Jim Cannon

Todd- Based on the Fisher Body number you give (FB19995) I would predict that your car was built in the first week of February, 1963. You can confirm this by looking at the data plate above the brake booster once again and look for a 2-digit number followed by a single letter. February=02 and the first week is the letter A. So see if you have a 02A in the upper left corner of the plate. This looks to be a really good deal for you. The most common place for this generation to rust out is at the lower corners of the back window. You remove the stainless trim and check it out. Water stands down in those corners and rusts it out. Then water goes into the trunk and rusts out the pan down there. To remove trim around window glass, you need a flat blade that has a notch formed on the end. Slip it behind the clip and rock it to release the clip. See factory shop manual for Body. Jim

I agree with Dick. Perhaps pour a little Marvel Mystery Oil in the gas tank to lube the valve stem while you drive.

I agree. Check your gauge accuracy. Flex fan won't do anything for you that factory fan can't do. Scum build up in block is possible. Do a compression check on hot engine. Straight 8 had head warp issues, leaking head gasket. (I had a '50 Special, blew head gasket.) Keep us posted.

Thanks, Gene. Very helpful. I did not think to look in Wikipedia. The earliest production date code I have ever seen was a 09B (second week of September 1962) I have actually seen 2 of them, one was body number FB958 and the other was FB1065. Not sure how long it would take to build those first 1,000 cars. With it being the first year of a totally new model, I'm sure they ran the line slowly at first until everyone learned their jobs. If anyone has an earlier production date code and body number for a '63 Riv, please contact me directly. Thanks!

John- If it really bothers you, you can disconnect the vapor return line on your Riviera. That is where the noise comes from. Instead of using a fuel filter with the 3rd nipple, get one that is for a non-A/C car. Plug off the end of the unused vapor return line, don't just leave it open.

John- If it really bothers you, you can disconnect the vapor return line on your Riviera. That is where the noise comes from. Instead of using a fuel filter with the 3rd nipple, get one that is for a non-A/C car. Plug off the end of the unused vapor return line, don't just leave it open.

Use any '67 full size Buick master cylinder. The only way to answer the hole depth question with any certainty is to remove your old master cylinder and see which you have. The shallow hole is about 1/4" deep and the deep hole is about 1" deep, so there will be no doubt once you remove the old one. Your parts guys will ask you if you want the '67 Buick Bendix or Delco unit. My '63 Riv has the deep hole; I forget now but I think it was the Bendix unit in '67. YMMV. Just order in a new '67 master cylinder (for drum-drum car -- important!) and see what you get. Compare to original hole depth in store. If not correct, order the other one. Get from Inline Tube ( http://www.inlinetube.com ) a fitting to connect brake light switch for the '63 to the rear brake line. It's cool. You take the rear brake line off of the junction block and plug the port that is left open. Inline Tube sells the plug. Then you put in their T-fitting. It has female tube connections at each end; one for the line running to the rear wheels and the other one for the tube you run up to one port of the new master cylinder. Then screw the brake switch into the T and you are done there. The brake light switch is 1/8" pipe fitting. All the rest are various sizes of 45 deg. double flare fittings. You will have enough wire on the brake light switch harness to go down to the vicinity of the fitting you just added. Fasten the new T-fitting to the existing junction block somehow, to keep the lines from vibrating. No proportioning valve used with drum-drum. You must prime new master cylinder on the bench before installing in car. When installing, connect rear wheels to rear port on master cylinder, and front to front. (Important!) When you install the new master cylinder, you must put on a new seal where it slips into the booster housing. Look at the old master cylinder. There is a groove that a rubber ring sits in. Without this seal, no vacuum in booster and no power brakes (common error). Buy a new one or carefully move your old one over to the new MC. E-mail me off list with questions.

Does anyone know what the production start date was for the '63 Riviera? Do we have a month, and perhaps a week? What is the earliest '63 Riv you have ever seen and what was the body number and build date code on the data plate?

Any chance of any oil or grease contamination on the brake lining of just one wheel? I had a '41 Chrysler that would occasionally bleed a little wheel bearing grease on one front wheel and that wheel would really chatter when braking. Locked up sometimes. New grease seal on the front wheels fixed it. A little oil could have run down on one brake shoe over the winter on your car...

Down here in Texas, I am looking for a floor duct air conditioner! I've got plenty of heat already... <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Jim '29 Phaeton

I drove a beautiful black 1950 Special 2-door "fastback" for many years, all through high school and some of college. Great car, with the straight-8 and Dynaflow. I learned early that stepping down really hard on the gas did not get you going any faster with this transmission. You need to find the sweet spot and then slowly open the throttle from there as the road speed increases. It is not a good idea to shift the Dynaflow into Low to accelerate faster and then push it up into Drive when the engine is screaming and you are really moving. At the higher engine RPM in Low you will build up quite a lot of pump pressure and when you shift it up to Drive, you will blow seals internally. Maybe not the first time you do it, but eventually you will. These transmissions were designed to be left in Drive all the time, not to be shifted under load like that. To use Low to climb a steep ramp is OK, but do not up-shift on the fly, under load, at high RPM. That's when bad things happen. I still have the Dynaflow in my '63 Riviera (although a later, more improved version).

Well... Start with CARS: http://www.buick-parts.com/ You also have: http://www.classicbuicks.com/index.htm For fasteners: http://www.restorationspecialties.com/ http://www.mrgusa.com/ http://www.restorationstuff.com/ Then you have other parts from: http://www.inlinetube.com/ http://www.classictube.com/ http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/main Good luck with the car!

R-12 is not really that hard to find, if you take some time to look for it. And not that expensive any more because the demand is WAY down from when the R-134a first came out. There are few cars on the road today that need/want R-12, so the demand is just not there. I can buy all I want for about $8-10 a pound. Full charge uses about 4 pounds. Not too bad. R-12 really does cool better than the R-134a on my car ('63 Riviera). That has not been the case for other guys with other cars; they say the new stuff works OK for them.

Low manifold vacuum results in late shifting, not early. The transmission senses that you are stepping on the throttle really hard, resulting in low vacuum, so it delays shifting. You have the wrong modulator, or if you put in an adjustable one, it is not set correctly.

I had an all-'50 Buick Special (2 door). It had black exterior and 2-tone gray instrument panel. HTH.

Bill- Did you ever get that manifold off? Jim Cannon Spring, TX '63 Riv

Beautiful, John! Thanks for taking the time to post them all. Brought back memories. I used to have a '50 2-dr fastback, in original black lacquer. Loved that car! Jim