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Just Got a '65 Riviera


Brian Riviera

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I have been reading most of the posts here and discovered that there is a great pool of talent and expert advice. My brother and I have just entered the Riviera dream with the purchase of a baby blue '65. I have had a number of classic cars, but this is the first for my brother in a very long time. It looks like I am on the hook for a number of repair items as I'm the family "motorhead".

We are located in British Columbia Canada, and the history of the car indicates it's originally from Florida. The car is in great shape with very little rust and 86,000 "original miles". It is currently in the shop for seals of many varieties as it seemed to leak oil from everywhere. I am currently looking for some parts:

1) Complete air conditioning compressor and parts to make it complete. (car originally had air, but has been removed)

2) Horn button, but I think the wheel is out of a '66. Stainless steel???(I have the cover but the "guts" are missing.)

3) Rear transmission mount. Anybody have a part #?

4) Size and style of the speaker in the front dashboard. (I am installing a CD player in the glove box and would like to upgrade to something decent) Any access details would also be helpfull.

6) Was baby blue a factory color for '65?

7) Any tips on servicing and lubrication of power window assemblies would also be greatly appreciated. (please don't tell me the outer skins have to come off!!)

I am also going do try and diagnose why none of the interior lights are working, as well as the stock AM radio. I have read here that the interior lighting is based on a 3 wire switch at the doors and switches on the ground, does anyone have a schematic for this, as that would be a great help. We intend to join the Riviera's owners association, but have not got that far yet.

I will attach some pictures if anyone is interested. We are both very excited about this new car, and looking forward to working out some of the bugs.

Thanks in advance for your help and replys,

Brian and Paul

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B & P,

Congrats on your purchase. I know you're going to join the ROA, but I'll give you a preview of why, as my buddy Dave says, it's the best restoration bucks you can spend. The ROA website, www.rivowners.org, has a number of links you can access that will answer some of your questions before you join. The really good stuff is in the member's only section; there is a complete catalog of a lot of the things you're asking.

One of the first things I'd do is search the archives of this site using keywords from your questions to initiate the search.

#1 - Old Air Products, San Antonio, TX, USA

#2 - if you can, post a picture, you might have the two-spoke woooden wheel that's missing the horn cap and horn bar. A nice one just sold on Ebay for $840.US.

#3 - there's a complete list of restoration suppliers on the website.

#4 - 6"x9" but it needs a very narrow magnet

#6 - yep, there're paint and option codes on the ROA site; but once again - just like American Express - membership has its priviledges.

#7 - Sorry, You'll need to take the door skins off; not that hard. Again do a search on this site for step by step instructions.

The courtesy light/door jamb switch wiring was discussed a few weeks ago. All lamps have a 12V source going directly to them; the switch completes the circuit by completing the ground. www.clarkscorvair.com has replacement switches.

Good luck and keep us posted.

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Guest ZombyWoof

I was actually going to try to get some ROA and non-ROA folks together late last summer, made a call or two, but that plan went siddeways. Would like to try again, but I have a big (non-vehicular) project on my plate that eats away most of my spare time...need another month or two to make it go away.

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  • 1 month later...

I found a listing for considerably cheaper door jamb switches on rockauto.com at http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframec...Rc1319329k32532

There are two switches listed, one is a two terminal and the other is a one terminal. I don't know which would work but they are about $30 less than Clark's. Anyone know?

AIRTEX Part # 1S4728

2 Terminal Switch Exc. Rear Courtesy Light w/Anti-Theft

$2.27 $0.00 $2.27

AIRTEX Part # 1S1016

w/1 Terminal

$3.74 $0.00 $3.74

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