devildog93

Nice looking cars guys. I like that blue a lot.

I could tell just by looking at my rear window prior to pulling it. Just like every other bit of rust i assumed what i could see was just the tip of the iceberg and i wasn't wrong. these pics were done from the back seat looking towards the rear of the car along the shelf.

I am finishing up my trunk at the moment from damage caused exactly as you described it. Back window seal failed...water got in the trunk and wrecked things. I had to replace some of the passenger side support with some 14-16 gauge metal it was so bad. I will be furnishing pics after i complete the repairs sometime this month. One more trunk patch then i am cleaning and prepping to lay down the por 15 silver from the front toe boards to the back of the trunk in one fell swoop, or at least that is the master plan.

There are braces on either side of the trunk underneath. These are close to each wheel well, so kind of in the top right and left cornet of the trunk with the gas tank being smack dab in the middle. As to the fiberglass or what to use to patch it - i bought a trunk kit from eastwood full of por 15 products. In the kit you have por 15, metal prep, degreaser, fiberglass, and a 2 part filler for smaller holes. I would probably recommend the 2 part filler for the holes in your picture. Also, why would someone purchase a trunk panel for 400 bucks when you can buy brand new sheet metal ready to weld in for 250 dollars or thereabouts?

That is perfect. It makes a good case for bringing back public stonings.

Also, shouldn't it have a wrap of some sort, like the sugar smacks bear or something on the side? It should also blow smoke when you give it gas due to blown head gaskets. Another added feature would be loose belts so it sounds like we are peeling out since it won't actually ever lose traction due to the 100 hp worn out engine we are running.

I love how these kind of guys will take a paragraph to talk about the sound system or wheels while the drivetrain gets 3 words if it is even mentioned. Sometimes i think they would better have it looking that way in their driveway and not running than spending all that cash on making it a good driver. I guess this is one of those " it is better to look good than to feel good" things. Functionality isn't in their vocabulary i guess.

The car wasn't a feature in the dukes of hazard, fast and furious, etc. It wasn't a huge pop culture icon. I can't speak about what it was in 1964 since that was 6 years before i was born, but in my lifetime no one mentioned them and i thought it was a jewel of a find when i came upon one of my own. I am sure they will get attention when someone sees one restored, but it will never be a mopar with a hemi, a bullet mustang, or something along those lines as far as a cultural impact. That being said, i feel like the 64 Riviera fits me to a tee. It is a mix of musclecar and style that i think is pretty special. To go even further i was more than happy to find out about all the things they did well with the nailheads as far as durability and driveability. I had always been a torque fan since owning a 70s firebird with a 455 in it. The 425 nailhead is a bit different than that, but in a good way. If i had a wish it would be that someone had developed heads that could breathe a bit better, but even that is nit-picking really.

I am not talkiing the car down at all. I love Rivieras. I think they are very overlooked cars. That being said, they were not a musclecar, so the value isn't that high. You an say that you think it will be the next 100k car, but i sure would not bet on it. I don't plan on selling mine, so i have no horse in the race. As they are i think they are a great value. If they had gone ahead and developed the heads further we might be talking about something else, but they didn't so no crying over it. If you ask the general populace, even people from the era of the car, it generally does not come up in conversation. I hear about mustangs, vettes, chargers, and a horde of others. Look at the aftermarket parts out there. they just are not in demand. I wish they were so i didn't have to fab everything i have to replace. We love the car or we wouldn't be on the boards or part of the ROA, but face it we are a subniche of a niche market. The car is all kinds of cool, but not everyone sees it that way.

More than 54k? What planet are you from? I'm sure it's a super nice car, but that would be a high point for the last few i've seen that were sold. Pretty good sale in my opinion.

Run oil with zinc in it, a specialty classic car oil. Just adding zinc to new oil does not work like you think it would. There are plenty examples out there of horror stories involving garages installing rebuilt motors and wiping out cams due to this. Long story short, new oils are for running with roller rockers and have additives that fight deposits of any sort, such as zinc. So when you add zinc to today's oil, the additives in the oil are counteracting what you are trying to add. That is my basic understanding of what is going on.

Thanks for the info. This vehicle is going to be a daily driver, so show quality isn't what i'm going for, though i'm trying to get it as close to right as i can. I have a 220v mig welder i am working with. It has tig capability but my skill level probably isn't up to that. Maybe i will try a bit of tig on the next car, but definitely not now. I think i will give the metalmeet site a look and do a bit more info gathering. Thanks again.

I only have the quarters and a trunk patch to make. I have a 3x3 sheet of 16 gauge i'm going to try and use depending on how well i can work it with the shrinker/stretcher jaws. If it turns out to be a pain in the ass i will try to go find some 18 gauge. Don't think i want to go any thinner than that.

Ok, it's a bit late for this in some areas, but i was wondering what gauge of sheet metal people are using for replacement panels. I have measured a lot of the metal i have cut out in rusted areas and it comes out to be around .050. The replacement sheet metal panels i got from c2c for the floors seemed to be around 18 gauge and this seems pretty close. I grabbed a 3' x 3' sheet of 16 gauge just to check it against and play with. The best i can tell by gauging it is that the original sheet metal is around 17 gauge, somewhere around .051-.053. Does anyone have a preference on sheet metal thickness and any tips on the type?

Bernie, i think your car is the exception to the rule. Mine needed work before i could put it on a lift without worrying if i could get it down in one piece.

Agreed that the conversion is going to suck if and when i get around to it. Just another pipe dream to add to the list, but the point stands...if you have the money,time, and fab skills i am sure it can be done with a significant improvement. And yea, the only way my ride would ever lose weight is if i went on a diet and you count the driver in the weight package. I suppose someone had to fab the scarebird brackets right? A guy wouldn't get rich off it by any means, but it would be a neat deal to have someone build a package swap for nice performance front brakes. I'll add that to the list along with quarter patch panels, aluminum heads( or just better heads), Kate Upton's phone number, and a single turbo kit.

It sounds like i missed out on meeting a great man who would have had a ton of stories to pass on from a couple of areas we share. I'll do my part to keep the haircut going while he is guarding the gates wherever he is now. Quite the shoes to fill by those of us trying to continue on down this path.

While i appreciate the enthusiasm about drum brakes and the nostalgia involved, this is sounding a lot like carbs versus fuel injection. While the drum brakes work, and well at that, i think a few of you guys might be comparing the peak of one technology versus something other than top of the line in disc brakes. I think if we compared drum brakes to say, 6 piston wilwood's it would be a losing competition for the drum brakes. I don't think anyone would argue against a newer reservoir right? Brakes have come a long way. The 427 shelby cobra's 0-100-0 times are reachable by quite a few cars these days. This is accomplished by both better engines and better brakes in heavier cars than what we had in the cobra. I'm not trying to take shots at the drum brakes, but come on gang, you know there are better brake systems available now if you have the money to spend. Currently my car has all drums, but i am not opposed to newer technologies within reason to improve things a bit.

No i have not gotten to the engine itself yet. By the time i am done doing bodywork, interior, and paint it will be time to take a look at that. I already have a plan for the transmission, but i may just rebuild the current one and drive it a while. Eventually i want a 200 r4 behind it, but that looks to be a bit more costly and something i may have to shelf for a while. I am looking toward a engine refresh with rings and seals and likely reworking the heads, then trying to install a fast ez-efi system on it. At least that is the rough flowchart. I'm sure i will hit a snag and have to rework it at some point. Right now i am cleaning up my welding from the underside of the car to get it ready for por-15 on the inside. i replaced 6 of the 8 available floor pan sections and worked the trunk with a couple of patches. I am kind of working it from the inside out. When i am done with that i will install the carpet from Clark's and take care of the upholstery. I have yet to pull the windows out, and i am afraid this is going to be the worst part of this whole thing. The window seals were leaking front and back, thus the water damage in the trunk and floors. The metal work on the rear channel/shelf area is going to suck big time, but that is coming soon. About the heads though, i would love to get someone lined up to rework the heads. If i could get 400hp/500torque or numbers around that area i probably wouldn't even be considering the turbo option. i was basically looking at that as a way to force feed the motor and bypass the limitations of the head somewhat, but i hear what you are saying about the management of such a system. I would have the fast-ez efi to help with that in theory, but maybe simple is better.

Man, that nailhead with a blower is pretty neat, but i'm not much into the whine of the blowers myself. I also don't care for the look for some reason. The hot rod side of me screams that it is a blower and that i should grow some balls. The aesthetic in me thinks it kind of destroys the look. If i was going to put a supercharger on it i would have to go with one that would fit under the hood. That is another reason i have been looking at a turbo setup that will fit under the hood. I don't want to cut into the hood at all if i don't have to. I would like to make mine go a little better, but i want to keep it as sleeper-ish as i can. I think i would have a tough time explaining to the wife about why it needed a blower. I think i will take my chances with a turbo that she may not even notice...at least for a while. I have already explained/justified the fast-ez efi setup, but it is a bit too soon to start talking about forced air. I have been prepping her though as she is a big audi/vw fan. I have already talked a little about the turbo setups on those cars and the benefits, so maybe next year:o

I don't think the 3.8 turbo would be a good idea. The 455 might work though as it doesn't lack for torque. One question comes to mind though...have you thought of amping up the nailhead and seeing what it can do? There have been several nailheads lately that have been turboed and they have history of being supercharged by hot rodders from their inception to overcome the lack of breathing i suppose. The nailhead seems to be a real stable platform to start with.

I have enough paint to spray the whole car inside and out, so i thought i would do it all at once. Yea, the por 15 won't see much of the sun, so it will likely be overkill, but ah well. This way i won't have to worry about it at all and i can take my sweet ass time putting the carpet in. My work on the car goes in spurts as i come to slow periods in business at the shop. I have an engine swap in a bmw crapbox to do this week or next, then i plan on getting back on the riviera for a bit.

Ed i was thinking it would go like this, and i will explain my thinking. Down to metal everywhere, patching any rust with sheetmetal. No fiberglass. Prep with the usual por 15 degreasing and acid prior to application. Por 15 over everything so i can ensure any rust that was left gets encapsulated or converted. Seam sealer over the top of that, then shoot it with paint. I want it structurally sound and as rust free as a frame on can be. At least that is what i am going for. I thought about doing the seam sealer prior to the por 15, but thought it could causes problems. First off, as you know i replaced every damn floor panel in the car except for the 2 under the rear seats. There was slight rust under the seam sealer in a few places. The por 15 needs to be in direct contact with anything that was rusted in my opinion. Even if it no longer looks rusted, i don't think throwing seam sealer on top of it first would be the way to go. Obviously the best way to go about this would have been to strip the car down all the way and blast or dip it, but i want to drive it before 2015, so this is going to be the best i can do with a frame on. I may go back and redo it in a year or two, but i want to get some enjoyment out of it now without worrying about it being a Flintstone-mobile with cutouts for my feet. So basically my process was/is sand/de-rust, prep, por 15, seam sealer, paint. Do you think that is out of order and if so why? Seems to me that if i was going to seam seal first i wouldn't bother with the por 15 at all. The only places i would have any amount of rust now are my welds and seams - places i can't readily get to. Anything i can see has had all rust removed via chemical or sanding, so this is more just insurance that it doesn't come back quickly. And thanks for the tip, i wll check out the goo gone and see if that suits the situation.

I bought both brushable and caulk. I have never used either, so i figured i would try both and see what i liked best. As for acetone working on old seam sealer...hell no. Paint thinner, meh. Naptha, meh. Brake cleaner - superb, but i don't think i want to used 15 cans of brake cleaner pulling out old seam sealer. I get what i can with a screwdriver and persistence, but i'm still looking for the best solvent. Going to run up to home depot later to see what else i can try. My plan is to get all the seam sealer out and get it down to metal, prep it, then use por 15 silver on the trunk/interior/firewall, then paint flat over the top of it before it totally dries. I'm taking my sweet ass time prepping it. I really want to make sure i get the por 15 into the seams to prevent what rust i can, then i'll seam sealer it prior to painting.

I think 235/55 r 18s will be almost stock size. http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp That was a link someone on the forums threw out there. You should be able to do a side by side comparison with stock wheels and tires and what you have.