TwoLousGarage
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Posts posted by TwoLousGarage
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Interesting - so an X with no corresponding number would confirm that it came with both options from the factory? Our cars are only 2,060 apart. Pretty cool. I need to double check if our car has front seat belts. I included it in my option load but can't remember if they are there.
Do you know if the original owner of yours bought something that was in stock, or custom ordered it? Did they do the "build expressly for" nameplates on all ordered cars, or was it an add on? I find it hard to believe a dealer would specifically order a car this optioned out without having an order already placed. It does not have the nameplate.
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Thank you! Looks like we have our option load pretty figured out in this one. I just submitted an application to join the ROA to access Darwin Falk’s riview articles and learn more
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47 minutes ago, RivNut said:
Nicely optioned with custom leather power vents. You also have Guidematic, and twilight sentinel, cast aluminum wheel covers. and cruise, none of which are stamped into the FB tag. The only options on the FB tag are options or accommodations for options put in a the Fisher Body plant. Cruise and those others were installed during final assembly. The D is for a radio but does not say which radio. You have the AM Wonderbar. Power antenna was also an option installed during final assembly. Look for cornering lights in the lower section of the turn signal housing. No rear defrost. Except for your 425, almost the same car as my 63. I’ll post a picture of its window sticker. Yes, that bracket is for the four note horn option. J2 in the trim line is the power seat option. Chances of finding a build sheet fall somewhere between slim and none. Slim just caught the last stage out of town. That leaves none. 😢
Thanks for the insight!
For some reason, I thought the dials flipped from AM/FM, but looking at pics online this is clearly *just* and AM car - which surprisingly still works great! It does have a functioning electric antenna and cornering lights. Admittedly, I haven't looked at the package tray, but wouldn't the "rear" lever next to the defrost lever indicate that it is equipped with rear defrost? It also has power trunk release. Cool note on the twilight sentinel & guidematic. I thought you could only get one or the other, not both.
Updating my spreadsheet with the correct radio and power trunk yields an option load of $1354.55 without determining posi and suspension setups + the 425. I would love to see your buildsheet. I plan on getting one reproduced but unfortunately have no way to currently determine what dealership it was sold through. Too bad about the buildsheet non-existence, but I expected that to be a long shot.
EDIT: looks like we posted at the same time. Very cool, thanks for sharing. Almost $5900 back then was no joke to spend on a car!
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Thanks for the quick reply, Tom, and for posting those photos of the option lists 10 years ago! Looking forward to hearing from anyone that has that service bulletin and could let me know how much the option was.
Close on the color combo - it is Silver with black leather. Just got back from getting a pic of the trim tag. The car is surprisingly solid for being a Michigan/PA car its entire life. It has some rust in the rockers and quarters that were previously fixed, but no rust in the floors, trunk pan, or frame.
Looking at the trim tag, it was built the second week of January and is FB# 16,673.. so fairly early, but I had my timing of the speedo off. I thought early cars came with 140 mph before being switched to 120. Whoops!
Would the bracket on the hood structure indicate 4 note horns were mounted as one point? I have a set of 4 note trumpet horns with a wiring harness, but am unsure if it came from the car or we bought it later on.
Are build sheets found in the common areas like other Buicks - under the rear seat, on top of the tank, etc?
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Hi all,
Back in the mid 70s, my grandfather bought a '63 Riviera that was part of a push/pull/drag trade-in promotion at a local Chevy dealer in NE PA. They were giving $500 toward any new car. Someone flat towed this Riv from Michigan with the driveshaft pulled and left it in the interior. He bought the car, got it running, and then moved it from storage garage to storage garage over the years. My Dad and I are going to start restoring it after years of saying we are going to do so.
It is highly optioned. It is an earlier build car (140 Speedo) that is loaded. I will post the trim tag this week. Using the below thread, I've been able to confirm it has at least $1,327 in options highlighted by AC, AM-FM, Cruise, PW/Power Vents and Leather interior. I still need to check if it has posi and what tire size it came from on the cast aluminum wheel covers.
My question- the 425 option code is not listed below with a price. Does anyone know how much it cost to order for 1963? It is a numbers matching engine. I believe this car could have carried a sticker close to $6,000 in 1963, which is obviously a crazy high price back then. Being that it came from Michigan (plate still on the car from when they dragged it in), I wouldn't be surprised if someone from GM ordered the car.
The only pics I have of it currently are attached. The second photo is of my Grandfather with the car. We surprised him for his 90th birthday by putting it in a local show back in June 2015. He passed away in late April 2016.
Thank you for your help! We have a few smaller projects to wrap up and hope to start on this car in the fall. We are in parts collecting mode now.
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Thanks Morgan. We have the old 248 head scheduled to be dropped off at the machine shop Monday. It just makes the most sense to do right by the car and get the correct head on the replacement 38 block. We are hopeful we can swap the valves and springs over, but will order new if needed. I started cleaning the old rocker assembly and have cleaned every pushrod I have in stock.
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photos:
I forgot to mention. The 38 has a chromed shifter and incorrect horn button. I intend on using it or my original shifter from the 38 w/ no top plate.
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Thank you both for the replies. I think we can agree the complete trans is for a 37 Pontiac. I will do more research on it to confirm and post it in the proper sales forum.
I do not think the second trans is '38. The input shaft is larger than 1" diameter- I don't have a 1 1/4" wrench at hand, but my 1 1/8" is too small to go over it. Attaching photos of the other 3 transmissions I have. The one with no top plate came out of my 38 with 60K miles, but has no serial number on it. The middle came with my replacement 38 engine (although we know from my other thread that is a hodgepodge of parts) and also has no serial number. The third came with the parts lot i bought, but has a serial number of 330955 which would indicate its correct for a 38 based on the last post in the below thread. All 3 transmissions share the same case number - 1301637. This part number is not in my master parts book, but the 37 case number is listed as correct for 36-37. The 37 has a vertical angled fill plug, all 3 38s have the horizontal.
Edit: @pont35cpe It was your post in the thread linked I was referencing for the serial number, LOL!
Thoughts? I will add pics from my phone. I would like to keep this thread active and moved if necessary. There seems to have been a lot of questions posted on these transmissions throughout the years. Thanks @pont35cpe and @Bloo for working through it with me!
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I have 2 1936 - 1937 (I think) series 40 transmissions. Both in unknown working condition. My parts book indicates the case number (1293153) is for a 36-37 series 40. serial number on the one without shifter is 2909143. Serial number on the one with shifter is difficult to read with a different style of stamping. Asking $300 for both, picked up from Clarks Summit PA
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9 minutes ago, DonMicheletti said:
Boy, that must have really been an oil burner!
I think the spring re-use would be OK. Valve reuse would depend on head diameter differenceand length and valve stem condition and wear. If you go with new guides, Id replace the valves too.
. These are not race car engines.
Last inspection sticker on the car is 1971.. my other projects weren’t even in production then!
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Additional photos:
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Today’s update: I took the housing off the 51 head to compare with my
original. That’s going to be a no go. I’m going to bite the bullet and get the early head rebuilt.
My NEW question: Can I harvest the valve springs and valves from the 51 head to reuse on the 37-40 head? Bob’s lists the intake/exh valves as 34-52, and springs as 36-52. I can compare after disassembly, but figured I would ask first. It sure would be nice to save $300+
Newest batch of photos for your viewing pleasure. The old ‘38 248 has seen better days. I believe it to be original to the car…
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3 hours ago, pont35cpe said:
TwoLous, another little tidbit.. Once you get the rocker assembly lined up correctly, and bolt it to the head, be sure to seal the threads of the short bolts, of the 8 towers. If not sealed, eventually oil will weep down the threads, and oil will puddle around the spark plugs. And tower #8 has a stud/nut in place of a short bolt, a bolt would interfere/damage the temperature gauge bulb. Is that a Florida Gators hat in the background?
Thanks for this! No gators hat here, I think you see a welding mask in the background next to my Philadelphia eagles hat.
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So I read through the shop manual and think I can handle getting the rocker assembly right. Both water pumps have the same part number (1307344). It’s strange they capped off the “new” engine WP. Perhaps I can just swap the thermostat housing and be ok?
Also- all the work benches are filled with various 72 GS 455 Convertible side projects. So I used the GS as today’s work bench.
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This info is invaluable for a 28 year old trying to revive an old coupe with his dad. So let me first say THANK YOU for the quick and informative replies. So I have the original engine out of the car that is frozen solid. My parts book shows the part number on this head to be for 1940-1945 (1302277), but it has 3 valve cover studs. It also doesn’t have the same paint as the block so I imagine it was swapped at some point. Can I swap this head onto my “new” 38 engine after cleaning it up and making sure the valves are good?
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Photo of the water pump and rocker shaft. Rocker arms clearly don’t align consistently even though they are only
partially bolted down. What are the groups thoughts on that water pump?
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I’ll get some better pics this afternoon if the WP and rocker. The rocker is not currently bolted down, just has a few bolts started
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49 minutes ago, DonMicheletti said:
If the rockers are not oriented on the shaft correctly you will bend pushrods because the holes in the head ill not allow the rods to match the rockers correctly
Is there a certain process to ensure that they are oriented correctly? The rocker is currently just placed on there with a few threads started in each bolt. I need to remove it to replace the bent rod anyway
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Hi all,
I got my replacement ‘38 engine painted in the correct color green and am getting ready to install it in my ‘38 coupe. I noticed the head was only provisioned for the later 2 bolt valve cover and then researched the part number to reveal it’s a ‘51 263 head. The block decodes to a ‘38 model.
My question: Will I have any other issues running this engine as is besides the valve cover bolt differences? This engine came with my car as a replacement for the original. It looks like it was fully rebuilt and run at one point, but does have 1 bent pushrod which is making me question its viability.
Thanks!
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Finally back on the ‘38. It took a while to gather the parts needed. I had to wait almost 2 months for motor mounts. Anyways, I am working on the brakes this week. Rebuilt the master cylinder and will paint it tomorrow (cast iron grey). I am going to try and run the new brake lines this week as well. I also did do a quick buffing of the paint, but it needs more work. We bought a 1972 GS 455 convertible project recently that has also taken some of our attention away.
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Should I register it for Hershey? Lol. New engine ready to go, but I need to get new rear motor mounts.
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1963 Riviera 425 option cost?
in Buick Riviera
Posted
Yep, likely no seatbelts then.
I think it has both- there is a pill bottle cap lookin' thing in front of the guidematic. Looks like our cars are outfitted very similarly.