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33 hours and 1927 miles later...


VickyBlue

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I jumped on a flight from Houston into SFO early Wednesday morning the 10th. Got there about 9:30 am. I took the BART and got to his house at 11:00 am. There she was in the garage.

Cold start, took three tries. He got it outside on the driveway and let it idle. Idle was smooth, not obnoxious like my 56. Huge car... Compared to both my 56 and the 37. Here is the run down:

Front left fender, one small ding, size of a pea, touched up with paint. Stainless all good, he let me run a magnet all over the car, found no issues. L door, the gap between L fender and L door, was not even, I asked about it and he didn't know. From 1/4" to 1/8" towards the bottom half. I checked the door and it was not sagging, no play at all. I checked the bolts that attached the door to the frame and they have never been removed, but the car had a re-spray back in 86.

A couple of pea size small dings on the upper window stainless, underneath the drain openings were clean with no rust.

Left quarter panel, no issues. Trunk lid no issues. Rear bumper, had been pushed up, I pointed out to him and I got the feeling he got irritated, as he was quick to show me pictures on google showing other cars with the same condition. In his mind this was the norm. I showed him a car I had saved up and it showed a straight bumper, then left it at that. I did look underneath by the fuel door and could not see any signs of impact. It did show a dent on the L corner, the size on a silver dollar coin.

The trunk inside was clean, I laid down inside it with a flash light and there was nothing but original white paint. I removed the spare and looked underneath, just dust and dirt, but no rust. I went further up inside the trunk, up by the tray drain tubes and from what I could see, there was Por15 applied, as was initially told. There was no further deterioration, the seams were not rough, there were no holes, no bondo, someone had gone there, everything was sanded down, prep'ed and Por15'ed. Original trunk tire pressure sticker, original jack, spare tire, cardboard side panels, carpet had no stains, it was all clean. Touch up paint by the trunk lock, size of a finger nail.

R side quarter panel was also clean, bottom sections, I run the magnet twice, found no issues. A small ding no bigger than a pea again on the stainless, the gaps were all even between the rest of the body panels.

R door looked as good as the L one, the gap between the R door and fender was even. I did find a set of numbers and a letter combo on the L fender, inside the engine bay, but not on the R side.

The hood, had at some point back in 91 "removed and detailed to look as good as the rest of the car" according to one of the invoices I found. Under hood color matched to the rest of the car. Paint shows the same thickness all the way around, shows age, but not cracks or scars, or scuffs. It matches with the description and the time frame it was painted. To me it looked good, presentable and clean.

The top now: rear section towards the end had bubbling, so did the right rea reaction by the right rear quarter panel. The seams looked good, there were no tears, no rips, the vinyl was in good shape, but I emphasized the fact that it will need a new top.

Overall, a few dings on the stainless, one on the front fender, the top, the rear fender issue.

Interior was all original, headliner was good, other than a few 4" sections where the seams had come undone, I do have a curved needle and headliner thread, I will try to stitch it together. It does not sag, it's not stained, just two sections will need to be stitched together. The front arm rest has an "X" marked on the vinyl, my guess is someone tried to cut something with a razor blade and it went through... Stupid, but I can't explain it otherwise. Driver side arm rest has a small crack, looks like someone put on their elbow weight and made a "dent" trying to "adjust" themselves in the driver seat. Dash is straight, no curvature, there is a one inch section by the center vent that has a small "bump" but it is all solid.

All interior lights work, power windows with new weatherstripping, new door seals, original radio, with a rebuild back in 94. Speakers sound really good, quarter foot panels are as new, never cut, carpet is like new, all glass is original, power antenna, antenna switch sticky getting the antenna up, but fine at retracting, cruise control not working, power seat, rear defrost, (have no idea how it works, if it is air blowing form a vent or electric, I did not see a heating element), power steering and power brakes. Rear seat and rear tray is as new.

Two dash lights don't work, the heater cable that attaches the temperature control thumb wheel to the heater valve is not opening the valve and I was not getting hot air, just air...

New master cylinder, new brakes all around, new front and rear springs. Shocks are shot, Rallye wheels were re- chromed in 2010, they are spotless. New 235/75/15 tires at that time. Underneath is clean, one ding, size of a quarter at the bottom of the fuel tank, newer parking cables, original undercoating everywhere.

The engine: Original engine, 156000 miles, a documented rebuilt at 96,000 carb was rebuilt in 2011, st400 was rebuilt in 2010, new radiator in 2009, A/C receipts shows major work trying to find a leak, new expansion valve, new receiver/drier, new POA valve, new filter at expansion valve, they got it to blow 38 degrees in 85 ambient temperature, but not working now. It turns on, but blows ambient air. Still uses R12. New centerlink, drive shaft rebuilt in 2008, new front end bushings in 2009, distributor was rebuild in 98. New mechanical fuel pump in 2000. I have 4 folders full of receipts that I am going through as I type this...

He asked me if I wanted to drive it. I said, "how about you take me for a ride, after all it is still your car..." He liked that. Went for a 5 mile ride, the drum brakes are almost as good as discs, if not better... Car drove straight, no funny noises, shifting was smooth, a little "lose" at the end, but the rear shocks were shot, so it was expected. Very comfortable, but a big car...

Made him an one time offer and after 20 minutes he signed the title over to me. I left his house (Pleasant Hill, CA) at 6:10 pm TX time Wednesday afternoon, I was getting a constant 15 mpg at 65-70 mph on the freeway, fuel stops every 250-280 miles, stopped at Walmart near Fresno and got some food and a blanket and got to my home in Houston Friday morning the 12th, at 10:00 am. Slept twice, 3 hrs each time and went to bed Friday at 5:00 pm. Woke up Saturday at 8:00 am had to be at work 11:00 am.

I have driven between TX and CA 5 times. This was by far the most comfortable, enjoyable ride. Super nice car, I knew I took a risk, but you don't think about things like that when you undertake such a trip... I knew I had AAA with me but was hoping not to use it. Burnt no oil at all. 1927 miles, 124.47 gallons of premium, $329.97 in gas, $4 for a quart of oil from Walmart I never used and $9 for gallon of antifreeze I never touched. Good visibility car, huge though... Takes time to learn your bearings and judge your distances. Shifting was smooth, I never stepped on it, as I wanted to get home to go to work, the temperature gauge never touched the first dot on the cold side, it was always a needle's width away from it.

I could not believe myself I had just jumped on a 4 hrs flight, bought this car and I was about to start a 1900 mile trip back home... She did talk to me... It was not a loud talk, like "BUY ME, BUY ME!!!" It was more like a soft teary cry voice, begging me to get her out of there and let her be a cruiser again. Ron was a ROA member and drove the car everywhere, but he took care of it. Lots of stuff have been replaced three times, bushings, pads, drums, he took care of the car. This guy Will, I think he bought it because he got a deal and just flipped it. I didn't ask... But I am glad he was an honest man and told me the truth. The car will make it to Houston. And it did. I now own a 68 Buick Riviera!

I would like to take the time and mention that I couldn't have done it alone, if it wasn't for the help of Jason Z, Ed R. and Sam S. Thank you so much for your help... The last PM Jason sent me gave me a lot to look for. It's the kind of car I was looking for. Original, well maintained, as old as I am, ( I am end of April, she is second week of June) something I can drive and enjoy... It came with 3 different keys, ignition, doors and trunk, so I already ordered new locks for doors and trunk. Got a set of 68 TX plates on ebay and will be going to DMV Monday...

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A beautiful car . . . in that color combination, too! A great story and adventure!

I did the "LA to DFW" drive a good while back, when my Great Aunt moved back to TX . . . myself, my mother, and her . . . in a '70 Skylark Custom 2-dr hardtop. Maintained by her mechanic "out there". We came across the miles at 70mph (where legal), with the a/c blowing cold, at about 17mpg. We spent the night at motels. The car always started first time each morning and used no oil.

It was not until I finally looked at the car then (and later) that I discovered two different "pairs" of tires on the car. Later, after I'd inherited it, I discovered a very original set of spark plug wires and other "old "things under the hood. It did run well and reliably, though. She did get a new set of tires, though. And it came with a pile of CA DMV inspection documents. Still, though, I replaced everything which needed replacing and then knew all was fine. Then, when I pulled the radiator for repair, I discovered that it had been partially blocked-off as a "band-aid" repair a while back. Got that fixed and I figured I'd gotten most everything else done that needed to be done. Kind of proves that if you take the orientation that "everything is as it should be", it probably is good enough. But if "Murphy's Law" had happened, we'd have been several days longer getting home.

As for the power drum brakes, they were "famous" for being able to lay rubber stopping, with not more than a few toes' worth of pressure on the pedal. If I hadn't driven the Skylark for a while, just moving it in the driveway, with gentle pressure on the brake pedal, could well result in "eating steering wheel" if I didn't take extra care with the brake pedal. It's in higher-speed fade resistance where the discs are better, though. Once I got used to driving it again, all was well with the brakes.

In both cases, the Buicks knew they had a job to do and did them well!

Congrats and enjoy!

NTX5467

Edited by NTX5467 (see edit history)
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  • 4 weeks later...

Today it was the first time I was able to take her for a short drive. A week ago, I removed the door panel to replace the lock cylinder and while I was there, I POR15ed the door interior, the rocker panel, I removed the skin from the door panel and using the old water damaged panel as a template, I made a new one. Transferred everything back into it and installed it this morning. I used 4 mil plastic for a water barrier and it is good now for another 47 years. She is moving to a nice 3 car garage end of this month, so the R side will be next.

I tuned into my local am hate radio and just started driving... I don't even know what I was thinking at that time, when I came into a stop light. I asked my self "what would happened if I just firewall it?" There was nobody next to me, I looked back and when the light turned green I floored it... She took a deep breath and just sat there... shaking and burning rubber... I said "holly shpoop!" I let my foot go and she she took off like a horse out of the gate... I looked back and saw 10 inch wide 6 ft long tracks. I started smiling and laughing, I was babying it driving all the way home from Cali, because I didn't want anything happening, so this was a surprise to me... I had no idea! Never driven anything like that! I did it a couple of more times and by the time I got home I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. I said "Thank you..." and got into the trunk, took the spare out, used a flat disc and cleaned up the spare tire well, POR15'ed it and put her to bed. Now I want a big 430 in my 56...

Edited by VickyBlue (see edit history)
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I tuned into my local am hate radio and just started driving... I don't even know what I was thinking at that time, when I came into a stop light. I asked my self "what would happened if I just firewall it?" There was nobody next to me, I looked back and when the light turned green I floored it... She took a deep breath and just sat there... shaking and burning rubber... I said "holly shpoop!" I let my foot go and she she took off like a horse out of the gate... I looked back and saw 10 inch wide 6 ft long tracks. I started smiling and laughing, I was babying it driving all the way home from Cali, because I didn't want anything happening, so this was a surprise to me... I had no idea! Never driven anything like that! I did it a couple of more times and by the time I got home I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. I said "Thank you..." and got into the trunk, took the spare out, used a flat disc and cleaned up the spare tire well, POR15'ed it and put her to bed. Now I want a big 430 in my 56...

LIKE!!

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