68RIVGS

Nice job on that air cleaner Tim, looks great !!

The '68 Riviera front edge hood trim and top fender trim is also identical Ken.

I purchased an NOS '66 set off 'evilBay' for my '68 Paul, thinking they would be look nice. Then about a year or two down the restoration road, I purchased a set of '68 door edge guards at a bargain price, and you could see the slight difference between the two years. The '66 guards had a different part number, and were about a 1/6" wider the '67-'70gards which are approx. 3/16". Hardly noticeable, but just enough to see a visual difference when compared side by each !!

These NOS Door Edge Guards are correct for '67-'70 Riviera (...Grp.10.352 #981232). The '66 Door Edge Guard has a different part number, and they are slightly wider than the '67-'70 design. No doubt these will fit the '66 doors, but they are not correct.

I repainted all the plastic interior trim - rear package shelf, seat trim, and backs, as my originals were pretty faded. The metal dash panel (upper & lower) was repainted with Krylon satin black. I found the best product for all the vinyl trim was 303 Protectant. For rubber components under the hood - a good scrubbing with soap 'n water followed up with a coating of Simonize tire spray foam, which renders a non-shiny rich black finish.

They did the same on 2nd gen too - but with black carpet door panels, the black screw heads are just about hidden in the carpet. Just a case of 'personal preference' Ed, not original, and definitely not 100% original !

BTDT x3 Pete !! Once those new panels are installed, no one will ever see those misaligned original holes. I certainly don't think they had the luxury of time on the assembly line, and as a result, complete perfection was sometimes 'unobtanium' !!

Pete - not sure what colour your door panel carpeting is, but I used black oxide screws on my '68, and the screw heads are barely visible against the black carpet on the lower portion of the door panels.

Those crimped, corroded terminals on that ground wire look like they might benefit from a good cleaning or replacement ? It's a lot easier to do when the wiring is exposed.

The lower door panel screws are usually placed just into the lower carpeted area on the panel - as Winston stated, and his photo shows. You can probably get a good indication from the existing screw holes in your doors.

As Jason has pointed out it can be done, as long as provision is made for the different hardware requirements. It was probably just an additional design feature for the convenience of rear seat passengers that allowed them to open the large Riviera hardtop doors. The rear handle feature was not available on 2nd generation '68 and subsequent Rivieras which no doubt, reduced the Buick Motor Division production costs.

What year of 2nd gen. are you doing Sam ? The '68 (...with hidden wipers), was relatively easy once the lower stainless windshield trim and cowl screen was removed. I'm pretty sure '69/'70 are the same.

I purchased the 'Door' kit with the molded ends from Cars Inc. quite a few years ago when it was first released, along with a set of second generation Riviera repro sill plates. Needless to say the fit was perfect right down to all the pre-inserted plastic clips, and was an easy install !

For '68, the LeSabre is 3 1/2" shorter from the firewall forward - the other models, Wildcat, Electra, and Riviera are 3 1/2" longer. Not sure of the distance from the transmission mount to the front radiator support, on any of the models, which would determine the length of the lines, but the Riviera does have a different frame than the Wildcat, or Electra I found out about the subtle difference the hard way Winston, after I purchased a complete '68 Lesabre parts car to replace a crumpled '68 Wildcat front fender - it was just like Cinderella's slipper !!

What did Inline Tube say about the lines - same engine and transmission, they must be similar ? The only difference between a Riviera and the Wildcat, or Electra is the 'X' frame on the Riviera.

". . . an easy restoration !!"

They look to be calibration/adjusting gauges for rebuilding carburetors - the various measuring locations are stamped on the gauges. The car, carb and tool number is identified on the Kent-Moore tag.

A big TEXAS Welcome to the ROA Mike !! . . . and my Riview just arrived in time for St. Patrick's day !!

The Riview ( ...a bi-monthly publication of the Riviera Owners Association (ROA), is a part of the membership package. You need to be a member of the ROA to get the most recent copy of the magazine. Check out membership details here: www.rivowners.org

. . . y'all should live in the great white frozen north, it may get here before spring ?? Have to admit though, with bulk mailing, it's a lot better delivery time now, from USPS/Canada Post than in previous years !!

The part number is stamped on the dip stick, (...or 'rod - adapter, crankcase oil gauge'), as they refer to it in the parts book. For '67-'68 430 engine, the part number is 1373406 if that helps?

. . . 'evilBay' is another great source for part outs too Alexander !

There were actually two copper grounding straps running from each head to the firewall on 2nd generation 430 cars, but a single ground is better than none at all !

Lots of good parts on this one - bucket seats, a full console, and no AC, 'heater only' version. It's a shame to see a true GS end up like this !

Nice job Steve - great pictorial and an improvement over the original divider !