60FlatTop

Over the years I have checked my club rosters and looked for an owner of a similar car in a nearby zip code. Although it has been a while 50 bucks was an appreciated reward. Today I would probably bump it to at least $100. Here is a car that was advertised in the classified ads for Good Guys: I looked in my Cadillac club rooster and found a person with a '56 Caddy and two hearses. I figured his interests were eclectic enough. The car was inspected to my satisfaction; he even knew a transporter. I did about $250 of work when it arrived and the new owner ran the wheels off it going to every show and cruise around. Use the resources of the Club. Bernie

It is interesting how a person with my general attitude can look at four plating shop names and have the owner's choice of a name make a flag of concern go up. Bernie

When it comes to saving customers money, here is a clip from my personal company email signature: "We will leave a steam engine free of charge to you. We will install these and will take over for five years the customer service. We guarantee you that the coal for the machine costs less, than you must spend at present at fodder (energy) on the Horses, which do the same work. And everything that we require of you is that you give us a third of the money, which you save." James Watt, 1736-1819 I have read all the magazine ads and most of what we now call "white papers" related to automotive products since 1959. The one that has always stood out in my mind is the full page ads they used to run for spark plugs with multiple ground electrodes like are used in two cycle applications sometimes. The ad said "Try it yourself! Install a set of our plugs. Then find a car similar to yours. Pull up next to it at a stoplight and when the light changes step down on your accelerator and just see the added power and speed your car has with the new improved Fire Ring Super Plugs!" That's the guy who helped my Father teach me bad words. I was 11 or 12 at the time. Over the intervening 50+ years snake oil has given me much more benefit in entertainment than performance. Wasn't there a company that shipped all its new cars out of the factory with all the enhanced lubricants and gadgets? Seems the story went that the big three conspired to put them out of business because their cars ruined the planned obsolescence scheme. All that said, on Mother's Day, my wife and I sure had a nice 160 mile ride through New York's Southern Tier in a 54 year old Buick with five quarts of Texaco oil and ten gallons of Mobil from the 10% Regular corn licker pump. Bernie, just smiling and oblivious to my impending disaster

The greater the urgency of the recommendation, the more likely the salesman is telling you about it. Salesmen always have the inside scoop on what you need most. Bernie

It looks like this car's engine: http://classiccars.com/listings/view/529171/1947-cadillac-series-62-for-sale-in-orange-california-92867 The Skylark is parked behind it in one picture. Bernie

1600 people have looked at the multi-page ad for the Texas dealer and there are 4 days to go. Every few pictures you get to see a shot of their display of other cars and the facility. With advertising like that they don't have to sell the car. I used to sell a lot of literature and automobilia on Ebay and a few cars as well (with no reserve). Once I had quite a pile of Camaro items, brochures, posters, showroom items. I bought a Camaro for around $1,000 and listed it with all the other stuff. The ad said, be sure to check my Camaro collectible stuff for sale. I think I made $500 on the car and cleaned the shelves of Camaro items. Cheap effective advertising. My guess is that Motor Cars of Dallas is running a cheap advertisement more than they are selling a Riviera. Kind of copying the original marketing scheme of the Riviera. Check their "completed sales". It don't look like St. Patrick's Day there! And all their Ebay sales are 1 bid items. Bernie

Spring is finally here and next week I am going to send myself back to 1978 to buy a 1964 Riviera at a very reasonable price. I know a guy. Look for me in the future. Bernie

Drove about 150 miles, smooth, quiet, no vapor lock, and a good lunch overlooking the southern shore of ancient, glacial Lake Tonawanda. Near the headwaters of Cattaraugus Creek, near Arcade, New York, we found the remains of 8 government issue, black, Tahoes SUV's apparently left from an extinction population who inhabited the area about 10,000 years ago. Some of the tailpipes were still intact and possily the cause of the recession of the Wisconsin Ice Sheet, nearly 2 kilometers thick. Driving a 325 HP Buick with a Dynaflow is the only way to get a good view, as well as a roller coaster effect, from the higher elevations. Sunny, crystal clear, and no ice pack today. We also surmised that any greenhouse gases or carbon footprint related to the construction of the car in 1960 have been incinerated during surface testing of nuclear devices during the 1960's, '70's, and '80's. A green trip in anyone's book; got about 16 MPG. Bernie

When the Olds ad came out I had a 1956 Olds 88 Holiday with a Super 88 engine as a daily driver. They were selling the bland LS at the time. Maybe I'll get one when they reach collector status. I do remember the first time I saw an Olds Intrigue, about the same time. I walked around the car, looked it over carefully, and thought, this car makes me think of a girlfriend my Mother would pick out for me. Sorry, Mom, sorry Olds, sorry Buick mediocrity is for the masses. We are taking off in the '60 Electra for a 150 mile ride around western New York to look at geological anomalies caused by the last Ice Age and have lunch. And when we drive by people they will say "There's a Buick." Bernie

Both are Ebay cars showing "reserve not met". Click the category- Riviera, click "completed items, see the red? If it is on Ebay with a reserve there probably won't be a sale Its just guys going fishing. Bernie

Back when LeSabre was winning the Malcolm Baldridge awards I recommended a new LeSabre to a secretary at an associates office. She said "Oh, no, I had a new Buick once and didn't care for it." I asked what she had. "A 198X Skylark." Great job, GM! The ad should have top management and the senators whom engineered the cars kneeling and begging forgiveness. That's what they ingrained in the public mind. Lunch time! I'm heading for a little diner out in the sticks in the '60. Bernie

You can do an Ebay search for "crestline book". Most marques are covered with complete histories. Classic Motorbooks used to sell them and send out quarterly sale flyers. I think I have about 15 of them. Once you make a list of the titles you want try www.addall.com to find some good deals. Another good source is small independent used book stores. I have one near me and when an old car guy kicks off their collections show up. Those are real good deals. Bernie

Georgia is not the only place. Australia has then, too!

Depending on average speed, the calculation works out to a minimum of 15 miles per week, about .6%. And I would recommend shutting the car off at the 7.5 mile point and restarting it hot. The benefits are: The engine will come to operating temperature and have to cool correctly. The charging system will have to work and symptoms of dreaded vapor lock will have to be addressed. Sometime in the first few months an idiot will pull out in from of you so the brakes need to work. Any loose, hanging, or rubbing parts will get damaged or fall off, necessitating repair. Internal areas of the engine, transmission, and rear end will be splashed with hot lubricant and entrained moisture will be vented. AND, if you are brave enough to take the ride with your cell phone lying on the kitchen table, you will have a very reliable, long lived, and valuable car.

Take your car completely apart and count the number of round parts. Divide to toal number of parts bu the number of round ones. Multiply by 100 and that is the percentage of time the car should be driven. The car will always maintain its highest value when driven. At the next Silver Cloud tech session tell Doug some guy with a Buick said that. Bernie

It was a Mopar presentation so I think I'll Dodge any incriminating comments. B

Jon, Too bad you don't live in the frozen wilds of western New York. You could have joined three of my friends and I for coffee last Saturday morning. I started the conversation off by saying "You know that forum I tell you about? They have had a topic going on vapor lock." We are old and the waitress thought we were all suffering from strokes! Spent about ten minutes laughing with tears in our eyes and telling stories about tin foil and clothespins. You offer hope, anyway "few years from now you will be able to tell the story and laugh about it." I was taught to be cynical, but i learned how by paying more attention than the teacher. Bernie

Drive it, drive it, drive it! Keep the tank full, top it off every Sunday afternoon. I use Texaco oil in all my cars hoping just by chance someone in Texas might get some of the money. If the garage smells like gas there is a leak. I have four cars in my garage and sometimes it smells like Kroil. But that follows me into the house and my wife asks what that chemical smell is. Don't "find someone in the area who". At $80 per hour you can get a decent start on some basic tools by avoiding your first service misadventure. Do everything yourself. The first thing you will say is "Wow! What an easy car to change valve cover gaskets on!" Be independent. When you can't, rely on your local Buick Club chapter members for help. That is a benefit of membership. And don't fight advice when you ask for it. Last night I had an excellent example of how a person can benefit from membership. In 1994 I joined the Rolls-Royce Owner's Club on the advice of a friend. He said using the resources of the club would help me make a better decision in the car I bought, rather than buying a car first, then joining the club, and having someone say "Oh, you bought THAT car." The same person rode out of my driveway in my black 1994 Impala SS. As we turned up the street I said "This is the car I chose to buy over a Sliver Spur." He said "You are a very smart man." Don't take any of it too seriously and you will have fun. Bernie

My point was no sealer. Weld it, braze, it, coat it with lead. If it doesn't leak slosh it around and get the big chunks out. In the mid 1990's my daily driver was a '56 Olds that had sit for at least 15 years. Any sample of gas contained very small floating rust "silt". The car never had a problem related to the fine silt in suspension. The only indication was the white tips of the spark plugs being orange whenever I pulled them. Now, there is a deeper message here- I drew off samples of fuel for various reasons, I pulled the plugs, I maintained the car. That was 20 years ago when I had about 30 years of experience. A Chrysler that has been sitting for over 50 years maybe be more of a curse than an inheritance. Asking this question is easy stuff and the resurrection, nursing to reliability, and fixing all the time deteriorated consumables is not going to get easier or be cheap. They are looking down the barrel of an $8,000 to $10,000 cannon that looks like a tailpipe if things go smoothly. How many times has that first 30 mile drive been the last one. I sure hope it is a convertible. (Don't show then this comment. It might discourage them.) Looking forward to some pictures even though this is the Buick forum! Bernie

From time to time, I look in my rear view mirror and I think I, sometimes, see people making those full throttle shifts. My Dynaflow does fine in Drive. Bernie

A radiator shop should be able to handle the job. I would repair any leaks or porosity. There is a group of senators in Washington whom think they are engineers and even though they may come up with a mixture that dissolves steel it is a long shot compared to the possibility of solvent that will cause a sealer to peel off. Then drive the car enough to cycle fuel through the tank and keep it fresh and keep it full. Bernie

A friend stopped by tonight and told me his car with an AFB won't start hot and he has vapor lock. I'll probably get it out here and fix it for him. I WILL use test equipment on the car when I recreate the problem. The first check is compression, like the training video says and like I learned in 1959. You just don't waltz up to an engine and start monkeying around without and compression check and an ignition system inspection. When I get a no start condition I will check the secondary voltage to see if the cylinders are starved for fuel or rich. Although this is a Mopar video, they do a good job overall. Pay attention to the antiperculation comments. Bernie

Don't forget Ebay and Craigslist rare; "when is the last time you saw one of these?" I sat in the Brockport Diner having coffee yesterday afternoon for a half an hour. The window looks right out on Main Street and you wouldn't believe how many rare cars I didn't see go by. Actually, there used to be a site online that had a VIN decoder and itemized options on later cars. And it had a rarity summary. Her is my '94 Impala: Rarity... There are 4 1994 CAPRICE CLASSIC 4 DR vehicles (0.004%) matching your exact options list. There are 27 (0.028%) with at least as many options. My car is really common, why does this indicate that it's rare? If you parked your car next to one of the hundreds or thousands of similar cars in our database you probably couldn't tell them apart, but that doesn't mean they aren't different. For example, some may have an RPO listing for the plant in which they were built. If yours was one of only a few that came out of that plant with a given list of options, it would come back as rare. Another car may have all the same options but was built at a different facility and thusly it's considered different. Bernie

I'm getting close to 40 years as a Riviera owner. The most frequent question is "Oh, one with the pointed back end?". THEN comes the head light question. Other owners know about the exclusively attractive touches on the '64. The general public has a sensory issue. Park your car at a cruse in. Vision is not acute enough. They really can't see all of the car. If it is not running they can't hear in. Sometimes they might comment if they smell gas or if you recently booted out a mouse nest. Even with the best candy colors they never actually get their tongue on the car and taste it. From my experience at car shows, the only highly developed sense is touch, And they want to get their grubby mitts all over the car. It is, from observation, the only sensory connection most people have with the world. Now, blindfolded, those people would feel that bombsight on the hood and figure out the taillights in braille. The original Riviera is an American knockoff of a Bentley. It is the details that make the knockoff work. The third year restyle departed from that and Americanized the success. Then they headed way off afield for 15 years. In 1979 both the Riviera and the Eldorado mirrored the feel and shape of the Rolls/Bentley cars again. If you can wrangle a test drive of a 1970's Silver Shadow or Bentley you'll wonder why the gauges aren't labeled "Rolex". With the unibody cars the 1990's LeSabre subtly took on Jaguar ogee and stance. Bentley shifted to an Audi A8 platform and Buick renewed the chase with the flying B emblem and, lacking a Riviera, did the current LaCrosse, Bentley knockoff. This whole thing started in 1937 and 1938 when the Royal Family bought a couple of Roadmasters. So I'm a bit sidetracked, but having fun. And I do have reasons I like the '64 best (the real subtle inside joke is the knockoff Rolex I wear when I drive it........ just in memory of Mr. Mitchell. Now that's detail.) Bernie

It is odd the market is like that. Even Hondas have hidden headlights. Four round headlights coming at you down the road is really something different these days. And then they took the scoop side trim with body reliefs off and left a slab sided look and a swipe of extruded aluminum cladding takes away from the sculpture. Then they crammed the tail lights into a shapeless rear bumper. For style, I would have to rate the order as '64, '63, and '65. Not that there would be any strong opinions out there. Bernie