RalphsRiv

Hey Ed, Heck your seeing more than I can remember. LOL. Its a Manuel choke on it for now. Once again some bad advice many years ago. Yes its a HEI. It also has High output Electric Fuel Pump. I was dropping money in the wrong places. Im remolding my house right now and my garage is full of material. Once its cleared out by spring I want to get back and get it running again. Its real nice to know there are many others out there that share my love with this beautiful car. Thanks for letting me know about Mr. Hargrove. I will have to reach out to him soon. I will keep you posted and thanks, Ralph

Hello Ed, My name is Ralph of course and thanks so much for your reply. I have read many of your post and was hoping to get to speak with you in the future. I wasnt expecting it so quickly. I have so much to share and learn as well. So little at a time for I could wright a book. Im sure you may have already. LOL. Yes the carbs were stolen back around 1982 or so so I had to go with what matched up. There have been several mods to this car as I was stupid and listened to more people than I should have. I was the only one around my home that had one of these cars so I did what I thought was right. I guess for the place and time there had to be a reason. This car has been thru so much. I bought it in 1980. Drove it for about a year and a half before I parked it behind my Grandmothers house. It stayed there until 1988. She passed and I had to make a move with it. I took it to a buddies garage for several years after that then pulled the motor about 1998. It was rebuilt by a place in Washington DC. A man by the name of Bill Mathis did the complete rebuild. He was in business with Bunny Burkett a famous Drag Racer in that time. He also raced drag and held the NHRA title for sometime. The car had gotten some rust places on it from all the times it had sit. I was determined to at least drive it one more time, if nothing else at least that. I had purchased another 65 Riv around 2003 or so. I needed some parts as I changed out a fender that was a little rough and a few pieces of chrome. I had taken the car off the frame and even today the frame looks brand new. All new brake lines bushings and all parts were changed. I put the car together and drove it for the first time around 2008. I did the body work and the paint. It was a project car for me and boy what work I put into this car. Not to mention the money. Anyway after several divorces and stupid thinking on my part I cant believe I still have it. Its parked in my own garage now, needs a starter and battery. The restoration is by an armature, me, However I got my dream to be able to drive it. There are many things in between the lines with this story. To many to mention on here all at once but maybe little by little I can explain the history. The one big fear I had was the engine number. Back then we didnt now it had one. The car was identified when you raised the hood. My fear is that the man that built it could have changed the motor on me and I would have never been the wiser. The ID number on the back of the motor seems to be tampered with but could have been accidentally done. You can make out the LX 1363704 ending but the LX is a little messed up. Then I saw were you said the LX should be on the front of the motor too. So I went out yesterday and tried to find it and it was there. it had LX 283 near the left side of the thermostat fixture. All the other numbers match. Does that 283 stand for anything? Thanks again for your response and look forward to hearing from you. Ralph

425 2x4s. 88,000 miles. Engine rebuilt around 84.000 miles.

I wanted to check and see if anyone still uses this site. I have read many of your comments and have learned so much. So before I start making comments on my baby can someone let me know I’m in the right place. Thanks so much.