alini

When I get home this afternoon I will stick my head under the seat and confirm

That sounds more like a car buyer not an appraiser

I took my car to an appraiser the other day, and got a big lesson in car valuing. I invested $23K in my car (cost of car and all the parts) I did all the work myself one to save cost but to prove I could do it. I thought the car since it needed nothing, it runs great down the road, everything is new....so close to $30K right. After talking to the appraiser....Nope its worth what I spent in parts. I asked him what things stood out to him. 1) when I did the upholstery I just used some cotton batting to bolster the seats. Well its not 'smooth', the seats look a little lumpy along the top edge. I never noticed it, fixing it wouldnt help the value but it helps with presentation 2) My door sill plates, are still original....nothing fancy. I cleaned them, they arent dirty but they dont POP when you look at them. 3) My car is nice, but it doesnt have a WOW factor. The chrome isnt Pristine, the wheels dont stand out. The interior is stock and even though I used a custom wood...its still wood. The engine compartment is clean, the trunk is 'stock'. If I put my car in a line of 6 cars would it stand out as the ONE that someone wants. With all that said, I asked what I needed to do to break the $25-30 mark. I would of had to invested that much more into it. Disc brakes, flashy rims, refinished chrome. All of those things would have added cost to the project too....so would I have made money at that point?? Now I have had alot of people say they love the color combo and I have had some say they hate it, thats all opinion and while it does affect how many people would buy the car, it doesnt affect the price as much. A guy who WANTS the car will take the paint and in some cases they color is the reason they want it. We've all seen it at the auctions as a White car goes across the block looking awesome and gets a fair price but a car with a red color goes for three times more. The point Im trying to get to, especially to the guys who are building right now......Put some thought behind what you are doing. I did and Im breaking even. If you are restoring your car to factory appearance, have at it, you wont ever get all that money back. But if you are doing the resto mod route and customizing you car, think about WOW and making your car interesting. Make sure its things people would want, disk brakes, wheel combos, push the flashy line but keep it still clean that you arent turning people off. Its a rough line. Most of all Have fun while you are working no matter what direction you are going. If its getting frustrating, things arent fitting, or you are fighting to get something the way you wan. Put the tools down and walk away for a bit. If its not fun, its not worth doing....if its not worth doing you are wasting your time. And you wont get your time back when you build the car

I don't have fear of anything breaking. My problem is the comfort. The car is great for cruising and doing the highway speed. It's my ears and my back that can't handle it. The engine noise coming into the cabin just because it's a 65 not for any other reason and the seats while comfortable aren't the best for 8 hours of driving

I found my VINs. Can tell you right where to look drivers side about even with the area the brake cable goes they the frame. And drivers side near the rear most exhaust hanger. Bother are on the top of the frame and can be seen with a mirror

Everyone with a view of the top surround pieces is a Deluxe interior though

This is how my 65 is. The upper pieces were all painted. Just the a pillar isn't. I have head a deluxe interior is chrome all around. It is chrome not polished stainless

I completely agree, as long as you know the car go for it. I was just taken back by guys who wanna come buy a car and jump in and take that kinda trip. Mind you my car is running great and handles the highway fine. I've debated about going to Reno if I still have it then, and at this rate it looks like I will. BTW the sales fell out because they never came to town like they said they were, not because of anything to do with the car.

Looking for the opinions of guys with 1st and 2nd gen mostly. Anything later is designed for more modern highway speeds. Throwing the gas mileage discussion to the side. Do you think the car mechanically would handle a cross country journey at current highway speeds? Would you change your driving to more 'period correct' to keep engine wear down or is it really safe hitting the road at 65 for hours on end?? I have had two guys offering to buy the car wanting to make cross country jaunts after they bought the car. Of course the deals feel through and I still have my car but it made me wonder, would I want to drive a 65 across the country.

The hose isn't 'Bulging' or ballooned, I can just tell there is alot of pressure in the system and wondered what size cap Im supposed to be using.

I always remove mine mounted to the filler panel and seperate them off the car. its alot less risk of scratching the paint since you can come straight down with it

Thanks, I saw the 300 ci engine called for 15 in the service manual but the 401/425 section doesnt specify a pressure

I bought an off the shelf listed radiator cap. It's rated at 16 psi. What pressure are we supposed to have? Noticed my upper hose seems to blow up abit after driving. No water loss No overheating. Just weird pressure in the hose

I have the power antenna in my 65, it works and only retracts with about 6-8 inches still sticking out. But I have seen a few other 63-65s now locally and they ALL have flush mounted. Am I missing something??? I now I have seen post about car covers and how they dont take it sticking up into account.

Due to the fact the lower part of the dash is all part of the cluster and without looking right now I would say you would be best to pull the gauge cluster. You might be able to do it thru the fuse across hole bit why fight it

Just making sure, the seal in the pic is 'upside down' so that widest patch fits in the groove. The peak should be outward of the opening. I found I had to really slam mine down to get it to compress it. Once you let it sit a few hours shut it will settle in and not be a problem

You should have one washer under the bolt already if not the bolt may be bottomed out in the hole

Last I heard he has it scheduled for body shop in a few weeks

The crossover holes are not threaded all they way into the cooling jacket for that very reason. If you have to remove the brackets coolant won't drain

It's best to tighten the pocket that the stud sit in. Especially if the studs fall out. They should stay in place as you handle the panel. I used some soft RTV to help hold them too test run your nuts on them and make sure they all spin freely once you get them all snug. Check your door alignment/gaps before you tighten them down

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/?p=595632 did I miss a conversation about this one???

I have had my car for sale on Ebay for going on three weeks now and on craigslist longer than that. I have received ZERO calls, emails or any response from numerous cruise ins in the area. The amount of buyers is alot smaller for a first gen Riv, but this doesnt mean I should settle for smaller money. Im in a position to keep my car as long as I want, but if the money comes it comes. Ebay gave me free listings to use, so Im using them. Sure my 28K listing right now is high, but I put make an offer too and no one has. There arent as many buyers are you guys think And I have always found it funny how cars for sale get so much attention here.....But none of you are buying them either

Have you guys ever looked at the Pricing guides? NADA or Hagerty's?? The value of your car is alot higher than you are all giving credit to and knocking these guys for asking honest money for their car. The Riviera is unique and not a 67 or 69 Camaro that there are thousands of, all over done and redone and the junk guys are asking big money for. The Riviera that are done in good driving condition should all be valued over 20K, but people keep settling for cheap money so they can get quick sales. This drives the value of your car down, just like the housing market if people keep selling their cars for less than they are worth....the value of EVERYONES car is going down. Im not saying we need to see cars asking 100K, not even 50, but $15K as a start point on a bid on a car that doesnt NEED anything.....thats more than fair, he should raise it to 18K

My problem with Count is his name goes on it but what did he really do. He tells his guys to throw some color on it or what stance but he doesn't show in the weeds with the build and get all the credit. Coddington did it. Rawlings does it. Kindig is doing it (granted he does design the car to a T). That's why I give all the praise to Foose. You know he did some of the work too. He is hands on the way a true car guy should be

I appreciate the comments and your opinions. If I was asking over 30K for a car of this age I would expecting more. Im asking 23, granted hoping for more. There is still plenty of value there the next guy can tweak it by putting white walls on the car and not be throwing alot of money at it and still be under the value of the car. As for the colors, I have had many people say they like it and there are people who dont. Its the colors of the car, Im waiting this white one on Ebay and I cant stand the color of his. The car will appeal to someone, just gotta wait. In the mean time, Im driving it and enjoying it as much as I can while i have it. A buyer will come at some point.