Pat Curran

Thanks Ed!

Hi Tom. In looking at owner's photos of other 67's, the stainless moldings are on the cars. Sometimes GM's press photos contain items that never made it into production but the pics of 67's that I have taken at various shows illustrate the stainless moldings. Hope you are well! Pat Curran

Thank you!!

Update..............just found out that the upper column is what I need and the part is interchangeable between 97-99 Riv's and Aurora's.

Thanks Ed! Lateral movement indeed.................this thing reminds me of the swing away steering wheels in the old Thunderbird's!!! I took it to the Buick dealer and the part that is needed to fix the issue is unavailable. I was willing to buy a whole column just to get the part. The dealer has the thing all apart. The car has 193,000 miles on it but runs like a top, still looks good and I don't wan't to junk it. It got to the point where there was so much play in the column that it was no longer safe to drive. Can you send me information on the shop that did the work? I would like to contact them to see if they have any spare parts. Thanks again! Pat

I need a steering column for a 1997 Riv. The unit is no longer offered by GM and the local junk yard did a national search with no results. Are all steering columns for the 1995-1999 interchangeable or is the unit specific to a 1997? Also, would a unit from a first generation Olds Aurora fit? Any help or leads would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Once the Riviera bug bites, you are infected for a lifetime! You should join the Riviera Owners Association as soon as you can. They produce a great bi-monthly publication that will open up a whole new Riviera world to you. Good luck with your car!

I doubt this very much. The Super Wildcat 465 engine was a stand alone option in 1965 and 454 non-GS 65 Riv's came with this option. It actually makes it rarer than the 65 GS. As you probably know, the early GS's came with small emblems and I believe the change to larger emblems was made sometime in December of 1964. There is always a possibility that the right person had the right connections at Buick to have the the car built without the emblems but unless there was some type of paper trail to prove it, I would be doubtful. I remember seeing these cars when the 65's first came out and the emblems were on the cars. If the VIN is in the 5000 range, then the story doesn't add up. Please let us know what you find out.

To my knowledge, no one is reproducing exterior sheetmetal for the first generation Riv. There are some floor pans that are being reproduced but I have never purchased them so I can't tell you how good the quality is.

The 68 bumper will fit the 69 but keep in mind that the back up lights are located in the lower bumper on a 68 instead of up in the tail light housing on a 69. It can be done easily enough though. Hemmings Motor News shows several sources that are parting out all generations of Riviera's. You may want to pick up the latest issue.

I don't remember if my 65 had a 1 or 2 key system but I believe it was just 1. Darwin Falk has run a series of articles in past Riviews breaking down colors and options on most years of the Riviera. The article tells you what percentage of cars came with each option. The wider tire and wheel was not a popular option so my guess is the 5 1/2 was the most popular size.

I soaked mine in kerosene for a weekend and then blew it out with an air hose. It did the trick! I would think that a petroleum solvent like Gunk would work as well. It may dull a painted surface so you might have to re-paint the piece after cleaning.

The '64 utilized a 1 key system. The spare did not come with a turbine wheel cover already installed however, the rim was pre-drilled from the factory to accomodate the cover. As far as I know, all rims were pre-drilled for this option. I have had several '64's over the years, one of them had the turbine wheel cover option. The others had the standard full wheel covers but the rims were all pre-drilled.

I was able to remove the door jamb panel and reach in when I had my 64. I could not get a wrench or ratchet in without a lot of trouble but I was able to hold the socket with a couple of fingers and hand tighten the nuts with no problem. I had the car for 24 years and they never worked loose. Give it a try.

My 97 (a past Riview cover car and featured in last years calendar) is a very comfortable car and it just turned 200,000 miles with no mechanical drivetrain repairs ever. The transmissions were upgraded beginning with the 97's and as others have stated, improvements were made over each model year. The doo dads start to fail as was common for GM cars of the era. My CD player quit years ago and other electronic gremlins make themselves known. Many have reported fuel guage sending unit failure (mine included) but it can be replaced withour dropping the tank. Intake manifold gaskets will fail in time as well which is common on the 3800 gen two engine. The 3800 engine itself is bullet proof. You can pick up last generation Rivs on the cheap even with relatively low miles. If you look at a car from the snow belt, be sure to examing the sub frame mounting areas for rust out issues. They are not worth fixing and the repair was featured in a Riview not that long ago.

Check to see if all glass is labeled "soft ray." The soft ray tinted glass was used on all GM cars for many years. The color is a very light blue/almost turquoise from the factory. I have seen windshields where the sun band at the top has faded to an amber color but I have never seen a car where all the windows have faded to amber. If the car spent its entire life in the southwest then I guess it would be possible.

Buick offered a light tan or beige color in 63 but no yellow. They offered yellow in 64 and also offered a color called bamboo cream in 65 which is a light yellow. Color change is a personal choice thing. A judge at a BCA event would note it, particularly if it was a color not offered for a specific model and year. The ROA would not hold it against you at one of their meets. So, it can hurt the value depending on how far you want to go with the car. If you like the color and if it is a solid car at a fair price, then go for it. You can always revert back to the original color at some point. Let us know what the data plate says and good luck!

Although Yellow was not offered, Buick did accept special order colors. I don't recall what the code was for a special order color but it was covered in the ROA Riview and it would be on the data plate. Only a few were ordered this way so chances are your color may have been changed at some point by a previous owner.

Good to hear from you Dave! I have been playing around with Riviera's now for 42 years so maybe I can offer something to the group and continue to learn more.

It was just the passenger seat.

My 64 had the strap but the plastic coating was all frayed.

New vinyl will have a bit of a sheen to it so I wouldn't go with a flat finish. A semi-gloss may work but I would test it first. You may have to play with a gloss reducer until you get it right.

Take the interior color code to your local auto body/paint supplier. They can usually look it up for a close, if not perfect match. I just had some made up for a 71 Monte Carlo and it was an exact match.

I know I might be nit picking, but these cars wouldn't pass muster at a judged BCA show. For these prices, they should be more correct than they are. With regard to the red one, aside from the obvious wrong interior fabric, the wire wheel covers should have the "R" emblem instead of the Buick Tri-Shield, the resonators are missing from the exhaust system, the cowl vents should be body color, and headlights should be T3's. These are all easily rectified but it will cost money. Nice enough cars and I hope they get their price.