66-67 Riviera

Man am I glad I found this forum. Long story short my wife and I are finally moving back to the States. Our time in purgatory is finally over. Our 2 year agreement to work for the Army in Korea turned into 6..... 6 years without a classic car to work on or the ability to get one! So we're each buying a classic daily driver.

I'm looking for a solid 66-67 Riviera that's ready to go. Im not looking for a project. My upper limit is around 20k.

If anyone has one or knows of one id love to take a look. Thanks guys!

Welcome to the forum. School yourself on the differences between the 66 and 67. While they appear the same, the are quite different under the surface. Also educate yourself on what options and colors were available so you can be sure when you buy a car, you won't say afterward I wish I would have got one with this or that option.

Your budget is in line with finding an excellent example.

If you haven't already, watch ebay and go back and look at completed auctions for both years. Its a great way to get familiar with these cars. there are search engines to search craigslist nationwide also. Another popular source is carsonline.com

Check out ROA as well. Membership before you buy gives you access to a lot of info as well as technical advisors that are available to answer specific questions. ROA has members that are the most knowledgeable in the world on the Riviera. As you may know you won't find much in the way of published technical and informational books available to the general public so it takes a little more effort to get well educated on these cars.

Good luck in your search

Man am I glad I found this forum. Long story short my wife and I are finally moving back to the States. Our time in purgatory is finally over. Our 2 year agreement to work for the Army in Korea turned into 6..... 6 years without a classic car to work on or the ability to get one! So we're each buying a classic daily driver.

I'm looking for a solid 66-67 Riviera that's ready to go. Im not looking for a project. My upper limit is around 20k.

If anyone has one or knows of one id love to take a look. Thanks guys!

I consider the 66 to be the cleanest looking of the entire second generation run but I like them all. The 66 was the final year for the "nailhead" engine and 67 being the first year for the "430." There are a number of other differences as well, some visible, some not. I'm sure you would be pleased with either one. Both are great cars! Do your research and be patient with your search. They are out there but you don't want to spend tons of money on one that needs a lot of work.

On the ROA's website (link in my signature,) find the series on the 'Evolution of the Riviera.' It will highlight some of the major differences between the two years. Something to consider, the '66 has some unique parts which were necessary to use the nailhead in the 2nd generation body; they're '66 parts - not 1st generation or 2nd generation, just '66.

Thank you so much for all of the info. Ive got my homework in front of me.

I've got my eye on a good option. Its a low mile 67 and seems to be well taken care of....but hasnt had a rebuild.

Purchasing a collector car is pretty easy, kind of like innocently walking into a two year stint in purgatory.

Here are the key questions. Before asking them think about the implications of each and why they would be asked.

Is the car licensed and insured now?

How long have you owned the car?

How far have you driven the car from your home?

Has any major work been done on the car in its life?

What major work have you done?

If you had extra money and kept the car, what would you do to improve the car?

Remember, there are two kinds of remorse, buyer's and seller's. One is a lot easier to get over.

Bernie

Good one, Bernie!!

Haha I guess i walked into that one.

You're on my list.......Bernie,

Purchasing a collector car is pretty easy, kind of like innocently walking into a two year stint in purgatory.

Here are the key questions. Before asking them think about the implications of each and why they would be asked.

Is the car licensed and insured now?

How long have you owned the car?

How far have you driven the car from your home?

Has any major work been done on the car in its life?

What major work have you done?

If you had extra money and kept the car, what would you do to improve the car?

Remember, there are two kinds of remorse, buyer's and seller's. One is a lot easier to get over.

Bernie

I have a 67 Riv, highly optioned, that I'm about to place on the market. I am the 2nd owner - I purchased it in 2006 from the original owner in California. I'm in Maryland, but have the original California black plates. The car is turquoise with a white vinyl top.; currently has about 83K original miles. It has the aqua custom bucket seat interior with factory headrests and console, power windows and seats, a/c, factory am/fm radio w/ rear speaker, chrome rally wheels. The car is in excellent cosmetic and mechanical shape. It has been repainted once in the original color (after being stripped down to bare metal), new OEM vinyl on top and seats, rebuilt front suspension, new exhaust system, top-end engine overhaul, electronic ignition, new radiator, starter, brakes/brake hoses, and more. I have all service records since I've owned it, and it is garage kept under cover. Attached is a picture.

A few more pictures...was thinking an asking price of $25,000 OBO

That 50 year mark is a noticeable drop off point. I saw a gradual upward shift in the year of typical event attendance in the late 1990's. Then the point really came home when I saw the restored '55 or '56 chassis at the Flint '03 Nationals. Our Buicks stay pretty much cosmetically and mechanically, nice minimal maintenance cars until they reach 50. Then you need to go under the cosmetics and start spending some cash. One can buy a nice 20 to 25 year old car today for $10,000. In a couple of decades (and they go by quick) $10,000 of work will easily become due; and it doesn't take a lot. To buy a car that is, nominally, 50 years old, the $25,000 figure will be your total. The $10,000 1965 will eat up another $15,000 pretty quickly if you want to take a reliable 200 mile drive on a hot summer day. If my flat top Electra leaves the herd this summer that will be the bracket for it, as well.

Bernie

MP67RIV: That's a beautiful car and you're right that it's highly optioned. Unfortunately it's outside of my price range. Someone will be very lucky to own that car.

Hi there-question for Ed Raner with your post #4. I know of some of the running changes Buick would tend to make over the years, but what are the "unique" parts involved for the '66? thanks-Dan Mpls. Mn

The one thing that comes to mind is the center link. This I know from personal experience. The link is for the 2nd generation chassis but it's also designed to clear the oil pan of the nailhead. Others I've heard about. One thing that comes to mind is that I was told that the door hinges are not interchangeable. This I do not know from personal experience. Darwin Falk has a list of 13 items necessary to swap a 67 and later big block into the chassis of a '66. Those are listed on the ROA's website in the Tech Tips.

Ed

I apologize if this has been asked before....is swapping buckets and a console into a bench seat optioned car a fairly straightforward proposition?

I apologize if this has been asked before....is swapping buckets and a console into a bench seat optioned car a fairly straightforward proposition?

Actually I don't recall it being asked here but its a good question.

I looked into this many years ago when I had a bench seat 67 and have known a couple people who did the swap. I never did. I sold the bench car and bought a bucket car. I would say no its not straight forward....but "straight forward" may be subject to what you are comparing it to. Its not a matter of unbolting the old and bolting in the bucket/console. Bucket mounts would need fabbed or cut out of a donor, properly located and welded in. Same with the console mounting provisions as well as locating the proper mounting location for the linkage assembly itself including locating and cutting the hole in the hump for rod to the transmission. The steering column is different of course and the dash on bucket cars have a blank plate that covers the column shift gear selector. Besides the seats you'd need the complete console, shifting linkage, and its wiring. This job would be simplest with a bucket/console donor car at the same location as the car its going into. After its all done the interior trim code for the bench interior is still on the Fisher Body tag which indicates what interior the car came with from factory.

For someone who does modifications and fabrication this isn't a hard job and might even be considered relatively easy. The hardest part would be finding all the pieces in usable condition for a reasonable price. By the time you bought seats, console, steering column, floor brackets, and have it shipped you'd probably be into it for a grand anyway. Then the seats might need recovered on top of it.

The weather's getting nice out guys....time for someone to let a car go, free up some money and buy another one! Somebody's got a 66-67 they're tired of!

One thing I've learned owning a '67 is that there's not many parts that can't be had, nor are there many repairs that can't be done. I studied up on difference between 66 and 67 and because I got the impression that not all mechanics can work on nailheads I went with 67, and I'm really happy. I'm no mechanic but my close friend is an instructor for GM and loves working on my car. I've learned a lot, and I've been spending 2-3 hrs a few nites a week working on cleaning engine compartment and it's relaxing.

We've done water pump/timing chain/ carb/complete tune-up, and I had the trans rebuilt completely witha good warranty for around $ 2400 incl new flywheel.

Had to travel about 2 miles.

the A/C system went from R 12 to 134 and back to r-12; finding parts not hard and there's still guys who can pump up the R-12 with the right equipment although that's been the hardest issue . She runs cold.

Took a while to get the SS trim for the wheel wells but thru helpful members of this board it's done. So far, the hardest thing to find was the regulator, or "remote control linkage" for the drivers' side door relase. Darwin Falk sold me one.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, don't be afraid to buy one in need of repair. I can't comment on missing glass or missing seats etc ( my two front buckets got re-done and painted seat backs for $550- guy around the corner did them) but all in all go grab one that's road worthy and take it from there.