Jim Cannon

I have seen reference to Natalie Wood having a 1963 Riviera, but I don't have any pictures of it or of her with the car. The car itself is supposed to be up in the Volo Auto Museum, but I could not find a picture of it on their web page.

My advice is to get another used AFB for a '63 and have it rebuilt by someone who really knows these carbs. That will perform better than any aftermarket "one size fits all" carb you can buy. If choke is sticking, replace the bad choke pieces. If rich, check the jet sizes. Also check the little pistons that pull down the rods into the jets (power jets, I think) and the springs that pull them up, for wear. Are you sure your carb has the '63 number stamped into the base? Do you have stock cam? The new Edelbrock is essentially an AFB body but the air filter horn on the top is not the same size as on the stock AFB, so your stock air filter will not work without modification. IDK anything about Holley.

Yes, all 1st gen Rivs has a stainless trim around each wheel opening. I was not sure if the "fake vent" that you wanted to remove was on the side of the car or up in front of the windscreen, behind the bonnet. The ones on the side just pry straight out. There are flat pins that go into sockets on the body. The trim is just weak potmetal. You need to pry gently right up next to the pin and work each pin out a little bit at a time. They will have years of corrosion on them, locking them in.

Look in the factory Body Shop Manual. There is not a lot of info in there, but it is better than nothing.

Get one off of a parts car. They don't wear out, so there is no need for a new one. I do not know if they are different for cars with or without A/C. I recommend you tell the parts guys which you have to ensure a correct fit.

Welcome aboard, Austin! Contact me any time with questions about your '63 Riv. I can help you with the carb problem and with the turn signal problem. These are great cars. when it is running irght, my Riv never fails to put a grin on my face every time I step on it. And, yes, i would like a photo (up close) of your data plate above the brake booster. I can tell you a lot about your car from it. I can already tell you have a later model car because you have the spare up on the shelf.

All rims are painted the same, on the ground or spare in the trunk: black in the outside where the lug nuts go on and gray on the back side.

Check fuse. Will the fan work on High speed? If so, but not on other speeds, check resistor block under hood. Try connecting 12 volts directly to the fan to rule out motor. Use volt meter at resistor block to see if power is making it out to that point. If not, check fan switch. Jim

Hi, Glenn! You should get one of the little spray heads from a parts car. To get to the wiper linkage you need to remove the whole cowl. Do not try to remove the air intake grills until you have the cowl piece off of the car. After the cowl, the metal mesh screens also come off. Then you reach down through the openings to get at the linkages. Hope this helps.

Do you find the shop manual pictures not enough? New turn signal cable very hard to find. The best you can hope for is a good used one. Some guys have had a new one made up by a motorcycle shop. I don't know any of the details. Whatever way you go, remove the little tension spring from the switch. You don't need it.

Ed, I think you are talking about Shop Manuals and the OP is talking about Owners Manual (in the glove box). They are hard to find, and I don't know of anyone reproducing them.

It has been a number of years, but yes, I think this is what I used. Perhaps you need to look at other things, like booster. Is it getting full vacuum? Are there any vacuum leaks? If you don't have full boost, this heavy car will be hard to stop.

The steel tube on my '63 has some kind of woven insulation tube slipped on it (see photo). This helps keep the air going to the choke hot on it's way up there, and helps protect other things from the hot steel tube (like vacuum hoses, spark plug wires, and mechanic's fingers). If you do not have this insulation, the Buick parts vendors sell one that you can slip over your tube (from the manifold end, when it is off of the car). On my '63, a second steel pipe runs down to the lower port. It comes part way up toward the carb and then the rubber hose connects to it and goes the rest of the way up to the brass port on the carb horn that Ed mentioned. I do not know about later years. See second photo (of a '63). They did not use rubber hose next to the exhaust manifold.

Did NAPA offer you several different quality levels of shoes? I have found the cheaper shoes to have softer lining. They don't last as long but they grip the drum better. The higher end products last longer but are quite hard. Check around and see if there are any truck brake places near you that can reline your old shoes. They can help you select a soft lining. I used Wagner shoes the last time I did my brakes and they seem to work well.

Did you have the arc of the shoe lining ground to match the inside diameter of the drums?

you probably don't need one if you do not have A/C.

Remember guys, there is a Tail Lights fuse, separate from Brake Lights. No fuse on Head Lights. Keep it simple.

I hate to be the one with the bad news all the time, but I know these cars well and I know their design weaknesses. Your best bet would be to try to find a good used signal actuator cable from someone with a parts car. New cables are impossible to find. Some guys have made new cables by working with their local motorcycle shop, using materials normally used for throttle cables. I have not done that and do not know what is involved. The instructions for opening up the top of the steering column to get to the turn signal mechanism are in the shop manual.

Check the fuse first. Then pull the wires off of the brake light switch and short between the terminals with a paper clip. If the lights come on, you have a bad brake light switch (sold new by NAPA). But if they don't come on with that, you have another problem.

I agree with Ed. Either make this original carb work or get a different (used) AFB carb with the same (correct) carb number stamped in the base.

Yes, all tilt column switches are the same, different from non-tilt column switches. I am not aware of an early and a late '63 switch for tilt. There was a change to the wiring harness on these cars in mid model year, but not the switch itself that I know of. There was an early and late actuator cable. I do not have access to my '63 Buick Master Parts Book right now (on the road on business). If you can wait until Thursday p.m. I can confirm the part number(s) listed there for you for turn signal switch. Or perhaps Ed can look it up for us on the CD that he has of the '63 Master Parts Book.

Yea, what he said. Or a bad ground. Clean all grounds or run extra dedicated ground wire from each tail light / stop light housing to the body.

No, Marty is correct. Since you HAVE the fuel filter with the return line, you MIGHT be experiencing the famous "Rivera Rattle" due to the return fuel line. Remove the smaller line from the filter and plug it (cap it) so fuel does not leak out. Drive it and see if the sound is still there. On my car the Riviera Rattle sounds like a knock or a rap on acceleration from a stop.

I add a stripe to my vacuum hose with paint pens I picked up at a hobby store. I forget how many colors are called for in '64, but they have all basic colors (red, white, blue, green, yellow). Easy to add a stripe to the hose before you cut it and put it on the car. Stripe up only roughly what you need, instead of buying feet of it. Really helps tracing out the vacuum hoses.

Hi, Colin- No, not the track bar bushings making that noise. Sounds like it is the upper link bar. (The one with the bolts and all the holes that I told you not to touch.) It takes strain every time you accelerate and the bushings get loose. I would recommend you confirm this directly on the bushings, though, before the time and expense of replacing them. But it could be other things that I can not diagnose from afar. Send me the ticket to fly from IAH to Italy and I will figure it out.