Quietlion79

Thought I would post mine here. I am fixing things on it as time goes on before my surgery, as Rivnut had mentioned courtesy lights in a BaT auction, I have just ordered lenses and will replace the bulbs in the inop units in the rear. Price on CL is $13,500, but I am asking $12,000 on Riviera enthusiast sites. I really want this to go to a good home and hate to sell it. https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/d/north-hills-1964-buick-riviera-3rd/7027854759.html

Link with more pictures https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/d/north-hills-1964-buick-riviera-3rd/7027854759.html 1964 Buick Riviera 3rd owner (Second owner did not drive it much) 109k original miles Owned 5 years purchased by me on 7/30/14 Clean title CA Black and Yellow plates Built Expressly for – Mary E Oman plate Arctic White on Black Repairs/New parts Transmission rebuilt & Transmission Mount replaced @ ~102k Brake work hoses, shoes @ ~102k New exhaust from headers & Flowmaster muffler @ ~104k Radiator recored @ ~104k Driveshaft balanced and U-joints replaced @ ~104k Belts replaced (Gates) @ ~104k Air Filter replaced @ ~104k PCV Valve replaced @~104k Fuel Filter replaced @ ~104k Oil & Filter change @ ~104k New Battery @ ~104k Throttle stop plunger replaced @~104k Valve cover gaskets @~104k Riviera Floor Mats 7/31/18 Kick panels replaced 7/31/18 Drip Rail rubber seals replaced, Trunk seal rubber replaced, no adhesive used (Both are Metro Moulded brand) 7/31/18 A/C Condenser pressure checked and painted 5/8/19 Water pump (Gates), Fan Clutch (Four Seasons), Thermostat (AC Delco Factory rating), Hoses (AC Delco), Coolant changed 5/8/19 Transmission fluid, filter & pan seal changed (pan drop) 8/29/19 Rusty/corroded bumpers & tail light bezels replaced 9/14/10 Headlights replaced with factory style higher (+30%) output units 9/14/19 5 new Tires 11/11/19 Carter AFB Carburetor rebuilt 11/12/19 Headlight switch replaced 11/14/19 Front Courtesy lenses and bulbs replaced 11/14/19 Oil Change - Mobil 1 synthetic 15w40 and Mobil 1 filter 11/14/19 Body/Paint – Car is very straight, there may be a few parking lot dings here and there, it has been repainted once. The paint job is close to the original color with some slight metallic flake, but has some wear through in a few sections as well as some touch-up work that I did near the bottom from part of the fenders. Still looks good at 10-15 feet. There are a few rust bubbles on the very bottoms of the rear fenders, nothing very serious…even for California. There is some surface rust in the trunk, I believe due to a leaky rear window seal. There might be a little bit under the trim piece that rests under the rear window. The rest of the body, floorboards and trunk are totally dry and in excellent shape. Glass – All clean with no cracks. Chrome – New bumpers I put on are nice and clean up well. Grill, headlight bezels, mirror, taillight bezels, turn signal housings are all good but not perfect. They shine up pretty well. Script, side scallops are pitted. Side window, windshield and rear window trim surrounds are pretty good but have some pitting on the A-pillar. Original bumpers come with the car. They are straight but are corroded and rusty in places. Interior – I believe that the seats, door panels and headliner are original. Looks like the dash and carpets have been replaced. There are some split seams on the front and rear seats and the headliner, along with a small tear in the headliner. There are a few cracks in the steering wheel and some imperfections on the glove box face where someone tried to force it open. The trunk is rough and original. Electrics – Things that work: headlights, turn signals, cluster dimmer, courtesy lights, Passenger’s side door light switch, brake lights, reverse lights, license plate lights, power windows, wipers, blower (takes a couple minutes, might be corroded contacts). Things that do not work: Driver’s side door light switch, radio, cigarette lighter Suspension/Steering – I have driven this car on the freeway up to 80 mph. Overall it feels safe to me, but I am sure that there are some parts that could stand to be replaced, but I don’t really hear much in the way of noises while driving, with the exception of some noise from a body mount. The steering is very smooth and doesn’t leak or make noise. I think the springs are original and a bit on the soft side, but if you like the slightly lowered look, they fit the bill. The ride is probably about what you would expect for a 60’s boat of a car. Brakes – There had been some work done on the brakes prior to my ownership. It has always had very solid brakes, no leaks from the power brake booster, no pulling to either side, no noises. Parking Brake works fine. Engine/Drivetrain – Engine has always run nice and smoothly, no smoke on cold starts, no strange noises. Starts well either hot or cold. No overheating, no oil pressure issues or dripping, looks like the engine was repainted, possibly rebuilt, but I have no paperwork to back that up. It is not the original engine. It has lots of power and accelerates smoothly. Transmission seems to be in good shape, it was rebuilt by the previous owner which was a while ago. It is leaking a bit, I believe from the speedometer port. The driveline doesn’t make any noise, no odd behaviour from the differential. Needs A/C inoperative – Charged the system with R12 a while ago and it held pressure, but the air was not cold. Was told either a valve located behind the dash or the drier are to blame. Drier was removed but never replaced. Original Radio Inoperative – I don’t believe it is getting power. It never worked Blower motor somewhat squeaky and takes a while to come on – I believe there are corroded contacts either on the switch or at the motor. Vacuum hoses in the engine bay will need to be replaced – Dried out Driver’s window loose in the channel (rattles a bit) Rear courtesy light bulbs need to be replaced (likely the lenses too) Driver door courtesy light switch inoperable Transmission leak (described above) I love this car, but it is time for me to pass it along to its next owner. I don't drive it as much as it should be driven. I have it on other sites for $13,500 but am asking $12,000 on the enthusiast sites as I would like for it to go to a good home. Open to offers. Not a need to sell or fire-sale situation. Cash only, no trades. Read the ad and ask me questions via email, if you want to see the car in person, send me your phone number and your availability. I want it to go to a good home and would love to sell it to an enthusiast. Open to international buyers. I plan to take more photos of it, including some of the underside. These are what I have for now.

Thanks Fuzz! I found a manual for a 66 rivi online and I wanted to make sure the torque specs were the same and they are! What that quote you posted means is that the propellershaft (driveshaft) "shoulder" (on the joint) must be backed off about 1/2" from the end of the transmission tailshaft. I ended up torquing them to the low side of the range, 75 and 15, respectively. I would guess that would be ok. Your help is much appreciated! Is your Rivi in the picture hunter green in color? Looks like a nice shade.

Hey All, I was wondering if someone could help me out this afternoon. I had my driveshaft rebuilt and have reinstalled it, but I am not sure what the proper torque specs are for the 2 bolts on the carrier bearing and the four bolts on the differential flange. I will be buying/downloading a shop manual shortly, but I was wondering if someone could help me out with the specs for now so I can get it off the jacks and attend to the other issue I have (replacing the vacuum advance). The PO apparently didn't realize the vac advance was leaky and decided to compensate by advancing the timing. Thanks in advance! Andy

Just an update. I went to the CHP office in Valenica, CA today and Officer Mitchell inspected the car. All went silky smooth and my title is in the mail. Got plates and tags shortly thereafter. He didn't even check the frame numbers, but i told him I had found them and marked them for him. Took about 15 minutes tops. It would have been shorter, but he's a pilot and I'm learning to be one, so we got sidetracked. Anyways, now on to figure out how to get my black and yellow plates on my car. Seems like i need to by a repro 1964 sticker and put it on my plates, then bring it in to the DMV so they can put a 2016 sticker on over it (!). Gotta love California DMV rules. Thanks again, everyone for the help and support.

Car is straight and in overall good shape. It runs, drives, stops and shifts well. Interior is in fair to good shape. Carpets would need to be replaced (or just throw floormats over it), headliner looks clean, dash has a few cracks and the seats are in great shape. Transmission was completely rebuilt recently ($1200), the radiator has been recored ($450), carburetor rebuilt, ignition module replaced (Mopar unit), hoses replaced and a full tune up has been done as well. It doesn't have much rust, floorpans and trunk pan are solid, just some below the vinyl top which will require metal replacement (the vinyl top could use some repair as well), it needs two front tires at this time. Paint is in pretty good shape overall, with some minor imperfections. Open to any questions or other picture requests you might have. More photos and details are available from the owner (my roommate). Clean title on non op, no tickets or back fees. Located in the San Fernando Valley. Asking $3500/obo

Car is straight and in overall good shape. It runs, drives, stops and shifts well. Interior is in fair to good shape. Carpets would need to be replaced (or just throw floormats over it), headliner looks clean, dash has a few cracks and the seats are in great shape. Transmission was completely rebuilt recently ($1200), the radiator has been recored ($450), carburetor rebuilt, ignition module replaced (Mopar unit), hoses replaced and a full tune up has been done as well. It doesn't have much rust, floorpans and trunk pan are solid, just some below the vinyl top which will require metal replacement (the vinyl top could use some repair as well), it needs two front tires at this time. Paint is in pretty good shape overall, with some minor imperfections. Open to any questions or other picture requests you might have. More photos and details are available from the owner (my roommate). Clean title on non op, no tickets or back fees. Located in the San Fernando Valley. Asking $3500

Thanks Paul, me too.

I AM sleeping better. Again, Chris thanks so much for all your help. Although I got off easy with my particular vehicle (as it was garaged and from SoCal), there was still a little rust on it. I hope this thread helps others in the future as well.

Hey everyone! I'm happy to report that I found both VIN stampings and they were the same as the one on my title. Woohoo! I think this car really was a garage queen most of her life, as there was not too much to clean off. It took about an hour or so. I used my trusty nitecore flashlight (more of a light gun, really) and a 1" adjustable mirror and found them pretty easily thanks to Chris's guidance. Mine started about 4" aft of the entrance of the parking brake cable into the frame and about 7" aft of the last body mount. Both pretty legible, although the first "7" was missing on both of them. I made scratch marks to make it easy for the CHP officer and I may go back with a paint marker just to make it that much easier. Thank you all VERY MUCH for your guidance and suggestions. I will report in my results after the inspection (after which it is STRAIGHT to the dmv...hopefully I can just go right to my restored, correct YOM black and yellow plates. )

Thanks Chris, I am going to get back on this task later in the afternoon. I have a memorial flyover to shoot in a bit. Much appreciated!

Paul- Maybe I will give that suggestion a shot next week...no harm in asking, right? Thanks for the info about it sometimes being printed on the reg card as well. Good to know. I hope to have some time to look at the frame this weekend. With Alini's great reference pic, at least I know roughly what I am looking for (Thanks so much for posting that, Alini). At least it is near the outside edge of the frame...maybe I'll have enough clearance to run a 90 degree-angled pick over the top of the frame and "feel" where the VIN is stamped. Mick - Wow, I guess my situation isn't so bad, thanks for the perspective. Best of luck with your situation. RoadShark- Yup, seems like there really is no rhyme or reason...no uniform set of rules and each state does its own thing. I suppose that is both good and bad.

Paul, I'm just as confused as you are. I have registered and titled old cars in CA in the past and all I've needed was the title and whether it is "in the system" or not, I would walk out with current registration, tags and a title on the way in the mail. I'm wishing at this point that I just sucked it up and waited in line at the DMV, because apparently most AAA reps have no idea what to do with old cars. I didn't mention the missing VIN tag on my first visit to AAA, as I wasn't even aware that it was missing at the time. They said straight away that the car had to be verified, so I came back a second time and that's when I realized there was no VIN tag. Additionally, what raised the AAA rep's radar was that the number on the engine was different than on the title. THis prompted the third visit (with new tag) and the (now third different rep) staed that the tag didn't look like it had been on the car since 1964. This "necessitated" the stamp and instructions to go see CHP. I have made an appointment in t-minus 12 days. I hope the officer is patient, knowledgeable and kind. Till then, I will be looking for the frame stamped VINS. I have been tempted to go to a registration service, and it is true that the stamp may not be indicative that it is "officially" in the system, but I think I may be too far down the paperwork rabbit hole at this point. I may try calling the DMV and see if I can glean some further info on this over the phone. If I can find the frame VINs myself, I will fell a whole HELL of a lot more confident about going to CHP. RIght now I am a little worried (have even lost sleep over this). I thought this would have been easy, just like the 60 tbird, 67 galaixe fastback and others that have gone before...

I did some checking around and found some great vehicle idenitifcation companies in the SoCal area, but it seems that in my situation I must go only to CHP. I will be setting up an appointment soon. I was thinking of goign to the one in NewHall instad of the West San Fernando Valley as I am hoping they have a lighter workload and can take the time required to locate the frame VINs (That I can hopefully locate before I go in). I'll let you all kno how it turns out. If I cancel my account here at the Riviera owners forum, I guess you'll know that I am not an owner any longer. :\

Thanks, Ed! I appreciate the confirmation.