RivNut

The owner of the car in the pics had to spend some time getting the speedometer to read correctly, but he says it was worth every penny. I think that Classic Instruments is a reliable AMERICAN MADE company. You're getting what you pay for. For some of us who have Champagne tastes and live on a beer budget, it might sound like a lot. You might be able to find some made in China, but you'll probably not have very good customer service when you have a problem. I guess it all depends on how badly you really want it. Ed

Dick, What's the code number for the optional palm trees mounted on the front fenders. The car in the picture reminds me some of the Spruce Green 63 I saw with the silver leather. Beautiful car and great photography; breath taking. Ed

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: lrlforfun</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Also,were there any other appearance options (other than color choice which is the topic of this thread) that would change the look of the Riviera besides ww tires, wheel treatment, rite remote mirror and tinted glass? And this weekend, while driving my 64 with a wood wheel I banged up my fingers with the horn button. The standard wheel is more functional but doesn't hold a candle to the wood one for looks. </div></div> In 1965, the factory folks made those changes. They hid the head lights, put the tail lights in the bumper, and removed the "vents" from the side of the body. To keep the horn bar on the wooden steering wheel from cracking at the hub, it's a good practice to use the tip of your index or middle finger to push up from behind rather than down on the front with your thumb. You put less pressure on the bar so pushing up doesn't create the stress that cracks the bar at the hub. If you have the four note horn option, it's fun to practice this at any time. Ed

Here's the illustration from the chassis manual showing the location of the rear seat belt holes for the '64 Riv. Special thanks to Alex B. for telling me how to post the pictures. Ed

Send me a pm, I'll send you an email with an illustration from a chassis manual that shows where the hole need to be for the seat belts. These belts are lap belts only, there is no provision for a shoulder belt. OR if someone will tell me how to put pictures/illustrations on this forum, I'll do it for everyone. Ed

Vinny, I have never found one for any of the 1st generation cars I've owned. I have the window sticker from my '63, but that's all. There weren't the tiny little options that the later models had. I've had a couple of 1983 XX Rivs, an 84, convertible, and presently an 85 coupe. Those cars had all sorts of little bells and whistles that could be ordered, but the 63's were limited to some basic stuff. Send me a PM with your email address and I'll send you a copy of my window sticker. There are only a couple of options that were available that my car doesn't have so the sticker will give you a pretty good idea of what was available in '63. Ed

Vinny (is that right?) The first 1963 Rivieras came out with a plain silver painted dash and a 120 mph speedometer; same as the Electra, Wildcat, and LeSabre. Jim Cannon can give you really close dates, but somewhere in perhaps late Sept or early October of 1962, the Riviera got a 140 mph speedometer and the ribbed aluminum veneer on the dash. By the end of the year there were some other changes made, all of which carried forward into 1964. The 120 mph speedo is the rare one. Ed

They're the classic white hot series with optional red pointers. Here's the link to their site and a picture of a customer's car. (You'll never guess which car.) http://www.classicinstruments.com/index.aspx?documentID=buickrivierag Ed

Larry, I'm aware that there are some out there, but when you find one isn't it usually true that they're in almost new condition and need little if any restoration? I bought my 63 in 1982 with over 100,000 miles on the clock. I knew it wasn't a 27,000 mile car because the owner gave me a complete maintenence log to go with it. The owner had taken immaculate care of it and it needed nothing except new leather on the front seat buns. I had to accept that as par for the course for a twenty year old car, (my 10 year old Chrysler with fewer miles has rougher leather) but the original paint was in excellent shape as was all the bright work, trunk lining, headliner, etc. It now has 197,000 miles on it. My point is that there are also cars out there with many miles on them that can look exceptionally good. Today, I could probably pass it off as a 97,000 mile car if I felt like it. Without the six digit odometers like today's cars have, it's really tough. In Feb of 2006, I bought a 1964 from a guy in AZ. The body on it is fantastic. The odometer shows 46,000. I know from the bill of sale it's 146,000, but the way cars this age are titled in Kansas, my new title says 46,000. In Kansas all cars older than 35 years are "exempt from mileage." If I repainted it the original color and put one of Calvin Clark's interior kits in it, it could be passed off as a 46,000 mile car. I wouldn't do it, but someone might. In reality, what I think I'm trying to say is that the cars were of such a high quality when they were originally produced, it's difficult to say whether one might be a 46,000 or 146,000 mile car so the buyer has to be aware. Ed

401/425, there's not that much difference in what you actually feel behind the wheel. Your car is also equipped with the dynaflow transmission, which is great for cruising but not much in the high performance department; plus if you can control the leakage, the dynaflow will run forever. Not really sure about the long number you quoted, perhaps Jim Cannon would have a better clue. I'd go with 158,000; it's almost unreal to think that any car would be driven less than 1,400 miles per year when the best lease you can get on a new one allows for 1,500 miles per month. Check out what Calvin Clark has in the way of OEM type seat covers for your car. All available in the correct factory colors. Here's a link so you can take a look at what I'm referring to. Ask him for a sample. http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog.cgi?function=goto&catalog=RIVIERA&section=RIVIERA&page=R-3 Jim Osborne and others have the correct air cleaner decal for your engine. Did you check the engine VIN against the VIN for the body? Wild conjecture here - perhaps the original engine was a 425 and has been replaced. To get the air working again, check out Old Air Products in Texas and look at what they have in the way of a Suction Throttle Valve replacement. It changes the way your a/c functions. I know two guys, John in Arkansas and Galen in central Kansas who've made this switch and they couldn't be happier - no more frozen evaporators. The new product cycles the compressor on and off to control the temp, as the newer cars do today. Enjoy your new ride, and be patient with getting it the way you want it. Ed

Is there any way to scan that and let us see it? Very interesting.

The first Riv I saw was in Sept of '62 when I was 16. It was under a car cover at the dealership where my dad had worked for many a moon. It hooked me on Rivieras for the next 45 years and I'm still hooked. It was Spruce Green with silver leather. It had the cast aluminum wheel covers w/ the stainless knock offs, which are truly mesmerizing when you watch them turn. IMHO, it's still the best looking 1st generation Riv I've ever seen. I was given a 1/25th model shortly thereafter and I painted it to match. I'd replicate that car in a heartbeat with my '63 if I didn't have the window sticker for it (it's black with white leather.) If I ever buy another '63, it WILL be spruce green with silver interior. Ed

Keith The entire cowl piece was chrome plated then the screen part was painted body color leaving only the ridge chromed. Someone has removed the paint from yours. You have an owner installed option (modification.) Ed

My glasses must have a spam filter on them then, I don't see it. Here's what I pasted and copied from the link. Shown with #2023 cap • Accessories Available: 2023 (see accessories pages) • Full Chrome (painted slots) • Reverse Chrome add $25.00 each • 4-3/4 bolt pattern • Factory lug nuts applicable • Center cap not included (see accessories pages) • Custom offsets are special order only and NON-RETURNABLE • Call for availability NOTE: Due to backorder demands, this product will take 10-14 weeks to ship out. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Hey Joe, Make sure when you look at the wheel that nimrod suggested that you note it comes only in the 4.75" bolt circle for the Skylark series, not the 5" bolt circle you need for your Riv. The 57 series is the two piece design that was popular for the Skylark Gran Sports. Ed

Gary, If you're putting an ST400 in a '54, you'll need to do more than just drop it in. The '54 has a torque tube rear end and the ST400 has an open drive line. When removing a torque tube and replacing it with an open driveline you're removing an intergal part of the locating mechanisms. You'll need a new rear end as well and you'll also need to fabricate upper and lower control arms to attach the rear end to the chassis. Go with a 401/425 with an early 401 crankshaft (the stroke for a 401 and 425 are the same, the 425 had a .125" larger bore) and bolt a 59/60 dynaflow to it. Make a couple of small mods to the motor mounts and drop it in using the existing torque tube setup. Ed

First of all, ROA #11146, do you have a name? We're a pretty friendly goup here. Yes, I know of a 65 that has the quad guages and speedo/tach combo in his car. The car was the cover/feature car in the Sept/Oct issue of the Riview. There's a small picture of the cluster on page 17. Here's a link to carnut.com with a better picture of it. http://www.carnut.com/cgi-bin/05/_image.pl?/show/05/kkoa/kkoa065.jpg It's a really nice package, especially when you see the rest of the car as can be seen on this link. http://www.carnut.com/cgi-bin/05/_image.pl?/show/05/kkoa/kkoa063.jpg Not a bad car for a kid from Kansas; long ways from LA or any of the other hot spots for custom cars, not forgetting Dayrl Starbird from Wichita though. Ed

Too bad that Holden down under didn't produce the Riv; they seem ot be able to make a "Ute" out of anything. One similar to this one was at Eureka Springs in 2005. The guy used it to pull his goose neck trailer that hauled his Model T Ford to events. I can't find any links, but if someone will tell me how to attach pictures, I'll post a picture of it. Ed

Joe, When you get the plating done, contact the list again for the correct color paint for the inserts. I know that in one of the past Riviews the DuPont formula for the correct color is listed. Ed

On page 10-81 of the 1963 Chassis manual, Figure 10-89 there is an illustration of the console wiring for a Wildcat. The light blue and black wires are the wires for the backup lights, and the purple wires are for the neutral safety switch. See if there's not an adjustment on the switch that will align it with the shifter lever when the lever is in its proper place on the detent. There is a note on the illustration: "PURPLE (2 WIRES) - MATCH UP WITH PURPLE MARKS ON SWITCH" Ed

Gentlemen; If you want to know the real nitty-gritty about these cams, there is a chart on page 16 of Volume 5, #1 of the Riview that lists the specs for all nailhead cams used in 401/425's starting in 1959. The chart was provided by Dennis Manner - need I say more! The last paragraph before the chart: "The 1963-1965 425 camshafts were similar to the 59-61 401 camshaft except it was retarded 4 crankshaft degrees to increase top end horsepower. Although three different part numbers were used, the specifications for power were the same. In 1966, the 425 used the milder and smoother idling 401 camshaft. All 1964-1966 425 dual four barrel factory produced engines used the original 425 camshaft timing." [which except for the crank offset has exactly the same specs as the 59-61 401 camshaft - ER] The chart follows. If you're really interested and want to see the entire chart, send me a PM. I'll ask you for a home address on a SASE and tell you where to send it. I've tried scanning this before and it doesn't reproduce; it's in a small weird font and doesn't copy well. Sometime when I'm really boredand have a lot of time, I'll try putting it on an Excel spreadsheet that I can forward. Ed

Brian, The master cylinder used is from a 67 -70 Buick Riviera, it's the same one for most all big Buicks from 1967 - 1970, as well as a large number of Olds, Pontiacs, and Cadillacs. Buick used two separate master cylinders in those years; one was a Bendix, the other was a Delco. They are NOT interchangable. You have to pull your old master cylinder first and look at the diameter of the brake rod, and the depth of the hole in the master cylinder for the brake rod. In Advance Auto Parts' online catalog (shared with Parts America) there are a number of choices - different rebuilders, different $$$$$. Bendix rebuilds both their own and the Delco unit. These are dual resevoir master cylinders for drum/drum applications. The Bendix replacement number is R11328, and the Delco replacement number is R11363. Disc brakes were an option in 67 so there is also a disc/drum master cylinder available under part number Delco 11944; you don't want this one unless you're also doing a disc brake swap. To complete this swap, you'll need to find a donor car and get the distribution block and associated lines that run from the master cylinder to the distribution block. You'll also need to fabricate a bracket to hold the distribution block as well as install some adapters in the lines to make the new parts adapt to the older lines. Switching to a dual master cylinder doesn't necessarily improve the braking, but it is a great safety factor. Ed

You might also want to look for the vehicle VIN on the block. It's located on the same surface as the engine code but on the driver's side whereas the engine code is on the passenger's side.

Eric, Welcome to the club. As Chris Wolfe, ROA member and author of the Autofacts book <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-style: italic">Riviera 1963 - 1973 </span></span>states "Great cars, even better people." Advance Auto's website has this listing for 1964 Buick Rivieras . http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductList.aspx?PartType=846&PTSet=A Ed

Since Buick didn't keep track of VIN numbers for the GS option, anything is possible. However, there is one other item to consider - two four barrel setups were an "over the counter option" that could be dealer installed. You could have bought any Riv as a used car, and order the 2X4 set up through the dealer's parts department and have it installed. Ed