RIVNIK

Thank you guys very much....will try everything asap & report back to you...Drew

Greetings, fellow Rivs......I have a set of wire wheel hubcaps on my 65. I completely disassembled and cleaned them & they turned out nice. But one of them creaks at creeping to low speed no matter which wheel it is on. I have retightened all the screws to the max and made sure the hubcap was well seated with little effect. Anyone have a possible solution? Thanks, Rivnik

GReetings, Rufcar...... I like the look of the wood veneer from Clarks. I looks much darker than my original, which has some signs of wear. How was your experience installing the new wood? Any helpful tips?

Hey Rocky, The trunk mat & matching interior floor mats were an option on Buicks for several years. They are reproduced & are available from Cars Inc, Classic Buicks, Clarks Corvair, & probably other places. Being rubber mats & not carpet ones they are not quite as luxurious looking as the Riv interior, so I was a little skeptical before I broke down and sprung for a full set, but now I love em. Very utilitarian, but a little expensive compared to a set from Walmart. Drew

Greetings Tim, regarding your question about ac ducts…they should be easily acquired. You'll probably want to measure the dia. before you start a search, (hopefully you still have the old piece) I see they have lengths of the ducting on several antique auto air websites, like Oldairproducts & Nostalgicair, but you could also try any local auto air repair shop. It's undoubtedly the same ducting on many GMs over many years. Drew

Adrian! Here's a few things everyone here will tell you so I might as well go first… If you haven't already you should join the Riviera Owners Association & receive the club mag, The Riview. You will be impressed with the quality of the mag & the huge amount of info it contains, including seasoned tech advisors you can contact personally, classified ads from individuals & companies who sell new old stock,used, & repro parts, interesting articles from ordinary Riv owners showcasing their Rivs, & much more. Hunt down as many back issues as you can & an index which will help locate articles pertaining to whatever problems you run across in the course of your new "hobby".I can't remember if I saw it on this forum or one of the other Buick forums,or in the Riview classifieds, but someone is selling a large collection of Riview back issues (if it's not too late). You need a Buick shop manual & a body manual which I'm sure you can find through the Review. You will want to check out the websites of the suppliers of repro Riv parts,including Cars Inc, Classic Buicks, Clark's Corvair, OPGI, & others. Those & individuals who have collections of used parts can be found in the Riview. Before you buy you might want to run your needs by the forum... many of the regulars here can supply you with what you need or can warn you about quality issues you might encounter with certain suppliers. I'm sure others will have more advice for you after seeing your new baby. ps one thing that will no doubt be of particular interest to you(considering that bypassed heater)is a step by step "tutorial"on replacing your heater core which you can find by conducting a search on this forum. (The previous owner probably decided to sell after reading it, so "don't kill the messenger",(I'm just sayin')) But it's probably nice & balmy year round in Plano, right? Anyway, you've got all summer ahead of you, & the AC is working like you say. If you're getting air through the console but not the dash, your vent tubes are probably missing, deteriorated, or have slipped off their receptacles. Anyhoo, good luck,& send us some more pics Drew

After rebuilding my 401 a year or so ago, my mechanic recommended Amsoil Z-rod, specially formulated for older high performance engines…..call your local Amsoil rep for complete info…I was sold. Drew

While watching the video from Clarks Corvair submitted by Bernie a few days ago, I discovered they have several Youtube videos, one specifically detailing the construction of their Riviera parts, including upholstery, carpet sets, trunk cardboard, and others. One thing it does show should be of great interest to many 1st gen Riv owners. It is a beautifully made rear package shelf covered in vinyl which looks identical to the original. It's not featured in their latest catalog so it must be new. This is one item that has not been available to us for all these years. I'm thinking about all the times Ive heard people complaining about the crappy one they bought from OPGI, or fretting over what to do with the fiberglass ones found in the Riview. Sorry I can't provide a link, but go to youtube & search Clarks Corvair Riviera. Drew

Thanks,DQD

Wow! If it was stolen and was missing for any amount of time there might be hidden contraband behind the fake kick panel! Maybe an international jewel thief took it to transport stolen diamonds! If so, don't forget me Coupy-Boy!

I feel for you Steve! I have one of those black holes in my garage also, but maybe its also the other end of the wormhole because when I do a job I sometimes end up with EXTRA parts! Just in case, I'll look around out there for your drive gear…. Meantime, keep looking, if you took a pic of it then it's still there somewhere (unless it found it's way into the trash.) If not, I'll wager it's the same trans thats in many other GMs over several years & if atomickneedrop doesn't have it you should be able to cross-reference it & possibly find one in the nearest junkyard. Good luck! Rivnik

Thank you Tom! I did NOT want to take off those skins! Nobody ever rides back there anyhoo. I even considered taking off the inner panels(easy) and contriving a way to attach them as dummies. But I think I'll survive without them until a window motor craps out and I HAVE to take the skins off. Thanks again, Drew ps……how come my trans goes smoothly into drive but clunks into reverse? If anyone knows it must be you!

Greetings, Coupfive…….Someone probably replaced a deteriorating kick panel with a homemade one covered in the vinyl you see (should be covered in matching carpet). If you remove it you will find the cavernous vent passage behind it. You can purchase new kick panels from any of the repro Riv parts suppliers, but not sure about the grille. Someone reading this probably has one they will sell you…if not, Im sure Ive seen them on Ebay Good luck Drew……….ps why does a chicken coup have two doors?…. if it had five it would be a chicken hatchback

Greetings! My 65 (at some point prior to my ownership) had a deluxe interior grafted into it which leaves empty holes at the rear of the armrests where door handles would normally emerge. I acquired the needed hardware at some point but have been reluctant to remove the door skins to install them mostly out of fear of the unknown. Question: are the standard doors already predrilled to accept the rear handle mechanisms? Any info greatly appreciated……..Drew

Hey Guys, need some advice….. My 65 w stock trans goes into drive smoothly but slam-bangs into reverse…..is this a trans problem or possibly a driveshaft problem? thanks, Drew Rivnik

Greetings! Can someone tell me where I can find muffler hangers for my stock 65? Thanks, Drew

Greetings Buddy, By "rubber strip" you probably mean the curved plastic dust strip that the shifter protrudes through. Sounds like you're also missing the piece in which the dust strip mounts and slides back & forth when you move the shifter. That piece, which is of gray cast metal, is attached to the bottom of the shifter trim plate using large headed phillips screws through the four holes. On the underside those screws thread into two unusual fasteners that are thin spring steel strips with a hole in each end, one for the front two screws & one for the rear two. They might be hard to come by but you could improvise with four individual fasteners. The dust strip can be purchased from Clarks Corvair, although I tried to get one recently and they were on "backorder". The other piece can probably be found on ebay….looks like more than one person is parting out 1st gen. Rivs there Let us know how things turn out, Drew

Greetings, looking for a little advice….. my 65 has the original deluxe rear seats in black vinyl…they are in perfect condition, I don't think they've been sat on in the last 20 yrs..... the fronts were recovered in new black vinyl from Clarks. They match the rear almost perfectly,visually, the difference being that the new material is soft & supple, the old is very hard & very noisy. I've been able to avoid lugging a bunch of friends around all these using the excuse of no rear belts, but at the insistence of my domestic overlord (who wants me to take her & her girlfriends out for a Riviera ride), I finally found a pair that matched the front & am installing them today. Now I'm worried that the stiff rear vinyl is going to start cracking under the weight of some not so petite derrieres. I have been using 303 Aerospace Protectant regularly with little effect on the hardness. Does anyone have advice on how to soften aging vinyl? Thanks, Drew

I wouldn't call that off-topic! Awesome!

The Wheel on my 65 is made by Grant….it has three spokes which closely resemble those on the GS option any the wheel is real mahogany. I think someone with fabrication expertise could mill out the slots in the spokes and construct horn bars out of two broken sets (we all know there's a few of those laying around) Attaching them to the hub so they are operable may be the most challenging part, but they would look great as dummies. Still can't figure out how to post pics, but you can see one on ebay or on Grants' website. Drew

Hey Dawg, great find! Before you spend the big buck returning your Riv to factory condition you should decide which museum to donate it to, because you'll be scared to death to drive it anywhere! Conventional wisdom is starting to come around to the fact that your car can be just as valuable in a well preserved "driver" condition, or what it would look like if it had been babied all it's life, as opposed to an incredibly expensive frame-off restoration. Having said that, some cars are beyond that, but yours looks like a perfect candidate for an extensive detailing. If it was mine, I would take care of the most urgent mechanical problems, replace the seat covers & the rubber, etc. , & then use all that time & money you saved on your new hobby, finding parts, tinkering, & detailing in your leisure time. You will appreciate your baby so much more if it is a labor of love. And like someone else already said, beware of people telling you one part fits all three first gen Rivs….& by the way, I have a proper round drivers rear view mirror from my '65 if you need one. It fits all three years. Drew Rivnik

If nobody answers it's probably because everyone is scared to death of buying from OPGI. To be careful get your wood kit from Clarks. They may actually be the exact same item, but you'll have the peace of mind knowing you can return it without problems if it isn't correct.

You guys are cruel, goading poor Dave into spending his future life savings like that. Now he's hooked and will never be able to part with that clunker, and will end up dumping all his allowance into it from now on…. Wait! What was that noise? Oh, s#@!, that was Daves wife! Did you hear her too? Everybody HIDE!! Anyway, DaveC, we'll be talking to you. You can have your wife call my wife if she needs to. I would offer to let you crash in my toolshed but its full of old Riviera parts. Oh,yeah, you're going to need a shed. Possibly two. Drew

I replaced the vinyl front seats on my 65 deluxe int. with ones from Clarks. My rear seats looked like new but the front were torn & split at the seams. Clarks matched the originals perfectly! A few problems…..I prepped the frame & springs & turned them over to an auto upholsterer for the foam work & recovering ( oddly, Clarks does not carry foam pads for the deluxe interior ) They look beautiful, but after all that prep & even thorough testing, they still go SPROING when you sit down & get up! Very annoying! By the way, the pro said to give a warning to anyone attempting this ... they were well made but difficult to install. My other problem is that while you cannot tell the difference between them visually, the old rear vinyl is stiff as a board while the new fronts are soft & supple. Oh well, nobody ever sits back there anyway. Clarks also reproduces door panels. Does anyone have experience with them? Mine have good vinyl but the cardboard got wet & severely warped while improperly stored during painting… after stripping them of trim I wet them & pressed them flat with cardboard & cinderblocks. I knew I had Clarks as a backup, so after they dried , as an experiment, I soaked the backs with clear Krylon spray paint. A couple of years later they are still nice & flat. I also have a Clarks headliner in my closet that I'm trying to build up the courage to install myself. Can somebody out there convince me not to? thanks Drew

Why was the pre-pressed bearing a problem? Drew