Early Riviera radiator tag

[Seafoam65]

                I have been noticing tan colored tags for sale on ebay for 60's buicks that give instructions 

for maintaining the coolant in the radiator. At the bottom is a blank where the date the coolant strength

was checked  during make-ready at the dealer could be written down. My first inclination was I was

skeptical that these were  actually put on early Rivieras. These tags were supposedly wired to the radiator neck below

the cap. Then today I was looking at an old Musclecar Review magazine from a few years ago and low and behold they

had an underhood shot of a brand new 63 Riviera being tested for a car magazine. In the picture, the hood is open and

the magazine tester is removing the air cleaner to get a shot of the carb and intake. I fell out of my chair when I immediately

spied the tan tag under the hood, identical to the one being sold on ebay.........But it was not wired to the radiator neck! Instead,

it was wired to the radiator overflow hose halfway between the radiator cap and the battery. It was perched right on top of the radiator tank

and the end of it was slightly draped over the radiator support. After seeing this pic, I'm going to put one on my car in the exact same spot....

very cool!

UPDATE.........I found the picture on the internet.......to see it google search:         Buick Riviera road test 1963 Flickr. The whole article and all pics are there,

very interesting read. there were some mistakes, like the statement that you could not get a leather interior.

Edited May 11, 2018 by Seafoam65 (see edit history)

[Riviera63]

2 hours ago, Seafoam65 said:

                I have been noticing tan colored tags for sale on ebay for 60's buicks that give instructions 

for maintaining the coolant in the radiator. At the bottom is a blank where the date the coolant strength

was checked  during make-ready at the dealer could be written down. My first inclination was I was

skeptical that these were  actually put on early Rivieras. These tags were supposedly wired to the radiator neck below

the cap. Then today I was looking at an old Musclecar Review magazine from a few years ago and low and behold they

had an underhood shot of a brand new 63 Riviera being tested for a car magazine. In the picture, the hood is open and

the magazine tester is removing the air cleaner to get a shot of the carb and intake. I fell out of my chair when I immediately

spied the tan tag under the hood, identical to the one being sold on ebay.........But it was not wired to the radiator neck! Instead,

it was wired to the radiator overflow hose halfway between the radiator cap and the battery. It was perched right on top of the radiator tank

and the end of it was slightly draped over the radiator support. After seeing this pic, I'm going to put one on my car in the exact same spot....

very cool!

UPDATE.........I found the picture on the internet.......to see it google search:         Buick Riviera road test 1963 Flickr. The whole article and all pics are there,

very interesting read. there were some mistakes, like the statement that you could not get a leather interior.

 

Winston,

 

Is the tag like the first one I have pictured? This is a tag I had been using for years on my 1963 Pontiac before I sold it and now on my 1963 Riviera. I had found out years ago that these were used on the 60's Pontiacs and attached as you said to the radiator overflow hose. I assumed it would have been used on the other GM makes as well. I have seen these sold through various vendors such as Jim Osborn and Ames Performance. I have also pictured another tag that I do not use that I picked up somewhere along the line. Where or when I don't recall. I would have to think that it would have been advertised as used on 63 GM's or I would not have purchased it. Maybe someone on the forum will recognize this one and what its application is.

 

Bill

 

P.S. I just happened to have that Motor Trend magazine. The tag picture attached.

 

 

 

Edited May 11, 2018 by Riviera63
edit pictures and text (see edit history)

[1965rivgs]

Notice the battery...the posts are toward the front of the case and the cables go over the caps to attach. 

 

  Tom

[Seafoam65]

1 hour ago, Riviera63 said:

 

Winston,

 

Is the tag like the first one I have pictured? This is a tag I had been using for years on my 1963 Pontiac before I sold it and now on my 1963 Riviera. I had found out years ago that these were used on the 60's Pontiacs and attached as you said to the radiator overflow hose. I assumed it would have been used on the other GM makes as well. I have seen these sold through various vendors such as Jim Osborn and Ames Performance. I have also pictured another tag that I do not use that I picked up somewhere along the line. Where or when I don't recall. I would have to think that it would have been advertised as used on 63 GM's or I would not have purchased it. Maybe someone on the forum will recognize this one and what its application is.

 

Bill

 

P.S. I just happened to have that Motor Trend magazine. The tag picture attached.

 

 

 

Yes, the tag for sale is like the first picture, and it appears to be the tag in the 1963 photo

[Seafoam65]

1 hour ago, 1965rivgs said:

Notice the battery...the posts are toward the front of the case and the cables go over the caps to attach. 

 

  Tom

Tom, if you look at the understructure of the hood, you can see that with the battery installed with the posts toward the front of the car, there

is a large depression in the hood structure that gives tons of clearance for the battery posts to stay away from the hood when it is closed  that lines

up exactly with the posts. When you turn the battery around with the posts towards the rear, the posts line up with a protruding structural brace

that just barely clears the battery posts. It is obvious that this is the reason why Buick mounted the battery with the posts towards the front of the car,

which defies normal convention.  Interestingly enough, if you google search images of early Riviera engine compartments, you can't find a single picture where people have the battery mounted with the posts towards the front of the car........It just defies normal logic. 

Edited May 11, 2018 by Seafoam65 (see edit history)

[Seafoam65]

                          Another very interesting picture in the article shows where Buick put the tire iron from the factory on the cars with the

spare tire in the main trunk area and not the front shelf.

[1965rivgs]

3 hours ago, Seafoam65 said:

Tom, if you look at the understructure of the hood, you can see that with the battery installed with the posts toward the front of the car, there

is a large depression in the hood structure that gives tons of clearance for the battery posts to stay away from the hood when it is closed  that lines

up exactly with the posts. When you turn the battery around with the posts towards the rear, the posts line up with a protruding structural brace

that just barely clears the battery posts. It is obvious that this is the reason why Buick mounted the battery with the posts towards the front of the car,

which defies normal convention.  Interestingly enough, if you google search images of early Riviera engine compartments, you can't find a single picture where people have the battery mounted with the posts towards the front of the car........It just defies normal logic. 

Yes...I have been telling people for years that is the way the battery was originally mounted. The battery is shown this way in original photos in the Buick Service Bulletins.

Tom

[1965rivgs]

3 hours ago, Seafoam65 said:

                          Another very interesting picture in the article shows where Buick put the tire iron from the factory on the cars with the

spare tire in the main trunk area and not the front shelf.

The early `63`s had the tire mounted in the main trunk area. At some point in the model year it was moved to the shelf.

Tom

[Chasander]

brake booster does not appear to be black

[Riviera63]

11 hours ago, Seafoam65 said:

                          Another very interesting picture in the article shows where Buick put the tire iron from the factory on the cars with the

spare tire in the main trunk area and not the front shelf.

 

Here's that picture.

 

 

[1965rivgs]

  Although these period pictures are a GREAT source of original information, as are the original Service Bulletins, one has to be careful about drawing "concrete" conclusions from the photos.

  For instance, the car pictured has been undoubtedly and thoroughly dealer prepared before being submitted to journalists for testing. Is it possible the "original" factory position of the lug wrench has been changed by the dealer or  magazine staffers?? Of course this is possible as they are literally doing so in the photo. 

  In spite of having stated the above I am very confident this IS the correct factory position for the lug wrench but NOT because I see so in this photo, but because I have an engineering drawing from the  1963 FACTORY ASSEMBLY MANUAL which instructs the assembly line personnel to place it in this position. The factory assembly manual is "bible" in regard to originality...but keep in mind not ALWAYS so as changes in production which deviate from the assembly manual are always a possibility, but surely a very convincing source of info. I have posted this picture here on the forum in the not too distant past. If someone has the time to find it and re-post or has it handy to re-post that would be great.

  ALSO, keep in mind this is a `63 Riviera, not necessarily a `64 or `65. So there is that caveat before one can draw conclusions about ALL first gen Rivs.

  In my opinion, for the same reasons, I am not convinced the pictured tag regarding antifreeze is a "factory" item. Is it possible this was an item used by a particular dealer during new car prep or in the first service/warranty visit? Although I am "optimistic" this is a factory item, because of the easily manipulated nature of the item, just like the tire iron, I am not "convinced" this was a factory installed item. To become convinced, I would need to see the pattern repeated (and I`m not referring to people who over restore a car for show purposes) or see some sort of reference like the factory assembly info or other original photos like magazine tests or period Service Bulletins.

  I will check the sources at my disposal to see if I can uncover more evidence re the antifreeze tag.

Tom

 

Edited May 12, 2018 by 1965rivgs (see edit history)