Parccent65

There appears to be a connectivity issue with the relay (?). If I disconnect and reconnect the connector with the three wires — the high speed heater fan works, but temporarily — like several days. The connector looks very worn (see photos). Are these very easy to find? The heater fan on high isn't as strong (but it does work) as the AC fan on high — are these two separate fans? Thanks for your replies.

My Riviera has factory AC and there is a Blower switch for the AC and a Blower switch for the Heater/Defroster. The highest speed (fan) for the heater isn't working but the other lower speeds do work. On the AC Blower ALL speeds work and I believe it has a 30 Amp fuse for it. Is there a separate relay or something else for the high heater speed? Does that 30A fuse cover both the AC and Heater blower lower speeds?

Does anyone have experience with this company/seat covers (for standard interior)? I've seen some negative reviews (about their taking forever to get) but that's about it. OPGI sells front seat upholstery/covers and it may be made by the same manufacturer. The photo looks the same. Or if you know of any other manufacturers of these.

Minnesota 612

The vents on my car will open and close tightly with no problem. Then, the next day or later the same day they will just make a clicking sound and after a few attempts, they operate normally again (today is the very first day the passenger side vent just clicked and wouldn't open). Mine ALWAYS open and close all the way with no "help". The next step will be to replace the top gear.

The window does close all the way. 🙂 Seems like it just started doing this after I sprayed some WD-40 inside the door. I read in another thread on here that can solve some PW issues. The main window does go up and down more smoothly and the vent turns faster as well. Good to know where I can get a gear.

My 65 Riv has power vents and the master switch seems to be worn out or something. I would have to press abnormally hard to get the passenger side to operate but the driver side seemed fine. Lately the driver side motor either will just click or open/close the window BUT the motor keeps running after the window finishes it's travel as long as you hold the switch (but if you let go of it and press it again the same direction it doesn't continue to run). I got a new double switch and pigtail (came with it but the switch fits without it). The new switch corrected the passenger side issue but so far it' s not affecting the driver side consistently. I'm wondering why the motor keeps running on the driver's side. Hopefully it's not the motor. At least the window works fine — most of the time. Any ideas?

When I bought it the steering wheel on my '65 base model had two horizontal thin silver bars on the horn button and the plastic cloisonné was damaged in the middle. I found a replacement online and the parts car was also a base model — however it did NOT have the horizontal bars. See photos of my before wheel and after. Was one a GS steering wheel or did they produce the two designs through the production run? They're almost the same — it seems odd.

It was weird back in the day how a buyer could tailor a car how they wanted it to the smallest detail — unlike now, where so many cars are sold loaded or close and options are so often part of packages and that's the only way you can get them. Mine also has a factory rear defroster, air conditioning, power antenna and power seat.

My '65 does not have a tilt steering wheel and everything I've read about the '65s says it was standard. I guess it's possible they could have paid to delete it? My car also has the standard trim interior but has power vent windows. Was the tilt steering wheel first offered on the '63?

I've had both inside door panels off my '65 with standard interior and got them reinstalled but now I'm having trouble getting the passenger side back in position after putting on new power window connector "pigtails". Just wondered if there are any tricks to getting it in the proper position. It's tough to keep the power window connectors connected while at the same time "hooking" the top edge onto the door and the pushbutton lock through the hole it goes through. Should the window be up or down when installing the panel or does it make it any easier one way or the other? Thanks

Do you blow out the channel with compressed air then? A lot of GM cars had this happen.

I want to redo the package tray on my '65 with black standard interior/rear defroster and am not sure which one to go with. My options are: a Clark's tray, an ebay press board tray, or an OPGI light board tray that comes with a jute pad that goes underneath. I want to keep the defroster as it works. The tray currently in the car is fiberglass that is padded and covered with vinyl (could possibly be a Clark's tray?). What l don't like about it is the rear shape of it doesn't conform to the rear window edge very well (it's lower on the outside edges) so the previous owner placed a filler vinyl strip to fill the gap and it doesn't look good (maybe it did at one time). Also there is an awkward gap where it meets the chrome speaker grill. On a lot of them I've seen, this part butts up to the speaker grill and I like the look of that. It appears that the speaker grille "nubs" on the top edge were made to insert into the slots in the metal structure behind the seat but I'm not sure. The non-vinyl covered trays may not look the best if it is cut off abruptly along the edge where it meets the window, either. It sounds like the factory original tray in most cases didn't hold up very well which isn't surprising with all the sun beating down on it, etc. Thanks

The package shelf in my car is generally in good shape. It's covered in padded black vinyl. The problem is the trim piece/gasket above the outer edge where it meets the window is in bad shape. Is this the way it was originally done? It looks like this thin strip is vinyl as well. I don't know if this is all original or not. I wonder if I can buy a replacement gasket? Some of the trim pieces around the doors look like they were hand made so that might be the case with this. I'm really curious if the upholstery in this car is original. Most parts look like they can't be 55 years old but others do — like a couple buttons worn and pulled loose on the driver's seat. Maybe it was redone 20 years ago. The other problem is where the package shelf meets the chrome radio grille (between the two seats) the padded vinyl doesn't wrap over far enough so there's this small but noticeable gap. I've jerry rigged it the best I can but I can see ultimately having the package shelf redone and that part fixed. That chromed grille is HEAVY. It amazes me how heavy the majority of the parts are on this car. Maybe that's why it's survived. Thanks

I had the lighter repaired and the shop replaced it with an after market unit that doesn't have the slots to hold the light and I don't know what they did with the one that was there. I may just have to go without it unless I can find one.

I'm in the process of connecting a fader switch and have the AM radio detached so the wires are visible. One thing I noticed while dismantling all this is the ashtray light was just lying in the console (and I think the bulb is burned out) What does that clip connect to/where does it go so it presumably shines over the ashtray? It's in a tiny oval housing. I found an earlier post by Hans3 about this topic but mine doesn't look like that. And I had the lighter repaired at a repair shop and they put in a new after market lighter and there's no clip on it to attach the light anyway. I can see where there's a little space in the ashtray frame for the light to fit and the ashtray has tiny holes over where the light would go I believe. About the fader switch — There is a plastic female connector (that's not connected to anything) that I can see with a blue wire (that is attached to a yellow wire) but it doesn't look like it would mate with the fader male connector. The mail connector looks too wide. Is that what I need to connect the fader to? BTW — this car has a trunk light that works — the bulb was just missing. When you lower the trunk the light turns on and vice-versa. Thanks

Turns out 1/16" is the size of the allen wrench. It's tricky to get it in there — partially because you're not facing it. You have to wiggle it around a little but that's it.

These knobs on my '65 are loose — how do they attach/come off? There's a small hole on the back of each one, making me wonder if they're held by an Allen Head screw but doesn't appear to be. Do they just pull off? I'd like to tighten them at least if possible. Also, is there a way to search for a topic ONLY in Riviera Owners Association portion of this website? Thanks

I purchased the custom cut walnut veneer online and replaced the existing in my car. It came out nice but I tried stripping and refinishing the door veneer and it doesn't look as good. Does anyone know where I could get veneer for the door panels? It's a small vertical piece. The place where I bought the console/dash trim didn't offer it. It has the Riviera metal logo at the bottom and I'd have to pull it off and reattach it but not sure how it's attached.

I have an authorized Buick chassis manual (Red catalog) and there's a couple of expanded diagrams of the radio and neither one shows the fader knob — just shows the dummy knob. I googled this and I found something about a Chevrolet radio that says it "plugs into a speaker wiring sub-harness" whatever that is. Hopefully I can find it on this one. Maybe it will be apparent when I get the radio visible. I found the fader control wire connection in the chassis shop manual. BTW I wonder where I can find GM correct chrome plated screws for this car? I discovered there's a screw that's supposed to fasten the rear of the console to the floor that's missing. I'd like to put in a correct screw if I can find one. The ashtray lid at the back of the console doesn't close correctly either. It uses 2 circular wire springs and one is missing and the other isn't seated properly. (same as on the dash ashtray lid, but the missing spring had fallen inside the console and I reinstalled it and it works fine now) Would just like to fix the back one.

Thanks! I actually googled this and found it on Ebay. The knobs on my '65 are ribbed like that but I'm not sure they're exactly the same in appearance. Can it be that they produced more than one style of knob for '65? So the dummy knob is removed, the fader knob slides on in its place and the fader wire just plugs into the wiring harness and that's it? I'm probably going to purchase one of the Aurora Design conversions. It sounds like if I have the fader knob already then that part is basically complete and they don't need to add that functionality to the conversion. The radio conversion is very impressive. Mark

If it's converted to Bluetooth it has to stay AM, right? I found a place called Rick's Radio Conversions in Virginia. Are there many of these places around that do it?

How do I contact Gene?

Oh — so it IS wired for a rear seat speaker! To install the fader switch do I have to take the radio out of the dash? The speaker I have I got from Best Offer Counts Buick Parts and says it's an 8-10 ohm speaker. In the rear deck there is a single blue gray wire with a black plastic plug hanging down. Is that for the speaker? My car has a rear defroster too.

😒 Bummer.