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toomuchvinyl

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Posts posted by toomuchvinyl

  1. I agree Winston. Looking at the photos of Ed's cap and looking down into the holes in my own, it looks like one or two have a "shoulder" partway down and others are smooth walled to the bottom. The sources for screws that I've looked at so far offer a wide range of small sizes like that but I haven't seen any that are self tapping yet. I'm not sure if that would matter if you could get a size that would bite the sides slightly to get a small purchase and before you put them in for the final time, drip some thread lock stuff or maybe even epoxy into the holes. It's gonna take some applied science to get through this one :)

     

  2. I've been watching the thread and am very impressed with Winston's work on using a wheel center for a horn cap!

     

    I'd mentioned in an earlier post that I had a possibility other than seeing if the Chevy cap may have similar clips. What I was referring to is that I have family members who own a metal fabricating shop. They have computer controlled Laser and Waterjet cutting equipment and manufacture all sorts of production and one-off items. I sent a photo of my horn cap showing both the broken and intact clips to my uncle and he believes that they could make a new clip using spring steel banding material of the same gauge. Now the dilemma I'm having. He asked me to send in a clip, preferably the broken one IF I had the broken off piece as well as what remained. Otherwise, he would need an unbroken one to scan and model. I checked the floor of the car and the recess behind the horn bar and I cannot find the broken off bit. Because of the issue with the clips being attached to castings rather than being simply riveted on, I'm hesitant to remove an intact clip as then I'd have only one good clip left and the center cap would be useless if I messed up trying to drill and tap the castings to reattach the replacements. I don't have a drill press and would be very nervous about trying to use a hand drill make the holes.

     

    On a positive note, it does look like very small taps are available https://www.victornet.com/detail/TAMP-1.6-.35.html as well as screws. Just need to determine the length that would be needed.

  3. 53 minutes ago, Schmiddy said:

    Keith,


    I have exactly the same problem... Couldn't solve it by now. Only with with 2 of these "ears", my wheel cap seams to stay at its place not too bad (why I didn't had to solve this issue that quick). Of course 3 would be better...

     

    If anyone has a good idea how to solve this problem, I would be very happy too! ?

    I would be happy to share any info I can find. Right now, I'm curious about the possibility of the retainers being similar on a '65 or '66 repro center cap from a Chevy Impala with woodgrain wheel. I just can't find a photo of the back side of one to see. If nothing else comes up, I'll try calling one of the parts companies that sells them and ask for a photo or at least a description. The caps are around $60 US but if the clips are similar I'm sure I could find others who may want the ones I don't need to help share the cost.

     

    • Like 1
  4. Hoping someone can help me with this, I recently removed the cap from the woodgrain steering wheel on my '64. When I went to place it back on, I noticed that the "ear" on one of the 3 retaining clips had broken off. I'm guessing that those clips are spring steel so trying to fabricate one would be difficult at best. Has anyone had this happen and if so, what did you do to fix it?

  5. 10 hours ago, KongaMan said:

    Do you know the specifics of this box: constant or variable ratio, and the actual ratio(s)?

    I don't know the actual specifications of the box other than the number of turns lock to lock which is 2.5. I'll have to defer to @telriv for more details.

     

    28 minutes ago, 70rivme said:

    Yeah, what @KongaMan said and does anyone know if the same box will fit my '70? I have what I would call lazy steering and would love an improvement like @toomuchvinyl is describing.

    Brad, I don't know what the range of model years was that this steering box was used. I did see a reply in the "Quick Steering Ratio Box" (posts #66, #67) that it would fit a '68. Again, Tom @telriv could answer this question.

  6. After reading the threads "Quick Ratio Steering Box" and "63 Riv Steering Box Replacement", I decided to try one of (telriv) Tom Telesco's steering boxes in my '64. This has been the single greatest improvement that has been made to my car since I've owned it. Some time ago, I had the center link and other front end components replaced as needed as well as the rear track bar bushings. At that time I also has the alignment set to the positive caster recommendation that I'd seen here in the forum. Those things made a marked improvement to the handling of the car but I was still disappointed in the vague steering response. The new steering box has resolved that final issue and I could not be happier. I still have standard shocks on the car as they were not worn out by any means and finances dictate that I cannot spring for a set of the Bilstiens at this time but I'm so pleased with the improvement that I'm not missing them. Maybe a set of those and some new springs someday, but in the mean time I'm well satisfied. 

    What I'd call the "Driving Experience" really hasn't changed. The steering effort is the same and as Red Riviera Bob expressed it, the character of the ride and steering are still 100% first gen Riviera. 

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1
  7. 1 hour ago, RivNut said:

    Heat the area enough so that holding an unlit candle against it will melt the wax.  The melting wax will seep down and it will loosen.  Check out some YouTube videos on the same process.

    I'll look on YouTube and check that out. Thanks Ed!

     

  8. 1 hour ago, arnulfo de l.a. said:

    Get a small butane torch and heat the intake where the distributor shaft enters. While hot spay pb blaster penetrant on shaft where it enters the manifold. Have a fire extiguisher handy in case penetrant ignites.  Allow to cool, check if it moves. Repeat if needed. This has always worked for me. 

    That's a new possibility and it makes sense that a little thermal expansion/contraction could help to break it loose. Thanks Arnulfo!

  9. I posted this a few years ago but wanted to revive it to see if anyone who wasn't a member of the forum at the time or didn't see it may have any wisdom to share. I've been a little reluctant to get tough with the distributor for fear of breaking it but I would like to get this resolved this summer if I can.

     

    Thanks again to those who responded back in '15 and I'd still appreciate any insights others may be able to offer.

     

    Keith

  10. 24 minutes ago, Riviera63 said:

     

    Keith,

     

    I had the J bolt for the hold down. You can get reproduction j bolts and wing nuts from OPGI and CARS, Inc. that I know of.

     

    Bill

    Thanks! I hadn't looked yet but it's on my list of needs.

  11. Rocket 88, that looks like a fine replacement. I'll get by NAPA tomorrow and see about getting one. I didn't subscribe to this thread when I started it and so didn't see the newer replies until this afternoon. Tom, the news that it's possible (even if not practical) to rebuild the original valve is also interesting. Retirement is just a few weeks away and I will be happy to have more time to spend with my cars. 

  12. Interesting! I just thought that all of the first gen Riviera's had gas, brake, emergency brake pedal pads that matched the interior color. My '64 is a very early production model that (as near as I can tell) came with some '63 stuff like the tri-shield center on the wire hubcaps and I have colored pedals.

  13. Thanks, I'd been told by local folks that maybe putting a penetrating oil around the edges of the base and tapping with a plastic faced hammer would be something to try. I was just hoping that the aluminum/iron conflict hadn't just fused it together. Guess my worst case would be having to find a good used one if I break it.

  14. Tom and Steve, thanks for your posts. Whether or not Rare Parts or any supplier has a rebuilt unit on hand, it does I'm afraid come down to the fact that someone in the past has begged, cried, offered up thier firstborn or whatever to get hold of one of these then never came through with the core. I was saving that up as a final attempt if I was not able to come up with one. I went through the ads in the Riview as I mentioned in my last post and I believe I have managed to find one.

    Once I have my car done, I'm considering asking if the club might want the core to lend out to members sort of like the arrangement that I was looking for. Not sure if the Library would want a greasy part hanging around but as time goes on these are clearly becoming harder to get.

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