Turbinator

Loren, I appreciate you taking the time to help out on the learning curve. My time in high school French class could have been better spent in shop class. My shop class now is learn by my mistakes. But, your input cut down on my mistakes. Thank you again. Turbinator

Here we are 2023 and I had the 63 Riviera judged at the AACA meet in Hershey 2022. I was delighted for the car to receive a recognition award in my class as Junior Third. The award means I had the third highest point tally im my class for a first year showing. Not a word was said about my compass. I have American Classic Radial bias look tires that look pretty good to me, but the judges said they have to be original bias tires even though they looked like bias. I let it go and thanked the captain of the judging team for volunteering.

The brochure I mentioned was an error or my part. I do not have a published brochure of my Dinsmore compass. The photocopy I took of my Dinsmore compass was taken from a 1963 Buick spec book with colors and fabric samples. The 63 Spec book is owned by Gene Guarnere.

I bought it. I have some holes to cut, but not for air filters. Looks like a good design and well made. Probably not as good as the the tried and true string with a pencil on one end and center point on the other for the radius. Turbinator

Rodney, thanks for your observation. The Buick Specifications book for all 1963 that showed the style I like was a mistake. Secondly, another 63 Buick Spec book a Buick Wildcat owner showed did not have my style compass in his book. The Buick Wildcat owner’s book showed the Starwars type compass and a barrel shaped compass with GM on the face. I would speculate the person that compiled my Spec book simply did not have the correct compass info about the compass at the time the book was printed. In another instance regarding the proper grain pattern on the dash pad for the 63,64, and 65 Riviera is the hair cell pattern. Ive found hair cell pattern is the grain pattern of the hair side of the animal skin. Leather can come from cows, pigs, ostrich, alligator, crocodile, and thanks to the Chinese the dog hide. My sources for the grain info is from personal experience of slaughtering pigs and cows, a tanner, and an upholsterer, and print materials. My point is Ive seen two distinct hair cell patterns for thr 63,64,and 65 Buick Riviera. The two patterns are indiscriminately mixed in the 63-65 Riviera. How would I know? I upholster 63-65 Buick Riviera dash pads and use an ABS vinyl plastic single piece designed to be a direct fit for 63 and 64-65 dash pads. Ive searched so far to find suppliers refer to the dash grain pattern as Madrid. I contend when the vinyl was embossed for the 63-65 Rivieras the vinyl came from two suppliers. Each supplier had a different hair cell pattern. The Buick buyer was splitting the business between the two suppliers to keep the peace or the Buick buyer dare not run out of ANY embossed vinyl so he bought from both suppliers. Errors and honest inconsistency happen in this spec arena for spec books and Service Manuals. The 63 Service manual says the AC compressor needs 3.5 lbs of R12. If you want cold air you better put in 4 lbs plus. My opinion is misprints, errors happen in the 63 Riviera spec books. Interpretation of the truth with a capital “T” is not worth the time. Reason is evidence at the ROA meets precious few Rivieras Ive seen are 100% stock. Its not bad, it is many of us personalize our stock Rivieras with different wheels and different tires. Other differences could very well be compasses, additional radio speakers , and even the color of the car. So, is an inconsistency in a Buick spec book wrong? How do we prove it is a misprint? Evidence is required then the evidence must be proven. Let us interview the experts to form a jury. Rodney, thanks for your input by taking the time to post good solid remarks. Bob

Well, i did buy the hole cutter. If it works that will be good! ill keep you advised. later gator

Polyvance is the solution I like. However, i contend there is more than one better way to a job. Turbinator

Willis- this popped up. I cut holes for many home projects. I saw ( pun) this as a catch all. 2”-20” hole cutters SKU 1891192 Hilnor tools at Supply House ( have not purchased yet) Description – Cutting holes in sheet metal just got a whole lot easier. These two tools allow you to bring some power to what was previously a manual job, whether you use the smaller Hole Cutter for 2” to 12” holes or the larger Hole Cutter for 2” to 20” holes. Looks like sheet metal has met its match.

Newly Chromed 853 Buick Roadwheels. Chromed in USA 2 units per each one at $600.00. $1200.00 for two 2 Model 853. Freight is additional Webs can be powder coated for $100.00 per each wheel. Buy on eBay for 15% more. Price is firm. Turbinator PM if you would like to purchase the items. OEM stamped on the barrel oif the wheel.

Ray, I had a prototype delivered mid November. I was out of town for a month. I was a bit too hopeful thinking Id buy a wholesale amount. I settled for a prototype and it looks good. The MOQ is high for my risk/reward tolerance. Ive twisted the numbers every which way and Im afraid my brand of arithmetic just will not show a worthwhile investment. im thinking many would rather blow out the existing filter and continue use as opposed to buying new. There is no status nor sense in over spending. Thank you for your inquiry. Turbinator

checked to see if they were still available/selling them at this time This one looks pretty good for a prototype, BUT it might be too expensive to make. I know car collectors typically through nickels around like they are man hole covers so the price has to be right.

The ROI calcunlation I use is get something people want and invest $1. Then sell the item for net profit of $10. Economics lesson over. Please see my prototype of an air filter that fits the specifications for a 401.

I take pictures and label wires, hoses, brackets, put hardware in clear bags with label of what the stuff is in the bag. I never took an engine out or put one back in until a few years ago. The pictures helped see how things are suppose to go. In the end it all worked out pretty good. Surprisingly. Turbinator

Gents, Ive outgrown my air compressor system. I want to replace with oroper specs not si much a brand name. I know what had good reputation. I blast old parts and car wheels and media blast the parts and send them out to be chromed. Sometimes I powder coat the parts myself. I use a refrigerated line dryer with a siphon media cab. I also have an 80 gallon dry air reservoir. I was thinking a line dryer that had the same CFM at 100PSI as the compressor would save me the cost of a reservoir tank. Msybe 10HP With 30-34 CFM? thank you for your input Bob

I can answer some of the question, If he does go Ill haul all the boxes of hard to find items he has in my truck and 18’ trailer. Hopefully, some of Gene’s stuff will get mixed up with mine. Turbinator

What puzzles me is why dont American importers of aftermarket parts write up specifications? Seems like a manufacturer of brake parts could very well follow specific customer specifications. Turbinator

Error?

John, i stand corrected. The 63 wire wheel emblem is secured with 3 screws. The 64 wire wheel cover emblem is secured with 4 screws. The 63 and 64 spokes are different. The 63/64 emblems are interchangeable on the wheelcover as long as the 3 or 4 threaded hub receivers match up with the emblem. Im happy to stand corrected on how the assembly goes. A very fine demo of how to disassemble, clean, polish, and reassemble the wheelcovers. The article appeared in the Riview awhile back by a very fine gent whose name I have forgotten. I apologize for not looking up the article but Im on the road. The spokes are different for each year. ive found the procedure given in the Riview to be great. I cut out the article and saved the demonstration for future reference. Another gent on the ROA website who is quite knowledgeable of most things Buick; however, he knows a lot about wire wheel covers. Irlforfun Gene Guarnere is quite knowledgeable on the subject as are our very fine tech advisors, Tom Mooney, Jim Cannon, Tom Telesco, EmTee, and our highly esteemed RivNut. All of the gents listed can help you with your Riviera information. Turbinator

Sir, I agree. I have turbines, OEM WIREwheel covers, and TruSpoke wire spoke wheels. when I go to shows where Buicks are there in number I “wear” the right wheels. For a local show that are hot rods i go with what Wheels or covers I have on the car. Ez Turninator

The paint job is good, real good with the right coatings as I understand. only a comment is I started powder coating with the intent of learning how to do so small parts. Now if you are interested in how to do it pm me and ill tell you how you can do a good job for a little bit of money. You can get going with gun, oven, powder for under $200.

I think we all agree personal taste regarding our cars is something we are lucky to have. Im not a fan of wheelcovers with one exception and that is the 63/64 turbine wheel covers. Par Curran put me on to thos turbines early on my Riviera ownership. My other favorite are the TruSpoke wire spoke wheels TruSpoke sells for Buicks. I thought replacing the 63-64 Riv wire wheel covers with real wire spoke wheels with a Buick two bar spinner might look good. I pulled together original OEM parts and some new pieces to assemble a cover assembly to fit the TruSpoke wheel.

John, Dean has done a fine fitment with battery. I'm challenged to bend the top battery hold down bar to fit in the hole without cracking my plastic fake battery top. I would suppose there is s reason for the “ tapped” hole. My car id a 63 and I cant remember if my holes ate threaded or not? My hold down bar is broken in the end. You know it would not be too hard to make a wire model of a properly fitted hold down bar. Take off the two 90degree metal edge pieces. Have the edges spot welded on the hold down bar. Dip in liquid silicone or just paint the bar?

Attached, is a Buick horn cap I believe to be original. Im in need of more center caps like the one in the photo. if you any you want to sell please pm me. Turbinator

John, happy to learn of the sharp acquisition of 5 WSW tires you like to include delivery for $637.00 CAD. Truly a good deal for the size and 3/4” WSW tires. I like a smaller 275/70 R 15 for my 63. I got my white walls at 1”wide. It took s period of time to get the one inch WSW on the radial bias look for what I wanted to pay. The tires look good on your car with the sharp looking Buick Roadwheels. Turbinator

I like the wheels on the car a lot! brand name and model wheel? Thank you