RivNut

I also do some classic bicycle restoration and those enthusiasts have a separate forum for ebay and craigslist listings. New things pop up everyday and there are lots of grateful folks who take advantage of these listing. Do you think that the Riviera Owners could support a sub-forum simiar to that of the Reatta Owners for Buy/Sell and/or eBay/Craigslist listings? Here are some that are currently on the Kansas City Craigslist: 1964 Buick Riviera classic car - $12000 (Clinton, MO) 1967 Buick Riviera Grille & Head Light Assembly - $100 (kcmo) 1969 Buick Riviera - $3000 (Kansas City) 1996 buick riviera supercharged 2,000 OBO - $2000 (kcks) 1995 buick only under 100,000 - $2500 (kc) Buick Riviera 97 - $2500 (Pilot Grove) http://kansascity.craigslist.org/cto/3552799870.html I didn't list any dealer ads. There were quite a few of those as well. Bryan - Black w/ white leather is a very striking color combo. You need to see it when it looks like new Ed

Definately a '63: Clues - BUICK across the trunk, round medalionn in taillight, seat pattern, location of wiper and headlight switches (console), and heater controls. Equipment appears to be custom leather interior (familiar cracks), power windows. Wrong wheel covers. Tilt wheel? could be but you can't tell from the angle of the wheel. Probably has AM wonderbar radio w/ power antenna. Looks like it's a non a/c car from where the two levers are positioned. Probably not a bad deal depending on how it runs. Ed

I'll add here that the 79 - 85's can be long haulers. When I was the RC for MO/KS, I had a member, Bud Rogers from Miller, MO, who was approaching 1/2 a million miles on his '85. He was a paper products salesman and drove the Riv as his business car. Overhauled the engine at about 275K and the trans at 325K. Oil changes every 3,000 miles was his basic maintenance. Needless to say "he loved that car!' This was a few years ago. I don't know if he still has it.

Are you installing the new covers yourself or having a shop do it? If you're taking it to a shop, they should have a 'live steam' machine that will put new life into old compressed foam. After you've steamed them, see what they feel like. Ed

According to the brochure, the bucket seats were only available in the coupe. If this is the case, are you sure you want to install the buckets?

I've not owned a 95 - 99 but I have owned a few 79 - 85's. I now have a '93 that, in my opinion, is a much nicer car to drive than the 79 - 85's. (Remember, I said "in my opinion.") The lighter weight of the 93, the more powerful 3800 V6, just make for a car that's more of a driver's car. Admittedly, the 83's, 84's, and 85 I've owned are nice once you get them to cruising speed, but that 5.0 Liter Olds leaves something to be desired for power. I drove my '85 from KC to Harrisburg in 2010 and on the way home I decided to go home the southern route - the mountains of West Virginia. I think that I drove more miles in drive and second gear than I did tin overdrive trying to maintain a minimum interstate speed. 18 wheelers were passing me going uphill. The '93 with its 3800 - not supercharged - is a much more drivable car, both in town and on the highway. It doesn't take me a 1/4 mile to build up speed to pass, and it gets 26 +/- mpg, and the seats are very comfortable. I think that the owners of the 95 - 99's are finding that these are great cars to drive, get good gas mileage, and you can't kill the 3800 even if you try. No reason not to drive them 200K. They'll get there with ease and they'll still bring a decent price when it comes time to sell. Ed

Gentlemen, A couple of weeks ago, I contacted Ray about a time and place for all of us who take part in the Riviera Owners forum here on the AACA web to meet so we can put names with faces. For those of you who are interested, we will be meeting at 10:00 on Tuesday morning in the hospitality room. I'm looking forward to seeing you there. Here's a link to the Lexington schedule that shows the same. Welcome to the Riviera Owners Association Homepage Ed

I've been volunteering to be a car pusher at the Mecum auction when it has come to Kansas City the past few years. You get in free, get on the floor, and can look at all of the cars, and, as Pyrtne says, "see how the other half lives." Kansas City doesn't get a lot of the really high dollar stuff, but there are a lot of cars that are fun to look at because lots of times you can say "I used to have one like this." (Then cry because at that time it was just another used car - like my '57 Austin Healey 100-6, my '68 Dodge Charger, a '70 Chevelle, and a couple of '55 Chevies.) Lots of muscle cars, some older stuff, and some late model stuff that perhaps someone is trying to flip. Ed

Dante, The bolt pattern on your Riviera, and all of the bigger GM platforms for that era, is 5 on 5". FYI - your '63 has left hand threads on the lug nuts on the left side of the car and right hand threads on the lug nuts on the right side of the car. Make sure some kid with an impact wrench doesn't strip out or over tighten the left side of the car thinking he's taking them off. That's why there's a large L stamped into the end of the stud. Also, the '63 and '64 Rivieras have a larger hub than the later years, '65 and up. That means in order to get a wheel to fit, it has to have a larger center hole in it. Ed

The trickiest part of removing a headlight switch from one of these cars is figuring out how the switch knob comes off. On most cars there's a button on the actual switch that releases the knob AND the shaft. On these cars, there is a spring clip on the back of the knob. There's a small slot on the back of the knob that allows access to the spring clip. Depress the clip with a very small screw driver and pull it off the shaft. Only then can you get the panel off to reveal the switch. The panels are held on with clips. You'll have to take then entire panel off of that part of the dash. That will expose the speedometer, all of the idiot lights, etc. It will be easier to remove the panel with the tilt wheel all the way down. From there it's a piece of cake.

I would think that you could take a piece of HD rubber/foam and cut one for this. It looks pretty straight forward. Square, one big center hole, and four bolt holes. The only thing you might not be able to replicate would be the section where the ball shaped portion is; a plumbing roof vent seal might work for that ball shaped section. Here are images of some that are available; most cost between $10 - $20. https://www.google.com/search?q=steering+column+seal&hl=en&tbo=d&rlz=1T4GGRP_enUS503US503&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=7XD9UKPbCuXS2gWei4H4BA&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAA&biw=1017&bih=477 Ed

I didn't look closely enough at the pictures. The inner seal was the one to which I was referring. I don't know about the others. Lots of things like this are generic across other GM lines so don't limit your search to just Rivieras. Ed

There are no reproductions but there is a write-up in the Tech Tips section on the ROA's website that shows how to make these. Pretty simple DIY project.

Dennis, Jason is right on. The AFB on your '64 is calibrated for that particular 425; it's even different than an AFB for a 401 from the same year. Aftermarket carbs are too universal. Two very major things to consider are 1) any aftermarket carb is not going to allow you to use the factory kickdown linkage, and 2) ALL aftermarket carbs styled like the AFB (Edlebrock - AFB and AVS - Carter 9000 series, etc.) all have a larger neck than the OE Carter. That means that you can not use the original air cleaner with them; you'd have to go to an aftermarket one. Have the original carb rebuilt by a professional, don't just put a kit in it. Or find one that has already been rebuilt. Make sure you use a stainless heat shield between the base of the carb and the gasket that sits on the intake manifold. Have your friend look in the classified sections of his latest Riview and contact one of the guys who advertises carb rebuilding or contact Jon at THE CARBURETOR SHOP. Ed

There are lots of points with which I agree in the previous posts. Lots of stuff is still available through you local jobber. The closest jobber to my place is Advance Auto. There's an older guy working there who is very familiar with the catalogs, not just the computer - lots of parts are out there, but they're not "computerized." But they are available if you special order them. No extra cost. I most recently bought a new, not rebuilt water pump for my '64 from Car Quest. The only thing I disagree with is OPGI's representation of what they have available. Go to the ROA forum on this website and do a search of OPGI. All you'll get is a ear full of disappointment. Upholstery kits do not match. Package trays aren't molded. Other things like 63/64 turn signal grills are 150% the price of the same item as CARS. Most of their stuff is generic and they just hope it's close. The classified section of the Riview has separate sections for Used Parts, Reproductions, Services, etc. Some are 8 - 5 with a store front, some are mom and pop ventures. No matter, chances are you'll probably find what you're looking for. If you're a member of the ROA, you can use the Restoration & Literature Sources link to find all sorts of listings for parts suppliers. There is probably no single suppler for everything; you'll need to check with a bunch of suppliers who now specialized. Ed PS - Pete, as you wrote in your article for the Bugle, there are differences between the three years of 63, 64, and 65 Rivieras. Make sure that the part you're looking for isn't listed as generic for all three years. Somethings are, some aren't. If you're not sure , go to the ROA forum and ask.

I've been trying to collect enough good turbines to have at least one good set for my '63 and one for my '64. I've got probably 11 - 12 of the turbines but only 7 that are good enough to work with. PM me and I'll give you my phone number. We can talk about what we have and what we might be able to do to patch together some stuff. Ed

I did this when I painted a set of ribbed aluminum valve covers and it might work the same on the hood spear. I painted everything and removed the paint from the surfaces that I wanted shiny. When the paint was still tacky, I tood a lint free paper towel and wrapped it one (one layer) around a body paint stir stick. Then dripped some lacquer thinner on it and let it soak into the paper towel just enough to get it wet. I then pulled the stick w/ paper towel-lacquer thinner across the top of the ribs. I did this enough times to eventually remove only the paint from the top part of the rib. Everything else was then left with paint on all put the flat surfaces. Kinda bass-ackwards but it worked. Ed

In your title you're asking for 63 - 66 wire caps. The 63 emblems are unique to '63, and the 64 - 6? (same through ??? - later than 66) are the same. Do you need just the spinner, complete cover, or emblem? For which year? Ed

Yep! Chrome on the vertical surfaces, argent on the horizontal surfaces. With production lines moving at the rate they did, it makes you wonder how the factory painted the grills, hood spears, and turn signal grills in the time alloted. Same with the later years on the rally wheels. Ed

The picture is one taken as part of a photo shoot for the August issue of Rod and Custom magazine. I copied and pasted this ppicture from the thread started by the owner. I thought that there were more of the pictures using this lighting technique but I couldn't find them. Here's a link to the thread posted by the owner on the ROA forum. http://forums.aaca.org/f177/my-riv-going-august-issue-rod-328003.html

Contact Ken @ Wheatbelt Buick in Carrier, OK and tell him what you're looking for. I'd bet that he at least has one that you could try to loosen up. (580) 855-2449 Ed

It's been my experience that die cast aluminum only bends once. If you try to straighten it, it will break. I have an assortment of 63 / 64 cast aluminum wheel covers that could use some tweaking. I've yet to find a way to do it successfully. You'll probably have to find a good used one. Ed

1965 Riviera

Her stage name was Dagmar, but she was born Virginia Ruth Egnor, The front bumpers on the 1955 Buick were referred to as "Dagmars" by the hotrod crowd.

I didn't say it would kill you. Perhaps drain your wallet, but not kill you. I wonder if you'd still be alive if your wife knew how much you've spent on cars and parts in the past ????? years. She probably doesn't realize that she gave up a 3 month cruise. Ed