RIVNIK

Contact Gene from ABandG. His ad is always in the Review.

hey Jason, that is a beautiful Riv. First time I ever noticed the unusual trunk hinge design on a '66. Q: where does the water go after entering those wells that house the hinges?

Removing the dashpad for the 1st time may not be easy. If there's a crack waiting to happen, it will. It's been a while, but I believe I accessed the clock wires by reaching up through the fusebox panel. To reinstall you could fabricate a jumper to extend the wire a few inches. However, for me the oil pressure gauge is the way to go. IMO a luxury sedan w auto trans has little need for a tach, but does need an oil pressure gauge, especially at that age. I always have a wristwatch to refer to, and I get a warm fuzzy every time I look down at my oil pressure. If you do go that route, search the net for the available gauges & you should be able to closely match the look to your existing instruments. It's 48F in Fla this morning, so obviously it's too cold to go out & look, but I believe I installed a Sun gauge, as that was the best match to the speedo numerals. good luck

A few years ago, after an extensive search, I was unable to find a lace-on leather cover that would fit the skinny wheel

another important tip: don't use your wheel to lower yourself into or pull yourself out of the drivers seat. those hairline cracks will be open cracks before long

There's a nice looking '70 rear bumper on eBay for $1500(sorry no link). better check it out, the next-best one is over a grand more.

Couple more things...It's practically impossible to get hairline cracks to accept filler, hence the need to widen them. & my body guy recommended lacquer as it stands up well to damage, say from your Super Bowl ring, Rolex watchband, etc.

Got it!

Greetings DP-dog! I repaired several major cracks in my '65 wheel & it not only turned out like new but was actually pretty easy. The wheel should be easy to remove especially if you have a body shop manual to refer to. (Pay close attention to the placement of the hardware so you can reinstall it properly). Basically you need to clean up the cracks with a small file or Dremel tool & then fill them in with some type of epoxy product. I used JBWeld on the recommendation of a forum member & it worked like a charm. Fill those cracks, file & sand them down, prime it so you can inspect your work, sand some more, then take it to a local body shop & have them lacquer it the proper color. Hopefully your wheel will will have enough of the original color for them to make a close match,or you may need to provide them with an object of the desired color (or possibly a photo of a door panel). Bear in mind the epoxy will not work well on hairline or tiny cracks. They must be widened to aprox. a file-width to accept the epoxy for a proper bond. You should also take into consideration the condition of you existing horn bar & hardware as they will also be hard to find if needed. If you are moderately handy this will be an easy job, if not time-consuming, & you will should proud to have saved major$$$. Good luck!

I hate to see a post go unanswered so I did a quick search. That is truly a rare item. On the net there is what appears to be a complete wheel (with no price listed) from Borthauto, & on Ebay a restored (but not painted) wheel with no hornbar or hardware from partshouseclearance. That one is a little pricy(or maybe not) at $1700+. there are more out there somewhere. anyhoo, good luck. Drew

At least some Oldsmobiles from the same era w the same trans also have an orange boot. might have to buy the whole switch & bracket to get it, though. There are some out there on the world wide webs.

Reporting from Orlando: As of this date, no issues of The Riview have reached America's Dangling Appendage. Not surprising.

Get that thing, Jeff!

Pardon me for sidetracking the thread again but I gotta ask while I have your attention. Do any of you guys think that if I heat the license plate door up in the oven & then dunk it in ice water that the spring could return to its original torsion?

I love my ABandG purchased rally wheels on my'65, but I also keep a set of stock wheels, wire hubcaps, & stock hubcaps in the shed. Years ago, on a whim,I would occasionally have them switched over at my local Firestone. IMO the wire caps really give the Riv an elegant look. But those are now the good ol' days, as reputable tire stores will no longer mount & balance used tires (presumably for insurance & guarantee reasons) As I am loathe to leave the Riv at one of the third-world-type used tire stores, I had to take them off at home & jockey them across town one by one(all that would fit in the Subaru) Eventually I decided the rally wheels suited the Riv the best & left them on, probably permanently. BTW...store your steel road wheels carefully as they can get rusty, even in a presumably dry shed. another word of caution! Think twice about having your license plate bracket sandblasted as it may come back floppy, probably from overextending & then getting hot from friction. now it requires velcro dots at the corners. When I run out of stuff to do is usually when I start effin' perfectly good things up. just sayin. Drew

nice work, Tex. now that's what a luxury car's truck aught to look like.

If you're not worried about originality Clarks makes a beautiful carpet kit, all pre-cut, binded edges, & ready to install, including tire cover. Makes the trunk match the rest of the car. Never cared for those floppy, wrinkley, dirty looking factory mats. IMO they seem out of place in a top of the line luxury vehicle of the era(sorry). My Riv is dark metallic grey w black interior & the black carpeted trunk w black cardboard give the car a more integrated look. If it wasn't raining I'd take & send some pics, but I can guarantee satisfaction w Clarks' product.

spray your insulation w "Critter Ridder" to discourage rodents

an excellent Hot Wheels!

call Gene Guarnere at AB&G, (610)359-8901, a fine gentleman who is also a major purveyor of Riv parts. You will find Gene's ad in every issue of The Riview, which if you don't already subscribe to, you should. good luck! Drew

Its been a few years, but at the time of my rebuild the Review website carried a very detailed set of instructions, I believe produced by Russ himself, for properly rebuilding a nailhead. I actually printed them out on several pages & a trusted local high performance shop rebuilt the 401 to Russ's specs, even calling him for details(no mention of any crankiness) fortunately they were nailhead fans, having worked on 401 equipped hot-rods, but hadn't fully rebuilt one til then. The instructions turned out to be very helpful. Runs like charm ever since. I made a feeble attempt to look for it, as Im sure its still there, but soon lost patience trying to navigate. good luck

whenever I want 1st gen. parts I call Gene Guarnere at ABandG, (610)359-8901. You'll always find his ad in the back of the club mag, The Review. If Gene doesn't have them, someone else advertising there may have.

Thanks Em. I was hoping it was the linkage & not the motor. However I thought I could access the linkage through the cowling vents, but after removing the screws could not get the vents to budge. Is there a trick, does the entire cowl panel need to be removed for instance? Thanks for any help, & sorry for highjacking your thread, Tom

Thanks for tackling this problem. Can't wait to see the outcome, as I am in the same situation. While on the subject, though, my wipers work, only very slowly. Any ideas on what might be the problem & a possible remedy that doesn't involve removing the hood or fender would be appreciated.

They may fit despite being the wrong year but still not fit because they came from OPGI. how will you know? just sayin