BulldogDriver

I agree with Bernie. I didn’t go with Waldons because they use 409 SS and not 316 SS. 409 will rust. Classic Exhausts is the vendor I used. I did have to take 4 of the pipes to a local muffler shop and had them flare the header pipe a bit, cut the resonator eliminators 1 1/2” shorter, and adjust one of the long pipes to fit properly. Gave the shop $50 to fix the issues. I did use Waldons hangers and other than opening holes for the muffler hanger they were spot on. All things considering it fits very well and looks pretty close to original from the photos I’ve seen. The biggest problem I see is finding NOS exhaust parts. I want to drive this beast again before I get too old too appreciate it. As with all things this old, especially Buicks, parts are rare and reproduction parts can be somewhat inferior to OEM. My exhaust wasn’t original and i don’t remember what it originally sound like, lost two 65’s in a fire back in 1980 that were original and don’t remember their sound, so if it is too loud thats a trade off I’ll have to live with. What I replaced on my car was not original by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve a 36 Cadillac Fleetwood and there is no factory service manual for it. They only did one for the regular Cadillac. Will have to fabricate the whole thing from scratch, luckily I have the header pipe to get it started. At least someone is repoing for our cars. My story and 2 cents. Ray

Pm sent

I tried that earlier. Couldn’t tell who was our Mod from the list. He hasn’t visited the site since May 11, 2013. Even looked at the Admins and had the same results. Anyway my reason for looking for our Mod is that a topic I had posted a lot of info to a topic that had disappeared. I wanted to reference what I had posted for another topic elsewhere. i was hoping to find out what happened to the thread and get it posted again. Ray

Thought it was displayed somewhere but haven’t been able to find it. Ray

There’s a set of Turbine covers with tires and rims from a 63 here. Saw a set of turbines on the same site for 3/4 of what the other guy wants for tires and all. If they are 6” wide rims, the price may not be that bad. Ive got about $200/rim in mine after being rebuilt. https://www.facebook.com/groups/BuickRivieraCarsandPartsforSale Ray

Millennials are color blind? Honest officer, it was a white car that ran the light. But not mine. Ray

Chart for rims 63 - 78 This is a group that will custom make centric hub rings to keep the load of the rim proper and not just on the lugs. Minimum 1/4” spacer is what I used on my disc conversion with stock 6” rims. https://www.uswheeladapters.com/5-lug-wheel-spacers-uswa/ Ray

http://www.oldbuickparts.com/product_info.php?products_id=6758 https://collectorsautosupply.com/firewall-sound-deadener-insulation-pad-for-1963-1965-buick-riviera/ http://www.fusickautomotiveproducts.com/prodinfo.asp?number=FP635RB Search less than 30 seconds. Ray

Google it. A ton of options show pre-cut pieces. Ray

You got me curious abot what the rear hanger was originally and found this on the forum. Hope this answers any questiions. Ray

Ed, I recently installed Waldon’s hangers when I put a Classic Exhaust system on my 63. The one hanger you’re dealing with is for the exhaust pipe coming out at the rear. Mine, is like the one you say is not original to our Rivieras. The hangers on mine are for a GS exhaust which is what I installed. If I remember correctly one of the members gave Waldon a set so they could reproduce them to be as original. Read this somewhere on the forum. Attached is a photo of the bracket. FYI, all stainless on mine in case that matters. Just an observation, I see you used flanged locking nuts on the rubber side. If I was doing it your way I’d use the widest flat washers to distribute the load across as much of the rubber as possible. That is what Waldon did on their hangers. Your original rivets looked to be wide heads. Ray

Couple photos of the tailpipes and muffler. Ray

Tom, As I haven’t driven is yet, I don’t know if not being flattened will be an issue. Others have installed this vendor’s system and they haven’t mentioned it being a problem. Hope it’s not. I wonder if the tooling cost to make that piece might have been a factor in leaving the size of the pipe the same as a non GS car. Buick might have thought it didn’t justify a retooling for the number they projected to make. Photo from the back is not an issue. Will have it posted tomorrow. Ray

The axle pipes that came with my installation weren’t flattened just bent to conform to the area. Looked like the ones removed. Ray

Google “how to remove water stains from veneer”. Ray

Looks pretty much stock. It’s a stainless steel system with a two piece long pipe coming off the headers. Easier to ship and gave some wiggly room for installation but you install two more clamps. What I removed was not stock and the hangers were cobbled together so I had nothing to compare to. Bought a new set of Waldon hangers for GS. Once I had the parts assembled and aligned, it looks stock other than all pipes being 2 14” and muffler is not oval but round. Price was good especially for a 316 SS system. Should never rust. Went with resonator eliminators as I have a fuel filter in that area, was going with EFI originally but decided carb was a better fit for me and didn’t want to re-plumb fuel lines. Exhaust that was on the car didn’t have resonators either. My plan was/is to have an updated gen 1 Riviera that when you look at the exterior and interior it looks mostly stock. Open up the hood and the upgrades show. Performance and handling is as good as possible using original suspension design with updates. 4l60E transmission, Vintage Air A/C, Rostra cruise control, hidden oil pressure/volts/temp gauge and usb power connector, disc brakes, sway bar front and back, springs, Bilstein shocks and variable ratio steering box. If you remember, I drove this piece back to Raleigh NC from Anaheim CA after it sat on a Buick dealership’s showroom for almost 20 years. I don’t normally talk about the upgrades as I don’t want to offend the purists on the forum unless someone is looking for advice on what I’ve done. I had two original one owner 65’s that were lost in a fire back in 1980. Would’ve kept at least one of them. Would like to get photos but can’t get down on the ground for a couple months. Stress fracture to my left femur and on crutches. Can’t bend my leg and NO weight on it so I can’t do anything on the car at this point. Was hoping to finish the interior enough to drive it by end of this month but if I’m lucky, maybe by spring at this point. Getting old sucks! Ray

Tom, The system I used is from Classic Exhaust. They make the entire system so I guess they can size the outlets to their specs. All clamps were 2 1/4” and the hangers purchased from Walden Exhaust had to be opened for the clamps going to the muffler. It was the only pair that attached to the clamps at the base. From my reading, original mufflers are very rare. My car is a driver and I went with what would look original at a glance but would keep me from climbing under it for a very long time. Ray

My previous post was not to be construed to say that the factory had sized the axle pipe for a GS engine. Why as it appears, Buick elected to use various pipe sizes throughout the entire system one can only guess at this point in time. My car is not a GS model and has a 401 that is bored 0.060” over. So I’m around a 412 now. Whether good or bad, I elected to put a GS exhaust system in it and as previously stated is 2 1/4” end to end. I had no problem getting the clearances noted in the shop manual after the adjustments noted in my previous post. Tom T. noted to the same adjustments in one of his posts in another exhaust thread. Can’t imagine any of this really matters much with these cars. It looks as if the output numbers for the GS were done with the smaller axle pipes and until now, that I’ve noticed, no one has brought the smaller pipes up in a thread before. Maybe Tom T. could elaborate on his exhaust system. Ray

Tom, I did read that the tail pipes were 2” on a GS somewhere here on the forum. The over axle pipe being 2” could be true being the resonators and the muffler are different for GS. They could have sized those parts for the axle pipe. I’ll look in the parts book next time I hobble up to the study. Stress fractured a leg and stairs are a once a day thing for the next month or so. Glad I got the exhaust system done before this happened. Ray

Just finished installing a full GS stainless steel system from Classic Exhaust that was 2 1/4” end to end. Had to tweak one long pipe’s bend and shorted the resonator eliminators by 1 1/2”. Also had to make new exhaust studs that were longer to get the header flanges to fit. Couldn’t find 1/2” exhaust studs that worked. My guess on the manifolds is Buick knew the Nailhead was short for this world and just left things as they were. Probably thought the larger diameter of the exhaust pipes would be enough for the few years left for that block. Ray

I recently replaced all of my u joints and also had trouble with c clips. Both were Moog brand. Replaced them with SKF brand, the ones with blue spacers on the caps, UJS UJ234,from NAPA. Also got a spare set from Spicer 5-795X, they seem to the better made ones. Tom T would know the best to use. There is a way to check alignment without the tools. The shop manual give measurements using tools and procedures that I didn’t have access to so after researching I used the guidelines in this publication https://assets.wellertruck.com/reference-materials/installation-guides/driveline-installation-j3311-1-dssp-spicer.pdf using this digital angle gauge http://www.wixey.com/anglegauge/#wr300type2. Gauge wasn’t available back then. In my case my angle on the forward shaft was 1.5* down and that was what the pinion shaft flange was already at. I did use the shims that were originally at the center housing. Try to achieve the same angle for front shaft and pinion flange. I zeroed the gauge on the frame where the center bearing is bolted. Mine came out to .01* difference. Ray

BestOfferCounts has rebuild kits. Ray

From what I was able to research, the pinion flange is a direct replacement. You might be able to tap the holes in the flange, I’d check that before using bolts and nuts. I can’t remember the difference in height between the Dyna and the 4L60E mounts but it was enough to explain why the 64/65 center housing was 1 1/4” shorter. Difference in length of the transmissions was also a factor as it changed the angle of the front driveshaft. Needed to keep the angle of the front driveshaft proper. I found that if I used my 63 trans crossmember, shifting it back 3” which was the same spacing between the bolts on the member, I was able to get the trans mount to work after modifications to clear the trans pan and fit in the new place on the frame. I had looked at using the 64/65 member but it would have been a challenge due to relocating the holes where access to nuts wasn’t feasible. Others have done it on 200r4’s which its mount is another 3” further back. I also don’t think the holes in the frame for the crossmember were flat plain to the frame. Didn’t look that way on the 64/65 crossmember. Ray

Sender is PT64 and uses a PT139 pigtail. From a previous post. Works for me. Ray

Ed, That looks to be a 64/65 flange. 63 flange was u bolts directly to a u joint. I just replaced the pinion seal on a posi trac carrier along with outer axle bearings and seals on my 63. I have that flange and a 64/65 driveshaft in case I have problems with the 63 setup and my 4L60E transmission conversion. The flange is tapped for 7/16 course bolts. All parts are original to a 64. Looking at John B’s photo it appears it is not tapped with threads. I wonder if that is a correct flange for Rivieras. Mine came off a Riviera from BestOfferCounts and I picked it up directly from James. Ray