60FlatTop

Mr. Earl, You knew tease and the '54 went together, didn't you. I took those pictures in May 2011 when we were auditing the Jamestown, New York school facilities. It was a real neat place right on the main drag, Cresent Motors: Crescent Motors Inc. - Classic Cars @ Classic Prices (716) 665-2420 The owner was friendly and there were car magazines all over the office. The '54 was a real stand up car. I liked the '49 Super. There was a lot more stuff. I'll put a directory of the pictures up later. Jamestown, well Celeron, was the birthplace of Lucille Ball. Not only were the cars neat, but next door was a pizza lunch buffet. What a combination! Bernie

Robert is really teasing with that '49 Super. I took these where Mr. Prendergast lived, if you remember that 1950's TV woman.

Although I have never been a proponent of "wrenches in a can", after reading a few strings on the Buick forum I went to Advance auto Parts and bought a can of Trans X Automatic Transmission Treatment. I took my '60 Electra out and brought everything to full operating temperature. I pulled into the garage and added the stuff, took a drive around the block and the car has not suffered its morning sickness since. I'm happy and that alone says a lot. I would recommend it. What you describe sounds like my car when I wasn't getting suction on the pump. It would slip until the pump output came up. Then you could feel in become solid and catch. It was good for the rest of the day. The actual cause is the pump losing prime when it sits because of excess clearance in the pump impeller. I was planning a rebuild next year. Everything is fine since I poured the juice in. Bernie

Be sure to do the fuel thing then. It makes a big difference and saves grinding the starter. Believe me, you don't have to be foolish to break stuff. Steering! Bernie

I remember fighting for those '56 Buick wheel covers...... around 1962 and '63. I never got into painting the alternate squares red and white, but there is a full set in my garage in case I need them. Now, I am curious. Someone actually wants to take wheel covers like that OFF a '56 Buick? Sounds like something one of my friends would have talked me into. I can almost hear my Dad's voice now. Bernie

Starting a '63 Riviera without brakes, no matter how innocent the intent, risks at least one hard to find parking light grille. If you hear bad noises will the car be sold? When the car was delivered was the lack of brakes a concern? When will be the first time you need brakes? Are you filming a TV reality show and trying to think of a different way to create a tense and exciting moment because last minute deadlines for assembly have been used at least once? Did you know you can straighten die cast? Can you guess who has a straightened left front parking light grille? Measure the distance between the shift lever, your hand, and the "I thought" mechanism. Fix the brakes first on any car worth keeping. Disconnect the fuel line at the carb and draw fuel from the tank. I use a MY-T-VAC with the brake bleeder bottle. Dump the bottle as many times as it takes to get good looking stuff up there. This flushes the line and primes the fuel pump so you don't flex the diaphragm dry. Bernie

Rocky, Don't tell anyone where you learned it. Just approach the job as if it was common knowledge. Each morning look in the mirror and say "Oh, I didn't know that" and "Let's try this." as innocently as possible. Be convincing. Otherwise you could get tagged as a grouchy old fart who can never be pleased. Bernie

The smaller Eldorado's with disc brakes on the rear and Fiero's integrated the parking brake. We still call it an emergency brake around here so a lot of us didn't care if it worked or not; just a state inspection aggravation. We all got one of those awkward square spanner adjusting tools to screw the piston in with and then learned the hard way that you have to set and release the parking park a few times to set the initial adjustment- or.... you couldn't get ant pedal. Fiero? Yeah, I had one of those too with a 4.3 Chevy truck engine. That was the small block with two cylinders lopped off. You almost got V8 power without cutting into the shock tower. Should have kept that neat little car. Bernie

When you replace the bushings put a light coat of anti-sieze on the outer surface. It will help lubricate the pressing. I asked some professionals to do that for me on some '55 T-Bird control arms and they told me those parts don't rotate. I said "Just humor me." Doug, I made a neat driver to get those front lower inner bushings out. You an I may be the only ones riding on new ones. Bernie

I see the car didn't sell. Maybe Hagerty's didn't know about it. I bet they'd scrawl off a check in a minute. That old gal spent a lot of time outside. Years of rain water erode the chrome the way it shows in the right front picture and I think the rusty bumper listed for sale a while back might be the original. At $6,000, maybe $7500 the car will sell. Otherwise it will follow the path of deterioration of most cars when the buyers aren't smart enough to recognize the value. That little black Jaguar is still rotting away behind the gas station in Rush, New York (at least last time I looked). I made a fair offer that appalled the owner. Oh well. Bernie

I am all for buying the best car you can find. After observing my investments and others I think that for every $1,000 more you are willing to spend you can get $4,000 worth of the previous owner's work. Bernie

Eric, you asked the man who owned it? That's an interesting thing to write to a Packard guy. Kind of has a catchy ring to it though. Bernie

Finding a good shop is hard. It used to be my firm policy to find someone older than my car to do the work. I pretty much ran out of those guys. I'm working with my nephew who is just a little older than the Park Ave. Hell, I just happened to think; I'm older than the dirt on ALL my cars. Oh, well, Happy New Year, 2013- who'd have thunk! Bernie

Rocky, When you replace the springs loosen each suspension through bolt. Tap it with a brass hammer or punch to make sure it is free. Then slide a nice fat chisel between the joint components to be sure the serrations of the bushing are not gripping. If the bushing can rotate freely it won't tear. Be sure to do the track bar, too. Buy quality springs. In general, if you pay less that $100 the car won't sit right. Someone will probably say they are new and it will sink down, don't believe them. Once the new springs and shocks are in let the car sit at ride height when you tighten the suspension bolts. You will also find the shop manual shows a direction for the spring ends to point. The '64 does. Follow those instructions and you will have a nice amateur job. Professionals will run the car up on a lift, air wrench the nuts loose, yank each side down tearing the rubber bushes, and just stuff the springs in any way they fall. Then when the car doesn't sit right they will tell you the coils springs were made wrong. If you took the manual to them for a reference it will be on the counter where you left it. Be sure to retrieve it. You REALLY don't want a professional job. Bernie

This is going to be hard to believe. I have owned two black XJS V-12 Jaguars. I sold the first one on Ebay and actually out BS'ed the seller of this Riviera. The person who bought the car from me wrote to tell me he was a car dealer and had never achieved the level of BS I heaped on that car. He meant it as a compliment and I accepted it as such. Just reminded of a proud moment in my car hobby life. Bernie

"Stuff" could be a "coming down fast from Terraplane" word, not the one my son kept hearing though. Once the garage was barn find du jour

I thought the picture was laid out great. Not staged or obviously a toy, just kind of neat. Lots more realism than you see in a half hour of car auctions on TV. Bernie

Here is an interesting visual experience: 1953 Buick Skylark Convertible | eBay Bernie

I gave my cherry picker to my nephew last year. I figured I could sucker him into any future engine pulls. Maybe I will get it back for one more and get our own Vanna White. We could shoot for an all vowel engine pull. Maybe one of those reality shows. "O-O-O-O- Stop! Coming down fast from Terraplane!" Bernie

It was a little curious to see the Alabama picture with snow and clear skies in Schenectady, New York. Is Al Gore in Alabama for Christmas? Kind of gives you the Willys. Bernie Merry Christmas!

In 2010 I spent about $4,000 on my 1960 Electra. Here is a 2005 picture. You could call it Before: And here is a 2011 picture, After: As you can see, there are hidden costs in an old car. Bernie

At my age I don't have to hibernate them:

I have used the manifold bolt holes and the balance is pretty good. I have an assortment of eye bolts hanging on that pegboard in my garage for lifting. Then I am sure I get the benefit of all the threads working for me. Years ago I just picked up and assortment of sizes; makes life easy. Bernie

Subtleties beyond the transmission like the bombsight hood ornament, script on the deck lid, and "R" taillight trim are noticeable to me. And I like the concept of a small Buick even if it only by a few inches. I am from a stong matriarchal family on my mother's side. In 1964 my actual favorite was the black Electra pillared sedan, a very imposing car. My grandmother O'Brien had just traded her black '54 Roadmaster in for a black '62 Invicta so the "smaller" cars became acceptable. All the sons in law strove for a new Buick to be in her graces. As a close grandson, at 17, two years later I bought a black '60 Invicta flattop myself. The desire for a Riviera grew over the years until I was 30 and figured I better get only to keep. Bernie

Rob, stirring it up a little keeps things going and that correct Roadmaster just might materialize. And the thought of me pulling anyone's leg; and a warning in caps. I find B's search interesting and enviable, plus he picked a very desirable car. I have always had a list of cars I wanted. The '64 Riviera has been on it since 1964. The Impala SS, about ten years. Being on the list and searching for one never seems to coincide for me. In 1978 I was looking at a 1973 Lincoln Mark IV when I bought my Riviera. In 2002 I thought I had bought a parts car with lots of good pickin when I bought my '60. Last year I was looking at later Lincoln Town Cars, Jaguars, and Silver Spurs when I bought the Impala SS. I bought the convertible just because I have more money than brains sometimes. It is a combination of peripheral vision and budget that has brought me together with my cars. Our paths crossed at just the right time. One observation I have made over the years, the cars I paid a fair market value for are sitting in the garage or were worn out from good service. The bargains, well, they were passed on to new bargain hunters..... REAL SOON. Bernie