60FlatTop

Those small HP cars are good and reliable. There is only one way to purchase one. Join the Roll-Royce Owners Club PRIOR to your purchase. Use the experience of the club members to help deciding on the car you want. I am sure there is an RROC member who can quote the history of WMB35 with familiarity. The last thing you want to do is buy a Proper Motor Car, show up at a RROC club meeting, and hear someone say "Oh, you bought THAT car." Bernie

I have one myself, really cool, like Mark says. Here's how they look: Bernie

Hi John, I will take that shirt. I saw in one of the strings here that you use up a lot of electrons posting that you are not set up for Paypal. Send me your address and I'll be happy to mail the payment. Bernie

Sorry, guys, you gotta look closer. '54 on the ford center bullet. Bernie

That's a 1958 Chevy grille with a '53 or '54 Ford bullet. Bernie

I finally got around to making the tips of mine pretty. Bernie

You are the verge of committing to a marriage or making friends with the old gal to see if you really like her. Do the basic safety and reliability things first. The are a lot of points of ownership that you need to experience. First off would be "feeding". That car probably gets 12 to 15 MPG. I like to top my cars off every Sunday in the summer. That can be 50, 60, maybe 70 bucks. That car is not a nimble handler. If you are used to newer cars it could be a tedious handful, not that it isn't a nice driver, just different. Here's a bad one. Can you really afford to maintain two cars? Two wives would be OK if they had good jobs. Two cars will constantly demand a flow of time and money. Always try to keep the car in its most salable condition. You never know when you may have to make a "fire sale". On the patching, a re-patch with some fiber glass and touch up will last 2 to 3 years used sparingly as a hobby car. Do that and live with the car until it needs the restoration style repair. Then ask yourself if you like the car enough to pull the trigger. Remember most of the people who see your car will be 50 feet away and you will be moving. Bernie

I have been going through my collection of everything and have some old stock Buford's Engine Paint I plan to list on Ebay. I opened one of the Buick Green quarts and stirred it real good. This may be the blue-green to make some happy. This paint is from my grandfathers garage where I worked from 1961-1967 and a short time in the '70's. This paint is from the 1960's, check out the can and the stacked headlights. It has been on a shelf in my garage for close to 30 years. It seems fine and the other quarts are still sealed. I would list it on Ebay for $20 + $8 for shipping. It is a seventh color for Cubelodyte.

I would put a new set of spark plug wires on the car first. Bernie

Hi John, I had fiddled with the top during the summer and made friends with it. the boot is even easy to get on. I thought it was a one of a kind until three days ago when a red one showed up in Ontario. I gotta settle for one in the US. I figured it represented a future collectible because of the fuel mileage. A few years ago I went to a Buffalo Cadillac meet and a guy was there with a V-12 from about 50 miles away. I bet he paid around $75 -$100 for gas just to bring his car to the show. Here's my dilemma dujour. I am planning to attend the Buick Nationals this year. I can take the '60 Electra or the '86 Park Ave. The '86 left the dealership new with the conversion complete. Will the car be in class N ('67-2000 B,C, H bodies)? Or MOD? Bernie

My nephew delivered the Park Ave on Thanks Giving Day. It seemed like the car had been gone for a year. There was enough sunshine for driving on Friday. Warm and cloudy today so I ran it through town, testing and doing a shake down cruise. I am pretty happy with the results. I have more detailing to do, just fussy little things. Here's how she looks in the back yard:

I remember when the last generation Riviera was introduced. The new body Eldorado had been introduced in 1992. I liked the Eldo a lot. I envisioned the new Riviera as a similar car with a Buick style waterfall grille. The sail panels and the chunky body would have given a familiar "solid" Buick look. I had two black Jaguar XJS coupes which had a similar shape and always kind of thought of them as UK Buicks by their shape and feel. I was pretty disappointed with the Riviera in 1995. They grow on you but Buick just made too many other desirable cars in the last 100 years. There are better choices. Which one of these makes the juices flow?

That's a shame. "Due to less than ideal storage" should be replaced by "Inept board of directors". The first thing that came to mind was my idea of donating my modest, but large, personal collection of automotive books to our local library. It seemed like a good idea to share the Knowledge and expose them to young people. Until I found that most would be "weeded" and put into the annual 25 cent Book Sale. I'm sure Harry Gilbert, the original donor, would be quite unhappy. Bernie

I like that series. They drive great. I had one last year and gave it to my son. Rust and age are the big problems. The subframe mounts, bolts, and rubber mounts are mostly in need of attention by now. Electronic parts and plastic stuff can be a real PIA. I would consider them a "commodity" type car; buy one and enjoy it while you use it up. They will be hell to keep for 30 years. Bernie

You probably got offered a 364. Check the code stamped into the block just ahead of the valley cover. I heard there was one guy in Tennessee who stretched the facts a bit. You might have found him. Bernie

Here is what made my color decision. In 1977 my wife and I went to the Auburn Museum for the first time. (Been back a lot, my favorite place on the planet.) They had the revival 1966 Duesenberg on display. In 1978 I bought the '64 Riviera with the Duesy etched in my mind. Check out the pics and you can see why: 1966 Duesenberg Prototype Bernie

I got a swatch from SMS as a sample for my car too. I am replacing the '64 top with it. Bernie

If this car came into my garage I would do a visual check first and go through all the steps discussed here to create the locking problem for myself. Once satisfied and in agreement, I would replace the brake line leading from the with a short piece of capped line. The master cylinder should pump and relieve "standing alone". If it doesn't, at this point, I would toss it and put in a replacement. It has been monkeyed with enough. If I could not get past the master cylinder pumping up alone I would focus on the linkage. If the master cylinder works initially I would cap off the brake lines to all but the left front wheel. If it pumps up with only the master cylinder and one wheel, I would thoroughly check the wheel assembly. Working my way around the system using caps to isolate the hydraulics should resolve the problem even if you have to do a little light driveway driving with one wheel braking. Bernie

I posted that ad here feeling a little empathy about the situations which can take our cars away. It was an ad, but contemplating all the things around such an incident are pretty sobering. In the 1990's I had a customer's car at a dealership paint shop when the feds showed up with chains and padlocks. My friend, the body shop manager, scrambled and got the car off the premises. It could have been really bad, the owner of the car was a lawyer! I'm glad I shared and you got the parts, Pete. Bernie

Raul, Mine is really not correct. It's a '64. The top was on the car when I bought it in 1978. I will be replacing it this winter. I like it. when I bought the car one of the older guys I worked with had owned a new Riviera. He came out into the parking lot and looked at mine. He said "Jee, mine didn't have the nice vinyl top." In the 30+ years I have owned it, the best thing is that every Riviera "aficionado" spots it as being wrong right away so we get that fault finding thing out of the way quick. They walk off with their thumbs stretching their suspenders, pompous and proud having corrected me on the fault. Most never even notice the '65 custom interior.

Here is a heart breaker I came across on Team Buick: 1949 Buick Roadmaster 2dr - Team Buick Classifieds And I feel bad when they don't do the work right. Bernie

The Electra hood pivots forward so it will be hard to get open at speed. I think a properly maintained cooling, electrical, or lubrication system is more reliable than a single monitoring gauge. Especially on older cars where the gauge may have a capillary tube or geared clockwork mechanisms; the old start the car and tap the gauge type. And I do not eliminate the factory gauge. I Tee off so it keeps its idiot gauge value. So my purpose is to enhance the monitoring while I make a weekly visit under the hood. I am looking for subtle changes or just reassurance they things are OK. In the 1990's I serviced a 1942 Caddy for a while. The owner said the temperature gauge had not worked since 1964. He had an old stock one that had been in the glove box for years. He was very concerned about that gauge and wanted it installed. After installing it turned out to be broken as well. However, every hose on the car was checked and rotted. I replaced all including the heater hoses. I replaced the radiator cap. We checked the system and put new anti-freeze in it. The fan belt was nearly in threads. When finished I had confidence in the cooling system, much more than in the gauge. I remember that he told me the car leaked gas when he filled it. The gas fill hose had no rubber on it. Only the cloth was left. I prefer to check the supplemental gauges at home with the hood open. As I wrote, I may take them off when I am confidence the newly rebuilt engine is OK. It was professionally rebuilt, like the Lincoln mentioned. In 50 years in the hobby I have learned that the more professional the service the more suspect I should be of the outcome. Bernie

I imagine some reading this thread will be planning and engine rebuild and looking for tips. I just had a new engine and transmission installed in my '86 Park Avenue convert. We had low oil pressure on the first start (8 PSI) and tracked it down to an incorrect timing cover gasket. We now run just under 50 PSI. Since all the components of the engine have been "tampered" with We installed a gauge set in the engine compartment. It has oil, water temp, and volts. I plan to check it frequently when the car goes into service. I may or may not leave them there. I also have a water temperature gauge under the hood of my '64 Riviera. I don't like the look of gauges under the dash and I open the hoods often enough to make this application practical. Any refresh rebuild should have gauges installed for early checks. Bernie

Those brakes could be full of mud. Take a wheel and drum off so you can carefully peel back the edge of the wheel cylinder rubber cover. Look in there for brownish mud. Brake fluid has an affinity for water and is lighter so it will accumulate on the bottom of lines. A good test is to gently grip the sides of a brake line with vice grips. Just apply a little pressure on them. The lines rusted on the inside will crack open like a lobster tail. Bernie

Just a matter of my taste, I have been running a 401 air cleaner on my '64 425 for the whole 33 years I have owned it. I got the correct one but it covered up that good looking nailhead too much. Bernie