65VerdeGS

Perhaps it isn't as big a deal as I thought. I'll need to check around to see if any glass shops around here deal with vintage car glass. I'd need to remove my side glass for them to use as a pattern for the holes, and size. Thanks for letting me know this is a possibility.

Yes, I know... It's the glass that is misaligned. It binds with the rubber on the leading edge of the quarter window. I thought to get a new window glass first before opening up the door to fix the alignment issue. Rather do this once, than twice. Search mode ON for that window glass!

Great tips NTX5467! I'll try the Simichrome followed by the cleaner wax and new emblems. Surely they will look better after this treatment. Cheers!

You got it - some listings are definitely scams. There was one scam ad for a '65 GS running in our local Craiglist for a while, until I reported it. The seller was asking $14,500 for a very nice looking example. One tip off was that the background vegetation didn't jibe with the trees that grow around here normally. The other was the stupidly low price, designed to lure an unsuspecting buyer with 'hot pants' for this type of car. My inquiries were met with vague responses to questions about the car and language implying some urgency for a quick sale. Once the seller realized I knew something about Rivieras he stopped responding. I reported the ad as fraudulent and it was pulled down. But these guys soon post in another city hoping to find a sucker, and surely some do, or they wouldn't be running this type of scam.

Here are a couple of pics to show the issue with my driver's door side glass: Note the haziness of the door glass on left compared to the quarter window on the right Here's a close up of the top edge of the door glass. Note the crud which appears etched onto the glass. Might this be hard water deposits? I tried buffing the glass by hand using a couple of glass polishing compounds but it wouldn't move the discoloration. I also tried plain vinegar, which I've used with success before to remove hard water spots on glass. But in this case, nothing seemed to remove the hazy deposit. Any ideas out there on what this mystery hazy deposit might be?

Thanks Wayne! I found his listings and unfortunately he isn't offering a tinted side glass for '65. About a year ago this same seller listed a tinted side glass for '65 which I bought on the spot with "Buy it Now". Unfortunately, the seller cancelled the sale because he couldn't find the glass among his stash. Sigh!

Yes, it is flat glass, but not just any regular glass. It would need to be tempered and green tinted, and I doubt a local glass shop would be able to duplicate the shape and thickness of the door glass, including the mounting holes and beveled edges of the OEM glass. This would be a custom job, and even if they could do it, I'm sure it would be expensive!

My driver's door side glass has some scratches, but the main issue is the window has gone cloudy. It's a subtle milky-like sheen than I cannot remove with glass polish or fine steel wool, etc. It's not noticeable looking at the glass from a perpendicular orientation. But when looked at from an angle, with the rear quarter glass also up, it is fairly noticeable because the rear glass (and vent window glass) remain transparent while the driver's door looks slightly cloudy. So, polishing isn't likely to remove the cloudiness which is why I'm looking to get a replacement tinted window. Polishing out window scratches is very labor intensive and would hardly be worth doing if it didn't also remove the cloudiness. That's why I'm looking to buy replacement glass.

Hi Wayne, I searched eBay for item # 17608033630 and nothing comes up. I also searched this number under sold items - no dice. Seaches for "64 st400 tranny" and similar also came up empty. Any chance you could look up the sellers name and let me know? Thanks and Happy New Year!

Fortunately, my seat belts are in good shape and don't require rewebbing. I'm only looking at how to remove the fine scratches from the chromed buckles. I'll try gentle polishing of the chrome with the Simichrome and will report bsck.

I'd like to replace the driver's door glass on my '65 which has become slightly cloudy and scratched. Auto City Classics website lists side glass and windshields for 1st Gen Rivieras. Here's their listing for tinted side glass: https://www.autocityclassic.com/1963-1965-2-door-hardtop-coupe-riviera-jobs-4747-gs-49447/1965-buick-riviera-gs-2-door-hardtop-coupe-door-glass-d4469t/ Has anyone bought side glass from them before? The price seems quite reasonable. I'm concerned that the glass might be thinner than OEM, and of course the fitment must be correct for a '65. Are passenger and driver's side door glass interchangeable? Or must I specify which side?

Thanks Loren and Winston for the leads on reproduction carriage emblems! OPGI lists these carriage emblems for '65 and '66, but they are not correct for '65: The Parts Place sells the correct red carriage emblems, so I'll be ordering a pair from them:

Nice Caddy you have there! I owned a '68 Eldorado for 20 years, and sold it to buy a '67 Corvette. I've owned my '65 Riviera for 40 years and many here would agree that Buick made the Riviera into a very fine car back then. My Riviera went from daily driver to collector car and proved to be extremely reliable throughout. This thanks to it's 'overbuilt' quality and sound engineering. These cars are good old analog technology and are very restorable. However, beware a car that needs a lot of work for they can be complex and costly to properly restore. I don't know if there is more front leg room in the 71-72's, but you will find it limited in the '64-65 cars. I'm six feet and there's plenty of room for me in my '65. However, you're almost half a foot taller, so expect you won't like the knees in the chest feeling when driving this car. Yes, Jim Cannon and others have posted here on how to move the front seats back by installing fairly simple brackets. This is something I want to do for the passenger seat of my car which seems more limited in travel than the power driver's seat. What to look out for when purchasing an older Riviera is a longer topic than I can cover here, and you'll find plenty of advice about that on this forum. As far as the first generation Rivieras ('63 to '65), here are some things to watch for: Rust around back window - water gets into the trunk, and can rot out the body mounts beneath the trunk floor. Rusty floorpans and rear quarters - inspect carefully. Sagging rear springs - not a big deal as replacements are readily available. Heater core is difficult and time consuming to access from inside the car. If it needs one you can get at it from the engine side with some cutting of the firewall. A/C system on cars so equipped is somewhat complex and may need converting from Freon 12 to 134a. If the system has been opened to air then the restoration will be more difficult and costly. Some brightwork trim is hard to obtain, e.g. halo moldings around headlghts on the '65. Limited reproduction parts available as compared to Mustang Chevelle and Camaro. Buy the best car you can afford vs. a rougher example needing a lot of work. The '65 is priced a bit higher than the '64, and the '65 Gran Sport is the most expensive. The '64 is every bit as good a car as the '65, but the latter has a variable-pitch torque converter automatic, which gives it a slight performance advantage. Join the Riviera Owners Association to access their online back issue database. They've published articles specifically on what to look for when examining a prospective Riviera purchase. If you find a car of interest to you, post pictures and details to this forum so that we can give you pertinent advice. Good luck in your search!

What's the best way to polish out fine scratches from chromed seat belt buckles? Here's a pic of one of the seat belt buckles in my '65: What polish and technique should I use to remove those fine scratches? Are these buckles made of stainless steel? Or are they chromed (regular) steel? Does anyone sell reproduction red Fisher Body carriage emblems that go on the latch portion of the buckle? Thanks for your tips and suggestions!

Hi Pilk, Just saw this thread as I've been away on vacation for a while... I'll ditto much of what Tom and others are saying. This may not be the right car to do a full restoration on, esp. if you're on a limited budget and must farm out a lot of the work. My '65 had the rear leaking rear window and rust bubbles coming through in both rear quarter panels. The trunk was rotted just like yours, but not quite as rusted through. I was very fortunate to find a bodyman in 2001 who took a personal interest in my car. He worked from home, restoring one car at a time. I took him 18 months to do mine. He rebuilt the trunk floor, and the inner rear wheel wells and quarter panels. He even duplicated the original gussets in the trunk floor. Back then there were no patch panels sold for our Rivieras. Did you see that these cars have an inner and outer layer of metal in the rear quarters? He fabricated all patch panels by hand. He advised against taking the body off the frame because other than the trunk and rear quarters, the rest of the car was relatively rust-free. He stripped the car down to bare metal and refinished it in base-clear. Now this guy was a genius, because today, almost 23 years later, not one bubble of rust has come through. I'm sure the cost of doing this level of restoration would be very expensive today compared to back then. Your car is rusty in more places than mine was, but overall doesn't appear so far gone as to dismiss the project out of hand. Let us know what you decide. Good luck!

That gold GS does have some 'anomalies', as others indicated. Other non-stock items are the outside rear view mirror on the passenger side, and unusual seat belt retractor mechanisms. Yes, it's rather nit-picky (and fun) to criticize what is otherwise a very nice car. But the prices on Gran Sports are getting out of hand!

This POR-15 paint is a pretty close match to the grey used on the original '65 chrome wheels. I used the POR-15 Manifold Grey paint to touch up my chrome wheel webs by first cleaning thoroughly and using a narrow foam brush, wiping away any paint that got where it wasn't supposed to go (i.e. on the chromed part of the wheel). A pint can iwill be enough to do several sets of wheels. And this stuff really sticks. No hint of it peeling off since I applied it a couple of years ago. Another thing - wear gloves because this stuff will not come off your hands no matter how much scrubbing you do! Here's the result. Never mind the ruler - I was checking ride height after installing new springs.

Seafoam65 - Are Yokohama tires still made in Japan? I've always run my tires (presently Hankooks) at 32psi, all around. But after reading your post I will up that to 40psi in the interest of fractionally higher gas mileage and possibly lowered tire wear. Would you inflate radial tires in other cars to 40psi, or just the Riviera? I have a set of older Bridgestone radials on my '67 Corvette, which is why I'm asking.

Yes Eric - I meant the window sticker. There were no build sheets on 1st Gen Rivieras. I know for Corvettes they started gluing build sheets onto the top of the gas tanks, starting with the 1967 model year.

I doubt this car belongs to an ROA member, because the description says "... spent time in Georgia and Texas before its 2023 acquisition by the seller." Sounds like the current owner is looking to flip the car after having only bought it this year. I notice it's got the standard interior, wrong aluminum radiator, and real wire wheels that are not stock (but look good!). The data plate on the cowl says it was built during the first week of June 1965. A fairly late build. Someone got creative in solving the sagging rear suspension by fabricating mounts to raise the springs: Probably a candidate for new rear springs, I'd say. Seems like a nice car overall. Cool to see the original build sheet and Protect-O-Plate included. Already bid to $25k with 7 days to go... Let's see where this one winds up at.

Hi Brian, Thanks for the contact info for Mark Wheeler. I just emailed Mark and look forward to receiving a copy of the judging sheets. Cheers,

I entered my '65 Riviera in the BCA Nationals at Spokane, WA this past July. I would like to receive a copy (or scan preferred) of the judging sheets for my car. Who can I email to receive this information? Is there a cost? Thanks in advance for your help!

My bet is a bad starter. I had a similar problem but mine would not start when the car had been running for a while and I tried to re-start soon after. Letting the beast cool down allowed the starter to resume working as it should. Likely armature issue or some other mystery in the starter. I replaced my starter and the problem went away. Craig - Let us know once you solve your issue so we can learn from your experience. Good luck!

How about this pair of stablemates?

I replaced the water pump on my non-A/C '65 Gran Sport about four years ago. The one that came off the car had 3 vanes. The replacement had 5 vanes. The pump wasn't anything special as I got it from my local parts jobber. I have noticed better cooling with the 5 vane water pump. Previously the car would border on overheating anytime the temps got above 85 F with the car idling for any length of time. Since the 5 vane pump went in we've had two of the hottest summers on record here in the Pacific Northwest, and the car never overheated. We drove the car to the BCA Nationals in Spokane, WA this July and temps were daily into the mid 90's with no problems or the high temp dummy light flickering on when idling. As no other changes have been made to the car's cooling system, I must assume the 5 vane water pump is responsible for the improved cooling capability.