lrlforfun

OK Alini: Yeah. Standard interior, power windows and a/c. Good equipment. The color is up to you as long as it blends with blue in some way. The no-rust factor is happier than a 70 degree day with low humidity.....and it's a 65 Riv. These cars have been sleeping for way too long. Much more car than people think. Enjoy, Mitch.

OK Riviera People: I'm the guy who got suckered in with that BOGUS package tray from the opgi. I am a cheep *&^$%@#$%%^ so for me to spend $300+++ forget it! I would think that someone could re-pop one for reasonable. I'll assume that if there were a nice product out there for about a hundred bucks it would sell like hot cakes. Remember, there's shipping costs, covering, insulation and defroster issues on top of that. Oh, I find it ironic that cherry rear speaker grilles seem to grow on trees. Mitch

OK Riviera People: Just from a handful of pictures I spotted a bunch of wrong things. For my car to be this sharp would be nice......more than nice but for this kind of dough I think we can play "I spy"........... horn bar m.i.a. 71 Pinto style carpet with incorrect fit Red Stripe tires? Maybe on a GTO or Chevelle but this? Back bumper has a hole below the license plate area with a bumper bolt through it Bucket seat hardware not detailed and in sight Cherry bomb exhaust funky jack right inner fender splash m. i. a. front bumper and valance a hair out of alignment (that's a biggee for me) Side view shows the front end saggin' a little, or tires are low AND......I have not seen this car in the flesh, seen underneath it, or driven it. This is a nice car please get don't get me wrong. It's better than anything I have. It just ain't the best of the best and for 41K I just don't know. Mitch

OK Riviera People: So they made about 37,000 65 Rivs and about 3,000 or so were Grand Sports. That's about 10%...right? This green thing on the ebay is at 40 G's with 9 days left to go. Hey, it's nice but 40K and still no cigar?? Have these cars been sleeping for that long??? Mitch

OK Big Sho: Where do you start with this one? Looks like a black hole rather than a red and white car. I know because I have several worse than this. Ultimately, it's your call. Good luck, Mitch

OK Phoemsen: I'm glad you got your package tray in one piece with a clean installation. For those who are looking for a package tray be very careful of the one offered by the OPGI'. It's cheep in price (although it's going up every new catalog) and it's not even close to what goes there. So the TWO warnings are.......... 1. The product is horrible 2. Don't go ripping your tray out just because you've found a new repop with a cheep price on it because if you get their tray and yours is in the garbage can.....you are stuck! Mitch

OK Riviera People: I remember in the mid 80's when self service yards started popping up in our area. The management of these places were junk yard dogs, many of their customers were bottom feeders and there certainly was much room for improvement.....BUT..... In spite of all that, there were a ton of us car guys who were in heaven among all the dead iron. I can't tell you how many cars wound up there that by today's standards were ripe candidates for revival. It really made me crazy, especially not being able to buy an entire car. Had I have been able to do business with these people I probably would have had accumulated an enormous amount of cars. Now when an old school car hits one of these yards it's gobbled up in no time. I'm thinking that many of the people selling the "jewelery" items at swap meets might have got them back in that day from these type yards. Just imagine a complete 66 Chevelle 2 dr. hardtop coming in on the forklift and what would happen to that car shortly after! Mitch

OK Brian: My friend the transmission man told me this ....."Mitch, you could use that core you just paid $75. but you'd be much better off re-build the transmission in your vehicle" I asked, Why"? His response was simply, It's a given. You know the specific problems with the transmission and you can better identify the cause of these problems. Leave the core for a parts source." I am thinking it's no different with an engine. With the engine in your 58 you have the ability to give it an accurate compression test as well as a leak down test because it is in running and driving condition. Definitely a "known". Many re builders are babies when it comes to the fact that they want to bore everything and in reality that may not be the case. Run this info by Ted and his engine person and see what they think. Ted is also very knowledgeable in this field and I would place much value on his opinion. Having one ready when the other comes out seems to make sense as far as a convenience thing but I'm going to go on the word of a person I think is a very good tech. You are also wise to really do your homework because there are way too many guys who will be happy to tell you exactly what you want to hear. I'm guessing a quality rebuild on that 364, assuming the core is good to be in the $4,000.-$4,500. range. Ever thought of a proven good used 57-60 364? Mitch

OK Hahnster: Just me of course. I would never buy another hot tub and I would never go out of my way to put dual quads on a Nailhead. If you want it to run better (assuming it has good even compression) give it a good tune up and call it a day. Now, if you want to make mud pies and like that kind of thing then, by all means go through all the hoops of fire to find a D-Q set up, install it on your car and then, have fun doing what ever it is that you enjoy. I say this from experience. I've done it a few times when my ego carried more weight than my common sense. It really was impossible to tell on either car because of several things. Both motors (425's) had been rebuilt .30 over and had great compression with new rings and a fresh valve job and I couldn't even tell from the other Rivieras I had previously owned that ran sweet. So, to recap, no, no, and no. I am not the only one here who might have done this so it will be interesting to hear what others say.. Mitch.

OK Ray: I participate on the Riviera owner's Facebook page as well as this page and the gentleman who runs it claims that you want him to shut it down. Can you clarify this? Thanks, Mitch

OK Buick People: I was watching the Mad Men the other night and I couldn't figure out a car on there. Now I have. The squirlley guy that wanted to have an affair with his train riding buddy's wife.....if you follow, got into his 66 Wildcat Custom 4 door hardtop after dropping the girl off. Except when the camera pans the LAX parking lot in late 60's period shots and shows 5,000 cars there's not too much attention given to a 66 Wildcat. Mitch

OK Peter: Several things here...... 1. How bad do you want this car? 2. It looks nice in the picture AND it MUST be previewed in the flesh to evaluate it's condition. 3. Other people are overjoyed to spend your money. 4. While you might get a few helpful tips as far as what to look for ultimately, you are the one to make that withdrawal. 5. More pictures would help as far as identifying what is correct or not. 6. Unless you must have this car check out a few others. There are no shortages of first-gen Rivs and you may or may not be surprised at what is out there. 7. If I were offered this car at a starting price that was inviting to me I would do the #1-#6 things I said. 8G's? Read it again! Good luck, Mitch.

OK Rob: You've gone this far, why not take off the front clip? I have done it and it is not that hard. Mitch

OK GW: Does this include the dash pad? I am looking for a clean one. Thanks, Mitch

OK Dick: With your resources as a police officer I'm really surprised that you can't track that down. Mitch

OK Carl: When I moved here from New Jersey at a young 22 in 1974 it was surreal. I saw cars I hadn't seen since I was a kid because in our neck of the woods there was a 10 year limit to what appeared on the road. Sure, there were a bunch of 64 Impala sedan kind of cars in the blue collar neighborhoods but they too dropped off the radar screen quickly. "Old" just didn't seem to make it no matter how someone tried to preserve their car in West Orange, New Jersey. Here in Oakland, CA it was a real car show on the city streets until the mid 80's when the interest in collector kind of cars went nuts. Old cars went into hibernation. Today there are a very small handful of these old cars in daily service. Now, as far as the person who possesses glasses that will enable it's user to see through garage doors of single family houses, I would like to purchase a pair of them and between that, and a frozen pizza, I think I will be set for life! Mitch

OK Carl: Look at that 65 Riv in Kansas. Standard, power windows, gold paint (a horrible color), no a/c, Seville wire wheels which could be down right dangerous and a reserve way above market plus a phoney CA front plate. I've seen better and I've seen worse. It still ain't sold because it's overpriced and I wouldn't trust the flipper at all. In 1977 I just got my dealer's license and I was in and out of the DMV field office in Oakland all the time. There was a 60 Brookwood wagon parked in front of the joint for sale with plate AAA-000. I looked, acknowledged it's historical significance and went back to work. A car that has a CA black plate only means that car has a black plate attached to it. Anyone making any other assumptions other than, a black plate is attached to a car, with out doing their homework will usually shoot themselves in the foot. I have seen many non reputable sellers fudge by putting a black plate on a car adding to their misrepresentation. As far as the people that covet what they think a black plate represents goes, they can move out here like I did and experience the California Car Culture as well as the superior weather! I tell you, so far for me it has been nothing but a dream come true. Mitch

OK 58 Buick Limited: There have been so many bogus adds for this type of car, I'm sorry I took your head off. I WAS hoping I was wrong and I was. A few more details like where the car was, a picture and perhaps a mention of some circumstances surrounding this car might have got you a more positive response. I saw the car on the ebay and it sure looks like a nice old car that was used sparingly, given good care, then, taken out of daily service and put into a deep hibernation. I would call this car "The Big Dilemma". It is so nice and original that it really would be a dis-service restoring it. If it were mine I would get it mechanically excellent and have a good time with it! I'd bomb it around all summer and drive the living daylights out of it. Good luck with the sale and again, sorry for making certain assumptions. Mitch

OK Bryan: If that darn transportation wasn't so high I could see stocking up on several cars that I like! Mitch

OK Riviera people: You aren't going to like this because I am about to rain on many people's parade. The black plate entire license thing is entirely mythology. I mean who really cares what the plate is as long as it's legit. After a recent long discussion of restoration with one of the most anal people I have ever met, even he admitted that there are so many contradictions to period, period correct, authentic and everything else that things can be confusing. I say, after making your old Riv (or any thing else for that matter) safe and reliable, just get in your car and drive it, enjoy it and make up "your own mind" what it needs to be like. Mitch PS: Open to being bashed so go ahead lay in!

OK Buick People: Unless I had an agent or a seller that I trusted that could handle a high dollar (what ever you call high dollar btw) out of area purchase for me....forget it. With so many variables involved it seems like such a narcissistic move. "I gotta have it, I gotta have it" and I'm willing to gamble a large sum of money. I have personally lucked out more than not but then, I did not send large sums of money for a deposit and purchase. And yes, there were times I was that narcissist I spoke of. I must remind forum members of a gentleman's thread, who's name I can't remember, which stated bluntly that after as much research on a prospective purchase out of his area, he was willing to go and get the car AND AND AND AND................................... ..................if the car or something wasn't to his standards he was willing to go home with an EMPTY TRAILER! It wasn't a gamble for this man because he was factoring the empty trailer in his equation. That thread allowed me to examine things and slow down a bit. Mitch

OK Buick People: I hope I'm wrong but I think the 58 limited add is a phoney. The guy that advertises "Wanted blab blab blab" in Craig's list spams the Craig's List on the 11 Western Solar System's Craig's Lists. I think he would make more money getting a job because it requires the same energy to post all that he does. Mitch

OK Zimm: I just finished such a job and the only reason I didn't post pictures of my bloody hands was because some people may faint at the mess. There are 7 pins and of course 7 5/16th speed nuts. It's a lousy job weather you use a baby wrench with a string tied to it or a 1/4" drive ratchet. When I put together my 65 Riv years ago my friend in the body shop suggested barrel clips. These are the female nail looking things that you push through the hole in the fender. When they are installed (which takes all of a few minutes for both sides) it's just a matter of pushing the Riviera emblem through the holes. Never again will I be using speed nuts.......unless one of my friends at the time has teeny tiny little hands....on second thought, not even then. As a matter of fact I still need to put together the front clip on my 64 that I painted and I think I will scout around for those barrel jobs. Mitch

OK Dave: Have you checked the gas tank. From the sounds of everything you have said the sending unit could be clogged. That can easily produce intermittent symptoms of the no start. Remember, diagnose every aspect, isolate each component until all are trouble free. Mitch

OK Buick People: I'm selling my 59 Electra convert. It needs a full restoration, it could use minimal work for just a driver and I'm asking 30K. It's 98% there, 98% rust free and from 20 feet with out your glasses it looks good. It's at my house in Castro Valley, CA in the San Francisco area. Please feel free to contact me. Thanks, Mitch email lrlforfun@aol.com Phone 510-688-1626 http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/2915389768.html