my first riv

I have a king eco2s 220 volt heater that really wasn't cutting it and it ran constantly, I decided to build another heater using an electric dryer to supplement my garage heat. Here's a link to my video of my build. Tell me what you guys think?

You don't need a special tool for this. Use a ratchet strap through the first full coil of the spring on the bottom and strap it to the lower control arm snug it up fairly tight but you don't need to make it unbearably tight. Use a floor jack and put pressure on the lower control arm until you take pressure off the spring and compress it just enough to be able to loosen up the lower ball joint nut. Break the ball joint loose after lowering the floor jack down just a touch, the jack will keep it from popping fully loose. After the ball joint is loose, put more pressure on the lower control arm to remove the nut and then lower the floor jack down slowly and the spring will loosen up and once the lower control arm is fully lowered your spring should be just loose and sitting there attached to the lower control arm with the ratchet strap. Loosen strap and spring should almost fall out. You're using the weight of the car to manage the spring tension, Super easy to do.

I agree that it very much depends on the car, some cars have already gotten to huge evaluations. But, much of that demand is it's rarity and also many are European and they start out at a premium to price just for the fact that they are typically terrible cars for maintenance and quality so finding ones that have either been restored or unrestored and in great shape brings that premium price. Certain cars are great candidates for full restoration, mine is not one of those. If I restored mine to factory correct everything it would be copper colored with silver interior, yup you read that right. Which makes my car with that color combination extremely rare, as in less then 30 1964 Riviera's total were done in that exact combination. I'd bet dollars to dimes that nobody short of those 30 or so color blind people would ever feel they would want to pay a premium for that god awful color combination and I would feel the need to wear a bag over my head to even drive a monstrosity in that color combo. Which is why my car is prime for customizing, lowered on air suspension, shaved door handles, chrome and a custom paint scheme, Cars like mine actually fetch more money compared to it's stock configuration. Look at any custom LS swapped pro touring car versus it's restored counterpart comparing what the pro touring car came with from the factory versus it's exact same car with all the same factory options and the pro touring version wins hands down every time. I would totally restore a rare factory car if it was worth the trouble of a nut and bolt restoration, classic corvettes are prime examples of cars that can be worth a full restoration depending on condition of the car at the beginning as you can quite quickly exceed the value of those cars because parts for them are astronomic in pricing. Try to find a mechanical fuel injection system for one priced under $6k! Great looking cars by the way! Don't see to many convertible Buicks!

Again, personal opinion on value based of suggested rarity as well as the current health of the collector car market at the time of the sale. Inflation could get you there but I wouldn't hold your breath. You can't compare a 65 Riviera to a 71 hemi cuda convertible as a way to justify that sentiment. Cudas have a proven race history alone and add the rare convertible top option and then the legendary Hemi on top of that and that's why that car is worth so much and also why it would be worth restoring. Rarity does not increase value unless there is a driven demand for that rare item. It also would need the right mix of factory equipment, proven traceable provenance and the right historical milestones such as celebrity ownership or factory custom etc. Most factory cars will not get there, Rivieras aren't that rare compared to a hemi cuda convertible and aren't nearly as desirable either and that's why you can still find good examples for sale at good prices almost monthly on any number of websites.

I think many on here forget that the point of modifying a car body isn't always for mass consumption and is sometimes done to add shock value. Also the complete lack of any semblance of factory replacement sheet metal for these cars makes them prime targets for customization. Personally for me, anything that keeps people interested in car culture is fine with me, good, bad or indifferent. If your car is bone stock factory down to the last hidden nut, bolt and screw, cool. If you decided to modify your car to your tastes, cool. Too many negative people on this forum who are so dyed in the wool factory purists that unless you have to be here to hunt for an unubtanium part it turns other folks away. If a custom car isn't your taste, that's fine. I think another custom car adding or detracting value to your car is highly questionable and subject to personal conjecture and very contingent on the actual classic car market at the time of the sale. This is a Riviera forum and anything Riv should be fully accepted here otherwise what's the point? You can cheer or jeer a build all you want but when it comes to the brass tacks of it, it isn't coming out of your wallet and isn't your car. The great thing about car culture is that there is no right and wrong when it comes to customization and the sky and skill level is the only limitations. Personally I think that purely stock cars are boring and emblems on a car, any car look just plain out of sorts and detracts from a clean body, they interrupt clean panels and sometimes clean body lines. I have removed every emblem off every car I owned and have ever done any kind of body work on and all the cheap plastic emblems end up stuck to my tool box or in the trash. I know what vehicle it is and don't need a plastic or metal tag on it, and if I'm curious I'll just ask the owner and get to open up a friendly dialog with the owner if I'm unsure. I'd also like to note that if your car at any point has anything other than a stock factory paint job, your car has been customized with plastic filler to remove dents, dings and factory stamping defects without you even fully realizing it. It may be factory in appearance but is not factory correct any longer. If your car has anything other then factory correct lacquer paint in the proper thickness, guess what, also custom now. You may call it a restoration but it is in fact now a custom done car. any restoration is customizing including fresh chroming of factory original parts. The act of chroming removes any factory chrome and defects are fixed and filled with copper and then chromed and polished. That's not factory anymore. If you have anything on your car that did not come exactly that way from the factory it is now customized regardless if it was for safety reasons or not.

It was nice meeting you and glad you can use the parts. Mark

video of my House Of Lincoln shop tour in Houston, including an Elvis car!

Thought this would interest people.

I'm actually unsure if that's the case with mine, I'll check and get back to you with pics. I have two and only need one.

I have a shell that needs paint but in otherwise good condition, not broken or cracked.

I have some new parts to add, Right front fender rust free $75 Left front fender rust free $75 Trunk lid nice shape no rust $75 Hood has damage on front and damage on hood spear area, fixable I can sell as is for $50 or I can fix the damaged metal for $150 (this is just metal finish and includes no coatings at all) Left front inner fender minor surface rust around battery tray but not rusted through and very solid $50 Right front inner fender minor surface rust but very solid $50 Right door shell and skin rust free (empty shell) $50 Left door shell and skin rust free (empty shell) $50

I have a non power antenna mast I also have all the hold down parts, I'll have to check the condition but I have everything for the antenna.

I checked my storage unit and without totally emptying it out I could not find a clock, sorry.

I have it but going to hold onto it until my car is finished.

I'm not sure if I have one, I will check my storage unit today and let you know.

What exactly are you looking for in trim pieces? That way I can look and let you know if there are any condition issues with what I have.

I can get it and post it.

My car was missing it's radio so I didn't have much of a choice lol

It's very common for those to be missing as some found out with a minor fender bender causes damage to both front fenders depending on hit location.

I went with classic autosound with mine, it's not an exact replica of the stock riv radio but looks like a classic style radio with modern internals.

Still for sale, I rebuilt it and I have been a professional mechanic for 28 years.

I should note that I have the water manifold ready for install but haven’t yet as the accessory brackets bolt to it and don’t want to attach them if they aren’t needed and the intake manifold, valve covers and valley pan are not torqued down to save the gaskets in case the buyer wants to look inside the engine and or for loading purposes to protect the painted surfaces from damage.

I have a rebuilt Nailhead for sale out of a Riviera, thought I would post here first to see if there is any interest. It has new bearings, new pistons, new rings, new starter, new freeze plugs, best gasket kit, new neoprene front and rear main seals. Glass bead blasted and repainted all parts including exhaust manifolds. Engine has all standard size rings and bearings not bored out as the ring wear lip was barely enough to catch your finger nail on so was honed and cross hatched for new rings break in. I did not replace the cam or cam bearings as they should be replaced as a set and the cam looked great still with minimal wear. All other bearings were replaced. The rebuild with new pistons was performed as it had a broken piston head skirt but no other damage luckily. Casting flash inside valley was removed and cleaned up. I have tons of pics of the rebuild as well as receipts for all parts I bought from Centerville Auto. I can include all the accessory brackets, original Carter AFB carb and also have an st400 trans available for sale, The trans works and had great fluid in it when I pulled it from the car but I did not rebuild it so price for trans is $600 in addition to price of motor. I'm asking $6,500 for engine as it sits and can negotiate for additional parts as needed. Price getting one of these rebuilt and you will be in the $8k-12k price easily. I am located in the Kansas City area, I have never dealt with shipping an engine but I will work with those wanting it shipped at your cost.

My Dad always added a cap full of ATF at every oil change, I think it was a habit he picked up when he worked at service stations as a mechanic due to poor oil quality and additives back in those days to help with sludge buildup. Not sure if it helped with that, but what would one cap full really hurt and years later I bought one of his pickup trucks and when I had to replace some gaskets on the top end the valley under the intake was clean as you could imagine. Was it that cap full of ATF? Or just routine maintenance coupled with better quality products?

One thing I haven't seen mentioned, if you go the filter route for your coolant system. You should check the filter at least every trip or when the car has been started for the first few times after the filter is installed and it should be removed for any long distance trips as the cooling systems for these engines is only okay and on the poor side for the 425's. Last thing you would want after that much work is burning up your engine due to a plugged filter. Also an old or new nylon sock would work just fine and they are very cheap and can just simply be thrown away and replaced with a new one at every check. You can place them on the upper radiator hose where the coolant flows into the radiator and would make checking it easy and convenient with minimal loss of coolant.