mt65riv

One of my favorite cars!

Maybe some air in the tires, too. Have you done anything to it since '06?

Tony, Wow! I remember when you found this car (doesn't seem that long ago) and it looked like this. It's absolutely beautiful now. You are doing a marvelous job on the resto. That interior is sooooo luxurious. Great work. p.s. Are shoulder belts required? What did you use?

Wow! I coulda been cool for $5? Still prefer my '65.

I know that this picture has been around for a while, but I saw it on the HAMB with the caption on the bottom. I like it even more now. Now, how do I get my ears pointy...

That's a busy dang day! Nice work. Your neighbors must love you.

If you order from Jamco, prepare to wait. Mine took quite a while. Stock shocks should work fine for one or two inch lowering. Gas shocks would be a step up. Good luck.

I agree with both responses. The only things that I would add are the following. 1.) Use oil that has higher zinc to protect the cam and valve seats. I can't think of a major manufacturer that doesn't have that now. It is usually marketed as a classic car oil and easy to find. I even found it in the new 5 quart containers for oil changes. I worked in a service station and at Sears in the late '70s and when we changed oil in cars from the 60's it was almost always the case that we used single weight oil, like 30W, when doing an oil change. 2.) Flush out the power steering fluid and start over. I've noticed that people who don't know that it takes trans fluid not power steering fluid could have added the wrong fluid to the pump and that could cause problems. Better to have fresh fluid after getting it fixed anyway. (I just replaced my box and hoses) Good luck, and WELCOME! Have you joined the R.O.A.? Mike

I realized that I hadn't posted a picture of my '65 project yet. I haven't touched it for a long while. Time to get cracking on it!

Good find, Ed! I like the idea of an original car, but with fuel prices the way they are the 200-4R sounds better each day and this is icing on the cake.

That's a cool page. Thanks for the link. Couldn't tell if the black one was ever finished. Spent about 45 minutes reading all the comments. I like the headlight tech, too.

Hey RivNut, they may be on Dave Gee's facebook page, but there is no link so give Duck2 a break and post the link to the correct Dave Gee. There are more than you think. I would be interested in as much info in this as there is, too. I have a 200r4 waiting for a performance rebuild.

Thanks for posting this. Amazing car! It must have been driven some looking at the floors. Weird to see surface rust on the A pillar. And why are there two door switches? Been a long time since I had my 63's (both in the '80s) and never paid attention to that. That interior is my favorite! I'd almost buy a '63 just for that.

Great work, both of you. Steelman: I love the look. Have the cops given you any crud about them yet?

Great thread. Great to see another '65 get the royal treatment it deserves. Keep us posted on all the fun.

Your pan should have come with that piece. My car is in similar shape, but I do have the 'sub' pieces. The piece in the circle should be made also to get the pan attached to the brace. Sorry for the iffy picture.

Thanks for asking. I haven't worked on the Riv since. I am finishing up a project for my cousin that will be completed in a week or so. I hope to be back on it in a month or so. The wheel still looks great. The repairs are still good. I thought about setting it in the back window of one of my cars outside to see what the heat would do to it.

Drive-line vibrations can be a bear to find and fix. I chased a problem with an OT car that I changed transmission and rear gears for months. Luckily I had a great drive-line shop that helped me figure it out. Hopefully the problem with your Riv. was fixed and the knowledge will help us all who are rebuilding our cars so as not to have the same problems.

Sounds like a cool ride. It should ride nice but remember that the lower you go, the smoother the roads need to be. How low are you going? As long as the shocks match the springs, you shouldn't have any problem with the suspension bottoming out under 'normal' driving conditions. Lowered cars can't attack speed bumps at speed, pot holes are the enemy, and steep incline driveways are tough. Knowing all that, I ordered the 3" kit and am willing to live with it. My car is meant to cruise, not be a g-machine. Slow N Low. Any shots of your car? How do you like their version of the Supremes? What is your combo? Mike

Probably where they put the push button starter when the starter circuit from the key wuit working. My '65 has a similar 'fix', turn the key to the 'on' position and press the bypass button under the dash. I need to figure out what quit working so I can use the key to start it. You're lucky, someone already fixed yours and at least plugged the hole.

Thanks for sharing, Al. Cool car. It has an attitude, don't you think? I'll have to watch that one over and over...

Very nice. You should be proud of the progress. It's looking great. Love the black paintjob, won't hid a thing! Mike

First of all, great question! Manufacturers should read this! Easy: 1. Cathedrals (around clamshells ) 2. Switch plates for doors (with and without power vents) 3. A good stock wiring harness 4. 2x4 intake manifolds (or at least a good 4bbl like the one that Edlebrock is supposed to have in development) 5. An aftermarket A/C system that fits. 6. Any / all 3 year's steering wheels 7. Better floor pans (or complete left or right pans) I'm sure that there's going to be more when I finally get to restoring the '65.

Hahahaha! I just had a flashback to my '66 Impala bench seat 4 speed. I totally forgot about 2nd and 4th gears laying the shifter on the seat. My girlfriend liked that car. That girlfriend is my wife now of 29 years, so I guess worked out well...

"99.9% rust free car" Uh-huh... Except for the 50% that's rusty. Front fender rusted through. It looks like a re-paint with questionable bodywork underneath. And the driver's fender is ripped! Should be well below $1k, but like most collector cars, the name make the price high. Kinda sad. More would be restored if POS cars sold at POS prices. Bet they probably looked at the Old Car Guide and saw a condition 5 car was worth $2k. Who writes the Old Car Guide, anyway? State licensing bureaus? That's where WA state gets vehicle values and uses that instead of what you paid for tax valuation. OK, sorry for the rant. Good luck with the search. Keep looking and you'll find one. I searched for a few years and finally found 3 '65s that I now own. Runners are out there and for around $2k - way cheaper than starting with a rebuild ($2-5k depending on how crazy you go).