1983 Buick Riviera

Discussion in 'Car & Truck Talk' started by jwdtenn, Aug 9, 2019.

  1. jwdtenn

    jwdtenn Well-Known Member

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  2. mrvans

    mrvans Well-Known Member

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    You would think the dealer could replace the fillers. With the cost of his photography and fancy marketing, he could get a better price if the car didn’t have gaping holes around the front bumper.
     
  3. cammerjeff

    cammerjeff Longroofs Rule!

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    I agree on both points, plus the dealer does not even know what engine is under the hood, lists it as a 305 (Chevy) This picture clearly shows its an Olds 307 under the hood.

    [​IMG]
     
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  4. 60Mercman

    60Mercman Well-Known Member

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    Something doesn’t seem right. With all of the fillers shot, and that saggy headliner. This cars sat out or somethings up with it. A garaged 22,000 mile car doesn’t look like that.
     
  5. annap01gt

    annap01gt Blue Safari

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    I don't think a garaged car loses it's plastic bumper fillers either. Our 87 was out in the weather until 2004. Car was in Md and always parked front to north and rear towards the southern sun. Rear filler and headliner toast by 2003 and replaced in 2004. Car garaged last 15 years and original front filler still ok. The Sun took the plastic on that Buick.
     
  6. jwdtenn

    jwdtenn Well-Known Member

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    Disagree. My Mom had a 1985 Riviera purchased in 1989 with low miles. Always well kept and garage kept. The factory bumper fillers failed in the early 2000s. The '87 is a different design and probably different materials.
     
  7. annap01gt

    annap01gt Blue Safari

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    Stand corrected. So into the squarebacks I sometimes forget that GM actually continued to introduce new materials, designs, etc thru the 80s.
     
  8. HotRodRacer

    HotRodRacer Moderator Staff Member Moderator

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    Funny, I was talking to an in-law yesterday at a family reunion. He has a 1987 Buick Grand National that has been out in the weather ONE NIGHT since being bought new by his dad. Guess what? The bumper fillers are disintegrating.
     
  9. cammerjeff

    cammerjeff Longroofs Rule!

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    The sun definantly contributes to the bumper filler disintergrating, but material and even the color they are molded in are part of it. Some color last a lot longer than others.
     
  10. jaunty75

    jaunty75 Middling Member

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    The fillers on these cars fail due to age. Mileage means nothing. Being out in the sun accelerates the process, but it will happen regardless simply because the polymer slowly oxidizes and slowly crystallizes over time. Did you ever wrap a rubber band around something, toss it in a drawer, and find it a year later? The rubber band has become rigid and brittle and will usually break into pieces if you try to remove it because the rubber crystallized. A similar thing happens to the polyurethane.

    The headliner fails, again, because the adhesive fails due to age. Heat, again, can accelerate the process, but it will happen regardless.

    Remember, these cars were designed with something like a 10-year service life. No one designing these cars worried about how well materials would hold up 40 years later.
     
  11. mrvans

    mrvans Well-Known Member

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    GM cost cutting at its best. Just make it through the warranty period.
     
  12. jaunty75

    jaunty75 Middling Member

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    What? Because cars weren't designed to last 40 years? I don't think so. No auto manufacturer ever designed cars with the idea that they would still be on the road decades later. Materials age.
     
  13. jwdtenn

    jwdtenn Well-Known Member

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    Well said. :yup:
     
  14. 60Mercman

    60Mercman Well-Known Member

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    I guess you are on to something. It’s interesting that even the color I guess could effect that plastic. I have a yellow ‘76 Seville with 26,000 mikes and although showing some slight crack wear the fillers are in good shape. I wonder how many ‘70,s and early ‘80,s DeVilles we see on here that have had the fillers replaced. There was an ‘83 Park Avenue on this site recently in Tennessee that was in pristine condition, including the fillers. It was a light tan color non metallic. I know during the early ‘80s GM was in a huge cost cutting bender that was further Exacerbated under Lopez and I’m sure that their ultimate quality control slipped so, as stated here, I’m sure when material cost cutting was discussed in the board room, the thought of a “planned obsolescence” was also brought up. I’m sure climate, and other factors sped up material deterioration as well.
     
  15. jwdtenn

    jwdtenn Well-Known Member

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    Of course, a big factor would be that most original owners won't keep their cars beyond the factory warranty, if even that. Beyond that, why should the manufacturer even care? Subsequent owners are left holding the bag, if any given car lasts beyond 10 years.
     

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