steelman

You can find one on ebay if you have a non A/C car. A/C cars (working or not) take a different core with longer tubes as Jim mentions above. I can't say how these fit non A/C cars, as mine has air and I know these won't fit cars with A/C from experience. Take Jim's advise above.

Real old school mechanics are getting harder to find. I didn't know that my mechanic I have known for 20 years worked at a Buick dealership in California in 1965 and had owned two Rivieras himself until I bought mine and took it to him.

This car has a couple of other unique items added, if you noticed. See the peep mirror on top of the drivers side wing window? Also if you watch the video, you will see that the custom interior wood inserts on the door panels and console have all been replaced by engine-turned aluminum inserts.

This may sound like a silly question, but has the steering wheel ever been removed? The turn signals are cancelled by a roll pin pressed into the back side of the steering wheel. The wheel has to be aligned on the shaft so that this pin will contact the switches and cancel their activation when the wheel is turned back to canter. If this pin (and the wheel itself) isn't aligned properly between the left and right cancellation points, the pin may not be contacting the proper point to cancel the signal on the wheel's return to center. As one side cancels and the other doesn't, this may be a part or all of the problem.

Look at a saddle tan. It will work with the green now and will work well later with a variety of colors later when you do decide to change it. I saw a great maroon on a new Lexus the other day that would look great on an early Riv, but my 63 has the blue custom cloth interior, so my choices are somewhat limited also.

I have read this a couple of times and I saw a comment about the 65-66 GS oil pan I haven't seen discussed before. "The 1965-’66 GS version already has a lower level from the factory because Buick used a ’57-’60 6-quart pan with only 5 quarts of oil in it." Is this true of all 65 LX engines or just the GS? How about the 64 dual quad 425? Or did this start in 65? Or is this another true difference in a GS any other 425 Riviera?

The heating and air condition systems in these cars are very closely related and to work on one requires almost complete disassembly of the other. My opinion, make sure the HVAC system is in working order before paint. Last thing you need is an AC tech leaning over a freshly painted fender with a metal belt buckle. Good news is the A/C now works. Bad news is the front fenders need repainted. I approached my 63 this way for just the reasons above.

Color choice depends on what you intend to do with the car. Are you building it to show in a concourse restoration class, to drive and enjoy with the occasional show, or just to resell? How you answer that question will determine what you need to look for in a car to restore. If you are going to build it for pure resale, yes, color affects price. See the resale red comment above. If you are going to do an nth degree restoration for show, then like your Vette, the color needs to match the cowl tag, or points are deducted or you get moved into a different show class entirely. If you are going to keep and enjoy the car without regard for resale value, then you paint it a color you like. Doesn't matter if you start with a Bamboo Cream car if you really wanted Verde Green, as you building the car you want. Your car, your choice. But you need to have a good answer to this question before you buy a car to restore, regardless of make or model.

These instructions do not say this, but the ones I have installed before have a very specific instruction about installing the bars with the weight of the car on the suspension and tires. It will cause all kinds of issues if you install these with the suspension unloaded (ie car on jackstands), front or rear.

I have added aftermarket front and rear sway bars to a couple of Classic Chevys in the past, but I don't know if these would be similar or not. The rear bar on a Classic Chevy clamps to the rear end with the links up to the frame behind the axle. Not sure how that will work with the X-frame Riviera, but I see where there could be clearance issues with the stock exhaust. Classic Chevys never had a front bar, but when installed look much like the stock front bar on many GM cars, including the Riviera.

All look good, but 3 is best, in my opinion. Just to expand on your thought of making a new face plate, I see two other options. First, cover the new plate with a wood grain vinyl to match the console. Second, make the new face plate out of real mahogany and finish it to match the console. Might be worth a photoshop look just to see. Could be a lot of work, but you haven't done anything easy on this ride.

Remember that the black on a 63 as well as the wood on a 64 is an applique. Should be able to remove the black applique from the 63 and add the wood veneer to what area is left. Can't wait to see what you have in mind.

These are better. A lot crisper.

These are not as clean and crisp as I would have liked, but maybe you can make one of these work. If not, let me know and I will try again.

The pic on the right was an ebay picture. I will see what I can get tomorrow afternoon when the light is better.

Ashtray door hinges up at the top. I have removed the ashtray and hide my air controls in this slot. Looks stock closed. The piece below the ashtray is one piece with the shifter and indicator. The chrome piece that forms the reveal is one pice, top to bottom. Maybe these pictures will help.

I assume you want inside to insde the reveal, or the actual insert. If you need out to out I will remeasure, but these are inside to inside of the insert itself. Top piece with two holes (for lights and wipers) is 9 3/8" on the top and 8 1/8" on the bottom. Vertical in the center is 2 1/2", or 2 9/16" along the sloped edges. Ashtray cover is 7 7/8" along the top, 6 3/8" along the bottom, and 3" vertically in the center, or 3 1/8" along the slope. It you need the other, let me know.

The guy that did mine last time had a pit, so the car sat at ride height on its tires the whole time. I have a friend with a four post lift or two. I need to get the car by there and work on a couple small issues we found on the last road trip. I will get some pictures of my exhaust at that time and post them.

Bag it first. Learned that lesson the hard way. Make sure your exhaust guy checks all your clearences with the car all the way up and all the way down. Last June I installed the Flowmaster crossflow behind the rear axle. I had dual turbo mufflers up front before, and always heard the tink, tink, tink of the exhaust bumping the pavement as I drove the car. This is a much better setup for a low car. The Flowmaster is dual 2.5 inlet and dual 2.5 outlet. Not enough room under a Riviera to run a pipe that big, and the bags need extra clearence. You might make 2" pipe work, but more likely 1 3/4. Here are some good pictures of the stock exhaust in a 63. Didn't take any pictures of mine when I changed the exhaust, but maybe I can get some. Not too much different than this, though. Also make sure you have the rear wheel and tire you are running installed when you go the muffler shop. A larger rear wheel and tire will also tighten up clearences.

Ed has turned several of us on to this website. Gathers all Craigslist, ebay, and HMN adds with a few others and puts them together in one listing. If you are willing to look nation wide, you might try this. site mash : buick riviera : combined classified and auction listings++++ Sorry, Ed, if I stole your thunder, but I really like this site.

Come on! We all know what make shift fuel injection is. Used it for years. It is somebody leaning over the carb using a syringe to "inject" gas in the carb while you turn the key to see if it will start. I just always refered to this as "Southern Engineering":).

How's the carrier bearing? I had a pick up that did almost this same thing, and it was a bad carrier bearing.

I can speak from experience to what Jim said. I bought reproductions from two different sources, both had pipes too short. May have been made by the same company, but I went to two different sellers. I ended up extending the tubes on the second one and reinstalling it.

I found three, but this is the best one I have. See if this is what you want.

I'm with BB1970, the Cougar or the Chevelle. Chevelle has SS stripes, so I think that is the one. Who caught the Edsel? What gets me is the ratio of cars to pickups. Now at least 1/3 of the lot would be pickup based. All these pickups have campers on them.