jsgun

Interesting conversion, I like that kind of inventiveness. I hate 4 piston calipers though, the pads never seem to wear evenly.

This. I went through all of this with a SBC I had 20 years ago. The different keyways are just there to allow you the option of experimenting with different timing in performance builds. I put in 5 advanced on my SBC, and it was too much because the Performer cam already had something like 8 degrees advance built in compared to stock. Conversely, I put in 5 degrees retarded on my SBF to give it a little more torque. I later put it back to 0 when I was trying to figure out a engine issue. It was a noticeable difference, but barely. When in doubt, put it at 0 straight up, and she'll be fine.

Before I bought my Riv, I looked at a 62 Thunderbird that had a red interior. Every single piece was a different shade of red. Seats turned dark, some of the hard plastics turned dark pink, a couple of pieces stayed bright red. It's interesting how age affected the material's colors.

I've owned my 67 mustang for 16 years now. I've put about 14K into it, and i'll be lucky to get 5K from it. That car's been a real education, about the car, and about myself both.

If I was in your position, I'd do the same. Get it running, drive the wheels off. Plenty of time to make it pretty later. It's got character. My 64 has about 75% good paint, but it's a custom mixed color that will be impossible to replicate to patch up. I'm just going to go with it, and worry about making it pretty some point in the next 10 years.

http://tire-size-calculator.info/ I found that site some time ago. It allowed me to compare the stock wheel dimensions to the wheels I wanted. My reasoning is that if it's not too far from dimensionally stock, it should fit. http://www.gtsparkplugs.com/Offset-to-Backspace.html How to figure the difference between offset and backspace

I was considering selling mine, because money is tight. But then I realized I'd most likely never be able to afford one again. The current prices on CL are getting crazy and Ebay prices are out of control.

I used to do bodywork when I was a kid. Wanted to be the next Gene Winfield. Anyhow, that quarter is going to be work-hardened to hell. Planishing that is going to be blue murder. They went to town with that slide hammer, which is kinda weird considering how accessible it is from the back side. Leads me to believe it was some deep creases. Above the wheel arch is going to be holding a lot of tension, so if you cut off the whole quarter, things are going to move around. If it was me, I'd replace the flat area between the reveals and about 3" past the wheel arch. It's got a slight crown which will be tricky to fabricate, But if you get that from another quarter, you'd be miles ahead. Then I'd make the edges of the original quarter flat enough to meet the patch. Not a huge job, but fixing a hack repair like that can be tricky. I'd seriously consider getting the car on a frame machine, and making sure it's square first. My ponycar has a salvage title, but no collision evidence. I had it put on a frame machine, and the thing was twisted lengthwise front to rear. The driver's side rear wheel and passenger side front wheel were 6MM lower than the other wheels. Once it was pulled straight, it was easier to align the frontend, and it drove better. Doors and trunk lid shut better too. A lot of crap can happen to a car in 50 years. Just a thought.

Well, I'm stumped. The wheels on the 65 have the deeply curved spokes like the one piece front buick wheels, where as the wheel vintiques have fairly straight spokes. The older wheels have an area on the inside that is welded to the hoop. I'm now thinking they cut the hoop off, then cut the diameter of the face down to fit into the hoop. The hoop is probably generic GM 8" wide, and they welded the two together again. That would get you a 5x5 BP, and the shallow back spacing that Riv's need. I've seen articles where hotrodders do some crazy stuff to steel wheels, so I think this is do-able.

I suspect they're aftermarket wheels: https://www.wheelvintiques.com/buick-rallye.html However, they're only offered in 4.75 bolt pattern, so if they used those, they would have had to use a bolt pattern adaptor. Looking at the specs, they have a 4.5" back spacing, so they would have had to go with a 1" spacer to get them away from the frame. They appear to have a Interestingly, you can get them up to 10" wide.

When I was shopping for mine, I saw this so often. Even from professional classic car dealers. Five minutes with Google would have sorted it out.

I think it's a left over from manufacturing. I think it's a register mark for the center of the floor pan, or possibly the whole body shell.

My 64 was originally Tawny Mist, which has the same paint code as 65's Champaign Mist. I suspect it's the same color. It originally had a saddle interior though. But anyhow, my vents appear to have been painted black in the insets, and no other paint.

I've been told that I have the memory of a 90yr old. That, and a face made for radio.

I watch his shows on youtube. He has an almost photographic memory for all of his collection, it's incredible. But he does occasionally slip on things. I give him a pass, considering he's almost pushing 70. That, and I'm 20 yrs younger, and with half his memory ability.

Mine did the exact same thing. I assumed it was broken. I hoped I saved everything from it.

Ok, cool, you've sold me on it. What size tires are you running? Any rubbing? Here in the desert we have drain ditches at most intersections, and they'll really test your suspension. My ponycar touches down sometimes, and it's just a 2.5" drop.

How does it drive with those springs? Any issues with speed bumps or dips in the road? I'm wanting to go with those springs, but I don't want to drag and scrape on everything.

I agree. I suspect the radio, in combination with some intermittent draw, is overloading the switch. A relay would resolve that, as long as it's getting enough power too.

I'm in the same place with my 64. I bought it, thought it was going to be a couple weeks of replacing dried hoses, and changing fluids. It's been a year, and I've currently installed all new weather stripping, engine wiring, and replaced the fuse box with a break panel. This is my first Buick, although there's many I'd like to own. It's also the oldest car I've owned. It's unusual, not just in looks, but in how it's constructed. Some design elements are obviously prototypical A body, and some of it is left over from 30's thinking, and some of it is just specific to that car alone. If you think that trim is stupid, wait until you have to change the heater core. It was engineered by some real sadistic a-holes. The rear window trim is a treat too, my generally rust free car was completely rusted out at the bottom of the rear window. Temporary fix is aluminum tape, and gluing the trim in place with silicone, until I can afford to put it in a body shop to get a new window frame made. I suspect there's maybe a handful that didn't rust there. If you're pulling the side glass, you might want to make sure your window motors work. My doors did, but not the quarters. I pulled them all, and everything (including the guide rails for the glass) had the original 54 year old grease on them. I think I was the first person to pull the door skins off. They worked much better after cleaning and regreasing. Even with all of it's quirks, I absolutely love mine. I really enjoy working on it. Wonderful cars.

Mine on the doors were in that condition. I had all my glass out to get to the screws, and even then I had to drill out most of them. I replaced them with brass ones from the hardware store. I'm not a fan of the design, on previous cars it was interlocking tabs and one screw, which makes more sense.

I wonder what it was? Mitchell had the power to have anything he wanted built. I've read somewhere that GM was experimenting with front wheel drive as early as the late 50's, in competition with Ford's proposed FWD Thunderbird. There's a lot of room between the front rails on the Riv, and I've noticed that the engine is fairly forward away from the firewall.

The piece under the rear window is held on by 5 speednuts, on inch long post on the trim. I believe a 7/16 long socket and extension will reach them. Pop the trunk, and reach under the rear window area, you'll find the access holes for them. If you lose a couple of the nuts, like I did, they can be easily replaced by Ford 1/4" "thread cutting nuts" for emblems. I found some with rubber on the backs to help seal the holes. They have the best prices and are nice reproductions. The original GM ones are crazy expensive. The ones you'll find at pep boys are garbage and don't hold at all. That piece of trim is known for holding dirt, and is part of the rust out issues Riv's get right there. When I removed mine, there was a thick layer of dirt under it. I'm planning on adding duct seal putty under mine, at the leading edge and around the holes, to seal it from doing that anymore.

The Decometal looks really good. I was looking at their stuff for my inserts. I want something different than the standard wood. 3M has some nice metal and wood films too.

Not often, but yeah, there's been a couple of times