60FlatTop

Best idea would be to figure out how much you are willing to spend and sink it right into your convertible. Then you have made progress on a really desirable car. I'm sure you could get people to polish that base Electra four door for you. Just park it next to the finished convertible and when they back up and rub against it to get a better look at the convertible that sedan will be rubbed to a beautiful shine. I love the guy "waiting for an offer". Did he inherit the car and battle with the tax appraiser about the value and now worried a nickle will get left on the table? There no shortage of them out there. I like to sit on the back step and talk about the profits big companies make and then say "You know your utility company exploits you and pays it's share holders the 20% it makes in profit. I know you are a good guy and 'cause I like you I'll pay you 20% over what you have in it. I know it is consider gouging in the business world, but you're a good guy." Bernie- obviously very entertained by buying and selling cars. I know how much I want for mine, wanna buy one?

I'm with John. Family perceptions can be killers. AND the proper terms should be "the brakes blew and the exhaust rotted off while it sat neglected." Do you have to take a ladder off the roof to move the car? The previous "restoration" is scary, as well. After you rebuild the brakes, exhaust, cooling system, add new tires, and redo the bubbles and pimples it will always be "Oh, you have that nice Buick Uncle Harry fixed up so nice." By any chance is it stored like this? Bernie

I like the car. I bought one of those, a brown convertible with a stuck engine, in 1975. The year before I had started renting one side of an L-shaped garage in town. My friend from school, Mike, rented the other side. We had to go 30 miles in winter weather to pick the car up and tow it home with a chain. The first thing Mike did was put the power window down to smoke. It didn't go back up. That was a cold ride home. So we slid the 1967 Electra into the garage. It was one of those old Swap Sheet buys. At the coffee shop someone asked about the garage and Mike said "It ain't no garage. It's a marina, he's filling it with boats." So Mike started calling it Herbie's Marina. (Herbie came from an old Pollack who ran a junkyard and was hard of hearing, another story). Anyway it stuck and for Christmas 1988 my wife provided the official sign for my newly built garage at home. So there is a story about '67 Buick converts, winter, and how fast times passes. I just took that picture. It is sunny and 19 degrees, a regular damned heat wave. Bernie

Back in the mid 1990's I was painting the rearend housing for my Riviera on a Saturday night and listening to a '50's Rock radio station. I couple of guys from a town north of me called in a request. The DJ asked a few questions and it turned out they were in the garage working on a 1966 Chevelle. I called in a request a little later and he asked what I was up to. I told him "Painting the rearend of my '64 Riviera." The DJ said "Wow! That's detail. are you going to a show?" I said "Nah, I just wanted it to look nice 'cause its all the Chevelle guys will see." Bernie

I had a '56 Golden Hawk when I was 16 and drove it to school for a bit. I did get that speedometer over to 140 once and found out the horn just made a little gagging noise at that speed. Shouldn't have passed that car along. I picked up a '72 Avanti II about 5 years ago. It had been sanded and primered and left outside too long; no jellcoat left are the fibers were shedding. Shouldn't have sold that one either. It is in Tennessee becoming a dragster. It left my place in style though: On the Chevy trade; one of anything is enough. Bernie

The pan bolts above the crossmember are the hardest part of getting this stuff out of the pan: Bernie

Here is the sound of a stock 425 with original equipment front pipes, resonator eliminator pipes, a 2 1/2" equalizer in place of the transverse muffler, and two 2" Flowmaster Hushpower's in place of the tail pipes: http://brockportinternational.com/xjs/Dir5/Riviera/64riviera.mp3 The car was 14 years old and I was 30 when I bought it. I am planning another 40 years with it. My health is good and I am at a much lower risk of being shot than I was a few decades ago. I can plan. Bernie

I bought an original exhaust system from Monroe Muffler in 1978. Around 1985 the bottom of the muffler leaked and since they no longer produced the muffler they gave me a refund of the original price. I bought two original mufflers from old stock suppliers with the money. One went on the car. I used the second one in 1994 and replaced the front pipes because the ends were rotted at the clamps. Five years ago the 1994 muffler leaked and I went for a pair of Hushpowers and modified things from the kick up to the exit. I expect the front pipes to hold up another 10 years and I stashed away a set of NOS tailpipes and an NOS muffler. One more set of front pipes should get me through thr first 75 years of ownership. How long were you looking for yours to last? Bernie

A buyer with the intent of keeping that car for 25 or 30 years would probably be pretty happy. The few molestations are small and not important. Seeing no major work done would make it a pleasure replacing and detailing the aging parts at a leisurely pace. The '94 Impala SS I bought a few years ago was in similar condition and still had the original interior. I actually bought it from a dealer. One rear power window didn't work and they offered to fix it. NO NO NO Don't Touch IT! That was my thought while I looked at each picture. Price is good, no one monkeyed with it real bad, I'll take it from here, Thank You. Bernie

Pete, you probably haven't recovered from that brown New York State rust bucket from my neck of the woods, and now this. Holy Oxides! I have found rust will build up on the walls of the cylinder with an open valve where moist air condenses on the mass of the block over the years. I think one of the first cracker barrel stories of the 1920's included "and we dropped a battery in the old car and it started right up and ran like new." I cringe when I hear that story; all those dry parts crunching through the rust, usually for one half a revolution. Then everything is jammed, especially in the ring lands. Lucky guys sometimes can pry them back with a bar on the flywheel. That car port probably made a nice oven to maintain oil viscosity for the parts to dry. Up here setting oil will only flow on the first Saturday of august. Come of up for a visit. It looks pretty normal to me. Those pictures reminded me of a phone conversation I had with Mr. Bell, the late Hudson Club owner of "Miss Daisy's" Hudson. He had a Railton and invited me to use one he had as a reference. During our talk I commented on his Hudson. I thought the car had to be a nice original. Instead he told me the story about digging it out of a barnyard and how it had hunkered down in the mud so bad the crankshaft had rusted beyond repair. And that reminds me of a Bentley that was disassembled and stored in a chicken coop. There's an acid attack. And I think I can still find a '53 Pontiac that was used as a chicken roost. The floors are good; roof, hood, and trunk lid are rotted through. Good luck, ahhh, the memories. Bernie

How about an E- Does this look like something my ***-in-law learned how to do in rehab? That also applies to those Main St. "art" Festivals, too. Bernie

Thousands of stories, huh. Like the big city. Bernie

7.10's were only slightly wider than a 6.70. They had a taller sidewall that always gave a nice appearance in the wheel opening. We used to see them most commonly on the 1956 Chevies. When I bought my Riviera, in 1978, I was surprised the 7.10 was the specified tire. At the time all that was available was the wide mid '50's style whitewall. Coker didn't come out with that narrow white until around 1995. I was real happy to get them. I have put shamefully low miles on that car since the later years of the last century. Since '11 it has been out of service for one last refurbish, well, maybe two. The times are too old for more than a ride to town for coffee. So they are condemned and will be replaced in kind after the top removal, new windshield, fresh paint, and interior. They still look good and I think the car has just under 80,000 miles. It had something like 55,000 when I bought it. I'll stick with the 7.10 biased tires. I drives very well with them. 7.60's are a bit chunky. They Riviera may be the last application of the 7.10's. And you can always drive like this........ if you are a man: . Even a woman was safe on those biased tires.Bernie

Shouldn't that be "Dog with me"? Bernie

Here's how a '64 looks with 7.10X15 biased tires, all new springs, new shocks, new lower inner control arm bushings, and new rear lower control arm bushings. I like the height of the lower edge of the rocket panel, the centering in the wheel wells, and not having shiny spots on the rear of the front inner fender wells. Same thing next time, Coker's from Summit Racing. Oh, the oil slick is from a Jaguar sitting there. Bernie

2017- four months of the year in the Cayman Islands! The guy said "Don't you like seasons?" I said "Yeah, three of them!" Bernie

I am reminded of a 1911 Selden, owned by a friend, Clarence Sharp, that I took pictures of at the 1974 or 1975 Genesee Valley car show. He lived on Atlantic Avenue in Rochester, New York. Clarence had a Model T Ford for touring pubs around his neighborhood, a 1904 Brush, under restoration in his driveway, and his prized Selden in the garage. I would stop by when he was working on the Brush, usually in a suit coat and holding things at arms length. He met two of my girlfriends, the wild one who liked to ride in the Model T if I cranked and the tamer one I eventually married. I was in my early 20's and he was about the age I am now, 66. He liked to proudly show the Rochester newspaper article from around 1958 that showed him and his car. I could walk over to the Selden home historical marker in about 20 minutes. For that car show, Clarence and his long time buddy, Skyrocket, towed the Selden with the "T" and got it started and spruced up for the show. When I got there the two of them were standing by the car looking pretty dishearted. One tire was soft and there was a puddle of water under the radiator. I think he perked up when he saw my girlfriend; probably took a glycerine pill. I got him and Skyrocket to sit in the car and took their picture. It was the high point of their day. That rough old Selden was not attracting crowds or conversation. I guess that is one kind of survivor, a car that doesn't really fit in with the standards du jour, but has tons of sentimental value. The guys are smiling in that picture, as if they had made it to Pebble Beach. Survivors do that, you know. Bernie I just remembered, I think they towed it because the compressed air tank for the starter was low. Update, I just showed my wife the picture of the Seldon online. She said "didn't they tow that car down the Ellison Park hill?" Yep, that's the guys, another kind of survivor. Surviving your friends bright ideas.

Minus 9 again this morning. I usually get everything out and shuffle it around during the "January thaw". Maybe St. Paddy's Day. Bernie

Not quite, it just hit 1 and I can't make no dust fly, so a few brief thoughts of summer: http://brockportinternational.com/60Road.mp4 Takes a minute to download. Bernie

Did you here about the two Buick owners who got a hold of a penny and invented copper wire? There have been times when I reached into my pocket and silently paid for something Buick Club related rather than listen to the discourse. Avoid spending money, talking about money, or asking for money. From a 30+ year member; I think more members have been lost from money bickering than old age. Bernie

Last Spring I offered to help a friend list a reasonable sized accumulation of car stuff on Ebay and teach him the ropes. He never followed through and in December I asked him if he wanted to sell the whole lump. It had been a years since I had dabbled. I run a full time company and Ebay is just kind of sport. Only it ain't exactly sport; maybe it is exercise; or a diversion. In my business some buildings with sub-basements or areas below grade have waste transfer pumps or ejection pumps to the municipal sewers. My Ebay experience, since 1999, has been like I'm a powerful transfer pump and the sewer keeps backing up. It reaches a point where it has backed up enough to my limit and I shut down for a year or so. I work harder at my job or do more with the cars and eventually look for a little diversion. Then I start pumping again. I hope Ebay survives long enough for me to write a book about the stereotypical Ebay seller and buyers. Maybe even a language primer with horrible spelling and grammar called EBaynics. Of course that will be after I wrtie the play about the guy who stole my identity; the guy sitting in the gray, misty rain holding a pistol to his head. We did a job a couple of years ago and three teams of two were staying in Jamestown, New York. Driving to dinner one night, my longest employee said he was going to write a book about working for my company. He planned to subtitle it "If we aren't having fun, we aren't going." Ebay- I'll play when its fun. Bernie

Anyone figure out that was Jay bait, didn't appear to work. So Saturday was our 33rd anniversary, I asked my wife if she'd like to go see Leno on Friday night for our night out. She looked at me real concerned and then I realized she thought I asked if she wanted to see linoleum. We need to get the kitchen floor done this spring. I told her, no, the guy who used to be on TV after you went to bed. He likes old cars. She just asked why and took the dog out. Then with snow, wind, and sub-zero temperatures we ended up staying home watching old Louie Prima and Keeley Smith shows from YouTube. I had an eerie feeling I'd been there with them. Bernie

Found it! I am going to use my web thermostat to warm my garage up and go out there in a couple of hours. The smartest thing I can do is make a list of the jobs I could do on the cars I ALREADY own for $2200. It's a jungle out there. All the space that guy has. It is a drive drive. We have one little town along the lake where we can see the lights on the Hamilton bridge at night. Bernie

33 days until Spring. Bernie

I had a '56 Golden Hawk when I was in High School (two hoods, both folded. Not by me). In 1969 I was home on leave from the Navy and left a $20 deposit on a black '63 GT Hawk. I never got back with the remaining $130. I can see Toronto across the lake some days. How deep into Ontario is that tempting thing. Bernie