KongaMan
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Posts posted by KongaMan
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You can see that contact patch on new shoes. They will eventually wear to fit, though. And you can always accelerate that on the rear by driving around with the parking brake on.
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I dunno about any of that, but... I just put new (i.e. non-asbestos) shoes on the Riv a year or two ago, and it stops just fine. Put it this way: if I slam my foot into the pedal, it will put your face into the windshield. What else do you want?
Will they chew up my drums noticeably faster? Skeptical -- but I'll be dead by then in any event.
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Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.
On 4/30/2020 at 5:58 AM, cooterbfd said:I think this is a byproduct of all these shows on TV today. They all have master crews that can modify anything in short order, and with sponsorships from major advertisers like Jegs, Summit, Snap-On, etc, they probably get those components cheap, if not free. All I needed to see was Chip Foose fix up a girl's '65 Skylark convertible that she has had since she was 16. Husband had it done for her as a surprise. Disgusted when I saw him dump the old 300-2bbl in a trailer and drop a crate 350 in it.
Heard the name, don't know the guy -- but based on that he (like most of the cable TV wrenchers) seems like a hack. I don't watch these shows as a matter of course (and sanity), but I have yet to see one of these guys that I'd allow to work on one of my cars. I don't give a rat's a$$ how many t-shirts he sells or how many sponsor-bought tools he has, if he doesn't know what it is or how it's supposed to work, he's got no business saying he knows how to fix it.
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I looked through my records to see when I bought the heater core. It was May 30, 2002 ($43.35 from Advance Auto Parts, part # PA 5893348; you want to see a copy of the receipt?). I don't remember all the details of the procedure. What you do with that information is up to you.
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If you don't want to muck around under the dash or with a relay, I think you could safely tap the #4 (brown) wire from the VR. It puts out 12V when the engine is running.
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If I could remember what I did, I'd tell you -- but it was in 2002 (I looked it up) and all I remember is that accessing the bottom of the blower box was a PITA.
And no, I'm not going to do it again just to jog my memory.
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Load up on chili before your drive.
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Why in God's name would you have to pull the carb and coil to take out the heater core?
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The resistance wire you want is white with orange and purple tracers. What you want to do is connect that wire at the switch to the pink wire going to the coil.
The brown with white stripe runs to the voltage regulator. Leave it be.
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Resistance wire is under the dash. FWIW, I have a Pertronix system on the Riviera and never mucked with the resistance wire. It runs fine.
That yellow wire from the starter is the one that provides 12V to the coil when starting.
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Use the red stuff. ATF if you can get it, grenadine in a pinch.
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I may be wrong on this, but I thought the retractable belts (the ones with the retraction mechanism in the floor-mounted plastic shell) started in 65. Prior to that, retraction was those spring-loaded chrome doobers that slipped over the belt. Furthermore, I don't think the data plate would indicate retractable belts as different from any other belt. All of which is to say that if you have a 64, those belts may well be original.
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42 minutes ago, Wedgewood64 said:
Just checked my plate: interestingly, the car had the retractable belt option, but since I've had it, it's always been the regular belts, in the light blue. I replaced those b/c the buckle (which was missing the correct plate) failed.
I think the light blue would look horrible with the 4-point. I'm not sure, I could swap out all the belts in navy (but navy is... out of stock), or just order 2xlap belts for back, and then a black 4-point to secure my boy for the next 5 years... after that, I imagine he'll refuse to sit in the back...
There's more than one source for webbing and belt refurb. Hint: Ssnake Oyl is about the most expensive of the bunch (no aspersions to the quality of their work intended or implied).
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16 minutes ago, RivNut said:
Those colors must be faint or I'm color blind. I've taken a few apart and have never seen any color coding from the factory. Or the ones I took apart were just to dirty to see any color. Should I need to this ever again, I'll make sure to scour the assembly before taking it apart. 😷
Ed
They're on the control end (don't remember about the mirror end). IIRC, they're yellow, red, and either blue or green. They're painted on the ends of the individual cables and the sockets they go in to. I have no idea if it's a consistent pattern (e.g. yellow always on top) or if each mirror each painted after assembly according to the whims of the assembler. That would be a drag if you put a cable from one mirror on a different control and found out up was down. There's only 6 ways to hook up those three cables, anyway. You got nothing better to do.
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Dunno what's in that bulletin, but I can make some suggestions:
- Buy the complete service bulletin package that Jim's selling.
- Once you pull the blower box and remove the hoses, extrication of the core is somewhat obvious. IIRC, it's got to be twisted a certain way to be removed and replaced, but it can be done. In my experience, the biggest PITA was dealing with the vacuum diaphragm on the bottom of the box. I forget exactly what the problem was, but I do remember some annoyance.
- Again, use the opportunity to reseal the box to the firewall, lube the fan, oil the diaphragm pivots, clean the contacts, etc. It's like getting fat or bald: you don't notice the change while it's happening, but the before and after pictures are pretty stark. Things will work a lot more smoothly and quietly when you're done.
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I swapped the heater core from the engine side. No cutting required -- but a fair amount of profanity.
That's also a good excuse to R&R the blower assembly.
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I never did. I used it with both a GPS and a phone charger without issue (maybe an hour at a stretch). OTOH, experience suggests that those fuses deteriorate over time*, so it wouldn't be a great surprise if the miniscule draw of a phone charger was enough to push an already suspect fuse over the edge. Too bad there aren't any reasonably priced, reliable replacement for those fuses. I'm not paying $25 for one on eBay when it may already be crapped out. If you're not going to use the lighter itself, it may be advisable to remove the Casco fuse and jumper in an inline fuse holder so you can use the lighter as an outlet.
* Example: I can almost guarantee that the rear lighters in my 63 have never been used. I know they both used to work, and there is still 12V at the fuse. Yet, one of the fuses is now shot. Go figure.
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FWIW, the stock lighter will work as a 12V source. IMHO, a better option would be to put a panel in the ashtray opening which has multiple outlets. If you haven't already filled that space with a gauge array.
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FWIW, I have the light blue vinyl/cloth custom interior (611). I reupholstered with the same light blue vinyl, but dark blue inserts instead of the original light blue cloth. I chose dark blue belts.
With a dark blue interior, I would've gone with dark blue belts. But that's just me.
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If you have a remote mirror (and you probably do), disconnect the cables before you pull the skin. The cables should be color coded so you know where to put them back. IOW, you don't want the skin hanging by the mirror cable.
Otherwise, pulling the door skin is easy. If the bolt spins with the nut, insert something (plastic wedge, etc.; you don't want to chip the paint) between the skin and door frame next to the bolt, then pry them apart. This will put pressure on the t-head bolt, (hopefully) holding it in position while you spin the nut off.
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OTOH, it's a 55-year-old car. Enjoy it for what it is.
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If you're going to cut huge holes for speakers, get the cheap tray.
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FWIW, you might have luck coating your existing cardboard with urethane resin (usually used for casting). If it soaks in, you'd have a reinforced, flexible solution. Even if it just coats the cardboard, that might be adequate if it adheres well. You could also add fiber to the resin to make it stronger.
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At $500, I'd spend a little looking for a restorable original.
Current brake shoe options
in Buick Riviera
Posted
Hell, most of these guys probably can't even service drum brakes. All they know are discs. Arcing shoes? That's crazy talk.