bepnewt

I saw this shot on TV about 3 days ago. It was a show talking about a guy who makes guitars and Steve Miller has one of his guitars. -BEPNewt

Guess what? I just saw your car! It was on the very front / top of the car hauler heading south on Highway 169, turning west onto the Creek Turnpike (west) towards Oklahoma City. I was coming up behind the hauler and saw a blue '65 on front and wondered if it could possibly be yours but since I was passing it on the left, I couldn't see much, so tried to get a pic with my phone. I took 2 quick pics, got in front of it, switched 2 lanes to the right so I could see the plate in my side-view mirror and saw "AE3...." (backwards) as I was exiting my exit. So, at least for now, you don't have to worry about it getting hit from behind. I'd be worried about a quick stop and it flying off the front! She's on her way! -BEPNewt

Well, shucks. We tried tonight to get the A/C rigged on The 'Riv for the trip to Branson and failed. The POA valve is shot. So, no air. Which means no wife for the trip if I take The 'Riv. Since my wife is as awesome as they come ( except for her allegiance to vehicles with A/C ), we're still going but will be in her Escape. Big downer, but at least I'll get to meet a slew of you guys and see some pretty cars in the process. Maybe I'll even learn and thing or 10! So, after taking off early from work tomorrow, we'll be on the road to Branson. Can't wait to get there, looking forward to the trip. -BEPNewt

It's only 9:23am on Day 1 and I'm already here checking for some good pics! On that note, do people usually upload the pics from the meets here, or is there another site where that is done? -BEPNewt

Thank for starting this thread. My dash looks ok, but does have a crack on the left side, kinda out of sight so I haven't worried about it for now. It's definitely lower on my list of things to deal with but now I have a thread to look back on. Keep us up-to-date on how you deal with it. It's great to have any modifications / fixes documented on the forums for future searchers. -BEPNewt

Thanks for the info, Jim. Offer is still open if anyone wants good pics for starting negotiations with the guy. -BEPNewt

I don't need these but I texted the guy and he still has them. If anyone has serious interest in them, I can go take pics of them for you. He's just a nice, short drive away. Let me know. 1965 Riviera hubcaps -BEPNewt

Did one of you guys happen to pick this one up? Buick : Riviera | eBay It's real close to me and I was going to go take a joy ride and check it out but it already sold. -BEPNewt

That makes me want to buff out the paint on mine to see if it looks a little better. Won't be a problem for the guy in the trunk to get out since they didn't close it for the shot at the end. -BEPNewt

Congrats to you and the buyer. It kind of makes me glad I don't have the knowledge and money to restore these cars or I'd grab every one of these beauties that comes along. And then my wife would kill me. -BEPNewt

Congrats! -BEPNewt

What does the rest of the upholstery look like? Actually, you said you'd give it a solid 7 inside and out, so it's probably pretty good. Did you happen to get a good look at the back deck under the rear window? If the window has leaked there may be some tell-tale signs there. If that car is close to rust-free and the engine and transmission are in good condition, I know I'd give him $5k today for it right now. In my opinion, it's worth more than that, but it's going to come down to the drivetrain and rust. Take all this with a grain of salt - I overpaid for my '64 and I'm new to these cars. A rust-free '64 with a solid drivetrain, decent paint, and interior I can live with for years to come is worth about about $10k to me. Are you sure about the power windows? I don't have the deluxe interior, but it looks like the wing windows are crank and the main windows are power to me. I don't see a crank for the main window, nor do I know where it would actually be. -BEPNewt

Just looking at other threads on the forum, here's a partial decode of your options on the data plate. Some are guesses, some I found in another thread. I think all the decode values are on the ROA site somewhere. E = ? Tinted glass? XT = ? Deluxe interior? Power windows? 2K = AC 4F = Remote outside Mirror 5Z = Seat Belts 5K = Door edge guards And I think the original color would have been Teal Mist paint with black interior. She sure looks like a nice candidate for purchase to me, but there's a lot you can't see, yet. -BEPNewt ps. Off Topic: What are the cars behind the 'Riv? A 'Stang and a Karmann Ghia / Porche?

The data plate is on the firewall, like you assumed. When you pop the hood, it will be on the right side as you face the car near the steering "parts" ( that's me, Mr. Technical... ). A quote from Jim Cannon: "On a '63, the VIN is stamped on a small stainless steel plate that is welded to the cowl under the hood, on the driver's side. It is also stamped into the top of the engine block." I don't have my '64 handy, but I thought my vin plate location was the same. -BEPNewt

When I was in the shop of the guy who is going to do some work on my '64 Riv, I noticed one of his walls covered with matchbox cars. He said what was hanging up was only part of his collection. This is a quick snapshot of the Riv section I took on my phone. What you see is just a portion of his wall. -BEPNewt

Hello, Ben(?). You may also want to mention where you are in the world. There may be someone on here with a lot of knowledge about Rivs that lives nearby that wouldn't mind inspecting the car with you and point out the good and the bad. If you're looking at it as an "investment" then you're going to want to know what ALL the options are on the car. Posting a clear picture of the data plate here will get you a response telling you what options are on the car - at least the ones that can be deciphered from the plate. If you're looking at it as a car you want to drive, then the options will still impact what you should pay for it, but not as crucial as long as it has what you want. If you can crawl under the car and check out the potential rust situation, that will help a lot. I looked at what appeared to be a really clean '64 in Dallas that had the 425 with dual quads, but the rust under the rear was so bad the body probably wasn't even connected to the frame in at least 1 spot, maybe 2. The car I ended up buying is in stellar shape as far as rust goes except for the #1 area that is the rust bane for these cars - in the trunk. Search for these forums with the 2 words "rust" and "trunk" together and you'll get a lot of information on potential rust areas that you need to check. If there's a lot of that undercoat stuff on the bottom of the car, I'd probably be afraid they just sprayed over a bunch of rust to hide it. Pictures are worth 873 words ( inflation ). If you can get some pictures of the interior, trunk ( check under the carpet if you can ), the engine compartment, and some shots down the length of the car, etc. and post them here, these guys can tell you a bunch about the car. Specifically, they'll be able to point out incorrect things with it that you would never know unless you are en expert. Also, getting the VIN number off of the car and engine and the numbers off the tranny/rearend will help a lot, too. If you're looking at reselling, having a numbers matching car will be important to some buyers. If you live near Branson, MO, you are in luck. The annual ROA Meet is there next week, Monday through Thursday. Check out this thread that has a link to the ROA page: http://forums.aaca.org/f177/roa-meet-branson-mo-jun-20-a-285350.html If you aren't in a rush to get a Riv, and you really SHOULD take your time - they aren't _that_ rare, the combined wealth of knowledge along with a bunch of example cars will be there that you can learn a ton from. It may be frustrating that no one has answered your post with an actual dollar figure, but it really is hard to even give you a ballpark figure on what you should pay without knowing a lot more about the car. Before I knew about the rust on the car in Dallas, I didn't have a problem paying about $10k for it. After the rust was revealed, its value was cut to about 1/3 of that because I didn't want to have to deal with the rust. -BEP

My '64 has a non-stock 401 ( +.30 ) in it. I have what I believe is a correct air cleaner for the car. Can you guys tell me by the pics if it's the correct one? It doesn't have the dual-carb setup. -BEPNewt

Well, what I thought was the fuse block wasn't, which explains why I didn't see the flasher unit. Here's a great thread on where the fuse block is in '63 and '64 Rivs.: http://forums.aaca.org/f177/fuse-box-location-240325.html I had misinterpreted where Mark ( a few posts above ) said to look so went searching in the forums. I replaced the flasher unit and now I have working blinkers and brake lights. They even blink at a normal speed! There are some good threads here in the forum on how the blinkers and brake lights interact and to diagnose a turn signal problem. There's also a lot of good info in the Chassis Service Manual. Thanks for all the help, folks. I just bragged about all you guys to the guy across the street. He and his 20-yr old son are out there right now dismantling a pair of '72 Darts right now to make one car from. They have a long road ahead of them. Luckily, Dad is a major car guy. -BEPNewt ps. Attaching a pic of the sure box for future viewing of a '64 owner.

Update time - I got the new Tridon EL-12 a while back and decided it was time to put it in. The left blinker is actually to the point now where it doesn't blink at all - it just comes on and stays on. So, I decided to actually see what was going on on the outside of the car. Right blinker on, blinking fine, maybe a little slow. And, the blinker was clear on the front. Left blinker on, no blink on front just steady on, and it was amber. I bought a pair of amber bulbs to replace that clear one. I decided to check the amber one on the right and it was a beauty. Pic attached. Replacing that one kinda made sense, too. Plus, I hear the Smithsonian was looking for one of these bulbs. So, now to the rear - the left rear blinker light doesn't even come on. It doesn't light up with brakes, either, which makes sense to me since I assume they both use the same filament. But, the running light works on it. The right rear is fine. I tried a replacement bulb and got the same result. So, now my plan is to replace the flasher unit now and if that doesn't help, check fuses. I just looked at the fuse block and don't see the old one, but it's dark. Heading to get the shop-light and tackle the next step! I really hope it isn't a short. -BEPNewt

I'm so glad you said this and posted those pics. I was confused by what I saw on my car vs. what Jim C. was saying and also what the ClassicBuick.com site was showing for replacements. Everything pointed to them having 2 nipples vs. the 1 that mine have. Thanks! -BEPNewt

Attaching 4 pics of the diaphragms. Do these even look like the correct ones for a '64? Decided to add a few more in case you guys see anything that jumps out at you. -BEP

Thanks. That's the site I linked above and I think I found the right ones there. The part I was looking at is: ============================= #VD235905 Most A/C models as required for outside air inlet, defrost or diverter door. 4" black plastic, 2 staggered-ports. (The 1st type was white plastic & 63 Riviera 1st type lower was metal 2pc.) 63-65 Riviera uses 2 of these for upper and lower ============================= It sure sounds like what I'm looking for, assuming mine are shot. -BEPNewt

Just got off the phone with the guy doing the work and he said the same exact thing. I'm taking her over on Sat. morning and he's going to yank the hose so he can take it to get the new one made. Thanks for validating what he said, I just came back to ask if this was the right thing to do. I am changing to 134A. The guy doing mine said he can get the old R12, but when he said the price, I told him we'll go with the 134A... after I stopped choking. Thanks for the advice and info, Steve. -BEPNewt

Thanks, Jim. I'll see if my "car guy" neighbor can help me out with this. He may have a vacuum pump or know what hose I can safely use to test with. Worst case that I have to buy 2 new diaphragms, what exact ones should I be looking for? I looked in my manual and I see lots of diagrams with for the A/C but I don't see anything that tells me the part number for the diaphragms. A) Would 2 of part #VD235905 from this page correctly replace the 2 I have? Air Conditioning parts - compressor, drier, evaporator, fan motor & valves Is the high pressure discharge hose something I should have trouble finding? The local auto parts stores say they don't have one for my car in their computers. -BEPNewt

Thanks, Jim. Is testing the diaphragms something I can do or do I need to have the mechanic do it? I don't have my PDF manuals here at work, so I'll see what they have to say about it when I get home. I'll definitely check out the article re:hot water valve. I thought I read on here that the article was for '63s and they were different than '64s in that area so I didn't check the ROA site. -BEPNewt