60FlatTop

The Buick Club members in most areas know every Buick hidden away or in plain sight as well as the history of most of the cars left with collectible status. Join the club and use all the resources of the club to make the smartest decision about your purchase. It is a lot more rewarding to use the expertise of 40 to 100 members of a chapter to help you buy a car than to buy one on your own and join the club after. Read that as if I wrote "Oh, you bought that car." Running and driving is not hard to do. If you want to go somewhere the money starts flowing like water. If you have a spouse near the well about 3 $1,000 trips are enough to get the door of the garage quietly pulled down and the old Buick becomes a touchy subject. It is easy to put money into a car and hard to get it out. Don't believe reality TV shows. Those guys have jobs as actors. Here is an observation worth remembering: for every $1,000 more you are willing to spend, you can get about $4,000 worth of the other guy's work. A collector car is a LIABILITY not an asset. The US is entering a cycle of about 30 years where everyone should limit their liabilities. Those who don't do it on their own will find situations evolve that will force them. If you join the BCA and put the $2500 in cash aside AND clean up all debt you can have a real nice car 10 years from now, although your priorities may change. Bernie

I put an electronic choke on a '56 Olds that was my daily driver a few years ago. All you need to do is find an older autoparts (junk yard) and get the bakelite choke element housing from a mid-1970's GM. Replace your exhaust heated one with it and wire it to the hot side of your coil. You are good to go. GM made two electronic chokes, a 3 minute and a 5 minute. Either one will do the job fine. Bernie

The kit was probably $50 his cost. Marked up 30% would make it $71. If he cleaned and painted the cast base that would add about $30. $60 an hour is a low garage rate these days and a garage wouldn't know how to do it. If he is a good old boy and you brought it to him he would have 2 hours into it for a minimum of $220 so far. Add another hour if he had to remove and replace it and.... $280 it is. Another consideration is the implied cradle to grave warranty people expect. If I had the feeling I was going to spend another hour later helping you I would add that hour up front. I have a friend who sells lawn mowers. He was telling me about having one real nice one and one that needed some work. He sold the one that needed work cheap and the better one for a premium. It turned out that the guy who bought the one that needed work kept coming back. I told him I would have charged more knowing the worse one was "selling a marriage". The better one that went away smoothly was like "selling a divorce". When you have a small business things like that always come into play. (Don't buy anything expensive from me!) If it works, great! It is not a lot of money when you look at the $30,000 you will spend over the next few years. You will find that getting the job done right is more important than the price. Good luck and don't scare the vendors into thinking they are going to marry you. Bernie

Was the total close to his estimate? Bernie

Someone did the deed and created the urban legend "factory" 4 speed car. I have mentioned before that my preference would be a Chevy close ratio 3 speed. I had some big block high torque 4 speed cars in the '60's and rarely used 1 st gear. Shhhhh, one was a 390 Ford convertible, another was a 406 Ford convertible, but we don't talk about the Fords much. Bernie

I cut my plastic channels into 4 inch sections and the spaced them out a reasonable distance to make up for the split areas. That worked fine. I did it in 1995 before PIA was a common term. The rear window is a PIA by any standard. As part of my upcoming interior job I am going to install another. This time I will remove the windshield for replacement and removal of the vinyl top. New tack strips will go in this time. And I will install the headliner with the windshield and rear window out of the car. The front was easy to make tight. The rear really needs the window out of the way. Be careful about marking the center line with chalk. even though you do the back side the material is thin enough so the line will show through. It takes about 15 years for the faint white line to go away on a black headliner. I bought roof rail weather strips from Metro rubber when I did that job. There were an extra 2 inches between the molded angle at the windshield and over the rear side window. When I called Metro some surly counter person told me my car had been in an accident and the roof rails, roof, and windows must have been all shortened equally on both sides. I had to cut a piece out of each side and shorten them. I will be throwing them out in favor of Steele replacements. No sense in a mere customer bothering the geniouses at Metro again. Bernie

Here's the picture: I like doing sneaky computer stuff. Bernie

Rivenge here is the beginning of this string: "I bought it in the spring of 1978. The previous owner had replaced the seats with '64 Impala buckets. One of our Buick Club members sold me a nice set of seats from a '65 Riviera Custom. They were dark green and we dyed them black. They still look good except for the stitching on the top of the driver's seat. I want the correct interior. It turns out that the '65 Custom seats have a different frame that the '64 Standard. So I had to buy a set of '64 seats to use with a Clark's interior." My car has had the '65 interior and a vinyl top ever since 1978. Believe me, every Riviera aficionado has brought the differences to my attention at every opportunity since I have owned it. It has been such a focal point to many that they overlooked many of the superior points of my car. Of course you can't see the new lower inner control arm bushings and I leave the special tool I machined to install them with in a drawer in the garage when I go places. Stuff like that just gets missed. I remember being at the Sandusky Nationals in 1981 parked next to a long faced owner who was very distraught about my non-authentic vinyl top and he seemed oblivious to the fact his car looked like Ray Charles had painted it. That stuff aside, I just thought there might be a president set by a previous re-upholstery job since the 2+2 styling of the seats makes them quite similar. I think I will get two sets of foam and adjust the rears as necessary. I have already decided to do the job myself. Bernie

The motivation for pulling the rear end and torque tube from my '60 came from an annoying little squeak at low speeds, like creeping into a cruise night. After 50 years inside the tube here is what I found: It was worth the effort to avoid that joint snapping off at 75 MPH somewhere (my speed buzzer is set for 85. Bernie

Two types of buyers bought new Rivieras. One had the have the newest most stylish car on the block the others were as conservative as the style. The first traded their car in about 2 years and they started spiraling downward through the hands of owners in sequence. Generally those were the primary colored cars. The second group kept those sea foam green and Sahara tan cars for 10 or 15 years. In 1971 I got out of the service and bought a 1968 Riviera for about $1600. I always liked the first generation but the older ones were getting pretty rough by that time and it was hard to find a good one. Up in this area they were stock cars for the bar hopping red neck crowd. That took its toll as well. The growing interest in collector cars affected the Riviera and the Studebaker Avanti more than any cars in history. Those two models had the greatest used car to collectible value cycle of any cars prior to them in history. I bought my '64 in the spring of 1978 just as values were returning. My car was the darling of a local used car dealer and I paid twice the going rate at the time; about $2,000. The car had been fully refurbished and no deferred maintenance was required. It had a fresh recoat of Sahara tan and had been well maintained. He sold it because he was redoing a '65 Cadillac convertible, another of the cars that escalated in the late '70's and early '80's. Most buyers of those conservatively kept Rivieras became long term keepers like myself. In the 1980's and 1990's resales were not common, the cars were undervalued, and not transferred often. Around 2000 the auctions, media, and internet brought a lot of first gen's out into the light. Many had a lot of wear and a lot of deferred maintenance. The cars that had been stashed away and not used much needed work. Those started changing hands to those with rose colored glasses. At 40 years of age even Buicks need a lot so dream cars needing engine and transmission rebuilds or expensive interior redo's ended up doing the flip shuffles. Strained budgets and unhappy spouses either put the cars into longer storage or on the market. Those who invested in repairs found they had keepers because they couldn't get their money back. Today there appear to be real nice ones and real needy ones. A good shopper might find a "fire sale". A money pit would be more likely. Basically the dynamics of the car hobby have created a situation where I wouldn't want to buy one today. I have a sickness that makes me buy cars, ones "I" like. Last year faced with the gnawing pains to have another car I did the same thing I did when I bought the Riviera. I bought a real nice 15 year old car in good shape that had a little "Wow" factor. It is a black '94 Impala SS. I paid $9,000 for it and put $1,000 worth of tires on it. I bet that is real close to the out of pocket value of the Riviera in '78. This is an adaptable hobby. Learn to adapt and you will always be happy. In 1984 I was walking around a second rate used car lot in the Quad Cities in Iowa. I had owned old cars since I was 12 and always strove for the 100 point restoration. I had an epiphany while looking at a sharp black Mercury Marquis- I really like a well maintained, clean 15 year old car. Since that night my goal with every car I owned was to have it in that condition. The number one reason is that it is achievable for me. The restorations were not. I still dream about it and I have been looking at '40's Packards, big ones. But reality and adaptability are the keywords today. And I expect to be real happy I bought the Impala when it is 49 years old. Maybe someone can glean a thought or two from that. Bernie

I just noticed this post. There is a spring loaded vacuum switch in the carb base right under where the wires connect. It is probably suck. Just flip the carb over and spray some cleaner down into it. If you can reach into the vacuum opening with a prick or probe poke around some and jiggle it loose. After loosening it up put an ohm meter across the terminals to be sure the switch fails open. Bernie

I am sorry the hear the news. I really enjoyed talking with Terry. As I wrote in an earlier post, Terry was larger than life and that carries on. I am getting the book down off the shelf in Terry's honor, as well. Bernie

It is a quiet and gloomy, typical western New York day. The big excitement for the night is "After Hours at the Library", one of THE premier social events of the year. So I am just finishing some "work" work and got to wondering if anyone who has redone their interior had used or adapted Clark's bucket seat foam to the rear seats. I never did find out and I hope to scrawl off a bonus check for myself around tax time. Anyone reupholstered the rear seat? Thanks, Bernie

In 1963 I was about 14 years old and a subscriber to Car Life Magazine. I had been working at my Grandfather's Tire Shop & Used Car Lot since I was 11. My real introduction to the gearhead disease was in the summer of 1959 and my Aunt bought me my first Rod & Custom magazine, the September 1959 issue featuring coupes. I was well versed on cars. I remember riding my bicycle up to Traugott Buick in Brockport to see the new Riviera, still reeling from the introduction of the XK-E in '61 and the new Avanti. I brought the big Buick brochure home in my bicycle basket. The Rivieras were promoted in pastel and conservative colors. It was hard for me to tear my eyes away from the basic black Electra 4 door and look at the green, brown, and silver Rivieras. In May 1978 I bought my '64 Riviera. I went to my mother's house and picked up the brochure I had brought home 15 years before. I am pretty sure I contemplated the convertible conversion within the first few hours of ownership. I think it was 2009 when I modified the exhaust and made it a little rumbly. So 31 years before that first change. I guess I would recommend the same conservative approach to modifications for any one else contemplating a change. And I did mention a second body to play with. Here's the real anal part, the spare factory exhaust in case I was premature with those Hushpowers. Bernie

I've never seen the sense in cutting off a top and then welding it back on again. Leaving it off is my style and I have looked closely at how similar in size the '64-'65 Skylark convertible tops are. Actually I have thought of converting a second body. If I like it I swap. Bernie

Hi, Dale, I had a double bypass. Going in I thought of a close friend who had been through it and it gave me a lot of confidence. I was braced for a lot of pain the second week and never felt a bit. I am walking about 3 miles a day now and hovering around 203-204 pounds from about 250, maybe 255. The only real problem is catching hell from my accountant. She doesn't understand how much business you drum up at three trade organization meetings a month; all buffets at generous places. Good luck, Bernie- in the 34 waist Goldschmied jeans and the 16.5 Prada shirt (added a new hobby)

I have had my wall art up behind the car for a while:

I remember that from 1995: Planning more this year. Some jobs never get done. Bernie

I hadn't seen this string come up when it started, interesting to see it now. No compression reading? Around 1960 it was impressed on me that Step 1 in a Tune-Up is the compression test. You gotta do it. Now, since 1960 I spent four years in the Navy and visited every bar in every port of call, last year I had a stroke, then a couple of seizures as is sometimes the case, all brain damaging stuff. Guess what, I still know you gotta do a compression test before you try to tune a car. If you still don't want to do the test you can take off the valve covers and rocker arms. Then put your finger on top of the valve stem and feel it wiggle around. Our Buick s are tough on valve guides. That play you feel with your finger causes inconsistency in where the valve seats. Pretty soon the nice sharp seat edge spreads and loses its concentric seal (leaking by). That gives the low vacuum and MAP fluctuations. You might find one or two that are worse than the rest. The head has to come off and the big issue is how to fix it. You have obvious wear on a couple of valves. Your engine has general wear in the cylinder bores, rings, and rod bearings. If you get all 16 valves redone with tight guides, tight seats, and good solid compression there is a real chance that the top end will be lots tighter than the bottom end. I am sure some of you have seen the "puffers" that result from a top end overhaul. The blow by of the rings can't handle the new raised compression. You usually see the blue smoke under the car coming from the road draft tube. On my cars I have fixed the real bad ones and just asked the shop to do a hand lap on the rest. That way I can bide my time and maybe even avoid a full rebuild. Probably not the answer desired, although for the cost of a set of valve cover gaskets one or both of you is going to go "Wow!" when you wiggle that valve stem. Good luck. Bernie

It gets worse:

We don't have palm trees here, but then they don't contrast with the car the way a nice fresh dusting of white snow will.

Richard at Prosource Glass International seems like a good supplier. I was going to buy a new LOF windshield for my '64 from him last February before my health stuff started; still on my list. Bernie

It is interesting for me, at this point in my life, to imagine how much someone would have to pay me to own a real nice Riviera for 30 years and essentially not drive it; certainly nothing I would be envious of. Let's imagine meeting Bill Mitchell at the Pearly Gates. He spots a couple of first generation owners right off the bat. I tell him about buying my car in 1978 when it was 15 years old and the places I took it (I was 30.) And then how around 1990 I snaked the frame out from under it and rebuilt all the mechanical stuff so I could try to wear it out again. Then the other guy says he still shows 66,000 miles and the car is 48 years old. Bill says "You mean you owned my creation that long and never even drove it?" So Bill and I start walking off together and I'm telling him he could have built a little more elbow room in the '64 to make it more comfortable to drive like the '66 and he looks down at my shoes and says he knows where I can get a nice white pair. maybe a pink shirt, too. And we are laughing when I tell him about knocking that damned R gunsight off the hood with my snowbrush one day. I had it heli-arched and it is still on the car as a reminder. Must be me, Bernie Oh! To my point, that would be like having someone give you $2,000 a year for 30 years not to drive your nice Riviera........... Nope.

I made one for my '64 when I had it apart in the mid '90's. I cut and trimmed a 1/16" rubber sheet across the whole firewall. Then I cut a piece of foam carpet underlay that was about 1/2" thick over the first layer. I sandwiched that with a final layer of the 1/16" rubber. Although it is not original it has a nice smooth black finish and the two layers of rubber really soak up the sound. I have used the combination of deadener ans sheer rubber on the inside of doors. One I really remember is a black '69 Cougar that I gave the full treatment to. You would swear you were closing the door on a Bentley. Bernie

I am looking up at my two copies of Buick History now and remembering Terry's visit to the Finger Lakes Chapter. It was only for a couple of hours and a really great time was had by all. We are so lucky Terry had the opportunity to put so much in print. He is bigger than life. Bernie