riviadrian

I recently acquired a rear seat armrest from a 65 that I'd like to install in my 63 Riviera. Will this attach easily, or will there be some fab work involved? Thanks, Adrian

Thank you all for your advice! Waiting on a quote now for a rebuild. -Adrian-

I have a '63 Riviera with a 401 Nailhead. My mechanic is pulling the motor to replace gaskets, seals, timing chain, water pump etc. The motor runs and sounds great. He did a compression test today before removing it. I am not planning on rebuilding the motor unless it is necessary. I'm wondering what the expected or acceptable numbers are for compression. The engine has 111k on it, and I'm not sure what has been done to it in the past as I am the third owner. 6 of the cylinders are at 125 psi, while #6 is at 135, and #8 is at 140. Please forgive my ignorance as I am not a mechanic Thanks, Adrian

I will do that. Thanks Scott!

Thanks Winston, Carb cleaner worked great. Not sure why it didn't work yesterday when I tried the same thing. Oh well, she's running now after a little sweet talk and carb cleaner. She's not the prettiest and she can be a bit temperamental at times, but damn I love that car. I will bring her to you in a bit for that alignment. Thanks again! Adrian

My 63 has been sitting on jack stands for the last 3 months as I have replaced the entire front suspension. I installed a brand new battery and checked that all wires are connected. Has petronix ignition. It will turn over but won't fire. The car started and ran fine when I started this suspension project. Am I missing something? I was supposed to take it in for alignment today. Ugh. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Adrian

A little experience from a first time classic (63 riv) owner. I bought my 63 4 years ago and I have a love/hate relationship with it. I too always wanted a classic but had no automotive experience and I didn't want the usual mustang or camaro. I wanted a 63 partially mostly because I love the sliders under the dash and the look of the interior better than the 64 and 65. I really love the 65's but am disappointed with the black dash every time I see them. Just my opinion. I wanted to have the experience of restoring the car so I bought one with original paint, good motor and trans, and started recruiting friends with experience to help. I have learned that if you are not a mechanic, there may be a lot of times where your car is sitting, partially disassembled, while waiting for parts and or help to get back together. The other option being to pay a shop to do it for you. That is the "hate" part of my classic car experience. Driving my tundra on a beautiful day is annoying now when the riv is down. I have factory a/c in mine but it doesn't function yet. This is a really complicated system (to me anyway) with old, expensive, and difficult to find parts. I live in Dallas, so I don't want to drive a car with black leather and no a/c when it's 105 degrees outside. Pretty much everything on my car needed restoration, so I still have a long road ahead. I am super proud of myself for the progress I have made, but also very overwhelmed sometimes when I get into a project and realize I don't have proper tools or ability to finish it. That's when it sits for weeks while I peck away at it a little at a time while waiting on the next part I ordered to come in, or a friend with experience to help out. That being said, I absolutely love driving my riv and learning (the hard way) about it. Such a fantastic car. BUT, if I had to do it all over again, I would have waited and spent a little more for one that needed less work.. I have way more time than money, so I can't just take it to a shop and throw cash at it to restore it. Just my experience. Hope it helps. -Adrian-

I am rebuilding the front suspension on my '63 and was wondering how to tell if I need to have my center link rebuilt. There is no play in the swivel points, so I'm not sure if it is necessary to spend the money and time to send it off for rebuild. Pretty much everything under the car was shot and needed to be replaced, so I expected the center link would be shot as well. It is easy enough to take back off if needed, just not sure what condition it needs to be in before rebuild is necessary. Thanks! -Adrian-

Thanks Jim, JB Weld done, and works great. I've had to re-do several things on this car since it is my first restoration project and I am learning everything for the first time. I appreciate the input on my seemingly obvious questions. Sometimes the fear of doing something wrong slows the process, but I love the car and the challenges it seems to alway present. -Adrian-

My headlight knob keeps coming off in my hand when I pull it. The shaft it attaches to has notches on the end to hold it on. Apparently the inside of the knob had something that grabbed the notches that is now worn away. Is there any reason I can't just glue or jb weld it back on? Seems like an easy enough fix, but I thought I would run it by you all before I did it. Thanks! -Adrian-

I replaced the battery and starter solenoid this week and that did the trick. The first time I crank it, it works great. It seems to crank slower like it's struggling a bit the next few times. I will put it back on the ramps and check that the electrical connections are all still tight. I didn't take the starter to a shop while I had it out so I am hoping it is still ok... Thanks for all the advice, -Adrian-

Thank you guys for the education! Ed, I'm not sure if the heat shield is there, but I will check it out. I will see what I come up with and report back when I get this issue solved- Thanks again! -Adrian-

I am having an issue with the starter on my '63. It is not unusual to turn the key and get nothing, turn off and back on and it fires. Yesterday I drove the car about 20 miles, got to my destination, turned it off and it would not restart. I let it sit for awhile to cool off and it started right up. The same thing happened when I got home and didn't pull into the garage far enough. Tried to restart to pull in farther, and again it wouldn't start. I let it sit for 30 minutes or so, fired right up again. The battery is about 3 years old and had to be put on the charger last week. The car sat for several months while I had the interior out. Could a week battery cause this problem, or do I need to pull the starter and have it rebuilt? Thank you, -Adrian-

I did see your veneer while I was doing mine. Fantastic work! Unfortunately I had already stained mine when I saw your post. If I remember correctly, you used oil to get the color you wanted. Seems easier to hide scratches or reapply as apposed to stain and top coat. Yours looks much better than the one I bought, but I will see when I get it. The attraction to this one is that I should be able to stain it to match everything else. Maybe your friend could match the color if I sent a sample. I will definitely let you know if this doesn't work out. Thanks! -Adrian-

Thanks Pat and Schmiddy, This picture is what made me want to change mine. That is beautifully done. I actually just found a used all wood one on eBay that needs to be re-finished for $25. The seller says it fits the base nicely, so I will give it a shot. If it works out I will consider that a good score. I just replaced my veneer on the doors, and replaced the leatherette on the console with veneer, so matching the shifter knob will be a nice finishing touch. Worse case scenario, I'm out $25. -Adrian-

I have seen several pics of first gens with a wooden top to the shifter knob. Is there a source for these, or is this a do it yourself project? I would love to have one to match the rest of my interior pieces. Thanks, -Adrian-

Does anyone have a part # for the light bulb fixture for the shifter indicator on a '63? I broke mine when reinstalling my console. Also, do the metal pieces that hold it in place also serve as a ground? This is one of the last pieces I need to finish my interior install. Thanks! -Adrian-

I bought my package tray from Clark's Corvair. It was pricey, but really nice. I also like the fact that there are no screw holes pre-drilled in it. Just my opinion, but I'm not a fan of the 3 big silver screws across a black package tray. You will have to drill out the holes for your rear speaker cover between the seats. Hint: do this before you install it. Um...yeah, lesson learned. Good luck! -Adrian-

Winston, I took your advice and soaked the cables in wd-40 and got them moving again. When I hooked them back up to the joystick controller they move freely now and the mirror works perfectly. I will also take Gord's advice with the zip tie when I get everything back together on the car. Thanks again guys for your advice. I'm looking forward to driving this thing again. -Adrian-

Thank you all, I was able to get the mirror working properly last night. I will hopefully have this thing back on the road in the next week or so! Thanks again, -Adrian-

Thanks, but my issue is not the location of the mirror on the door. The actual glass portion always points downward. I think one of the remote cables may be shot, causing it to lose its adjustability. There is a rubber cone on the end of the cables that separates them, wondering which side of the inner door it goes on. Thanks -Adrian-

I am about to reinstall my new interior door panel and I have the outer door skin off. Since I bought my car the mirror always pointed downward and wouldn't adjust to another position. I read that sometimes one of the wires becomes disconnected from the handle, but this was not the case with mine. Everything was hooked up, but one of the cables was badly bent, so I assumed that it needed to be replaced. Even when disconnected from the handle it always pointed downward. I sourced and old one from another ROA member, but his was in the same shape. Before I put everything back together, is this normal? Am I missing something, or do I still need another mirror? Also, does the rubber cone that is attached to the wires go between the outer and inner door skins? There doesn't seem to be room between the inner door structure and interior door panel, so that's my assumption. I cannot find anything about the mirror in either of my service manuals. Thanks! -Adrian-

Thanks to you all! I finally got the seats in place today. Turns out I was lifting the front edge of the seat too high and causing the frame to dig into the floor. Once I got it in place, I took it out again just to make sure It wasn't a fluke. It seems I have to learn the hard way most of the time with this car, but I still love every second of it. (My wife isn't sure of that sometimes given the language that occasionaly comes from the garage.) "Erotic automotive ballet. It's all in the shove." Thanks Pete, sounds like the title for my next album! Blanton's. I second that emotion. Thanks again guys! Wrestling with carpet next! -Adrian-

I am trying to install the bottom portion of the rear seats in my 63. They were recently re-foamed and covered so it is tough to get the seat backs lifted up far enough to allow the bottoms enough room to lock into place. If I lift the front of the seat bottoms too much, the bracket that holds the seat frame catches the seat cover. Does anyone have suggestions?? My neck and knees are ready for this part of the job to be finished. Thanks, -Adrian-

Ok, I figured it out. Apparently I was using a screw too short to reach the inner metal structure. There is no tab like at the bottom, and the only screw hole I could find went through a round plastic piece that covers a hole in the inner structure. Seems odd, but it holds everything tight so it's going together like that I guess. This stupid thing has been kicking my butt for way to long today. Now I can make a little progress getting this interior installed. Thanks again Bill for your help and patience. -Adrian-