a piece of unobtanium for sale on ebay

[Seafoam65]

            There is a brand new 1965 hood spear with stand up ornament new in the box on ebay right now.

I've never seen one of these come up for sale and doubt I ever will again. If you have one that is pitted

or damaged......jump on this, these are impossible to find in this condition.

Edited November 17, 2017 by Seafoam65 (see edit history)

[NC1968Riviera]

1 hour ago, Seafoam65 said:

brand new 1965 hood spear

Can you provide the link please?

 

Is it this?

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BUICK-1964-1965-RIVIERA-CENTER-HOOD-MOULDING-WITH-NOS-EMBLEM-GM-TRIM/263318286048?hash=item3d4efe2ee0:g:RzgAAOSwk~ZaCIci&vxp=mtr

BUICK 1964 1965 RIVIERA CENTER HOOD MOULDING WITH NOS EMBLEM GM TRIM

Current bid: US $207.50 as of 17 NOV 2017 @ 2:49 PM EST

Edited November 17, 2017 by NCRiviera (see edit history)

[PWB]

Holly Hannah! Priceless - should be in the Sloan.

 

Reminds me of my grill.

 

Someone is gonna pay, dearly.

[68RIVGS]

. . . but one more "Holy Grail" of NOS Riviera parts !!

[Rivman]

Thanks Winston ...

 

I am watching it for sure! Now I just have to decide how bad I want it, how much I want to pay that is!

[Hazdaz]

So there are no replacements for these kinds of parts?

 

I've always considered making reproduction parts but never put much effort into it because didn't think it would be lucrative enough. 

[RivNut]

Youll probably have to use the profits from the 1st 100 just to pay for the rights from GM. ?

[Chimera]

Hmm. Not sure it is worth a high dollar really. Certainly a cool item though.

 

Can find many hood spears that basically look NOS, would just have to re-chrome the "R" circle thingy...

[PWB]

De-chrome, pit solder filling, copper plate, level, copper plate again, chrome plate then media blast the top center length of the spear for the ghosting. Re-studing a possibly lost stud is a method of welding all on its own.

Not every layman's task to restore.

Its original one time only.

1965 ...the epitome of the Riviera.

 

 

 

[Chimera]

The many 65 hood spears in the collection we had looked virtually NOS, which is why I mentioned it. 

 

Your 67 grill is WAY more of a significant piece for example. Not a bunch of those laying around. 

[KongaMan]

When you put this on your car, only you will know.  And once you put it on, it's just a nice used part.

[RivNut]

It might be worth it if you could find every other piece of trim thats NOS to go with it.  I don't remember if it's on this forum or on a different Buick forum, but there's quite a post on "NOS." Apparently,  at least according to this guy, any parts that didn't fit correctly during final inspection were replaced.  The pulled part was thrown into a bin and later sent to a dealership.  Lots of what is now being touted as NOS are those originally discarded parts.  Makes a guy want to think twice. ? Whether this is true or a Flint urban myth is yet to be discovered. But.......

Edited November 18, 2017 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Rivman]

Yep, I posted the NOS thing in this post ...

 

Any reputable pot metal restorers out there?

 

And here is the link to the article ...

 

Iverson Automotive … New Old Stock (NOS)

 

It does make one think, BUT, I will still keep an eye on this molding.

[68RIVGS]

I think it was here Ed, in the info on pot metal re-chrome process post, I remembered it too -  thanks Randall !

Some NOS trim pieces I collected for my Riviera restoration were sub standard, and when it came time to re-chrome the parts I was unable to obtain I had to make a decision.

Mix NOS pieces with re-chromed parts, or just re-chrome all the original trim pieces ?

I was lucky and got a really good deal on re-chroming all the originals, so I kept a few scarce NOS pieces, and sold off the rest to offset the cost of re-chroming the originals.

. . . almost like robbing Peter to pay Paul. 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2017 by 68RIVGS (see edit history)

[1965rivgs]

On 11/17/2017 at 6:54 PM, Chimera said:

Hmm. Not sure it is worth a high dollar really. Certainly a cool item though.

 

Can find many hood spears that basically look NOS, would just have to re-chrome the "R" circle thingy...

Pretty sure the "R" is available as a repro and is very inexpensive

  Tom

[1965rivgs]

21 hours ago, RivNut said:

It might be worth it if you could find every other piece of trim thats NOS to go with it.  I don't remember if it's on this forum or on a different Buick forum, but there's quite a post on "NOS." Apparently,  at least according to this guy, any parts that didn't fit correctly during final inspection were replaced.  The pulled part was thrown into a bin and later sent to a dealership.  Lots of what is now being touted as NOS are those originally discarded parts.  Makes a guy want to think twice. ? Whether this is true or a Flint urban myth is yet to be discovered. But.......

Ed, didnt read the original post but this is consistent with my experience over the years...very often an "NOS" part, even when accompanied by the original box, is flawed. Years ago I had the experience of cleaning out the attics of old Buick dealers, sometimes taking out ALOT of parts from high volume dealers, and came to the conclusion that at the dealership level parts were replaced on customers cars and the old part reinserted into the original box and retained by the dealership. My guess is the removed part was supposed to be returned to GM for warranty credit but the parts manager dropped the ball and the part ended up in the attic. Whenever approaching the dealer`s parts manager about cleaning out their attic there was always this under current that what we were doing was to be kept quiet and low key. It wasnt a money thing because the dealership was always reimbursed directly so I was consistently left with the impression the existence of the parts stashed in the attic was a no-no which was not to be exposed.

I have questioned former GM employees at higher management levels in the parts system whether parts not suitable for production due to quality were diverted into the parts replacement system and the answer is always a very firm and definitive "NO". Great subject for discussion...

  Tom

[Rivman]

I gave it a try, oh well maybe next time, if there is a next time.

 

It finished at $455.01!!!

[PWB]

What a good re-chrome would cost as well.

Chaaaa Chiiiing!

 

 

[petelempert]

It all about supply and demand. If somebody has the perfect 65 except for the spear...they'll gladly pay through the nose to get the best one. Especially for a part that sits in such plain view. For that customer, this price was a bargain. How do I know? I just shelled out $50 for a Pontiac emblem that should have cost me $15. $50 really isn't that much, but it needs to be re-chromed and painted so it's hardly some pristine NOS example. But, it's a limited run car, a few of the emblems are not reproduced and are super hard to find. Plus it sits right up front above the headlight. Without it, there are two open mounting holes for me to stare at. I probably would have paid $150 just to get it. PRL
 

[60FlatTop]

On 11/19/2017 at 8:55 AM, 1965rivgs said:

I have questioned former GM employees at higher management levels in the parts system whether parts not suitable for production due to quality were diverted into the parts replacement system and the answer is always a very firm and definitive "NO".

 

They may not have known.

Ar Rochester Products door lock sets were graded as Driver door, Passenger door, and junk depending on how smoothly they operated. Who used it more in descending order.

 

My Great Uncle Sam worked for Chrysler in the 1920's and 1930's. He always told me to watch out foe end-of-year-cars. Substandard parts were stored in bins and used up to build the last production units.

 

I painted my '64 Riviera in 1981 and orders NOS fender badges through the dealer. They were laughable in quality, kind of like sandblasted before plating. My car still has the much higher quality original ones. The new ones went on Ebay.

 

The "definitive NO" makes me smile. My Wife and I are at an age where we use medical services more frequently, she more than I. Every time we leave for an appointment I ask her "What will it be this time? Ignorance or stupidity?" We never fail to encounter one of the two. Tell a service provider that and they are incredulous, but they are younger and don't know.... like the GM worker.

 

I asked our pharmacist if he had an anti-endorphin pill because I had an appointment with a specialist and new I was going to be so happy!

 

On the Ebay price of $455, that is nothing for a regular Ebay user if you are buying AND selling. I used to do about $1,000 a month on Ebay selling stuff that should have been thrown out, money found in the bottom of a garage can. I used to call it Ebaybucks, reminiscent of interdepartmental Kodabucks in the old film company.  

 

Bernie

[Seafoam65]

                 I don't see how you can restore one of those spears.....that gray finish in the middle of it would be very difficult to duplicate

with paint. Most used ones have pits in them.......455.01 sounds like a screaming bargain for an nos piece to me. If my car needed one that piece would

have been on the way to me already.  

[Rivman]

I would have gone higher had I known I needed to, but, I recently changed my internet speed and couldn't get in another bid before it ended. I guess I should have just gone higher in the first place?!?!?

[Seafoam65]

                       Randall, if you really know you want it, you have to go high with about  one minute left on the auction so there is no time

for the other guy to change his bid.  When I bought my car, it had factory door edge guards that were badly dented on both doors. They were

original to the car and were on my original window sticker. I could not remove them without repainting the doors, because the paint was badly chipped

underneath them from when they were installed. Lots of luck matching a 42 year old lacquer paint job....... I knew I just flat had to find some nos ones. I put the word out and some people claimed that the last

NOS set was sold unceremoniously about fifteen years ago and lots of luck ever finding any. I was looking for some constantly, when someone on the forum who

knew I was looking came across some on ebay that my search was not turning up for some reason due to the words I was entering. The current bid when I first

looked at them was 300.00 and there were three other folks bidding on them. I calculated that it would take 600-800 dollars to buy them,  and I absolutely

knew I had to have them, so I waited till  a minute and a half was left with the bidding at 300.00 and I put in a bid of 1200.00. I won the auction at 675.00,

and the bidding history showed that another guy bid 670.00 at the last second but it wasn't enough and I won. Those parts

completely transformed the looks of my car, and I've never heard of another set for sale and doubt that I ever will. I am eternally grateful to the guy that told

me about them because my search never would have turned them up.

Edited November 20, 2017 by Seafoam65 (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

Use a maximum bid of $50,000 if you want something on Ebay. If the final bid looks too high or manipulated, just refuse to buy it.

 

On Ebay the buyer can do no wrong. Remember when a seller could leave feedback about a buyer? That changed, do whatever you want... if you are a buyer.

Bernie

[Chimera]

Guys, 65 spears in good NOS like condition are not hard to find. Thats what I was trying to tell you...

[Seafoam65]

                  There may be some nice ones out there, but it is doubtful that they look as nice as nos. Also I've noticed that used ones for sale

usually have at least one or two of the studs broken off. The big problem in buying a used one is if you don't look at it in person, you can't tell if it is pitted or not.

They all look good in a photo.  

[Chimera]

You may have doubt, but the spear itself I am guess most could not tell the difference. Kept in storage in dry conditions.

 

Of course NOS is usually the way to go, not sure here personally.

[DualQuadDave]

On 11/19/2017 at 8:37 AM, 1965rivgs said:

Pretty sure the "R" is available as a repro and is very inexpensive

  Tom

The "R" that is available is crappy at best. I have installed about a dozen of them. They strip immediately once in position. The originals weight double compared to the new ones.