Turbinator

David, Thank you for the compliment. Some things I can do on the car OK, like detail work. Mechanical things I can reach ok I'm fair. Mechanical and electrical things I can't reach is hard. It's hard because I can't figure out how to get the tool where they are suppose to be. On the passenger side hood hinge is a bolt underneath holding the mechanism on. It took a l o n g time for me to get a socket and ratchet on that bolt to remove. I"m powder coating all I can in the engine bay and all I can that bolts on the engine. The engine is out for rebuilding so I might as well do it Powder coating is easy once you learn the combination of media blasting and cleaning the metal with the right chemicals. Stay well, and thanks for the compliment. Turbinator

Lipstick and powder. We called it “ the Hollywood “ when someone dressed a pig to look like a princess. Happens all the time.

Rockin’ Dave, here is one done by hand. I know you’ve solved your problem, but check this one out.

Rocky, the garbage business is truly an outstanding segment to earn some real cake. The waste management biz today is sophisticated from when I was a kid. It got soda down at the county landfill guys we’re getting in fights. And now the guys scan your drivers license before they let you in. The guys on the gate thought I was commercial equestrian I had a ragged 3/4 ton outfitted work truck. They would ask you commercial? I’d say where are the DOT numbers on this truck? I had to go the County Super of Waste Management to-get them to back off. One of my friends says the reason I-have problems is I’m not showing gratitude. Turbinator

A person who does not know reliability and real value.

You know I tend to agree.My perception of a wise guy would be a Cadillac guy. However, one never knows. The wanna bees drive the Caddy while the real wise guy drives a SUV. I don’t want to know. Turbinator

Ed, the white walls in the photo appear to be at 1 1/2” wide. Now, Frank, the lifetime tire store owner and car collector told me the “ standard” width of a white wall tire for a GM car of the first gen Riviera era is 15/16”. I like the 1” wide white wall on my tires a lot. So, I’m sure 1” is correct, but if I’m wrong I’m not changing. It is possible the tires in the pic in question are replacement tires. Turbinator

Ah, ha! Also appears the white walls are tad wider than an one inch. Still look great. These wheelcovers are truly the greatest stock wheel covers I’ve seen. Turbinator

Interesting you mention the subject of fasteners. I have my engine out To the machinist preparing for a rebuild. the service manual step by step instructions will guide me on how to put it back together. The fasteners I removed from the engine and the bay have been bagged and marked. Now, I’m revisiting the fasteners and identifying the fasteners that I’ve beat up that need to be replaced. I’m not sure if they are grade 5 and up. The #10 24 hexhead screws seem to be all over the place. I think by washing the fasteners in parts cleaner then buffing them a little should help them to go back easier. Turbinator

I’m a big fan of Clark’s and use their products. After about 7-10 button covers came off My 63 leather upholstery I finally found a way to reattach the button covers so they will never come off. So far, the button covers have not come off. Turbinator

Ed, I satisfied now. By having another set I can fix them up so someone else can be as satisfied. They are real fun to clean polish powder coat and buff out. Turbinator

Not sure Zimm as I have been in your zRiviera. I got what I wanted out of the work done on suspension. The Boulevard ride is abundantly clearly the same. The steering is better and the car now rides and feels like the front tires are on the highway. The car does not float nor does it feel like rack and pinion steering. Turbinator

Apology for minimizing the tool used to compress the coil springs. Part of my attempt at humor when something takes extra effort. Just having fun. I meant no harm. Turbinator

I always thought they were muffler clamps. The U shaped bolts with threads on the end 5/16” x 18. Then we made a stronger flat metal plate that connects the two ends of the U bolt. You needed more strength in the flat bar the regular flat bar that comes on a muffler clamp. We each had one muffler clamp, threaded them in between the coils and tightened the nuts evenly on each side of the clamp. Worked good, but I got tired of tightening the nuts. Turbinator

Thank you Sir. It really took some effort to compress the springs with muffler clamps.

Id like to have another set like those babies!

Tom, you have more experience in this realm than I do. I’m happy to adjust my expectations to be more in line with your first hand experience. Thanks again for your support and efforts to help me amend my expectations on oil consumption. Turbinator

Dr914, I bought a 63 Riv via internet. I’d been looking for a Riv for about 3 years. I was taking my time hoping to get a rust free solid car I would not have anything to do to the car. The car I bought was solid and paid just a tad too much. Although the car is solid I’ve done quite a bit of restoration. I keep records of all that is done outside and what I do. My expenditures are not justified on an ROI. The reason I spend what I do is because I want to. This is a hobby and for me there is no need to justify expenditures on a hobby. I’m in hopes when I leave this earth one of my family members will end up with a very fine kept 63 zRiviera. Turbinstor

Kevin, I guess all these years driving GM cars and using oil was normal. I knew some cars could use a 1/2 quart every 3000 miles and that was ok. I never thought using a quart every 1000 miles was ok. Now I’ve changed my mind. Thank you for your comments. Turbinator

Tom, first...thank you for telling me your experience. I’m ok with a car using some oil. For me a 1/2 quart oil every 3000 miles is acceptable. My personal experience as a younger man was I blew up car engines believing the engine was starving for oil. Could very well have been the junkers I was driving. A 1 1/2 quart usage from central Maryland, Pittsburgh, Lake Erie and back over 800 miles was unacceptable for me.The engine is 57 years old, uses some oil, I wanted a rebuilt engine thinking the engine would be more reliable for long trips. I had planned to drive from central Md. to K-Zoo and back. Next year I hope to drive to Branson MO and back and if I use 1 1/2 quarts of oil out and back I’ll be ok with that. Turbinator

Amazing. So boring the cylinders in a car engine is not the main thing to increase power and speed. Many modifications can be made to achieve the speed some are looking for. I thought a person who wanted to make a 425 out of a 401 was chasing the speed and power. So to the point, why bore if you can get more speed and power without boring the cylinders. I’m trying to have my cylinders bored as little as possible.

Oh, the car engine is plenty quick at the stock level. Performance in car talk means speed to most . I was looking for performance in reliability, much less oil use, and quite frankly a higher comfort level knowing the engine is hopefully stronger and more dependable. Anytime an engine Ive had in the past used a 1 1/2 quarts of oil in less than a thousand miles something was up. Id like to take long trips knowing the engine is reliable.

Ed, the builder that has my engine wanted to put hardened seats in my nailhead. I told the builder no, do not put hardened seats in. He said, ok.

Bernie, I’ve heard when a 401 gets up to 5000 RPM’s things start to come apart. I doubt I’ll ever get my 401 up to 5000 RPM’s. It seems if you rebuild a 401 there are things you can do boost performance w/o boring the cylinders too big. Turbinator

Are there other ways to boost horse power of a 401 to equal the horse power of a 425 without worrying about overboring? It would seem to me other things could be considered to increase engine performance such as compression ratio of each cylinder. I do not know other things, but I would guess there are other improvements. Maybe forged pistons as opposed to cast pistons could add to performance. I’m rebuilding my engine and I’m thinking the parts that go back in the 401 should be better than what came out.