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Would y'all say this is good enough to use or is it pitted? Started leaking thermostat n my 65 just sitting in the garage during our single digit cold spell and I just put a t stat in in the summer when I had the radiator fixed. So I just want some opinions before I reuse this or buy a new one.

I tried the Card one booster for my 65, and the bolt pattern was wrong. I suggest Booster Dewey as a reduild in Oregon; he fixed me up right

Merry Christmas to all my fellow Riv owners!

I tried one of those ABS covers years ago in a Monte Carlo SS that I had. The piece was warped out of the box and never did fit down correctly. Just wasn't impressed.

That white '65 in that video is now mine; Junior owned it for around 20 years, from what I was told. I bought it from a landscaper who did a new house for him, and took the Riv in as partial payment on the job. Talked to Junior on the phone the night I bought it, and we had a fairly long conversation about how his wife got to drive it more than he did, and so on. Guy is a great guitar player, and was pretty knowledgable on Riviera history. Also, when I bought the car, I found an envelope full of tag receipts and insurance cards in the glovebox all in his and his wife's name.

He has dropped the price quite a bit. I tried to just buy the horn setup from the bottom of the hood, but he won't part it.

I figure the wiper motor guy was in there somewhere too.

I wonder if the Elvis shades on the dash come with it?

I certainly understand that; I did the same. Worked on mine trying different regulators and such for over a month, and finally gave up. Got to thinking; do I want to drive this thing, or work on it until spring lol.

I went a step further, and got rid of the external regulator altogether. Bought an internally regulated alternator for a late 70's GM car, then a short adapter harness from Speedway Motors that plugs into the existing alternator harness on one end, and your new alternator on the other. The harness came with a plug that you stick into the voltage regulator harness that jumps the appropriate wires so everything functions. Tucked that unused harness into the fender and left the regulator for appearance. All my charging issues went away.

Nice car and I like it. Would like it better without the Continental kit.

Got my driver's license in my Mom and Dad's 1978 4 door hardtop Bro-ham New Yorker. Dad bought it new; rode like a cloud, and actually handled well for such a massive car. Problem was, we never got to enjoy the ride very often because it spent so much time in the shop. Water leaks at the windows, valve cover leaks constantly on the 400, bent distributor shaft from new, so sometimes it would start, sometimes not. Took over a year to source THAT problem. As a teenager driving it, I learned it wouldn't break 90 mph, no matter how long you laid into the loud pedal, and the valves rattling at that full throttle blast was unreal. Dad actually kept it 12 years and 50k miles because he felt like he needed to get out of it what he had in it. However, I have always liked the design over the Lincolns and Cadillacs of the era, and would love to have one if it was mechanically sorted, or at least had the Lean Burn replaced with a proper electronic distributor and non feedback carburetor.

He isn't on this forum; he's on several Riviera forums on Facebook and has a Facebook profile, so you may be able to send him something in Messenger.

Saw his Facebook post; friend of mine in Detroit, David Jackson, replied that he had one for $100.00 bucks.

It took two of us to get the booster back on my '65. I was the lucky one; I was up top wiggiling it back and forth, while my buddy was standing on his head under the dash fighting the push rod. Get some help, and be patient (not my strong suit) it will go on.

Think it's fixed. Emtee, bloo, and Rivnut we're right. Replaced it all with 5/8, and it doesn't seem to be leaking. BulldogDriver, I will prolly order that hose; I saved the part number, but for now I spliced the hose from the pump to the core with a plastic Dorman adapter just because O'Reilly had one, and I wanted to see if the hoses and clamps were really the problem. So far so good; filled the coolant, got it hot and running and cut the heat on. Can't see any leaks so far, but will keep my fingers crossed. Thanks for all the advice; you guys have always been a tremendous help.

Good point

Love these cars. Always said if I couldn't have a '65 Riviera, I would have one of these or a 69-72 Grand Prix. Actually, the General Lee was a conglomeration of 68,69,70 Chargers before it was all said and done.

Or use a Murray 84715 reduction fitting inline between the 5/8 hose and the 3/4 coming off the water pump. Still can't wrap my head around the fact that those 3/4 hoses have been on there for over 6 years, and never have leaked at the firewall before.

Thing is it has not leaked there since I bought the car in 2016. Replaced the hoses with 3/4, which was what was on it, and it started to leak as soon as it pressurized. Granted, I DID have to tighten the clamp, but it still APPEARS to be coming from around the screw where the electric heater valve has it's ground wire. I may try a 5/8 hose this week and see what happens. For now, I capped the fitting at the pump and water manifold so I can drive it. Live in North Alabama, and really haven't needed much heat anyway, so far. Biggest thing is, it makes a colossal mess to clean up; I used a pile of pig mat lol. Why can't this crap happen in spring, anyway?

You are right it's the firewall side under the hood. The hoses and one A/C line go thru this plate that is secured to the firewall with four screws. Thinking I could remove the other hose now and the screws holding that plate and slide it over the a/c line and see what's going on. The floorboard and carpet are dry

Here's the leaking spot. Seems to be coming around that ground screw for the heater valve. I removed that heater hose all the way to the engine; figured it won't hurt to replace it; the top one was just replaced

I'm still at work; I'll try to get one tonight when I get home of the affected area.

Anyone with a 1st Gen Riv and Vintage Air ever have a heater core start leaking? I have the Gen IV Magnum universal Vintage Air setup that a previous owner had installed in place of factory air, and I've noticed a small coolant leak at the firewall where the heater hoses go in. There is a fabricated plate surrounding the hoses with grommets in the holes for the hoses. The heater valve has a ground wire that attaches with a screw to this plate, and this seems to be where it's coming from. Small puddle of coolant under the car the other day, but none since, and I put enough miles on it yesterday to get it hot and run the heat. Funny thing is, the interior is absolutely dry; floorboards, carpet, and mat and all. I can see coolant stains on the frame where it ran down. I will try to get pictures tonight and put up, but I was just curious if anyone else with a similar setup had run into this kind of issue, because to the best of my knowledge, Vintage Air offers NO replacement part for the heater core, have to buy the complete evap/heater core box assembly, and replace.

Cool story! Ironically, MY Dad was a Mercury man until he bought his 65 Riviera, lol. He owned a 1951, 1955, and a 1960 Park Lane that he traded in on the Riviera. Like you, he always told me that the Riviera was among the best cars he ever owned.