DirtyDan Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 I have to admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for before/after type makeover shows whether it be a house remodel or those extreme makeover plastic surgery shows. It is just kinda fun to see what they start with and what they end up with after lots and lots of work. So as you might figure, I love to see peoples project cars and the progress they accomplish. It is great when they post pics along the way. The only problem is, sometimes I loose track over time or the builder puts the project on hold or forgets to post the final product. So instead of posting pics as I went, I decided to wait until I had the final product...... So here goes....It was a little less than a year ago when I picked up this 64 Rivi from the local Craigslist classifieds. I purchased it from the grandson of the original owner who had big plans to restore the car and never quite got past rebuilding the engine. It was cheap and it was solid, but it sure was ugly. Paint was faded badly and the interior was redone badly sometime in the 70's. Yes those are cheapy autozone wire hubcaps and riveted on rubber molding going down both sides.Dig the felt covered dash!I figured I could lower the suspension with cut coils and throw on a set of wheels and call it done and have a nice little custom driver and maybe even sell it down the road and try to make a buck on it to fund my 36 Ford project. So that's what I did. I even tried to sell it once, but luckily nobody bit... So, I just drove it more and really started liking the idea of having a "late model" driver. But not being able to leave well enough alone I started polishing on that old paint and trying to bring it back to life with not much luck. It was a bad paint job when it was put on back in the day, and it was still a bad paint job no matter how much polishing I did. So I decided to look into getting the car painted. At first I figured I could do a cheapy "hot rod flats" paint job on it since the satin blue was kinda growing on me. But I happened to stop by a local guy who does paint work for alot of guys in the area and I showed him the car to get his opinion. It just so happened that he had an opening and work was slow this winter and we made a deal to redo the car. I kicked around the idea of keeping it blue but when we realized how straight the body was it had to be black!But... you cant put slick black over old paint...... so off it goes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDan Posted September 16, 2008 Author Share Posted September 16, 2008 We were very pleased to find virtually no rust, rot or damage anywhere on the car. It was originally from Arizona and it showed once the paint was off. You can see in the layers of paint that it was originally dark blue with one repaint of a lighter metallic blue.Several coats of high build primer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDan Posted September 16, 2008 Author Share Posted September 16, 2008 Lots of hours of block sandingEverything Jammed in black... Shot the final coats a week later, and after nearly 40 hrs of sanding and polishing later... the car is black, and boy it was slick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDan Posted September 16, 2008 Author Share Posted September 16, 2008 While the car was in the body shop, I decided to go ahead and redo the complete interior. I decided to keep it all stock and keep the original silver color. I ordered up a set of covers and new foam from Clarks Corvair and decided to try to do it all myself. It was a bit of a challenge, but by the time I got to the last seat I felt like a pro. I had to fix a few broken springs and replace all the burlap as well.Of course the foam didn't fit worth a damn, so it had to be sculpted w/ a grinder to make it fit.While the interior was out I decided to go ahead and purchase some insulation to help quite the car and keep the heat down.Since this pic was taken, I have repaired that ugly steering wheel. It had a ton of cracks, but a tube of PC-7 fixed it right up, along with lots and lots of sanding.Also in this pic you can see I replaced that ugly felt covered dash pad. Since they are very expensive to have re manufactured and the one I had reupholstered looked like crap,I purchased a complete 65 parts car to score this one and several other parts I needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDan Posted September 16, 2008 Author Share Posted September 16, 2008 My parts car: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDan Posted September 16, 2008 Author Share Posted September 16, 2008 So, its a month or so later and the car looks great and I've been driving the snot out of it, but my cut coils ride terrible and it scrapes on nearly every dip in the highway... and thats a little scary when your going 70mph. I had resisted the urge to air bag the car because everyone said how big of a pain in the butt it is to do. There is not much room up front for shocks, so a lot of guys don't even run them, and nobody makes brackets for the Rivi, so I was a little put off by this. But after a few conversations with an Airlift dealer who has done the install, I decided to go with an Airlift Auto Pilot system and use "shockwave" style front bags with the shock incorporated into the bag. I had plans to drive the car to a show 200+ miles away and I only had 2 weeks to get it done so this was the easiest way to solve my ride height issues. And since my 36 was tore apart in my dad's more well equipped shop, I had to do this one in my grungy 2 car w/ just jack stands and hand tools... no fancy lift or air tools on this one I have gone into detail on this part of the build for the guys who want to know how to air bag their Rivi's... so bear with all the pics and details.I started w/ the front and it was simple... just remove the coil/shock, and replace with the air spring.Had to drill a hole in the spring pocket for the air line... I used lots of rubber grommets and lots of insulated hold downs for the airline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDan Posted September 16, 2008 Author Share Posted September 16, 2008 I then moved on to the back, which was just a bit trickier since I just bought some generic bag brackets and hoped they were the right size. They turned out pretty close, but if i did it again I would make them 1" taller top and bottom.Since there was already a stud on the top of the spring pocket, I simply welded a nut to the top bracket and screwed it on to the stud.The rears will be bolted through the bottom of the trailing arm and later tack welded on.Looks like I'll only be limited by the frame on how low to go... I then mounted the compressor, tank, valves and computer to a piece of laminated wood that I covered in thick vinyl.So with all the air line run and all the wiring hooked up, I set the car on the ground (literally since there was on air in the system), and turned the key on and it came to life. I actually hooked everything up right on the first try!Setting this up was incredibly simple... actually the complete install was really simple. We had a few problems w/ some wrong fittings, but we got everything sorted out in time for my trip to KC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDan Posted September 16, 2008 Author Share Posted September 16, 2008 With the car being finished just in the nic of time, I managed to drive it 600 miles over Labor day weekend with out a single problem.So since I promised I would include the finished product... Here are some pics I shot of the finished car earlier this week in all it's frame laying glory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rnscotland Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Very nice job! I finished my bare metal resto late last year but only recently completed the install of bags and little odds and ends with the interior. I got my bags from universal air but had to do a lot of custom fabrication. The kit was sold as a Rivi kit but was made for a Chevy. My car was black when I got it but based on the paint, I suspect it was a fully optioned green Riv. The AC was taken out by the PO but I will install another during the winter.Who did you get your black gas pedal from? Thanks in advance and good luck with your Riv. It looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjp69 Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 very nice looking car Dan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serb Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 SPECTACULAR!!!!Stevo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimtash Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Nice. Can you do me a favor and give me the specs on your wheels. Backspacing as well.Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sergvillarreal Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Wow! Looks great! By the way, any chance that you have part numbers for the air bags that you used for front and rear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bb1970 Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Wow! Looks great! By the way, any chance that you have part numbers for the air bags that you used for front and rear? He has sold this car long ago. I'll bet he doesn't lurk here anymore. You might find him on the HAMB (jalopy journal) website under the same user name. This is one of my favorite Rivs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bepnewt Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 It sure looks nice. Black looks sharp on the old Rivs.rnscotland's is also gorgeous.I may get flogged by the stockers for saying this, but... I do like the '63 - '65s when they have a slightly lowered stance.-BEPNewt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1965rivgs Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Cant fault a "lowered " Riv for being non-stock. Buick did it with the `65 GS model equipped with the H2 ride and handling package! Often times the more things change the more they stay the same... Tom Mooney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bb1970 Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 I think they look GREAT lowered a bit. That is why I had to lower mine. Everyone thought I was nuts to do it. But it looks much better to me. And it's my car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bepnewt Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 (edited) I think they look GREAT lowered a bit. That is why I had to lower mine. Everyone thought I was nuts to do it. But it looks much better to me. And it's my car.I'd love to see a pic of your lowered Riv if you have one, BB. I'll search the forum for one in case you've posted one before.EDIT: Found it. Oddly enough, it's in one of the threads I found while searching a week or so ago. I remembered it from the awesome color. It looks great.-BEPNewt Edited January 26, 2011 by bepnewt (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gee_Rydes Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Gotta say how beautiful that silver interior is. Speechless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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