[1963 Riv at registered at Mecum in Houston]

I wish mine was in that good of shape. That being said, i am going to take mine a different direction. I definitely like the flat black look, but more for ease of use than any custom look in general. The $169 paint job article in car craft or hot rod(can't remember which) looked pretty damn good. I am not a big fan of the lowered/bagged look. I think they looked fine with a normal stance. The interior is pretty nice for sure, but like someone had said, if you're going to customize it, why use off the shelf stuff and so forth. I saw someone that had peeled the wood trim off and used something to turn the aluminum backing into a brushed look. That was pretty neat. As for the motor, well it's personal preference i'm sure, but why not use the motor it came with? I realize not a lot of people work on nailheads any more, but even when mine dies i will more than likely rebuild it and try to keep it going.

All in all still a nice looking car, just not exactly what i would do if i had that kind of cash to shell out. Kind of sad that it didn't sell, but at least that lets us know where we are with values if you go that direction.

[Just curious, what's everyones age, and what year Riv(s) do you own?]

43, 1964 riviera.

[The Rust Bucket Debate]

I am in the same boat with a 64 Riviera. Rust is everywhere. I think everyone has a different breakover point on what they choose to undertake. Heck, i wasn't even a Buick enthusiast when i found my rust bucket, but it screamed " save me!" when i first saw it. Taking something that is not working or is in bad shape and getting it back into running/working condition just seems like a logical step to me. I don't have a problem with people only working on profitable/easier cars to fix, but there has to be some satisfaction with bringing some cars back to life that you know are destined for scrap or eventually turning to dust on the spot.

I'm a mechanic by trade, so fixing broken stuff is in my nature to some extent as well as gaining knowledge of new or older information. Saving an old car provides plenty of both. I took on my 64 Riviera with zero thoughts on profitability. I assume i will be driving the car. If i sell it in the future it will not be numbers correct, matching battery tray, whitewalls, etc. I hopefully will get it to the point of being a nice safe car that looks good and that i enjoy driving to work every day. I have no vision of it sitting in a museum or some hoarder's garage collecting dust. With my level of experience in body work that shouldn't be a problem. I'm a total noob in body work, but i'm looking forward to learning on the fly. Everyone has to start somewhere right? Just trying to do my part to be a positive instead of a negative in life i guess.

I salute anyone fighting the fight against rust and decay on these old cars. Seeing other people post their trials and successes helps the rest of us and keeps me plugging. Hell a few of these day zero to finished posts have convinced me to go all the way and pull the body off, try electrolysis, etc. As i have heard often, there are two ways of doing something - right and again. Hopefully i get it right the first time, but if not there is always again.