65 Rivi: assembly manual? detailed exploded views w partnumbers?

[Guest musclecarfan65]

dear all.

does anyone of my fellow buickers / rivimaniacs know if there is a "assembly / disassembly manual" for the 65 riviera existing? does anyone have one for sale / a xerox for sale?

is there a comprehensive book available with detailed exploded views w partnumbers?

my 65 rivi 425cui nail w GS options is currently in the last stages of restoration and knowing more detailed how to put parts back in place would be helpful :-).

i once bought a CD on ebay but this was all mixed buick info.

i have also the original chassis manual and the orginial service manual but i am still hungering for any additional info because in germany there are fewer buick specialsts than TA perf has employees.

thanks for your support,

dirk.

[NTX5467]

In my one foray into "assembly manuals" (a 1970 Camaro assembly manual, which I suspect is somewhat representative of other GM divisions' similar manuals) can be a huge help in many areas. One such area is how the hose clamps are positioned and "clocked" on the hose. Another is how much lubricant goes in a particular location on the vehicle.

Otherwise, there are many pictures of specific subassemblies and assemblies on the vehicle. It will NOT tell you which bolts to put in first or in what order, but can show you where they might go, for example. It can detail how wiring harnesses are routed with particular option combinations, too, but if you paid attention during disassembly, some of these things might not be necessary. It can also have pages for deleted options and option packages, plus show when each drawing was signed-off on and by whom--which can be pretty neat. There can be information in there that you'll not find in a parts book or service manual, too, but it might not amount to much other than trivia.

The earlier GM Chassis Manuals were pretty highly detailed in their illustrations, plus having assembly instructions and such in them. If you want to see how to adjust some things, you'll need the same year's GM Body Service Manual, which covers all GM cars for that year. Another publication you might look for is the "New Product Information Guide"--it will tell what's new and changed for that year from the prior model year.

If you can find a Buick Parts and Illustration Book, which was printed as close as possible to the start of your vehicle's model year, it will have some good illustrations in it, too. The closer the printing date is to the model year, the more information for your model year will be in there . . . plus the original part numbers (before "number changes" later on).

You may not find a Riv-specific DVD per se, BUT there are different vendors of these parts and service information DVDs which have different information in them. One, as I recall, would have the service manual, parts manual, and advertising for that vehicle on it. Another thing to look for is "Licensed by GM" on these DVDs. Still, another thing, is to ask if their illustrations, when you enlarge them on your computer sceen, will remain in smoooth curves and such rather than becoming a bunch of jagged lines rather than a smooth curve.

You might check on some of the ROA parts/literature links for some of these vendors and start asking questions before you purchase anything. I believe there are some literature vendors in the Links section of the BCA website, too, so you might look there, also. I believe that, in the end, you'll need to end up with both a good DVD AND the Buick service literature. With the DVD, you can print the pages you need and take them to the garage with you, not having to worry about harming a precious printed book with greasy fingerprints (or worse).

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467

[Guest Riviera66]

Assembly manuals for Big Buicks are extremely rare. I have been collecting Buick literature for close to 20 years now. In that time I've managed to get assembly manuals for '63, '67, '68, '69, '70,'71,'72,'73, and 74 Rivieras (and by association, Electra and other big buicks). I still haven't seen a '65 but I know one or more exists.

Assembly manuals don't give you a step-by-step instruction to build the car. Rather, they contain a large number of engineering drawings showing what goes where and noting anything that should be done specifically. Some of these same engineering drawings make their way into the various year Shop / Chassis Manuals that Buick produced (usually same drawing, just reduced in size and with part numbers removed for use in the shop manual). Some of the drawings in the assembly manual are very large... pull outs that go to as high as 33" wide by 11" tall. Besides the drawings, there are usually pages that list requirements, paint codes, some instructions, etc. Each manual is typically 500 to 550 pages in length.

So called 'reproductions' of the assembly manual are available for '69, '70 and '72. But having seen a repro and compared it to the original (for '70), these "reproductions" bears little resemblence to the original. The repros are very poor photocopies printed on both sides of the paper to save cost (but which makes them even harder to read). Virtually all the drawings are illegible; the copies are only as good as the first 'master' they made... and that master had to have been done sloppily on a photocopier to lose all the detail contained on the drawings.

Darwin Falk

1966-70 ROA Technical Advisor