Help deciphering code on 63, please.

[39mm]

If someone wouldn't mind.

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01E

trim 728J2 DD

ACC D I6 N2 U8 Z4

"This car finished with Majic Mirror acrylic laquer"

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Was "Majic Mirror Acrylic Laquer" finish standard or something special?

Thank you,

Tim

[Jim Cannon]

01E is the build month/week of the body. Yours is 5th week of Jan.

TRIM 728 is Silver leather interior. The J2 is electric drivers seat.

DD is paint color code for Silver Cloud (14% of '63 Rivs were sold new in this color)

Remaining codes are accessories: D=radio, I6=tinted glass all around, N2=A/C, U8=power windows and vents, Z4=remote trunk release

Majic Mirror Acrylic Lacquer was standard finish on the Riv.

On the data plate there should also be a Fisher Body number, of the form FBxxxxx. What is it on your car? I would predict somewhere around 19000.

[RivNut]

Tim,

The numbers that Jim decoded for you reflect modifications that Fisher Body needed to make/add to the base Riviera body. These codes only reflect options that needed something like a hole, a bracket, a clip, or something unique to that particular named option. Things like cornering lights, four note horns, twilight sentinels, and other options forward of the firewall were not coded on this tag, they only required that the guys on the assembly line picked out the correct wiring harness. What other options does your car have? I'm especially curious about which wheel cover it came with.

My car is similarly equipped, built 01D, and has an FB number of 18733.

Your Silver Mist paint w/ silver leather is a great color combination.

Ed

Edited February 6, 2010 by RivNut (see edit history)

[39mm]

Jim, thanks very much and you're right. It's # FB 19353.

[39mm]

Ed, It does have all the things listed on the code plate and I don't know if these others were options but it also has;

power antenna

long arm rests with rear door handles

dual exhaust

Twilight Sentinels-- No

Cornering lights-----No

4 note horn----------No, although I would like to get one, are they hard to find and expensive?

It has an AM only radio. Did these automobiles come ONLY with AM?

At the contol levers it has;

AIR--TEMP--DEFR--REAR-------COURTESY LIGHT--ANTENNA --AIR--COOL

Does the "REAR" signify rear defrost? I don't see any vents below the rear window.

When I bought the car it had wire spoke spinner wheel covers. A real nice set. Then some effer stole them. I have another set now but a bit dented with mis-matched caps. Is it hard to find a good set of covers and what kind of price would I have to pay?

I'm guessing the covers were factory but not sure as I got this car from a guy in California who owned 5 or 6 1st generation Riviera drivers and 5 or 6 parts cars. So the wire covers could have been added by him.

I agree that the silver on silver is an excellent combination as I think the styling of the 1st gen. lends itself to lighter colors. Unfortunately the paint is badly oxidized and faded and is checking in places.

Did the factory interior always have the buttons? I think mine has been reupholstered as it has no buttons and otherwise doesn't look like factory quality, although it is silver and I think, leather. Was wood trim (doors and console) standard or optional?

Engine is a 401.

[39mm]

It also has tilt steering wheel. Was that an option in 63?

[RivNut]

Tim,

The power antenna was an option. Although an AM/FM radio was an option, most cars from the era had AM radios, there weren't many FM stations at the time. My AM radio is also the wonder bar radio. As well as a bar along the tuner of the radio, there's also a button (similar to a dimmer switch) on the floor beneath the brake pedal; depressing either of these will cause the radio to seek the next station. There's a small lever on the radio that allows you to fine tune the sensitivity of the seek function. Because of the placement of the heater and a/c controls, the '63 Riviera had only one radio speaker - between the rear seats.

Cars equipped with the custom interior had full length arm rest with a door handle at the back for the back seat passenger to open the door. The custom interior also included the wood grain panels on the doors and rear passenger side panels.

The "rear" is to duct heat to the rear seat passengers through ducting in the console, there are outlets at the base of the console.

All Rivieras had dual exhausts. I was surprised that because your car had power windows and vents that it didn't have the remote outside rear view mirror; that would have been an S on your data plate.

The four levers above the radio on the left are for the heater. The two on the right are for the a/c.

The two trumpet horns that work with the two sea-shell horns to make up the four note horn option sometimes appear for sale, but when they do, they're very expensive. The horns for '63, had different notes than those from 64, and those from '65. (each year had a different combination of notes) I'll look them up and let you know.

Wheel covers are unique to '63 Rivieras. The standard cover, the wire cover, and the cast aluminum cover all used the Buick tri-shield emblem rather than the Riviera stylized R. The unique thing that separates them from other Buick caps from the same year is that the emblems are siliver on black. The other Buicks used a red/wht/blu emblem. (The hood ornament on the '63 is the red/wht/blu emblem, but that the only place you'll find one on the car. '63 Rivieras also had B U I C K in block letters centered on the trunk lid. 64 and 65 had the script Riviera on the right corner of the trunk.

All Riviera seats, cloth, vinyl, and leather had the buttons in them. Check Calvin Clarks Riviera items to see what the original seats looked like. Calvin has everything copied down to a T. www.corvair.com

The 401 (code JT) engine was standard, the 425 (code JW) was optional. The '63 401 in the Riviera was also unique. For the Riviera only in '63 only, the engine was painted silver, and the air cleaner housing was painted wrinkle red.

Here's the wording on the '63 window sticker that tells what items were standard on the Riviera that were available other cars as options: "Turbine Drive Transmisson (Dynaflow), Riviera Wheel covers, license plate frame, clock, bucket seats front and rear, trunk light, dual exhaust, power steering, power brakes, windshield washer and two speed wipers, back up lights, glare proof mirror, parking brake signal light."

If your car has a tilt column, that too is an option. Hopefully you'll get as many years of enjoyment from your Riv as I have from mine.

Ed

Edited February 6, 2010 by RivNut
correct web address (see edit history)

[39mm]

Thanks, Ed.

[39mm]

Oh, mine does have the remote outside side rear view mirror.

[BadgerRivFan]

The two trumpet horns that work with the two sea-shell horns to make up the four note horn option sometimes appear for sale, but when they do, they're very expensive. The horns for '63, had different notes than those from 64, and those from '65. (each year had a different combination of notes) I'll look them up and let you know.

Ed

Very interesting Ed, I did not know this. This would make a great article for a future Riview...

[RivNut]

Al,

If I did that I'd be guilt of plagiarism. I found that information on the internet a number of years ago. I've communicated with the guy a couple of times, but mostly just read his research.

Here's where I learned about the horns.

Trumpet horn restoration

For other helpful tips, click on one of the links to the left.

The home page is not the one listed. It's www.chip.com/buick

Ed

[Jim Cannon]

Hi, Tim. Thanks for the FB number. I will add that to my database of '63 build dates.

The car may have an outside remote mirror now, but it did not leave the factory with it (as Ed observed, no S code). It was added. 20% of them left the factory without one. Hard to imagine today, when we are used to having one on both sides of the car, but they were not required in '63, even on the drivers side.

Tilt column was an option (cost all of $43 back then -- equivalent to about $300 in today's money). Popular option, over 50% of the cars had it.

The AM/FM radio option was $178 new, equiv. to about $1225 today. Pretty easy to see why not too many cars were sold with one! (I do not have an exact number.) As Ed mentioned, there were not too many FM radio stations broadcasting in 1963, so a lot of money for not much use. As I recall, growing up as a kid, there was classical music on one station, that's all. I guess if you could afford a new Riviera in '63, you might have liked classical music.

[39mm]

Jim, thanks for the info. All very interesting.