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My new purchase


Chewbacca

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Hi all

 

New owner from the UK. I have just purchased this 64 from Florida and having it shipped here over the winter to hopefully enjoy next summer. My contact who inspected the car said that it is a straight survivor car although with new seat covering and headliner. I'm not expecting a show car but hope it can go straight on the road.

 

Always loved the first gen Riviera ever since I got into American cars as a 9 year old and now I have one. I'm stepping out of a 66 Mustang coupe which was my first US car. Mustangs are pretty simple to maintain even over here with there superb parts coverage and somewhat basic design so it was an ideal first step but now I'm ready for the dream car (well, a 65 would have been the dream car but couldn't find one I could afford).

 

As far as I can find out, there are only 5 other 64's in the UK (and maybe 20 first gen cars) so I'm joining a pretty exclusive club over here.

 

Expect lots of basic questions !

 

If anyone recognises the car, I'd love to hear from you.

Full car.jpg

Interior.jpg

Rear threequarter.jpg

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Congrats & welcome, Chewy!  We consider this a pretty exclusive club here too, but we love our overseas members. You'll be talking to Riv owners from all over the globe here on the forum, & I think you'll find this to be an incredible source of information, used parts, & camaraderie. Currently I'm experiencing carburetor problems and they're coming out of the woodwork to help me, as you may have seen. Next thing you need to do is subscribe to the club magazine, The Riview, & possibly submit your story as a feature one day. I am a Floridian but it's a big state, so I haven't seen your Riv. But it's distinctive with the passenger side mirror, something you don't see often. So maybe someone will report a sighting. Good luck, let us know when your Riv arrives, & of course give our regards to the Queen.      Drew (RIVNIK)   

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Chewy, Welcome and congrats on the new Riviera purchase! I will be looking forward to hearing more about your new car and the experiences you are having with it.

 

You should also consider joining the Riviera Owners Association to get access to an extensive treasure trove of Riviera information, classified adverts, and a pretty sexy club magazine! Membership is not required to be a participant of this forum but it doesn't hurt either!

 

Best wishes to you and yours this holiday season (Merry/Happy Christmas!)

 

Edited by Fayetteville, NC (see edit history)
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As you mentioned it appears to be a wall kept survivor.  There's always an interest for articles on Rivieras from "over seas" owners.  Ownership is always a good reason to go on holiday to the U.S. for our annual events. Bring along the wife and kids.

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Hi Chewbacca,

welcome to this forum and great choice of vehicle. First generations are a great choice, very different. You location interested me as we were in the UK last Christmas visiting my daughter and Jo’s brother and sister. 

8 hours ago, Hazdaz said:

Nice looking Riv.  Good color combo.  This might be a smaller car from the era, but a first gen Riv is still going to be a big car for a lot of UK roads.  Tell us how it all makes out.

 

And everywhere we went in our Vauxhall Mokka hire car, I’m thinking “ how would I get my ‘63 in here,? my ‘63 is too big to fit down here ! I couldn’t park my Riviera here in this car park! etc etc.

 

Your  motorways are great but there are a few roads (well lots really) that are tiny, tiny, tiny wee small roads!  Good of luck squeezing past!

 

Rodney ?

 

 

 

B8B8BD76-87A5-4D65-BB66-554BEF9C91E1.png

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the welcome guys and I will join the owners club.

 

I'll have a look at the tyres when it arrives as I agree it would look better with whitewalls but if they have plenty of meat on them I will wear them down first.

 

One of the pleasures of owning a big yank in the UK is that there is very little jealousy towards them unlike big Euro cars or Chelsea tractors (expensive SUV's). If you hit a narrow road, you can be pretty sure that people will make way for you. I also live in the quietest part of England (2nd largest county by area, smallest population) so traffic density is low round here by UK standards. I'm not expecting problems other than filling up with $10 per gallon fuel!

 

 

Engine.jpg

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5 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Thanks for the welcome guys and I will join the owners club.

 

I'll have a look at the tyres when it arrives as I agree it would look better with whitewalls but if they have plenty of meat on them I will wear them down first.

 

One of the pleasures of owning a big yank in the UK is that there is very little jealousy towards them unlike big Euro cars or Chelsea tractors (expensive SUV's). If you hit a narrow road, you can be pretty sure that people will make way for you. I also live in the quietest part of England (2nd largest county by area, smallest population) so traffic density is low round here by UK standards. I'm not expecting problems other than filling up with $10 per gallon fuel!

 

 

Engine.jpg

While you're inspecting the TIRES for wear, look at the date code on each tire. Any tire approaching seven years of age should be considered for replacement.   The tread may look good, but after seven years you should expect that the rubber itself is beginning to deteriorate within itself.   There is plenty of support for this, just check it out.  There are sites on the internet that show/tell you how to read date codes.

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8 hours ago, RivNut said:

While you're inspecting the TIRES for wear, look at the date code on each tire. Any tire approaching seven years of age should be considered for replacement.   The tread may look good, but after seven years you should expect that the rubber itself is beginning to deteriorate within itself.   There is plenty of support for this, just check it out.  There are sites on the internet that show/tell you how to read date codes.

Great minds think alike. :D  I'm just about to replace a set of tires that look almost new.  They have plenty of tread, and I doubt they have more than a couple of thousand miles on them.  Trouble is, I bought them in 1980. :blink:   NFW am I careening down the back roads of Konga Land on those things.  I'm not even that wild about driving across town on them.

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10 hours ago, smithbrother said:

It looks GREAT with BLACK tires.  Red lines would also look great.

 

But, I like the competive look of Black or Red lines,

 

Dale in Indy 

 

With it being black, I think redlines would look very cool but they are nigh on impossible to get in the UK without paying megabucks.

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British Spring     50F

British Summer 50F

British Autumn  50F

British Winter     50F

 

We're not cool so much as mild

 

I live in Newcastle upon Tyne (which makes me a Geordie - check out our strange accent on youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY4TT3VtR8o). We are at 55 degrees latitude which is north of Seattle, Winnipeg and Moscow. We have the Gulf Stream to thank for our mild climate.

 

Edited by Chewbacca (see edit history)
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On 1/4/2018 at 4:25 AM, Chewbacca said:

British Spring     50F

British Summer 50F

British Autumn  50F

British Winter     50F

 

We're not cool so much as mild

 

I live in Newcastle upon Tyne (which makes me a Geordie - check out our strange accent on youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY4TT3VtR8o). We are at 55 degrees latitude which is north of Seattle, Winnipeg and Moscow. We have the Gulf Stream to thank for our mild climate.

 

 

I’d like some of the gulf heat returned please. Been <30’ F here in Florida for several nights. 

Welcome to the forum and happy new year ✌️

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

OK, so the car has now arrived. Goes through our safety check next week before I can register it to drive on the road.

 

A few bits and pieces missing or broken but that is only to be expected but one thing has surprised me. The paint is Regal Black according to the VIN and I was expecting a flat black but it appears to be a fine metallic. Is this correct? 

 

I'll be taking some photographs of the various broken bits to ask advice on replacing or repairing them.

 

All the best

Chewie

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17 minutes ago, RivNut said:

Regal black is a gloss black, not flat.  And no, there is no metallic in it (at least if it's the correct factory color.)

If it were metallic, I believe it would be called Pearl Black which is a GM offered color (late Pontiac's had this color).

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By flat back I meant plain rather than matt. One of those ‘divided by a common language’ sayings I guess. 

 

Not going to be easy to repair then. It has a few bubbles on the trunk lid but they might have to wait until I can afford a full respray. Thanks for confirming my suspicions.

Edited by Chewbacca (see edit history)
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  • 3 weeks later...

So she failed the UK safety test on multiple items. Some I anticipated due to LHD (headlights) and some you just get used to when importing cars from the US. The parking brake system is seized through lack of use, the windscreen washer motor is inoperative, the horn doesn't work and the power steering leaks like the Titanic. My Mustang had all the same issues when it came in from the US and are all easy and cheap to fix.

 

Of more concern is the massive side to side play in the rear suspension. I guess this is the radius rod bushes. Is this a difficult job?

Edited by Chewbacca (see edit history)
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