Barney Eaton

I have my room reserved .... but have yet to send in my reservation. It should be a big event based on the location. Michigan, Ohio and lots of East coast states have lots of Buicks, most meets East of the Mississippi have great turn outs... I go the see the cars and old friends (expect to see Ben there) hopefully make some new friends.

I think the Honda type exhaust would be neat. Thinking about the v8 swap.... most of us automatically think dual exhaust with a V8 but with a transverse mounted engine, duals are a waste of pipe and space. Bring the two banks together into a larger pipe (1991 Reatta used 2 1/2 pipe). If you have any problems it will be in the back because the rear suspension does not look like the Honda. The Reatta pipe goes over the rear suspension .... way off center. To replicate the Honda muffler it would take some tight bends and the floor of the trunk may limit your space. I am presently at my daughters on the East side of Dallas and do not have access to a Picture of the Reatta exhaust for comparison.

I might add that the first number of the tire size is allegedly the fattest (widest) part of the tire in mm. If a 225 (8.86 inches) does not rub, a 235 (9.25 inches) is only .39 wider. That is spread equally to each side so the 235 would only be .195 wider on each side. All this does not take into consideration what rim you are using.

Attached is a chart (powerdog.com) that compares different sizes mentioned above. In a reference book, it said 1963 & 64 Rivieras came with 7.10 x 15 and 1965, 66, 67 came with 8.45 x 15 consulting another chart .. found one that said 7.10 x 15 converted to a 225/75r15 and a different chart did not show the 7.10 size but had 8.45 X 15 converted to 225/75 r 15 so there may have been a tire industry change in designations. Gene above said he liked the 205 because of the shorter sidewall, note the 225/70 sidewall is only 1/10 inch taller and the 235 is 1/10 shorter. When you use powerdog, the first tire you enter should be your base as all the other are compared to the first entry. Specification Sidewall Radius Diameter Circumference Revolutions Speedometer Odometer Difference 225/75-15 6.6" 14.1" 28.3" 88.9" 713/mi 60MPH 10000mi N/A 205/75-15 6.1" 13.6" 27.1" 85.2" 744/mi 63MPH 10436mi -4.2% 225/70-15 6.2" 13.7" 27.4" 86.1" 736/mi 62MPH 10323mi -3.1% 235/65-15 6.0" 13.5" 27.0" 84.9" 746/mi 63MPH 10466mi -4.5% h

There are several on Ebay

If you are new to the supercharged 3800 engines the first thing to check is the supercharger oil. There is a hex plug on the snout end of the supercharger, unscrew and check the oil. GM sells/sold some sort of "snake oil" that was to be used in them and try and use that. The supercharged engine was an option and the first year a large percentage of the Riviera were supercharged. I have never heard of a "GT" version, Willis is very knowledgeable and will probably agree that there was a towing package that included the upgraded suspension,

running when parked?

I'm looking at the safety chains. It is my understanding that they should be crossed...... the object is should the trailer disconnect, the tongue would drop into the crossed chains and that would keep the tongue from dropping to the road and digging into the pavement. On this example it appears the chains are twisted together because they are too long and would drag. If you are going to use them get it right.

Kind of like asking someone if they like liver and onions.

In my opinion the rally wheels look equally good with red line or whitewall. If you have the standard hub cap.....no red line only whitewall. Not a fan of blackwalls on a vehicle unless it has alloy wheels.

Since it is attached to the lighter socket, any chance it is one of those vacuum things for cigerette ashes?

Hagerty has the car listed between $15K to $55K.......however that is a running drivable vehicle. The amount you can get depends on how much you want to do to get it ready to sell. As is probably worth less than $5K to the average buyer.... if it happens to be a low mileage car that would help. As mentioned above, cleaned up, and if you could get it drivable, you could approach $10K. You will not know what the paint looks like until it is cleaned.... in the pictures it looks like the trunk is in primer.

I just looked up the specs and both cars have the same 60.3 in rear track but that does not mean the Allente sub frame will install in a Reatta without modification to either the body, sub frame or both.

There always seems to be confusion with some members and their cars as to how they should be classes. The owner selects the class when he enters the car, obviously some owners have a broad view of stock/original. At the Chicago meet 2 years ago I was on the judging team for "turbo" cars (don't remember the class) GN's and T types. There were about 8 vehicles and about 5 of them were modified, most with several modifications that would create lots of deductions in the 400 point class. Rain forced a stop in the judging and during that time we suggested to the owners they would be better off in the modified class and most of them changed classes. Unfortunately those of us that might see a car in the wrong class do not have the opportunity to suggest to the owner his cars is in the wrong class because the cars have not all arrived and some that have do not have their class cards in the window.

Good pictures......... The Allente sub frame is nothing like the Reatta, Eldorado etc The bottom "A" arms are cast and look like they could be used on a truck....extra heavy duty.

Do the Allante rear struts look like the Reatta with a spring around them? If the Allante uses the same sub frame things like the rear sway bar should mount the same with a little cutting the Allante rear struts might be a easy replacement on the Reatta..... if they are still available.

I thought the Cadillac used the flat composition spring like the Reatta. I don't understand how they are different and what makes them easier to lower. I have a Eldorado/Seville parts book but I am not home to look into the parts numbers

I have visited lots of car museums and have never seen one of these Checkers. The Truck and auto museum in Auburn Indiana has several later Checkers. Other museums might have one in their collection but they were not on display when I visited. Has anyone here seen the Packard that was specific made as a taxi ? Bulgari has one, they were the post WWII design and had unique features such as a rear window that hinged out for ventilation.

I just looked up Texas as a refresher......... If the car is 25 years old or older there are some options. First you can register it as a normal car, registering it every year and it must be inspected. Next you can register it as a classic and the state will issue you a classic car tag but there is still an annual registration and inspection and there is no restriction on driving the vehicle. You can also apply to use year of manufacture tags. Registering as an antique is an advantage in registration dollars as the registration is good for 5 years, no inspection, they issue antique tags but you are restricted to driving to shows, parades, and for maintenance (tours seem to qualify as show) and I know of no owner that has been hassled about the antique tag. Again you can submit a year of manufacturer tag. It must be the correct color (restored is not required) the letter/number combination cannot already be in use. If the vehicle is newer than 1921 the 5 year fee is $50 older than 1921 the fee is $40 The most common problem is getting a clerk that is unfamiliar with the process and it takes more time than it should to get processed.

Hemmings has it listed at $95,000 in #1 condition they list #4 at $29,600 What do you need to look at when inspecting...... if you see anything that needs fixed, repaired or does not look correct then adjust the price for that. If they are at the #1 price, it should be a #1 car and be perfect. Looking at the photos on the website and description some thing standout.... it has factory air which is not mentioned. The underside looks as good as the outside. The wording of the chrome indicated that some thing were not new chrome The other issue is how long ago was it restored, while everything might be restored or replaced, if it has been stationary, seals can leak and some thing might break when you try to use them.

If the spring shown ( it has 10 leafs) taking out the shorter 2 should soften the ride some and lower the front....anyones guess on how much of each. There will be varied opinions but cleaning and lubing the spring also helps the ride, depending on how bad (rusty) the surface is. Some springs had thin plastic (teflon?) pads on the ends... many early cars wrapped/covered the springs, that would help keep water out and grease in and make them more attractive I did a Chevy pickup back spring once... they have a thick overload and removing that noticeably soften the ride and if nothing else lowered the rear the thickness of that thick spring.

They might be mounting brackets for a trunk rack.

On any car....... if you can get a good straight on picture of the wheel/tire. Copy and enlarge.... Lets say you know the rim is a 15 inch..... measure the rim on the exploded copy, lets say it is 2.00 inches measure the white wall on the exploded copy lets say it is 3/8 inch (.375) use a direct proportion conversion to get the actual size of the white wall 15 2.00 --------- x --------- in this case the white wall would be 2.81 inch X .375 NOTE ... looking at the diameter of a 15" rim, it will actually be 16" at the largest diameter . 15 inch measurement is inside the bead.

I sold this 3 years ago after owning it for 12 years. I wanted a Buick with the dual side mounts and looked at a lot poor condition and over priced cars. This came from Milwaukee area, owner moved to Hot Springs AR history was lost until around 2000 when it was landed in Palestine TX and I purchased from the owner there. It has every possible option (probably installed when restored) I was able to get a copy of the Buick accessory booklet from The Buick Heritage Alliance... my car had the stream boards...running boards that were only offered in 1939 on Specials and Centurys at no extra cost I also want to correct the price on the front fender lamps, they were $7.50 factory installed. Something I have never heard in a discussion.. the accessory/option booklet list a 3.615/1 gear ratio as an option. here is a copy of a page from the accessory booklet.

Sold the Caprice but the rear brake upgrade is still available..... These are to upgrade the rear disc that were standard on Impala SS and Police cars. $550 for the rotors and calipers Including shipping