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1958 Limited Four Door Riviera


Smartin

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Congratulation with one of Buicks real flagships of the 50s .

I have a question to all of you on this treadh, did Buick have a four note horn as an accessory in 58? The reason I am asking, is that I have a friend of mine, that say they came later in the early 60s (63 - 64) on the Top models as Electra, Riviera. Some others told me that they where pretty sure that Cadillac might had a model called trumpet horn allready in 58.

Thanks!

Jorn (Topper 1961)

Junior member

1957 Buick Century Model 63

1957 Buick Century Model 66R

Edited by Topper1961
correction in text (see edit history)
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I'll call or pay him a visit on Monday. He's always been really good to me, and fast. He mentioned that when I dropped off my second load of parts that so did half the rest of the world...so I think he was buried in the past week or 2.

A lot of machine work gets done up north (I guess St Louis is north) in the winter, whether it's for stock cars, racing or restorations.

I can't clean a block but I can do all of my own measurements thanks to an excellent engines teacher at Linn State Tech (Linn, Missouri).

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Guest Rob McDonald

JEEZ, don't jinx the job with outrageously ambitious deadlines. I mean, really - ten years is rushing it and quality is sure to suffer. Just celebrate each time you get out to the garage and crack open your toolbox, which I haven't done for way too long. This holiday week, maybe?

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I took a bunch of the front end sheet metal (wheel houses, splash pan, fan shroud, etc) to the blaster today...I envision some major metal patching in my near future. A couple of those pieces are pretty eaten up.

I found a good match to the metallic blue in the interior parts. There are 2 shades, this is the darker one. I still need to find a match for the lighter shade. I shot paint on the lower steering column cover to see how it would turn out. I'm pleasantly surprised.

All of the relays were still attached to the front wheel house, so I had to pull all of those before I took them to the blaster today. I ended up cleaning and detailing all of them, as well as the clock, and hood latch.

Lots of random stuff done this week...

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Hei!

I have done the same job as you are doing no, only six years ago.

Same car, same colors, less rust. Hope the picxtures may give you an idea abouth howe your work will look one day.

I live in Norway and here I am able to drive on the air-poise suspention, we have done what Buick should have done in 1959-60 instead of giving up and changing to coil springs.

Good luck forward on your job, i will follow you with interest, let me know if there is anything I can do to help you.

Regards from Finn

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Hei Adam!

Yes the Blue Mist is very nice, i ofte get the question "is the car wet?" from people that see it for the first time, it`s the mist function.

The pictures i sendt you is old, I have since then installed the air condition, blows ice cold, not that is so needed in Norway.

I will update the pictures over next weeken and send some from the air-poise system.

Good luck in your work , it will be an amecing car for sure.

Finn

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Factory, original parts, i did send it to Classic Auto Air "sales@classicautoair.com" in Tampa, it came back like new, with corect oil and all the original stickers on it I also gave them the hoses to make new ones, had a bit of truble before I found a container with R12 freon, it is no longer in production and the new ones does not cool as good, but you can also use R up to 21 i think, the gays in Classic will tell you. Be sure to use the parts you took off the car, there is several parts that look almost the same but that is different on a air cond. car, for example the fan starts automatic when you turn on the air cond, importen for not overheeting the coolant.

Finn

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Thank you Derek!

You have a lot of cars I can see, as my name indicates I am into Limited and have four of them, six 1958 Buick`s all thougheter.

Right no I am working on a 1958 Caballero, just done the welding and are no putting on the doors and front clip to see that ewerything still fits.

Finn

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Guest Rob McDonald

FINN, either you do an awesome job with Photoshop or you've got a serious problem. You should see a doctor about that. =>:^]

All those extended quarter panels remind me of a '57 Cadillac that I saw many years ago. Someone had stretched the rear quarters by about the same amount as the Limited - but not the trunk lid. In the resulting well between the taillights, they'd installed a continental kit! The regular rear bumper, with filler panels each side of the spare tire, capped off the end of the car perfectly. It was bizarre but so well done, I wondered at the time if it was factory-built.

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The blaster had his way with some of my front end sheet metal the other day. Looks like I need to fire up the welder! I had repaired the other side in the Winter of 08...this one was left for later.

swiss_cheese.jpg

All of the wheel house metal, splash pan, and fan shroud got blasted on Saturday. Everything turned out nice, with the exception of this piece, and the splash pan. There is a small area on the pan that needs to be replaced. Ahhh yeah I almost forgot....battery tray has a few pin holes in it, too.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I now have a Super parts car sitting in the driveway with good glass, doors, and several other usable parts I'll be scavenging from it in the next couple of weeks. I already have completely stripped the interior with the exception of the dashboard. It didn't come with a front clip or engine/trans. Lots of rust...the frame is buckling in several spots.

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Yes, I got several parts off before the snow hit...but I spent 2 hours digging it out this evening, along with the rest of the driveway.

I picked up the block this afternoon. It's ready for assembly. I just need some room to work in the garage. It's starting to clutter up with Super parts. Time to figure out how to store this stuff!

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Guest Rob McDonald

ADAM, ooo, bet the neighbours are happy to see another gem in your driveway. Don't dig it out, dig it under, so they won't be calling Bylaw Enforcement until about April.

I really need a parts car, not for the parts but as a model of how the heck I took my car apart, commencing over thirty years ago. My little sketches in baggies of tiny parts and faded notes on dried masking tape are not looking entirely adequate for the upcoming resurrection.

I saw a newspaper story about a car show near here last summer, including a photo of a Biscay Blue '57 Roadmaster Model 73. That was the first I've seen of another one of these beauties in this part of the world, since my own parts car was crushed sometime in the 1980s. Must find the owner of that car and offer him free winter storage in my garage.

Edited by Rob McDonald (see edit history)
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If I had space, I probably would have pulled the trigger on the '58 special that just ended on Ebay for $500. Unfortunately, my step son's non-running '03 Taurus is taking up my available space out of the law's eye.

It will be gone by spring one way or another. :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

The engine is 85% assembled! I just got a coat of paint on the lifter cover/valley pan so I can install the intake tomorrow evening. Then I can install the oil pan and bomb it with some more green paint!

Assembling the short block was much easier than I had anticipated. The ring compressor was a pain to work with, though. Clearances on bearings are spot on...nice and smooooooth!

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