Seafoam65

It's very easy to get it on no. 1 top dead center compression stroke. Remove the spark plug on no. 1 cylinder and turn the engine over either with the starter or a wrench on the harmonic balancer bolt and when you are on compression stroke no. 1, right before the timing pointer gets to zero or Top Dead Center, if you have your thumb over the spark plug hole you will feel the pressure blowing on your thumb. You will only feel this on compression stroke. When you turn the engine over, every other rotation of the crankshaft you will be on no.1 TDC compression stroke when the timing cover pointer is on zero. On a nailhead buick v-8, no. 1 cylinder is the front one on the passenger side. Just so you know, it is normal procedure when assembling the engine to get the engine on no.1 Top dead center compression stroke with the timing pointer on zero when the engine is put together. That way the distributor is ready to drop in and the fuel pump eccentric is farthest away from the fuel pump plunger arm making the fuel pump very easy to bolt on.

Let's talk about getting the distributor to go all the way in. If you are a novice you can get into trouble pushing down on the distributor while someone turns the engine over. If you don't do this right you can get the engine out of time very easily. What you need to do is get the engine on top dead center compression stroke for no. one cylinder, then drop the distributor in so that the ignition rotor is pointed at no. 1 cylinder on the cap, with the vacuum advance indexed in the position that it is supposed to be sitting at. You will find that it won't go all the way down because the oil pump drive shaft is not quite lined up with the slot on the distributor shaft. If it doesn't go down flush against the block, pull it back out and using a long flat blade screwdriver and a flashlight so you can see what you are doing, turn the oil pump drive shaft just a little bit and try it again. Don't get in a hurry, sometimes it takes 4 or five tries to get it turned just right, then the distributor will drop right in. There can be zero gap below the distributor....it isn't in if it isn't tight against the block. On your fuel delivery problem, first thing I would do is take an air nozzle if you have access to compressed air, and pressurize the gas tank with the blow nozzle with a rag wrapped around it to seal it to the gas tank neck and see if gas will flow freely out of the suction line going to the fuel pump. Do this with a helper so the helper can stick the suction line into a bottle and catch the gas so as not to spill it. This will verify that nothing is wrong with your fuel lines(like a mud dauber nest in the steel line) If you have free flow coming out of the suction hose with no leaks from the hose back at the gas tank or tank lines, then hook the suction line back up to the fuel pump and disconnect the fuel line going to the carb and stick the rubber line in a bottle and hold it in there while someone cranks the engine over and see if the pump is pumping gas into the bottle. If not, there are only two possibilities......either your fuel pump is no good or you left the fuel pump eccentric off the front of the camshaft when assembling the engine. If you have good flow coming out of the hose that hooks to the carb, the fuel delivery system is working and then if the carb isn't letting gas into the engine you could have a stuck needle and seat in the carburetor. That is very unlikely but I have seen this happen a few times over my 46 years of working on cars. One thing you can do is buy some berryman's B12 chemtool in the aerosol can (a spray carb cleaner) and spray it into the air inlet on the carburetor where the choke flap is located. If your engine really isn't getting fuel and that is causing a no start, it should fire right up and run for five seconds till the chemtool runs out. If the engine won't run on chemtool, then you have another problem besides fuel delivery. CAUTION.....do not use gasoline to prime the carb as this will result in a fire. Only use Chemtool aerosol to prime the carb! One more caution... when doing the fuel delivery tests, make sure your garage door is open so there are no fumes building up in the garage, and make sure when using a work light that it is a flashlight or a flourescent light......If you own an incandescent trouble light, throw it in the trash. you can kill yourself and/or burn your house down messing with gasoline with one of those trouble lights nearby. One more thought....if you determine the fuel pump isn't pumping and you know the fuel pump eccentric is installed on the cam, make sure that you don't have the fuel pump lines installed backwards on the pump. On some pumps it is possible to hook up the lines backwards if you aren't paying attention. I'm not sure if that is possible on your pump without looking at it. If you think that could be the problem, you can disconnect the fuel lines from the pump and get a helper to turn the engine over while you put your fingers over the fuel pump ports. The port that sucks on your finger is where the tank suction line hooks up. You should feel pressure coming out of the other port with the engine turning over. That's where your line to the carburetor hooks up.

The whole point of priming the oiling system is to pressurize the system before turning the engine over with the bearings dry. It's probably a good idea but personally I never do that in my shop when installing engines and I've never had a problem.....Engines I've put in and cranked up without pressurizing the oil system have gone 300,000 miles or more without an overhaul. The main thing to worry about is breaking in the camshaft and lifters properly after it starts, by using the proper break in lubricants and running the engine at 1500 rpm for a while after starting. When engines are assembled all the bearings should be coated with light grease like lubriplate , the oil pump should be packed with lubriplate, and the cam lobes should be coated with break-in lube. If those things are done, then the engine should get enough lube for initial starting. The engine I built for my GTO that was assembled that way and started without pressurization when I was just a kid in 1972 is still running great today 43 years later without ever being apart since.....enough said!

The build sheet is a white piece of paper 81/2 by 11 with a series of boxes for the various build codes on the car. I've never heard of someone finding a sixties GM car with a computer card in it from the factory. What is printed on the card or is it just a bunch of holes on the card?

Just wondering if anyone on the forum is going to Springfield , Missouri for the BCA nats June 10-13 2015? I just sent off my registration today. The host hotel is booked up but I got a room at the LaQuinta a couple of hundred yards from the host hotel for less than the special convention rate at the Ramada.

I just got a room at the La Quinta which is only a block away from the host hotel at their over 55 rate of 89.00 a night. They are directly across the street from the host hotel and maybe a couple of hundred yards away.

Bill, no posts since May....did you get the car running again?

Ditto........the girl and the car are looking good! congrats!

Wishing everyone on the forum and in the ROA a safe and merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I believe that Buick and GM have more important things to worry about than someone reproducing an emblem for their car's console that they quit making 50 years ago for a car model they quit making 16 years ago. Their legal department is too busy processing ten million dollar claims for ignition switch related deaths to worry about a hobbyist making a couple of dash emblems.

Spock obviously had excellent taste in automobiles!

I think the reasoning behind putting the strap just on the passenger side was that there would always be a driver on that side who could hold the seat from going too far forward when someone in the back was getting out, while they couldn't control what someone was doing on the other side of the car. The funny thing is I don't ever recall there being a strap on my Dad's 65 Riviera passenger seat but I assume it must have been there and I just never noticed it. One reason may have been that the color of the cable wasn't too far off from the saddle color of the seat making it less noticeable than it was on the dark green interior of my car.

Looks like there is a consensus that only one is needed

Not to worry Pete......the guys at the Monterey Concours won't let you on the show field when they see your dash topper! LOL! As far as your emergency brake, I don't think anybody would notice and your secret is safe with us!

One odd thing about the 65 Riviera is that the "R" on the Riviera script on the front fenders has an open loop while the Riviera emblem on the tail panel has a closed loop on the "R". I never could understand why Buick did that.

Pat, did you have the strap on both seats or just the passenger seat?

The logo is a piece of cake.....Google search Riviera logo and then click on images. Scroll down and you will find an electronic picture of the Riviera logo for the Riviera Owners Association. He should be able to use that image.

When your trophy guy gets the setup done, get him to make me one for my car as well and I will pay you whatever is needed for the cost and the shipping. the name on mine needs to read Winston L McCollum. Thank you.

Doug, I did some looking online and a company called Lexco Cable can make you some cables pretty much identical to the originals for your seats.....vinyl coated cables with eyelets made to the proper length. Check out their website. One thing that makes the original cables ugly is that the plastic sheath on them is white. Lexco can make you some with a black sheath which is much less noticeable when you look at the seat. I see from your picture that the white plastic sheath is gone off of your cable in the picture. The cable on my car was well on it's way to looking like yours at only 55,000 miles.

My 55,000 mile survivor had one cable on the passenger seat outboard hinge when I got it and none on the driver's seat. To me the cable was hideous looking so I removed mine. I suspect the previous owner may have removed the one on the driver's seat if it had one on that side. The one on the passenger seat on my car was starting to come apart(the plastic coating on the outside of the cable was peeling off and cracked. The purpose of the cables was to keep the seat from tilting forward enough that the metal trim on the side of the seat back could hit the console and gouge the paint. On my car if you tilt the driver's seat too far forward, the metal trim on the side of the seat back digs into the paint on the console. For some reason, on my car, the passenger seat when tilted forward all the way only contacts the console with the upholstery, not the metal side trim, so the cable wasn't needed on that side. For that reason I removed it. What I've been doing is whenever I need to go into the back seat area for cleaning, I go in from the passenger side so I don't have to worry about scratching the console.

My 65 is an unrestored survivor that has never been touched, and on both sides the rear of the driver's window covers up 2/3 of the overall width of the rubber seals on the leading edge of the rear windows with 1/3 of the overall width of the seals exposed.

Sent you a PM........

There seems to be some confusion about the equipment my Dad's car was ordered with....It had the standard saddle interior(not the Custom interior and it had crank windows. The only options were tinted glass, A/C, floor mats, power trunk release and wire wheel covers. Of course the best way to find it would be by the VIN number ending in 900633. I agree, it is most likely out there somewhere, but it could be totally unrecognizeable if someone made a custom car out of it. Of course it is also possible that someone restored it then wrapped it around a tree while driving it......I certainly hope not but that is possible. I am working off of memory so I can't be absolutely positive about the VIN number but it definitely is 9006**. The guy who sold it to someone in Ohio says he is absolutely certain it was 900633. My self I'm not as certain but that sounds right. It would be virtually impossible for two cars to still exist in that narrow VIN range with the same original colors and options so if it's out there I'm confident it can be found. It is the most sparsely optioned 65 Riviera I have ever personally run across.....most of them had a lot more options than my Dad's car. One thing I do remember vividly is that the black painted rims the car came with had the last three digits of the VIN written on the outside of the wheels with a white paint marker from the factory. Also, when it went to Ohio, the nailhead was painted red and the air cleaner was a Cal Custom round chrome open element air cleaner, not the stock black air cleaner with snorkel.

You can't diagnose a problem like this without a voltage measuring device....either a voltmeter or a test light. Go down to your local auto supply and buy a test light...every tool box should have one in it. They are not expensive. Once you have one, check the light blue wire at the dimmer switch for 12 volts when the headlight switch is turned on. If it is dead, the problem is either power feed from the horn relay post or something wrong at the headlamp switch. Check the red wire at the headlamp switch for 12 volts with the switch on and if you have 12 volts on the red wire and the light blue wire is dead coming out of the switch, the problem is the headlamp switch or a bad connection on the headlamp switch connector. If the red wire at the switch is dead, that wire goes to the big stud on the horn relay on the left inner fender. (that red wire also branches out from the horn relay and feeds the batt post on the alternator and the ignition switch power terminal.) If the light blue wire at the dimmer switch has 12 volts with the lights turned on, check for power at the other two wires, depending on which beam is selected on the switch. If nothing is coming out going to the headlamps, you have a bad dimmer switch. If you have power to headlamp bulbs, then you must not have the ground wire for the headlamps hooked up.

Looking at your picture, I don't see anything wrong with your original foam. The reproduction foam doesn't have the same "give" when you sit on it as the original foam, making the seat less comfortable and the sitting position too high. If your original foam has just a few little bad spots they can be filled with padding to smooth it out. I have repro foam on my GTO buckets and I hate they way they sit. I found some nice original foams and will be swapping them into my GTO buckets in the near future.