lrlforfun
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OK Ed: When I said a 65 Riv is at the top I was referring to Cris's car as compared to the majority of other special interest cars in the solar system. I wasn't singling out the 63 or the 64 Riv as being inferior although
Cris: I stand by everything I said. Even drug owda da river...it's a 65 Riviera! Value? My "guess" is $1,200 not running, running, a couple's grand. A really mechanically sound dependable driver...5K! Mitch
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OK Cris: I studied the pictures. Out of 100% of all the cars people tackle to restore this is certainly a worthy candidate. And remember, it doesn't have to be perfect. Several things make it so.....
1. It's a 65 Riv and that by it self puts up at the top.
2. The whole car looks solid in and out. The body looks reasonably straight and not rusty, the interior looks like it's not too far gone, the chrome looks straight and except for the high performance items like the carb setup, stripes and reupholstered seats, it looks like it hasn't been too messed with.
3. The minor negatives...which to some aren't that negative are that there's no a/c or full tint. You can do a full tint change-over with out going through hoops of fire if it meant that much to you. A/c more involved but again, it's up to you.
4. Burgundy with black is a sensational color for a sensational car.
So there's my take through "MY ROSE COLORED GLASSES". Truthfully, I am having trouble finishing many projects I've started. And, yes, it takes dough and energy to fix 'em up but if you didn't want to fix up a very special car you would have leased a new Accord at $225 per month. Mitch
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OK Riviera People: 99% of the time the shell is OK. The driver's side skin is different due to the placement of the outside rear view mirror. And about door skins.....be aware.
1. Unless you are doing the work and you don't mind more work these things grow on trees for cheap. Find the best one you can (if you're paying someone). Also, really check it out because the factory put a big glob of undercoating on the back and sometimes it's hard to tell how much damage or filler there was.
2. Factor in that you'll most likely need a window fuzzy (perhaps the kit) to do a clean job. Once you drill the screws out of the old stainless trim the old fuzzy will most likely be wiped out. That stainless trim really needs to come off to do a clean job and that is the part of the vehicle you will always see when you get in.
3. Make sure the all the "T" screws and nuts come with the door skin because they can be a pain to find.
4. All Custom interior door panels are almost identical. 63 and 64 have the one grain vinyl and 65 the other. ( I forgot the name of the vinyl). 63 has a circle on the wood, 64 and 5 an "R". The stainless surrounds for the wood are the same except that 63 and 64 are painted black and 65 has no paint. The wood is different on the 65 with a pin stripe. 63 and 4 have an oval bezel for the mirror, 65 square, as shown on previous pictures.
When doing door panels in Custom/power window/seat units be reeeeealy careful with the switches because the cardboard keeper that retains the wire ends in the cradle breaks just by looking at it the wrong way. I don't know if there is a repair kit for them as of yet.
The door panels are relatively simple for a good upholstery shop to restore. Clarks has the cardboard for cheep, they have the authentic panels as well as the vinyl yardage for cheep. The plastic pieces under the arm rest cushion are getting hard to find because many have become brittle and cracked.
A picture would help too. Mitch
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OK Riviera People: Just hit. The seller darn well knows he's got, what old school used car people called, "a real car". I wouldn't be surprised he was looking north of 25K. Mitch
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OK DD: I agree with you for the most part. Personally I like 'em stock. I have said so many times that when things like the front end sheet metal is in perfect alignment they really pop. To me spending money and energy on lowering, shaving and shock value colors doesn't do anything for them.
Radios? I had a car lot for many years and I can't tell you how many times I sold a car and the customer headed for the stereo shop before they even got gas. It's a very personal and important thing...as are aftermarket rims.
And again, the majority of First-Gen Rivs changing hands are eventually going to undergo some type of modification. I'd like to see every one stock with my favorite colors and equipment in showroom condition but then again, I'd like a lot of things. Sometimes we have to live with whats' available! Mitch
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OK Jonathan: It's almost 8 months. What was the verdict? Mitch
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OK Buick People: Just to refresh reminder. We are up to 94 members so far and it's slowly and surely growing. We have people from everywhere with all kinds of 1960 Buick models and the fellowship is fantastic!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1388600304737388/ See you there, Mitch
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OK Clams: I have found that when the sellers spam their Craig List adds in the 11 Western Solar Systems it means the price is ridiculously high and their ego is as inflated as their price. My wife has a theory that there are a slug of First Gen Rivs on the market because now that a few seem to bring good money everyone else....is lookin' for da money. Mitch
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OK Clams: Modifications are the predominant thing now on First-Gens. They are slammin' em and painting them House of Color colors the cops like to pull over. The red and yellow cars look like nice builds. For me the colors would not be my choice, especially safety yellow but they are not mine either. Mitch
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OK Bernie: I like your "get me into the showroom with a particular car" theory. Frame off resto? Who's kidding who? Mitch
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OK WK: First take it as far as you can with pictures, be somewhat close on price and get a positive vibe with the seller. My suggestion? RI to even Western PA is a do-able trip. Go there and check it out in the flesh. Mitch
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OK Dale: I have one. Mitch
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OK Ed: Just out of curiosity...is there a torque spec on the nut? I can see getting it too tight and instead of having one piece of glass you will have a billion pieces. Mitch
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OK Buick People: I have used Marvels Mystery Oil in the crankcase with much success over the years. I also use Berryman's B-12 in the tank. Clean oil with MMM and fresh gas with the b-12 seems to do wonders. There was a gentleman who brought up the topic of how to preserve an old Bu in the Riviera section.
One thing I did want to add to this topic is that dropping the oil pan and cleaning it is also a critical item. Any kind of detergent whether in the oil or in a supplement can loosen up the sludge, ca-ca and what ever else is in there and easily clog up that oil sump pickup.
On Slick 50. I had the engine rebuilt in my 65 Riv in 1984. At the time a friend of mine was promoting Slick 50. He recommended that after the break in period which was 3-4,000 miles that I change the oil and put that Slick 50 in the crankcase. I followed directions exactly and it seemed to work. That car ran great for many years and actually, it still does. That was one of my experiences. When I had my car lot I use to put Slick 50 in those 4100 Caddies and it seemed to dramatically retard the explosion process.
I also used Justice Brothers "Heavy Duty Vehicle Additive" in the crankcase with fantastic results. These snake oil products will not make the metal grow back but I believe the products I mentioned worked well for me. Mitch
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OK Vincent: The top switch is in between the wiper and headlight switch marked, "Accessory". The tailgate switch is also located in the same place. I am not sure if the tailgate and top switches are the same or not. That thing must be heck-0-rusty for it to be parted. I can use a few items ans a PM to be sent. Thanks, Mitch
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OK Riviera People: Again, am I missing something? Both cars have the rear lock filled in. The restored car has door panels done by a Tijuana upholstery type shop, the seat covers don't even have buttons. Clam shells are open, 401-425....what's the difference?
True the handles are shaved, again, big deal. The silver car might be restored but I'm not impressed for that price and that action. I have seen much better quality for much less. Bottom line for me? If you don't see these in the flesh you are missing quite a bit. Mitch
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OK Riviera People: Here are a pair of 65 Rivs on the ebay. The silver one is at $24K, the black one at 4 grand with both almost equal time on the ebay. I believe the black one is of similar quality, perhaps a bit better even.
AM I MISSING SOMETHING HERE???? Mitch
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OK Rufcar: Good points. One thing I did when getting almost all my drivable cars was to bleed the brakes thoroughly. It's a cheap way to preserve the stopping power for a while. If one is going to drive an old car all the time of course all the old hydraulics gotta go, but if they sit and aren't on the road having them at least YARD DRIVABLE is a critical aspect to preservation. Even in Michigan with 10 feet of snow on the ground...you can at least start the car up and drive it up and down your driveway even if it's just 5 or 10 feet in length. It can warm up, the brakes can be utilized, the gas can slosh around in the tank and basically many of the old bones can get the gobbledy gook off them before it does damage. BTW, for cars that ran when parked take a socket and ratchet to the balancer bold and turn the engine over several times. I have saved many engines by doing that.
I knew Rolls Royce cars were expensive but 7 g's for a third member? One better drive that around every so often. Mitch
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OK Desert Dog: May I suggest that when considering a piece of chrome trim wether it's a bumper component or pot metal make sure it's very clean before you consider it. If you can, have the person you're getting it from clean it with some #000 steel wool and even better with some metal polish. Make sure they wipe it off nicely with a clean microfiber cloth. This will give you an idea if you can use that piece on your car or send it to the chrome shop. I have seen lots of pit-free chrome that looked dirty only later to find that it's badly tarnished and is only good for re-chroming. if you are re-chroming everything please disregard this message. Mitch
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OK Clamshells: I've been in the East Bay for 40 years and have had lots of practice on first-Gen Rivs.
1. Get the car home
2. Pull the top front windshield molding and the entire rear windshield moldings.
3. Remove the rear 1/4 panel apron plugs as well as the ones in front to the rear tire
4. Remove the bottom back seat cushion and vacuum the interior, trunk and inside trunk aprons. Blow out what you can't vacuum with air.
5. Blow out the bottoms of the front fenders with air.
6. Wash the car with a good microfiber mitt using not too much soap, rinse with a hose.
7. Pressure wash everything and everywhere on the exterior and trunk making sure all the debris is removed.
8. MOST IMPORTANT..................Make sure you find where the water leaks are coming from and plug 'em up. They will get you every time...... including a baby drip from a heater core.
Bay Area cars are fairly clean although 50 years does take their toll on the nooks and crannies. They don't suffer from the salt or below freezing temps many other areas do but Father Time casts a pretty big shadow on everything. Mitch
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OK Buick People: Rare and desirable are two different things. Just because it's rare doesn't mean it's desirable. Just because it's desirable doesn't mean it's rare. Usually the special interest kind of cars that everybody likes fall under a particular category...and it's the supply and demand that create the market.
I use to always care that the car I had was special. Today? Not so much.. Mitch
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OK Clamshells: I track the First Gen Riv on SF Bay Area Craig's List everyday. For me it's almost impossible (unless I make direct contact with the seller) to tell if they're sold, let alone what they "really" go for. Many times they appear, drop off the radar and suddenly re-appear.
Another way to track them is Autotempest.com It sometimes can show "deleted by author" which sometimes (again, it's really hard to tell) can indicate if the vehicle sold. A lot of sometimes which indicated the level of how vague I am. Ebay is also not that conclusive.
There is no doubt that the 65 dwarfs the 63 and 64 in popularity and right now I believe the 65 Riv is a hot car at market price....which is??????? Mitch
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OK Rusty: When I first got in the used car business the industry standard was to clean and paint and clear everything in the engine bay. Many years later it is still cleaning of course. When the metal and rubber comes out real clean the detail shops use a few sprays of tire dressing. That saved a whole lot of mess. Than again sometimes a 50 year old has a bigger mess to clean up. Hey, wait....I'm 62 Mitch
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OK Rufcar: I like the hinge idea. I'm going to use your idea on the next batch I do. I made my own out of vineer that I purchased. I found it important to make sure the wood was perfectly positioned between the alignment tabs on the metal backing piece. While some of the pieces were just contaminated with the old glue some and cleaned up nicely some of the metal backing pieces were rusted so I hit them with a D-A and 80 grit. It seemed to work. As long as I got no moisture in between or on the wood I was good to go. Mitch
Knit Picking
in Buick Riviera
Posted
OK Mike: Here's a little about Mr. Karp's family, Mitch http://www.gundersonfuneralhome.com/obituary/118060/Sandra-Sanchez-of-Fort-Dodge-Iowa/