68RIVGS

My weather stripping came from Cars quite a while back, and the fit and quality was excellent, with a minimum of fit 'n fiddle to install it. I used some adhesive for the front roof rail portion, and just the upper ends of the door seals. The plastic retainers on the repro door seal matched exactly as the original. I also used some strip calking behind the metal portions of the roof rail retainers, and A pillars as they had been removed for a colour change repaint.

It is definitely an early '68 Pat - judging by those door pull handles, as well as the dash panel. On 2nd generation Riviera the '68-'69 grills were interchangeable, as were '68, '69 and '70 hoods. It is quite common to find '68s with parts borrowed from a '69 Riviera, or vice versa.

I see Alberta plates on the car - are you located in wild rose country ? You picked a good source for info on your '63 - lots of experienced help and good advice available here !! . . . good luck, and enjoy your classic Riviera.

. . . not too radical, the kind of 'custom' you can appreciate. TFP !

Thanks for posting Rocket 88 - I've have always wondered what was needed to perform a Scarebird Riviera conversion from drums to disc brakes. Looks like a relatively easy job for a DIY'r !

The next thing you should purchase for your '63 Riviera is a '63 Shop Manual, and a '63 Fisher Body Manual. They are available in printed hard copy or CD format, and will have answers to questions you haven't asked yet. Definitely a good investment for any classic automobile owner!

Working fine now Jason - thanks for posting the link to 'Smiling Al' !

... check the link to the video Jason, it didn't work 4 me ?

It most likely will appear in the next Riview Dick.

Looks like a good turnout Jason, with some great weather and pretty fine examples of the Buick Riviera. Thanks for posting some great pictures for the members who could not attend! Like they say - "It's not the cars, it's the people !!

If you have access to a '68, or '69 Chassis Manual, there is some info on how the front roof rail weather strip is butted to the rear portion. The rear roof rail piece is only held in place with sheet metal screws inside the upper channel portion, and are fairly easy to remove, after all the trim pieces are off the car.

The '68 rear roof rail is identical, and just as hard to replace, as it's two piece also. As Jason advised, if yours are not that bad,, it might be best to consider refurbishing the old ones, and butt joint new front pieces to them. They usually don't require replacement.

There are no reproductions made for the Star War air cleaner base, and it is specific to that air cleaner. There are also two versions of that original base - a CA emissions base, and non-CA base. However, the good news is that a base off another model, same year air cleaner can be modified to fit the SW air cleaner. The base off any '67 full size car ( Electra, or Wildcat) with a HD air cleaner can be altered to fit. If you look at the base you will see it has a two piece spot welded insert. Remove this insert by cutting it out, and use it on the SW unit. It is identical to the SW base, other than the edge isn't rolled for the seal channel. This info was originally posted on v8buick. For whatever reasons, a lot of SW air cleaners are missing bases. The original hold down knob is another item that is sometimes m.i.a. !

Great video, thanks for posting !!

Great pics Winston, and a good turnout of Rivieras !! Noticed that Teal Blue '68 with the white bucket interior, and Missouri plate, has vinyl top trim without the vinyl.

I have a lifetime membership in the 'P' club, but I have also found that you usually get better results when you perform under pressure !! Self inflicted, or otherwise - this post needs pics.

Just going by my '68 Tom, and those are 2nd gen. factory shoulder belts. In '68, and maybe '67, they had special clips along the inner roof rail molding to keep them tucked up, out of the way, when not in use. The headliner was black with a black interior car. Not sure if that particular color was Riviera exclusive, but it was a '67 Buick color. I remember almost buying a '67 Wildcat with this color - . . . shoulda, woulda, coulda !!

. . . can you say 'Parts Car' ?

A very nice, original, example of a '67 Riviera - a shame the 'A' pillar is rusted out ! A lot of 2nd generation Rivs suffer from the same affliction to varying degrees - especially vinyl top cars. Moisture gets trapped inside the bare steel 'A' pillar, and has no where to go. A simple drain hole outlet in the bottom of the pillar, from the factory, could have reduced potential rust problems in this area ! Not too crazy about that Nascar style exhaust either?

Paint Code WW, and NO vinyl top ! Silver Beige Mist (Code W) is a '68 Riviera exclusive color, as were Midnight Teal Blue Metalic - Code B, Olive Gold Metalic (S), Buckskin (X), and Inca Silver Mist (Z). There is a Scarlet Red, Code R, which was a '68 Buick color, and is a pretty close match for your existing car color. A different choice of color for a repaint can get very expensive, as the entire exposed painted areas should be redone too match, as your Riviera was.

If you replace the existing partial top with a full vinyl top you will need the proper rear window insert, along with the stainless trim for the insert, and the rear quarter sail panels. The front window trim and glass should be removed, and resealed if it's original, and you should also re:&re: the rear glass too make sure the window channels are not rusted out or leaking, as we all know what water can do to metal. The front 'A' pillars are also covered in matching vinyl. If your considering a total exterior repaint, simply remove the partial top, and add a full vinyl top later on, or you might also consider a painted top that will simulate a full vinyl top without the hassel that goes along with installing and maintaining vinyl, or just repaint the top after you remove the existing top ? Whatever you decide, it will not be a simple easy fix !

Amazing how a little time, effort and TLC can improve the visual appearance of the engine bay - nice job rocky !! What happened to your windshield washer reservoir - it's missing in the 'after' shot ??

. . . I'm always here Ed ! Definitely an 'after market' custom vinyl top addition - most likely added by a previous owner. That 'factory looking' chrome trim ( . . . plastic? ) is also added, and does not match the 'factory' stainless trim that would have been found with an original '68 Riviera full vinyl top option. An original vinyl top car would also have die-cast pot-metal chrome 'R' emblems mounted on the rear roof sail panels. In any case YukonNate867, that 'custom' Landau vinyl top in your pictures will need replacing, or removal.

I used Krylon 'Dull Aluminum' #1403 - perfect match with original '68 plastic headlight bezels !

Sad news indeed for sure, he was a great asset to the ROA and I'm sure we will all miss #2 - RIP Jim !!