Guest stingray66 Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Greetings Riviera folks!While I've been at the car hobby for quite some time and have owned more cars than I care to recall, I have finally acquired my first Buick, a 1965 Riviera GS. The 63-65 Rivieras were always one of my favorites, so I'm thrilled to have added one to the stable.This particular car I discovered resting peacefully in a warehouse were it had been standing dormant since the late eighties. It's a numbers-matching car, and in spite of it's forlorn cosmetic appearance the car has extremely low miles. Originally black with a green interior, it received it's current low-buck red respray back in the early 80's.Fortunately all of the trim and interior parts were still there, and in fact the PO (who unfortunately passed away shortly after the car had been parked and was preparing the car for yet another cosmetic overhaul) had become somewhat of a Riviera fan as he had apparently been stocking up on Riviera bits and pieces as there appears to be doubles of just about everything, particularly exterior trim and interior pieces.After an oil change, a new battery and a makeshift "fuel injection" system, the car started on the third crank of the starter 20+ years after it had been parked.This forum and it's Riviera experts will be very helpful as I begin the process of putting the old girl back on the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZRIV Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Mark,Welcome. It sounds like you have a very worthy project on your hands with one of the most sought after Rivieras.You may want to consider joining the Riviera Owners Association. Welcome to the Riviera Owners Association Homepage. The benefits you will get especially when doing any amount of restoration on a Riviera will far exceed the $30/year membership. You will find that information and parts sources as well as technical knowledge aren't as readily available for the Rivs as it is for other mainstream classics.While there are knowledgeable people that frequent forums like this, there is much more assistance available through technical advisors in ROA. Good Luck with your new project and keep us posted on your progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stingray66 Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Jason,Thanks, I actually completed my ROA membership just prior to registering for this forum, so now I'll have all kinds of folks I can pester with "where does this thing go?" questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68RIVGS Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Welcome to this forum and the ROA Mark !!Looks like you will be busy for the next while getting this true classic '65 Riviera GS back into pristine shape. There is no shortage of capable members here, and in the ROA, to answer all those questions. Good luck on your project ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim65Riv Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Welcome to the wonderful world of 1965 Rivieras. There are several very knowledgable first generation owners in the metro area who frequent this forum. All you have to do is post your questions.I suggest that you also join the BCA (Buick Club of America - BCA - Welcome). There are also two local chapters of the Buick Club of America (Gopher State & Fireball), both of which are very active and filled with great people. I'm looking forward to meeting you and seeing your car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rivgs Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Mark, Welcome to the forum, I am just east of you in Eagan. If you have any questions. Feel free to ask, there are a lot of knowledgeable people on the forum to help out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 Mark,As everyone previously has said, welcome to the forum and the ROA, and the world of 1st generation Rivieras. As others have said there's a plethora of infomation available here and even more from the Tech Advisors. I can only think of two things to add to what's already been said; 1) find yourself an original factory chassis manual. It's a bible of information. 2) Another real time saver is the search feature of this forum. You are likely to find that someone has already experienced what you're experiencing and the answers are already posted.Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bb1970 Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 Welcome Mark. What do you mean by makeshift fuel injection? If you injected the nailhead you just jumped to superstar status. That is exactly what I want to do next. Well after interior and new wheels and tires. But it's on the list!! Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelman Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 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":). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick91914 Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 A worthy project. Please register your car with the '65 Riviera Gran Sport Registry. See info in my signature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stingray66 Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 Thanks for the comments guys. Patrick, I will make sure the car gets registered with the 65 GS Registry.Yep, the "fuel injection" was definitely what we call "Fred and Barney" engineering (or some other colorful terms I can't post here).I'm unofficially a member of the ROA (dues sent back on 10\20, still looking forward to my "new member packet" or log-in password for the ROA site).–Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob J Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 Any progress on the car? Looking for a 65 GS project myself as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stingray66 Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 I've been working on it every Saturday, this latest pic shows a rather unorthodox method of gaining access to the underside of the car in preparation for a power washing. That's my good pal Bob at the wheel of the fork truck. The car hadn't seen sunlight in nearly 30 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob J Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 Holy Moly, that looks kind of scary there with the fork lift. Be careful!!!Is the car complete? Did you verify all the ID's on the car to make sure it is a real Gran Sport? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stingray66 Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 Yes, it's a numbers-matching GS, I have complete documentation back to the day it was purchased.The car is now safely back on solid ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob J Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 Not to be too nosey, but just to try and gauge the market. Would you mind telling me what you paid for the car? How is the body, is it rust free? I am looking at a claimed GS (still have to inspect all the ID tags) The car appears to be complete, with nothing missing, but it is a very rough, rusty body. If it is indeed a GS, I may buy it for the right price, and just use it for it's GS specific parts and running gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stingray66 Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 (edited) My suggestion would be to use the search function in this forum as I'd bet there are several previous posts regarding buyer's tips or pricing guidelines from many of the Riviera experts that frequent this site. Edited November 18, 2010 by stingray66 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seafoam65 Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 (edited) I've been looking at some of the interesting threads from many years ago and I thought I'd bring this one up for those who haven't ever seen it. This thread is very curious because the guy joins the forum and the ROA and claims he is excited to be restoring his GS and is looking forward to asking questions on the forum and he literally disappears after 25 days and 8 posts. The main reason I dragged this up is the picture of how he is cleaning the undercarriage without a lift. That is the craziest scariest most insane way to lift a car I have ever seen. My theory is that he was using the forklift and the car fell on him, that's why he was never heard from again! Edited February 27, 2019 by Seafoam65 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC1968Riviera Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 On 11/17/2010 at 10:38 PM, stingray66 said: I've been working on it every Saturday, this latest pic shows a rather unorthodox method of gaining access to the underside of the car in preparation for a power washing. That's my good pal Bob at the wheel of the fork truck. The car hadn't seen sunlight in nearly 30 years. This is super CRAZY! I assume he left the car in neutral with the front wheels near the edge of the loading dock, lifted the front end with the fork lift and backed the fork lift away from the dock. I don't see a safety chain or anything to keep the forks from slipping from under the car. Winston, I suspect you may be right, he must have killed himself under this jerry-rigged setup! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelman Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 What a waste of a good GS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seafoam65 Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 As crazy as that picture is, I saw something even crazier about a month ago on the internet. There was a guy on you tube that was showing how to winterize your cabin cruiser and he had his 16,000 pound 37 foot cabin cruiser in dry dock in his driveway at home and he was using concrete blocks to hold it up off the ground instead of the proper heavy duty screw jacks. In the video he was lying on his back on his concrete driveway with his 16,000 pound boat perched a few inches above his chest while he chatted away explaining how he had repaired the keel on the boat.. It was frightening as hell to watch.......I'm sure he's probably dead by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyntre Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 I think it’s something in the food we are eating because common sense seems to be becoming less and less prevalent these days ,,, and OBVIOUSLY IN 2010 !! NATURAL SELECTION .... more air for me to breath !!!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychostang Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Well, he did post 7 years ago on Jan. 23, 2012, looking for a centerlink! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsgun Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Someone probably made him an offer he couldn't refuse. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr914 Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 his car certainly was pretty rough, AND a color change! Maybe he just faced the facts and gave up on it. First generation cars are still very reasonably priced as opposed to restoring a car like his. GS or no GS 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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