1971 Buick Boattail Riviera

[hgs_notes]

I've been hunting for one of these for a few years. I've seen plenty for sale but most were out of my meager budget and the few that were affordable were too rough. Until this one came up. Located north of Fargo the seller bought it 12 years ago from someone in Morehead. He said it was sitting there for at least 8 years. He brought it home and never touched it. The car is almost all original and unmolested. Only the radio has been changed. He thought the motor was stuck because it didn't roll over by hand, it did when he bought it. The gas tank started leaking after he was moving it around, I can see a pinhole. Unfortunately new tanks are not reproduced yet. So I'll drop the tank and see if it's worth cleaning up.

What's really great is the lack of rodent damage. Very few mouse nests and no stink. What's bad? Well the fuel system for sure. Might need a new brake booster. Headliner is hanging loose. Front seat upholstery is cracked and split. Armrests are bad. Rust on the quarters, fender, passenger side floor, little in the trunk and I'm sure more yet to be found. It is straight though. The only dents are on the bumpers.

When I got it home I put a battery in it to see what still works. Three of 4 power windows work. Wipers work. Heater fan doesn't. Most of the lights work. I put a socket on the crank bolt and it rolled over fine. Tried the starter and the bendix sticks but it will grab and crank the engine. Didn't have spark so I filed the points and then it did. A little gas down the carb and it runs!

The lower radiator hose tore from my chain hitting it but the radiator was over half full when I checked it before loading. I ordered a new fuel pump and sending unit. The cranking and few seconds of run time and nothing came out of the hose at the carb. I think someone tried to get it running before and probably failed because of that. Had clean oil in it, new air/oil filters, points and condenser and I think new plugs.

I have a feeling it's been off the road since 1986-7 based on a few little things. In the trunk was a bag of car parts with a receipt from 1986. In the console were coins and some stamps. The newest coin was 1986 and the stamps were issued in November 1986. The odometer reads 52,163 and in 1986, if it had been driven average miles around 10k per year, that would be about 150k miles. It had collector plates and there's no old registration cards or insurance cards to show any use. But it sat at least 20 years and possibly as many as 37.

I have a few active projects now so I'm not planning much for this right now. I'd like to get it drivable. I might try cleaning the paint and rubbing some compound on it and see how much paint is left on it. That's about it for now.

[Troy Sr]

Nice, I like Rivs, One of my mom's boyfriends had one and a Toronado, he was a luxury car guy!!

[regan wilson]

My Dad had a gold Boat tail Riv. He had a late 60's Riv before that. I've always had a liking for the Riveras

[jjzepplin]

What engine does it have?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by jjzepplin

What engine does it have?

The standard 455.

Waiting for parts delivery and thought I would see if there was any paint left on the top side. It's basically all brown from either surface rust, paint oxidation or maybe the primer showing through. I picked one of the worst areas on the car and started buffing with some compound and under a substantial layer of oxidation, paint appeared. There was a streak through it where the paint was gone and the primer was showing, but there is still some paint. It's going to be a long slow process bringing that back but over time it'll get done.

[LS short box]

Very cool. It's such a great body style.
Maybe leave it patina but everything new underneath?

[jjzepplin]

Cool ride. Had a 68 with a 425 Nail head. Wicked fast for a boat! 14 flat in the quarter.

[67C10Step]

Nice. A neighbor of my father in law had one a few years ago I wanted to buy. It was NFS so I forgot about it for a good while only to see it had disappeared. Hope the new owner did it justice. Always liked that body style and the 65 model.

[hgs_notes]

The car only came with 1 ignition key, which is as worn as I've ever seen. No trunk key. I ordered a new lock cylinder for the trunk, it even had an AC Delco one, with multiple sites saying it's an exact fit. It's not even close. Maybe LockDoc can help me out. I've been in contact with him and I'll be shipping out my cylinder to get rekeyed.

[hgs_notes]

As I mentioned before, it does fire up. I tried hooking up an electric fuel pump from a gas can and I could get it running but I had to keep pumping the gas for it to stay running. The carb is clogged up for sure. Rebuild kit is on the way. I really want to have it running ok so I can try the transmission. At least some of the brakes work. I used them while moving the car into a garage stall.

Here's some more pics showing it's blemishes up close. It's a nice car but really needs a lot of work.

[hgs_notes]

The dash has cracks but probably repairable unless it's super brittle. The front seat covers are beyond saving. I thought the rear my be saved but the tops where the sun hit it directly is super brittle and cracking. The stains are not coming out very much yet either. I pulled out the headliner because it was hanging and split and the insulation kept falling out. New seat covers and headliner are still available for this. So are the armrests.

[jjzepplin]

Dang! That's a worthy back seat! Any girl would be proud to spend some time back there,

[hgs_notes]

I tried a different cleaner on the rear seat that worked pretty good. I did one side for comparison. It was CLR bathroom cleaner. Previously I used some Lucas interior cleaner and 409, neither did much with the stains.

[hgs_notes]

Today I got the new fuel pump and radiator hose in. Then I dropped the tank out. Oh boy. Not good. Not sure I can fix this one. Pulled the sending unit out. There's a good inch of crap in there. Looks like it's baffled too so fun times getting around that.

The old fuel cell in my garage is looking like a good option.

[hgs_notes]

I found an alternative gas tank. The same year buick centurion tank is the same size and dimensions, uses the same sending unit, but has the filler tube in the middle rear where the riviera has it on the driver side corner. So I will need to graft my filler tube onto the new tank which should be delivered tomorrow.

LockDoc made me new keys for my trunk. When I took the lock out the studs broke off from the emblem that covers the lock and holds the cylinder. I've got one of those super solders that melts at 350f so I tried it on this and it seems to be holding. The lock I bought that didn't fit the riviera came in handy anyway. I put in for a refund and got it without having to send the part back. My kid busted his trunk key off in his lock on his 75 monte carlo. This lock fit his car. Bonus!

[hgs_notes]

The Centurion tank was delivered today and I needed to decide how I was going to swap the filler neck. FYI the centurion tank is 2" narrower, the other dimensions are similar. The area where the tank straps go is also narrower but should be fine. Welding on the new tank can be done but with difficulty. The steel used is Ni terne treated which is coated in nickel then with a tin/lead mix I think. Basically solder. The old neck is soldered into the tank so I heated with a torch and blew it out with air. With a little effort it pulled out. Next I hammered the corner of the new tank where the neck would go. There is an internal copper tube that runs diagonally across the tank as a vent and the tank wall was punctured by it. The filler neck is about 2" diameter. I used a 1.5" hole saw and could have used slightly smaller. The extra material is for the inward flange. I cut off the vent tube shorter to get it out of the way. I used a 1-7/8" hitch ball to form the flange by simply hammering it into the hole. There is a baffle that goes across the middle of the tank and the filler tube should go through it but doesn't fit. The hole in the baffle is just a bit small. So I shortened the filler tube 6" and then cut a taper in the end so at least part of the tube fits through the baffle and is supported. All that's left is for me to solder the joint like the original. And to cut off and plug the center filler neck.

[hgs_notes]

My soldering seems to be alright. I test fitted the tank in the car before soldering though. I cut off the center filler and used a 2" copper cap which I also soldered on. I plugged the vents and gas lines and put some air pressure in for a low pressure pneumatic test. No bubbles, no hissing. I think it'll be good.

Also got a new battery for it. Carb rebuild in the morning and hopefully it's a yard cruiser after lunch.

[CG]

Very cool ride, love the Rivs

[hgs_notes]

It's not a driver yet. Ran into a problem with the carb kit. First issue was that the kit that was sent was not what I ordered. Not even close. Looks like a kit for a 2 barrel holley. My fault for not confirming the part number after delivery. Second issue was that the kit I did order might not have worked anyway. The carb wasn't original to the car. It was a 1975 version. Which we then found out matched the engine. Someone swapped the engine for a 1975 version, confirmed by checking casting and production codes I found. Not a big deal to me if it's not numbers matching, etc. just that the later engine was more of a choked down dog than the 71 version. Less compression, less power, probably worse gas mileage.

Got the new tank installed and we cranked over the engine until gas pumped to the carb so that's all ready to go. Mike took the carb home with him and is getting the correct kit to rebuild it then we just need to figure out how to get it back to me.

The other thing we did was try out my new buffer/polisher. It takes forever to get through the crust on top of this paint but wait til you see the results. Even better than I expected from my initial attempt. It's like one guy said on my FB post, it looks good once you get that coat of primer off.

[fatbass]

That's gonna look sharp after the buff!
That '75 engine won't have the HP, but the torque should be about the same as the '71. I doubt you'll notice the difference unless you're after a time slip. Riv's are built for comfort, not quickness (but you know that).

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by fatbass

That's gonna look sharp after the buff!
That '75 engine won't have the HP, but the torque should be about the same as the '71. I doubt you'll notice the difference unless you're after a time slip. Riv's are built for comfort, not quickness (but you know that).

Yep, I'm really hoping it just runs well enough that I don't have to consider the next swap for a while.

[joesscamaro]

Wow, that paint seems to really be cleaning up well. It's a lot of work, but will be so worth it.

[hgs_notes]

Got the rebuilt carb installed and she's a runner! Still needs some tuning and may have a vacuum leak. Kind of a rough idle. I set the dwell and then had a problem getting it to run but think it was just flooded. It drove around the yard no problem. Transmission felt good, brakes are a little soft but work. No loud screeches or other noises. Has good oil pressure, doesn't smoke. Runs a little warm but if it's the original thermostat they were set at 195. I ordered a new stock one at the 195f temp. I went for a drive down to the county road and it rides nice. Power steering works great. No noises or major leaks. I don't trust the tires to risk a highway run so I just ordered a set of fresh white walls for it.

It's kind of amazing. Sitting at least 20 years, maybe as long as 35. New fuel system, clean the carb, file the points and go. It even did a little burn out in the driveway, both tires digging. It had the tag on the diff to use limited slip additive so that works.

Let's see of this link will work...
https://www.facebook.com/1769108114/...0760669850582/

[Lokin4AReason]

Nice score

And the progress is coming along nicely

Just keepnthose update(s) coming . . .

[hgs_notes]

It runs but not great, especially when cold. Replaced just about all the vacuum lines and used some sealer between the manifold and steel shim under the carb. Still acts like a vacuum leak somewhere. It makes a rattling sound from the driver side when cold like something in the exhaust. Did a compression test and they are all over the place which also obviously is going to effect how it runs. Needs some miles on it which I won't do until the tires are replaced. New ones should be here tomorrow.