RivNut

I know this is sort of hijacking this thread and I'll be glad to delete if anyone wants me to. But, one of the previous posts brings up a really good point and therefore a question which will, of course, be based solely on opinion. As Mitch states "really look good in a dark color." It's always been my opinion that cars with sharp lines, like the 1st generation Rivieras, look better in lighter colors because the lines, breaks, and angles are more prominent in lighter colors. (That's supposedly why Bill Mitchell painted his Silver Arrow I and III in silver - the name came after the color.) So, which is better for 1st generation Rivieras? Light or dark colors. Ed

Here's some food for thought. If there's currently a Chevy engine in the car, then there's also a Chevy transmission behind it. Chevrolet has a different bellhousing than the similarly sized BOP "A" bodies. So if you use that engine from the 4-door, get the transmisson to go with it. Another thing to consider when looking at HP ratings on engines is that in '73, the Feds required that HP ratings be measured at the rear wheels. Before that, HP ratings were measured at the flywheel. Two identical engines would have different HP ratings becasue the transmission and rear gears take some HP to turn them. In '73, most compression ratios were dropped as well to help with the use of unleaded gas. Considering what gas is like now, the lower compression might be a blessing in disguise. Good luck and keep us updated. Ed

The description actually makes you wonder if the guy didn't transplant a two barrel, low compressioin,, regular gas 401 for the original engine. That 401 was in fact called a "Wildcat 410" Probably still running the two barrel carb and that was the air cleaner with 410 decal that came with it and was the only thing that would fit it. Ed

Well for one thing from the description the guy gives, you can sure tell he knows nothing about the car. "410 engine with powerglide transmission."

I opened the link and didn't see any cars. There were some other really great attractions though. Ed

In 1965, there were 34,586 Rivieras built: Standard engine: LT 401 (1x4) = 28,467 units Optional engine: LX 425 (2x4) Gran Sports = 3,808 units non GS = 454 units Optional engine: LW 425 (1x4) = 2,311 units All '64 and '66 Rivieras had the 425 as the standard engine. Some 64's had the KX (2x4) engine. Only 179 '66's had the MZ engine (2x4 from the factory) Other '66 MW engines might have the dealer installed 2x4 set up. Standard MW '66 engines had a Quadratjet carburetor rather than the square bore Carter AFB or Rochester 4GC that came on the 63 - 65 models. In '63, there were 37,399 401's, and 2,801 425's All of these production figures and more are on the Riviera Owners Website in the Articles in the Riview link. www.rivowners.org

The Riviera Owners Assn. is having its annual meet in Monterey. June 4 - 7. Check out the event on the link on their website. Welcome to the Riviera Owners Association Homepage.

Leather takes a lot more prep than vinyl, and it also takes special dyes. You can get really remarkable repairs and results if you use the right products. Leatherique is one such product; I've used it before with excellent results. Here's a link to their website. Home Page | Leatherique Restoration Products Ed

I bought my first Riviera, a blue '66, in 1972. $600 and it was my daily driver for quite a few years. Nice thing about it then was that it was not yet 10 years old and you could still buy anything you wanted from GM. I got my '63 in 1982 and started learning the hard way that you had to scrounge for parts - at least there were some to be found in the salvage yards at that time. Remember, this was before the World Wide Web put everything at your disposal with instanteous gratification (some of you younger guys no nothing but this method of gathering information and buying stuff LOL) but you learned quickly what worked and what didn't. I've seen some vendors come and go, and some make a bunch of rip off parts too. I've also found that most guys building Rivieras ask one thing first before even seeing the quality of a part. "How much $$$$" Camaro and Chevelle guys on the other hand fork over big bucks without batting an eye if they want it. I'm not trying to be demeaning here, but that's something those of us who have been around for a while will tell you too. Anyway to put "reproduction of parts" into perspective, here are some facts for you to ponder. Camaro Production for the first generation 1967 = 220,906 units 1968 = 234.347 units 1969 = 243,085 units This doesn't count 70 through ???? Chevelle Production 1964 = 387,119 1965 = 397,750 1966 = 471,052 1967 = 403,963 1968 = 464,669 1969 = 503,352 1970 = 633,949 I stopped at 1970, because I had one of those back in '72, but the list goes on and production numbers don't drop that much after 1970 Why wouldn't someone reproduce parts for the these volumes of cars? Compare those numbers with the total Riviera units build from 1963 - 1999 = ~1,115,000+. Chevrolet built almost that many Chevelles in 1969 and 1970 alone. WOW If you really think there's a need for a part, do what Rick did with his horn bars and caps, and Patrick did with his Super Wildcat decals. Get out there, do the R&R and make the investment yourself for the part you want and need. Then just hope that there's a big enough market for the parts that you can recoup some of your costs. Time to bite the bullet and take the bull by the horns rather than hoping someone else will do it for you. Just like the show American Pickers on the History Channel, searchin' and pickin' is half the fun. The other half is the admiration you get from others knowing what you went through to restore your car. Ed

One thing that drove me crazy on '63 when I first got it was trying to get it to do straight down the road and stop straight. An alignment did help some, and so did brake shoes up front. The biggest help though was when I put a set of four NEW matched tires on it. When I got it, it had two different brands of tires on the front and snow tires on the back; they all looked alike, but there was something different about them. After the new tires were installed, I never touched the front again for a number of years. Along with the rubber hoses, look at all of the rubber bushings in the suspension as well as motor mounts and transmission mounts. The drive shaft is a two piece unit and there's a carrier bearing that supports it in the middle. Those go bad and create lots of problems that seem to come from somewhere else. You might also need to see how dry the gaskets are in the carburetor. You don't want any fires. As Bill says, get it running first. Make sure it's something you want to continue with before you start with upholstery, paint, and the other "pretty stuff." A couple of quick notes on the '63 that are different than most other cars. The '63 has left hand threads on the lug nuts. Don't break one off trying to loosen it when you'd actually be tightening it. The Dynaflow transmission is like some of the modern day constant velocity transmissions. "it don't shift." It goes from 0 to 120 in one smooth process. According to the shop manual, L is to be used only for "getting out of mud or snow." Just put the car in D and drive it. The radio has only one speaker; it's between the rear seats. Make a list of things to do. Prioritize them. Do them one thing at a time. We'll help you through each step. Just like any experiment you did in high school science class. Change only one variable at a time. You change two or more at a time and if something doesn't work, then you'll never know which one of the things you changed didn't work. Don't try to cut corners and don't try to save a buck using lesser quality parts. Stay in touch. Ed PS - We're a really friendly group here and enjoy calling each other by first names. Nothing to hide that way. CHeck out the link to the Riviera Owners Assn. in my signature block.

A round headed bolt was vulcanized to the rub strip and I don't think you can revulcanize them economically. If the strip is still flexible and can be held in place easily without wanting to spring back out, you can probably get some kind of glue to get it to stick. The biggest problem is that with most adhesives, you need to put some pressure on them while the glue sets up. I did talk to one guy one time who used 3M automotive double sided tape to stick his back on. He ran a body shop and was doing it for a customer so I imagine he has some faith in the tape. I did one on the same corner of my '83XX one time, but I had the bumper off. I used Gorilla glue and a couple of C-clamps to hold it in place while it set up. Ed

I'd have to say that the Electra was the flagship. It, or the Roadmaster, had been at the top of the Buick line for many years. Each year, in both '63 and '64, there were six models of the Electra. I have no idea what the base price of an Electra 4-door hardtop, 2-door "sport coupe," or convertible may have been, but one of those could be decked out with tons of options and probably command a pretty steep price. Perhaps a BCA guy might have access to this information. Ed

Russ, Here's the line on your carb from The Carburetor Shop in Eldon, MO <TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR height=14><TD width=36 align=right>1965</TD><TD width=28 align=right>8</TD><TD width=42 align=right>300</TD><TD width=21> </TD><TD width=160>A/T</TD><TD width=68>Carter</TD><TD width=92>AFB</TD><TD width=72 align=right>3826</TD><TD width=52 align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Your carb is from a 1965 Special with the 300 cubic inch V8, that is backed up by a two speed ST300 transmission. That's a really small CFM carb for the size of your engine. I'd guess abut 400 - 500 cfm. You'd probably be better off looking for a #3665 for your engine. Jon at The Carburetor shop shows that he has a 3665S for sale. I would imagine that this carb is good for rebuilding. Call Jon, tell him your a Riviera owner, and see what he can do for you. Here's the line on the #3665S. This is a 625 cfm carb. (It takes a lot of air to feed 425 cubic inches.) <TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR height=14><TD width=36 align=right>1964</TD><TD width=28 align=right>8</TD><TD width=42 align=right>425</TD><TD width=181> </TD><TD width=68>Carter</TD><TD width=92>AFB</TD><TD width=72 align=right>3665</TD><TD width=52 align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Ed

Perhaps the country was coming out of a recession, but you need to look at the total Buick picture for both years. in 1963, when Buick sold every Riviera they planned on building, Buicks total sales were 458,606 units. In '64, when they sold only 37,658 Rivieras, their total sales were 511,666 units. You might say "well, they sold more of the Specials in '64" That's a non factor, they sold only 58,665 Electra 225's in '63 but sold they 68,912 Electras in '64. Every '64 model, except the Riviera, outsold the comparable '63 model. It looks like the recession was hitting harder in '63, but Buick sold everyone of the limited production 40,000 Rivieras that they planned on selling. In '64, they fell 2,342 units short of their projected limited number.

If you're looking for custom Road wheels for your Riviea, just do like Gil Losi did. He did the CAD design and had Mike Curtis at Boyd's shop machine them. 18' in diameter machined to look like an original Buick wheel sans the black inserts.

Wheel vintiques makes these wheels for the Skylark GS guys. They're the two piece wheel rather than the one piece like the Riviera, but the biggest drawback is that they have the 4-3/4" bolt circle for the smaller intermediate "A"body cars.

I know the history of my '63 - I bought it from the original purchaser and he gave me all of his receipts as well as a maintenance log that he kept on the car. Sorry to say that while I was driving the car as a daily driver I wasn't quite as effecient as he was. I didn't list every oil change and tire rotation on the maintenance log. This one stay original right down to the window sticker that was part of the papers I got. My '64 is a different story. I got a title from the seller. End of story. This one is for me to play with. Ed

Russ, It took me a while to pull this picture from an old computer but here's a picture of the carb linkage for a '64 Riv with an AFB carburetor. Here are some pictures of how the correct carb linkage looks and how the roller activates the kick down switch. Hope this helps. There were lots of Buicks made in '64; it might be just as easy to find the correct carb and install it rather than trying to modify linkages, or if you can find the correct "parts carb" just swap the entire linkage setup. You'd then have all the parts for your choke mechanism as well. Ed PS - the clean engine is mine after I took pictures of a friend's engine to see what I needed and how it worked.

The on-site reservation people work from 8:00 - 4:30 and aren't always at their desks. If you try calling later in the evening, you won't get to talk to the people you need to talk to. Hopefully this code will help others of you. The transport sounds like a nifty idea. Hopefully you'll get some responses. See you there. Ed

Russ, Do you remember in my previous post that I referred to the linkage on the carburetor telling me it was a '66 carb and that it had no provisions for the kick down? The reason you can't find a kickdown rod is because the kick downs on all TH400's (Buick called its version a ST400) are electric. That plunger looking apparatus with the orange rubber seal is your kick down switch. A yellow wire runs to it from the fuse box (same fuse as the wipers) and the other wire is a ground wire. When the switch is depressed, 12V is sent to a solenoid inside the transmission and your passing gear (kick down) is electronically activated. A correct '64 carb has a roller on the linkage to accutate that switch. The ST400 in the '64 is in fact a three speed transmission but there are only detents on the quadrant for L and D. If you put it in drive, it will go through all three gears by itself. To access all three speeds manually, you put the lever in low, accelerate to the point where you want to shift, shift the lever into drive and wait for the shift. As soon as the transmission shifts into 2nd gear, move the lever back into to the low position. When you're going as fast as you want in 2nd, then shift into D and leave it there. It will then go into third gear. The neutral safety switch (what I believe you're calling a lockout) is located on the shifter mechansim inside the console. As you move the lever into P or N, a tab on the lever contacts a switch that allows you to start the car. There's nothing in the engine compartment that has anything to do with a lockout. One thing you can do to really speed up your knowledge of your car is to search the archives for previous posts on the same subject. Do and advanced search and limit the search parameters to the Riviera Owners Association; otherwise you'll be reading about neutral safety switches in the entire forum. Lots of interesting reading if you've got time to kill. When you're not reading the archives, read your shop manual carefully. Ed

Russ, Looking at the exterior linkage on that AFB you have tells me it's from a '66 Buick. There's no provision for actuating the kickdown properly with the carb that's on your engine now. The '64 carb will have a roller on the linkage that depresses the kickdown switch. Ed

Having the idea in mind that OPGI uses other GM parts and hopes they'll be close to fitting a Riviera would lead me to believe that you'd be better off going with what someone has already had experience with and doing some tweaking. Ed

Jim, et al. If you do want to register on-line, you can type GAASN6 in for the group code. I called Casa Munra yesterday and got the code then confirmed this with Ray via email today. Ed

In '65, I had a Foxcraft shifter in a '55 Chevy with a three speed stick. To get my shifter knob in the most desireable spot, I took some all-thread and shaped it so the knob was on the bench right between her thighs. That only lasted until I took the car out of reverse and put it in low the first time. She sat by the window the rest of that date and I put the shifter handle that came with the kit back on the next day.

Congratulations on our new car. And welcome to the world of classic Rivieras. I'll start at the back: #4 63-4747 = 1963 Buick Rivierqa 06B = 2nd week of June 35638 = production number out of 40,000 718 J2 = 718 blue leather and vinyl, J2=bucket seats FF = Marlin blue (darker than what's presently on the car)* D = radio (It doesn't say which radio, just that the body was prepped for a radio) I6 = Tinted glass (all around) N2 - Air Conditioning U7 = Power windows (not vents) * link to 1963 Buick paint codes 1963 Buick Paint Charts and Codes Only codes for the Fisher Body plant are on this plate. Other options such as four note horns, cornering lights, cruise control, are not listed. They could be added without needed body mods. I can see that your car has the top option for wheel covers - order code M-9 = cast aluminum wheel covers with stainless knock offs. DO NOT under any circumstances try to pry the aluminum cover off. It will break. These are two piece items. Pry the spinner off, remove the lug nuts (caution - the driver's side lugs are left hand threads), then lay the tire on its face and remove the four nuts that hold the cast cover in place. #3 The wiper motor and washer pump are between the inner and outer fenders on the driver's side. :eek: Some folks have been able to prop open the hood (or remove it) and remove the driver's side hood hinge. It's blind but it can be reached from the access place behind where the hinge was. #2 1963 Rivieras did not come from the factory with a flasher. Perhaps you can post a picture. #1 This is only my opinion, but you get what you pay for when it comes to moldings. Hopefully someone who has experience will chime in here. Ed