BetsytheRiv

Did anyone end up finding the 65 Riv AIM? —Margot

I appreciate the reply. I agree it's a tricky business and I called my electrician friend for his $0.02. That's what I was thinking but the seed of doubt was planted and down the rabbit hole I went. I appreciate the help! Back to the garage I go this week...

I've got the colored wiring diagrams but they don't say the gauge.

Greetings fellow Rivi lovers! I'm going bat crap crazy with my power window/seat wiring. My uncle did a lot of hinky wiring in Betsy and now I'm getting to fix it... She originally had manual seats and windows but my dad and uncle got the harebrained idea to put in power. They are both e-bay nuts so who knows what they found and installed. I've scoured the wiring diagrams in the various manuals and got the Fuse/Vacuum/Wiring and AEA wiring spec diagrams too thinking maybe that'd give the answers but I'm really scratching my head on the wire gauges. Diagrams say all are 18 gauge unless noted otherwise. I can see the red feed to the breaker is 10gauge but I don't see any notations of increased gauge elsewhere in the harness. My limited knowledge and google search results confirm 40 amp should be 10 gauge (assuming less than 10ft). I've got a door full of colored 14 gauge going to motors and switches (confirmed gauge by taking it to local wire supply when I second guessed myself) and a red 10 going to the breaker. It should be noted the 14 gauge colors are not color-correct to the diagram which has me now second guessing everything, including whether all the properly colored spools of 14 gauge I purchased were the incorrect gauge for application... (yes I know logically I should have confirmed the gauge here before purchasing a box full of correctly colored new wiring...). I desperately want to put my door back together and stop borrowing my friend's 73 VW bus to get to work but I just want to do it safely. HELP!! Please and thank you. (Re-wiring the seat is 2nd priority now as I can leave that stationary since I'm the only one who drives it)

Those wedges have been invaluable! I'm in harbor freight all the time and had no idea how I'd missed them! Greatly appreciate the recommendation. Once door skin was off it was clear several were just hanging out loose and others were snug in their channels so I put some hot glue for the time being until I have the paint redone at which time I'll properly crimp them in place. I didn't want to risk the paint doing it now.

I’m going to have to research more on the bracket. I like the KD as it is now so I’ll have to get creative. I’ll start the New thread. Trust me there will be plenty of pix - nobody believed I could change oil, flush the radiator, change a battery, install a radio or any of the other things I’ve had to do to get my riv running steadily without pix to prove it... the joys of being a girl. 😎

It’s a stock manifold. I’ll contact them today and get it exchanged. Thank you so much!

I'm sure this answer will be one of those face-palm moments but I've got an issue with the top and second bolts holding my passenger door skin in place spinning around making it damn near impossible to get the nut on properly. I know I'll have to remove the door skin to get to that area to repair it but I'm trying to do my homework before removing the whole door skin and realizing I don't have on hand what I need. I have considered injecting some kind of glue to hold the bolt so I could temporarily fix it but I just found out during the last rains I've got an electrical issue on that wind wing and a track issue on the window so I might as well fix the loose bolt issue properly while the opportunity is before me. I went to my local fastener shop and bought damn near every nut, bolt and screw I could find listed in kits for the interior and doors to have on hand but the fella that was helping me didn't seem too well versed on actual car applications of said parts. I really appreciate the help!!

I grabbed a set of short length drill bits and put a little piece of blue tape on the bit where the max point I wanted to go through was so I had a visual reminder. I have a very short *SQUIRREL* attention span so I found the reminder very useful.

I'm truly inspired Dave! I had already been looking at the Sniper for my 65 - 401 but hadn't 100% committed. My carb was replaced with an Edelbrock by my Uncle a couple years ago and despite many attempts by "experts" to dial it in it would always revert back to running rich every couple of weeks which sucks when she is my daily driver. After seeing your post, I went hog wild with the Holley holiday sale and should have the Sniper EFI, Distributor and Ignition arriving in the next week or two. The bracket I ordered was the GM Throttle adapter which I'm hoping will work without me breaking out the welder. (This is different from the one you originally listed as ordering): https://www.holley.com/products/fuel_systems/carburetor_components/brackets_and_linkage/parts/1952 I'm curious why you went with the 4BBL (550-510) instead of the Quadrajet (550-867)? First glance it may be the 650hp (yours) vs 500hp (Quadrajet) but I'm really curious if there was any other motivation since mine isn't installed yet. I was really teetering on getting the in-tank fuel pump but didn't want to get too deep into messing with the fuel system when I wasn't 100% sure on the Holley parts being compatible and/or the best fit for my 65. She is my daily driver and I don't want to get into something I haven't completely researched and risk her being down. I drive like an old lady (at 39 y/o) in Southern California so I'm not too concerned about more power. Most of the time I'm on city streets or in traffic on the freeways. Kids will pull up at a light and rev their engine like they want to race and I just roll my eyes. Clearly they don't know how much premium fuel is these days! I remember back when I was 16 y/o leaving a car show in the 57 Thunderbird I restored and some teenage boys wanted me to light up the tires. My dad still laughs to this day at me hanging out the window shrieking "Do you know much these wide white wall tires cost?!?! Impressing you is not worth the wear on my tires!" If I want to race I take my car to the track. It's far too dangerous around here to fully enjoy the power our cars have on the city streets. I know I can handle driving the higher power but the idiots running around here driving far too fast diddling around with the phones they're not supposed to be using while driving will put me in the grave and my poor Riv in the junkyard. My Riv has made it 3 generations in my family and I'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe in this crazy city we live in. Really appreciate the help & Happy New Year!!

Baffles me how few of people under 40 realize you can actually start a car in neutral.

I have a simple thick fleece blanket I put across the back bench on top of a sheet of the foamy/gripper shelf liner stuff and it keeps the blanket from shifting. The two little ones each have a small donut bed that goes on the back seat floor on either side which they are happy nesting in. Occasionally we would go to dog beach and they'd get sloppy so I made quick fleece pillowcase type covers for the two front seats that I just slide on and off for easy cleaning. The fleece does a pretty good job of repelling the water instead of absorbing it. I'm considering having little clip points put in behind the rear seat when I get it re-upholstered so I can make an apron that would hang over the back but I'm meticulous about bathing and brushing my pups so they aren't really any more likely to leave marks on the seats than someone with some light dust on their clothes. They usually don't get too pawsy around the door panels but when we get close to the beach the Italian Greyhound likes to stand on the console so I have a little hand towel I put down so his razor sharp claws don't annihilate the veneer. (yes I clip and Dremel them but they are so narrow it's hard for them not to be pointy). The real fun is trying to get all of the nose prints off the metal and windows once they're home and peacefully sleeping inside exhausted from the excursion...

I was just thinking about this last night for my 65. I was trying to think up a way to do it by hiding it in plain sight without having to drill new holes. Next I've got to get creative on door locks because I'd prefer not to have an alarm. I live in a nice enough neighborhood but there was an idiotic law passed in 2014 known as "Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act" where you get a citation for theft under $950. Since then there has been an unpleasant uptick in vandalism and petty theft. Big box home stores have cameras beeping ever 2 minutes when you're down many of the aisles because they can get robbed for less than $950 and if they catch the putz and call the police all they can do is give them a citation and send them on their way. Officer friend told me he saw the same guy get 2 citations in the same day and there's nothing they can do about it. While I know my 65 is worth well more than $950, I've seen what obscure parts are going for on e-bay and craigslist lately and they can really screw me over on some of the harder to find stuff if they know what they're shopping for. I've had several neighbors in a two mile radius who had their garage doors pried open and tools taken so I'm very wary now. I've got my house wired up with automation so any door lock or garage door opens I get a text about it. If they get creative to get past that then they'll be greeted by my 120lb Rottweiler and his two terrier henchmen who are very devoted to protecting our home and the classic car that takes them to the park and dog beach. I restored a 57 T-Bird at 15 y/o and put in a kill so it would only start in neutral. I lived in LA and from time to time I'd get stuck at a place with only valet parking so I'd leave it running and tell them where to park it so they don't have to move it only to return and before I give them my ticket to pull it up they're asking me why it wouldn't start... Nobody was going to Ferris Bueller my car! ? It even tricked my dad and he helped me put it in!