Safe and easy mods for 84 Riv. turbo

[Waldo]

New to the turbo Buick world and need some advice. I have a 84 Riveria turbo which I would like to get some extra power from without hurting the drivetrain. I just purchased a K N and am considering running a straight pipe all the way back. Not looking for a race car, but a peppy weekend driver. Opinions? Any thoughts or tips appreciated.

 

[turbofish38]

Here is a recipe that I used on one of my 84's. This was my daily driver for many of years and was capable of 13.9's-14.0's on race fuel. I'm assuming with alky injection you could acheive the same on pump gas.

XP fuel pump. I would go with a Walbro 340.
Adjustable FPR.
Chip. Anything burned for a hot air Regal will work.
K&N 14" cone.
Gutted cat. I modified a 2.25" exhaust system from a diesel. Ran a straight pipe in place of the cat with just a muffler and no resonator. Still sounded like a bee out of hell going down the strip.
Adjustable WG actuator and boost gauge.
Thats it. Stock injectors and the crappy HA Riviera camshaft.

I'm currently working on another 85 and I plan to do all of the above plus convert over to the 86-87 ECM and run a translator and LT1 MAF with Mototron 60 pounders with alky injection. I may skip the experimental stage and go with a 206 or 210 cam with a TA33 turbo and possibly some port matched cylinder heads. I'm thinking that should put this pig down the 1/4 in the middle 12's and still be a DD on pump gas. I might even build a 4.1 for it. What ever you can do to a TR you can do to one of these. Its just that some of the stuff you have to build yourself if it is Riviera specific.

Edit. I forgot to mention that the first mod should be an investment in a good scan tool like turbo link or a scanmaster. Hot airs run their best if the boost is around 19 pounds. Because you have a 400-500 pound weight penalty,if you get careless on the tune this land yacht will pop head gaskets like crazy. Changing one on the right side is a PITA. The drivers side I could do blindfolded.

 

[Waldo]

Thanks for the info. I'm a little hesitant on doing much to it because it may go lean and hurt the motor. I dont think the filter alone could hurt it but if the exhaust is opened up I wonder. It sounds like you have some nice Buicks. This car is fairly nice and I plan on restoring it when I have the time. Dave

 

[turbofish38]

The fuel pump is a must. Its a little piece of mind. If anything the exhaust mod will let it spool faster. No harm in turning the boost down a couple of pounds either. Bone stock this car is still faster than 90% of the cars on the road today. These hot air Riv's are one of the best kept secrets of the 80's. I never figured out why Buick never promoted them like they did the TR. Mine aren't exactly jewells but they sure are a lot more fun than a TR IMO.

 

[motordoctor40]

hey i have an 85 riv that im having all kinds of trubble getting it to run right do you think you could give me some advice its a bone stock unit every time i try and get on it it bucks and caries on terible i checked the fuel pressure its fine cleaned out the cat replaced all vacume lines and still no help its a pretty nice car it was my moms she bought it new

 

[91rangerturbo]

You need to check the fuel pressure while under boost and make sure it is rising. Get a fuel pressure gauge and tape it to your windsheild or something and go for a drive. It should rise 1 pound of fuel per pound of boost. And go do a spring cleaning on it. I mean look here.http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/maintenance/maintpage.html

 

[Waldo]

The fuel pump was changed with a stock replacement. Oh well. Looking forward to the Buick meet at Quaker City next Saturday. Hopefully I can find a good Buick shop in the northern Ohio area who can fine tune the Riv. Also want to check out some old Stage 1s.