the car as long as I could and hoped it would hang on till I could have it repaired. Now fast forward to now and the transmission has gotten to the point where I have to manually shift it from 2, 3, D. I don't even bother with 1. Yesterday I went in for my annual State Inspection and was told they would not even run the emissions test with a bad transmission. So I put in a call to a local AAMCO and drove the Riv over. As of right now they have pulled the tranny but have yet to open it up and really have a good look at it. But according to their scanner ( I'm assuming thats what they use) they have found 4 or 5 issues already and said dropping the tranny and looking at it's internals with cost $995. Not sure the condition of my torque converter but they hinted that it may need replacement as well. so this is fixing to cost me int he 3K area when it's all said and done. BTW it only has 109K miles on it. I'm excited to finally be having the transmission fixed but my wallet sure isn't happy about it. Plus I still have the insecption to worry about after I get the car back, I'm just hoping no other problems pop up to cause it to fail. I've had one problem after another with this car since I've bought it, beginning ONE WEEK after buying it. I attribute it to lack of care from the previous owners and first year bugs. ('95's were the first year of the finally generation Riviera). The Riv will be in the shop until at least Tuesday, maybe I should just tell them to drop a new 6 speed in it

Points to thread--->What Are You Listening To?

Sorry for your loss DF, we've had many pets in my family over the years and its always hard to lose one, my condolences.

Stone Temple Pilots-Sin BTW seeing as this thread has in fact turned into quite a long running thread now on it's 72nd page, I feel now is a good time to restate....I nominate this thread to be stickied

1965 Riviera GS 1968 Riviera 1971-72 Riviera 1995+ Riviera...already own one. GN/GNX 80's LeSabre T Types Enclave '04-'05 Park Ave Ultra

Camaro is growing on me slowly, the Mustang is a huge improvement over the -05-09's....but still the Challenger is the one I would get if I had the cash. Granted it has the most dull/plain jane interior of the 3, but the exterior more than makes up for it. Plus I just love the quad headlights and full width taillights.

Horrible...it's sad what's become of the auto industry. This abomination will be snatched up like it was made of gold.

Wow very cool, I found some of my posts from 2002 back when I just went by Delta Force. What a trip down memory lane, and man how time flies, can't believe I've been a member of C&G for 7 years now. This is the longest I've ever been a member to any web forum.

Riviera: Replace/rebuild the transmission. Replace the supercharger. Smaller pulley's for said supercharger. Gutted air box and/or CAI New belts, alternator, and related components. New computer, plus tuner chip. New coil packs, plugs, wires. Possibly rebuild the top half of the motor and or replace the entire engine. New tints ( cops made me remove mine once already) Replace some burnt out bulbs on the interior. Repaint the car, most likely in same color. A nice set of wheels ( haven't decided on a set) Delta 88: Everything....lol Rust repair/sheet metal replacement all chrome and stainless restored New grille's New driver's side taillight Remove Vinyl top Frame sandblasted and powder coated Completely new interior ( every piece, leaning towards custom fabrication on this end) Tints Wheels and tires ( undecided on which yet) Rebuild my original Rocket 350 Add dual exhaust Replace the transmission with either a TH400 or possibly a 700R4. Plus whatever mods come along the way in the journey of rebuilding the motor. That's all off the top of my head at 6:42 in the morning...lol.