60FlatTop

Send the pictures to me at bernie@godailyops.com. I will put them in a folder online and slap the up like a shot of whiskey. Bernie

Last summer, shortly after tuning my "60 Buick up, the wire fell out of the end of the condenser; just more cheap junk delivered by ship. Condenser problems can be heat related as well. Pick up an old stock one on Ebay or from an old distributor and change yours our if it is fairly new. Bernie

No documentation, though the ones on my '64 Riviera are 7.10X15 from Coker. They are about 1 1/4". They are biased tires with the correct aspect ratio and diameter so the car sits right and the tires do not rub on the inner fenders on turns. All my suspension is in top condition so I have to imitate all the things the experts say are wrong with biased tires. Bernie

This old car hobby is very adaptable. And the initial cost of a car has always been "the entry fee" in my mind. Everything you do after carries a relatively high price tag, just like the car you drive to work or more. Remember, a lot of people can't afford one car. Having two or more makes you rich in some circles. "I want a classy car that I can ride around in with my wifie and also tinker on it in the garage on weekends." It is not classy to walk home and tinker may not be the term for a $2,000 transmission or $600 radiator. If the "tinker" funding comes from a joint account with wifie.... it ain't gonna be fun. Over the years I have observed that a large number of happy old car owners bought their cars for about the equivalent of $3,000 when the car was somewhere between 15 and 30 years old. You might make out better if you search for a nice 1980's or early '90's full framed V8 car in nice condition with an attractive color combination. Shined and looking good you will achieve your goal without nightmare. Those cars are rapidly becoming the exception on road and a car with "eyes" is always a head turner. Bernie

Just take a picture of the engine. Ummmmm, it is worth about a thousand words. Bernie

I would believe the leak to be in the internal passages of the core rather than on the surface. And for thin rolled copper that is 60 years old there is a good bet it is due for a recore. My '60 was only 45 years old when I had to recore the radiator. Bernie

Learned it from my Dad. Jamokes/Gemokes, he brought it home from WWII and used it to describe the other kids who led me astray. Bernie

Ever notice how hard it is to read when these gemokes use all capitals? I knew it must be something real special. Bernie

I will swear I was joking if my wife gets wind of this post. Bernie

I am in week 13 after a double bypass. That is the ONLY reason I am not coming. My wife and I had planned to drive down from New York a week ahead to leave the car. We were going to fly back and then I was flying down the week of the show alone. That gave her a nice trip without 2 or 3 days of being totally bored and roasted to the pavement. Then I would drive back. Buicks and old guy problems seem to go hand in hand. And if you get to be "Buick Club age" you should do everything possible to minimize the kid's inheritance. Next year I will be good to go. On the inheritance thing, I plan to double the footprint of my garage, buy a 1920's or '30's large model Buick, and probably a RR Silver Spur over the next few years. See you next year, 50 pounds lighter and spending the money the kids thought they'd get. Bernie

I was interested but the registration kept defaulting to my wife's Facebook account and the UNDO feature didn't work. Bernie

In my recent case the gasket kit had the wrong gasket supplied. We had to take the timing chain cover off and match both surfaces to find the problem. It wasn't obvious then, either. We had to really look. Bernie When its right you know it!

You called it you "new" 63 Riv. If you just got it how can you leave it sit for 8 whole hours!? Bernie

Over the years I have accumulated piles of sooty 44's. I always use 45's or R45's. They burn nice and clean for the type of usage our cars get. Bernie

We just had a low oil pressure problem with the freshly rebuilt 3.8 in my convert. Turned out to be the wrong timing cover gasket. The oil passage hole was blocked. Bernie

I would thoroughly clean the and sort the parts. Then sell it to someone with rose colored glasses. Make a little profit and use the money to buy stuff you need for your current car. Be sure to sell it for enough money so the next owner won't have to worry about it being a parts car or not. Bernie

I agree. if it were mine it would be hunkered down a bit; maybe 16 or17" rims, too. The guys who made those custom bumper covers did a great job. It is some of the neat stuff on: Riviera Performance Talk about rare cars, we just went to lunch in a little town five miles away and this was sitting in front: My wife took a picture of the cynical old f*rt who owns it. My wife asked him if driving that convertible made him feel like he was 16 again. The grumpy answer was "Well, when I was 16 I had a newer Buick, a 1950 Special sedanet 2 dr. This one, the convert, is 25 years old. The '50 was only 15." You know, I keep my old Buicks for a long time. Some people keep old Buick owners for a long time..... Madness, simply madness. Bernie

I love those Maser-rats. You have to look real close at this car. I need it! Bernie

Right in there with the Roadmaster Interstate. Its a roller. Bernie

Of course, it's a New York kind of thing. Here's the yellow one at the 2011 Gathering. Bernie

I would buy a good aftermarket temperature gauge and install it to confirm the actual temperatures you are running. If you are running high and since you wrote the engine was rebuilt it would be best to check that some component or gasket is not partially blocking coolant flow. The head gasket may be wrong. The lower hose may be collapsing. A water pump passage might be blocked. I serviced a Hudson straight eight with similar symptoms and found that someone had fabricated a gasket for the distribution plate and forgot to cut out the center! Don't speculate and make it too hard. Bernie

Time goes by fast. I put all new hoses on my '64 around 1996. That was about 15 years ago. I guess I better put that on the list. Bernie

Get 12 nice, crisp one hundred dollar bills and take her to your local Dealership. Fan the bills out in your hand and tell the salesman you have CASH with a capital "C". He will surely show you a lot better car and prove she is right. Bernie

I have owned my '64 since 1978. I have also owned a 1966, 1968, and a 1995. All of the cars were in good shape, no projects. I liked the little extra elbow room in the '66 a lot. Today, a '64 with four exposed round headlights is a lot more dramatic than hidden headlights; even Honda's had them. Bernie

I just gotta put this one in too: