1979-1985 Buick Riviera Brake Upgrade Options

By Core Brake Parts Tech Team — Circleville, OH warehouse

The best brake upgrade for a 1979-1985 Buick Riviera is not a big-brake kit. It is a good pad compound, fresh rotors, new rubber hoses and clean fluid on the brakes the car already has, plus a bolt-on caliper for owners who want more. Start by confirming whether your Riviera has rear discs or rear drums, because that decides which parts fit.

What Brakes Your Riviera Came With

The 1979 model year moved the Riviera to front-wheel drive, and it shared its mechanical layout with the Cadillac Eldorado and Oldsmobile Toronado of the same era. Front disc brakes were standard. Rear disc brakes were an extra-cost option, so a 1979-1985 Riviera can have either discs or drums at the back.

That matters more than anything else in this guide. Rear disc pads will not help a car with rear drums, and a rear drum car needs shoes, drums, wheel cylinders and hardware instead. The quickest check is to look through the rear wheel: a caliper clamped on a flat rotor means discs, a closed round drum means drums. If the car wears wheel covers, pull one off.

Engines in this generation ranged from the 5.7L V8 to the turbocharged 3.8L V6 that powered the sportier S Type. The turbo cars are the ones owners most often want to stop harder, since they carry the most performance.

Upgrade Tier 1: Better Rear Pads

If your Riviera has rear discs, a pad change is the cheapest real improvement you can make. We carry two EBC compounds listed for the 1979-1985 Riviera rear disc setup, and they suit different owners.

Redstuff is EBC's low-dust ceramic pad. EBC says it bites well from cold and carries a surface coating that conditions the rotor and speeds up bedding. Because it has no steel fiber, the little dust it makes washes off easily, which is a big deal on a car with wire or chrome wheels. See the EBC Redstuff ceramic rear pads for the 1979-1985 Riviera.

Yellowstuff is EBC's fast-street pad. EBC rates it for good cold bite and fade resistance up to about 400 C (750 F), which it describes as the top of what fast street driving produces. It makes more dust than Redstuff and needs a longer bedding period, which EBC puts at 100 to 200 miles. See the EBC Yellowstuff rear pads for the 1979-1985 Riviera.

For a Riviera that is mostly a cruiser or show car, Redstuff is the easier pad to live with. For a turbo car that gets driven hard, Yellowstuff is the stronger pick. Front pads should be matched in character; browse brake pads and ceramic brake pads by your vehicle.

Upgrade Tier 2: Rotors, Hoses, Fluid and Hardware

On a car this age, the parts around the pads are usually the real problem. A Riviera that has been sitting often shows these symptoms:

• Pulsing pedal or steering shake when stopping: rotors with thickness variation or rust scale. Replace or machine them before fitting new pads.
• Pull to one side: a sticking caliper slide or piston, or a collapsed rubber hose that holds pressure on one wheel.
• Soft or sinking pedal: old, water-logged fluid, air in the system, or a tired master cylinder.
• Grinding or squeal: worn pads, missing anti-rattle clips, or pads glazed from a dragging caliper.

Rubber brake hoses from the 1980s have almost certainly outlived their service life even if they look fine outside; they can swell inside and act like a one-way valve. New brake hoses or brake lines, fresh brake rotors, a brake hardware kit, and a full flush with the fluid type printed on your master cylinder cap will make a larger difference in pedal feel than any single component upgrade.

Upgrade Tier 3: A Bolt-On Front Caliper

The front brakes do most of the stopping on a nose-heavy front-drive coupe, so the front is where a caliper upgrade pays off. Wilwood lists its D154 Front Caliper Kit (140-12097-P) for the 1985 Riviera with the factory disc brake spindle. It is a single-piston caliper with a 2.50 inch bore and 4.90 square inches of piston area per caliper, and it mounts in the stock location over the stock rotors. The kit comes with hardened slide pins and Wilwood BP-10 high-friction pads, and a separate flexline kit is required.

Because it keeps the stock rotor, this is not a big-brake kit. What it offers is a fresh, stiffer caliper with a performance pad, without changing wheels or upsetting brake balance. Confirm fitment for your exact year with the manufacturer before ordering, since the listing names the 1985 model year. If you would rather stay with factory-style parts, rebuilt units are in our brake calipers collection.

Rear Calipers and the Parking Brake

GM rear disc calipers of this period build the parking brake into the caliper itself. The parking brake lever works a mechanism inside the piston, and that same mechanism takes up slack as the pads wear. Two things follow from that:

• Use the parking brake regularly. On these calipers, setting the parking brake helps keep the rear pads adjusted. A car that never has its parking brake set can develop a low, soft pedal.
• Do not force the piston straight back. This style of piston usually has to be turned while being pushed back into its bore. Forcing it with a C-clamp can damage the internal adjuster. Use the correct retracting tool and follow the factory service manual.

If a rear caliper's parking brake mechanism is seized, replace the caliper rather than fitting new pads to it. A seized adjuster will wear through new pads quickly and can overheat the rotor.

What About Converting Rear Drums to Discs?

Since rear discs were a factory option, a drum-equipped Riviera can in principle be converted using the disc parts from a car that had them. It is not a pad swap. It involves the rear calipers and brackets, rotors, hoses, parking brake cables and often the proportioning valve, because rear discs change how pressure should be split front to rear. Unless your drums are worn out anyway, a well-maintained drum rear with new brake shoes and hardware stops the car well, since the front does most of the work.

How Hard Is the Job?

A pad and rotor change on the front of a Riviera is a normal driveway job with basic tools. The rear disc brakes are harder because of the integral parking brake mechanism and piston retraction. A caliper swap adds bleeding, which is best done with two people or a pressure bleeder. Torque all caliper bolts and wheel lug nuts to the values in the factory service manual, and bed in new pads gently before any hard stops.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does every 1979-1985 Riviera have rear disc brakes?

No. Front discs were standard, but rear discs were an extra-cost option. Look through the rear wheel to see whether you have a caliper and rotor or a drum before ordering rear pads.

Which is better for a Riviera, Redstuff or Yellowstuff?

Redstuff is the better all-round choice for a car that is driven gently and kept clean, because it is a low-dust ceramic pad. Yellowstuff has stronger bite and fade resistance for harder driving but makes more dust.

Do these pads fit the 3.8L turbo Riviera?

Yes. Both EBC rear pad sets we carry are listed for the 1979-1985 Riviera, including the 3.8L turbo models, on cars equipped with rear disc brakes.

Why is my Riviera's brake pedal low after a rear pad change?

The rear calipers usually need to be re-adjusted after the pistons are retracted. Pump the pedal several times, set and release the parking brake a number of times, and check for air in the lines. If the pedal stays low, a rear caliper adjuster may be seized.

Is a big-brake kit worth it on this car?

For most owners, no. Quality pads, fresh rotors, new hoses and clean fluid restore strong, consistent stops. A bolt-on caliper that uses the stock rotor is a sensible step beyond that without changing wheels.

Sources

1. conceptcarz: 1979 Buick Riviera - first front-wheel-drive Riviera, shared mechanicals with Eldorado and Toronado, front discs standard and rear discs optional, 3.8L turbo V6 and 5.7L V8
2. Wilwood D154 Front Caliper Kit 140-12097-P - bolt-on single-piston caliper over stock rotors, 2.50 inch bore, 4.90 sq in piston area, BP-10 pads, separate flexline kit required
3. EBC Redstuff Ceramic Brake Pads - aramid fiber plus ceramic compound, no steel fiber, copper-free, low dust, cold bite, brake-in coating
4. EBC Yellowstuff Fast Street Brake Pads - aramid fiber compound, cold bite and fade resistance, 400 C / 750 F street threshold, not low dust, 100-200 mile bedding