History of car

[Guest daidock]

Hi. Can anyone help with any history for my '63 please? She was imported to the UK from Texas in 2007. The title papers showed last owner was a Mr Conley in Corpus Christi. US tag number was FYW 94T. Chassis number is 7J1070513. Body is FB24661 build week 03B (March 63?) in Flint. Original colour was Desert sand. I'd be interested in any info if anyone knew the car whilst still in the States. If Jim's still collating data, she has deluxe interior, AC, remote mirror, cornering lights, spare wheel on trunk floor, power aerial, vacuum trunk release, tinted glass. Also, paint appears to be pearlescent. I'm guessing that Arctic White was a flat finish? Many thanks. Dave.

[Jim Cannon]

Hi. Can anyone help with any history for my '63 please? She was imported to the UK from Texas in 2007. The title papers showed last owner was a Mr Conley in Corpus Christi. US tag number was FYW 94T. Chassis number is 7J1070513. Body is FB24661 build week 03B (March 63?) in Flint. Original colour was Desert sand. I'd be interested in any info if anyone knew the car whilst still in the States. If Jim's still collating data, she has deluxe interior, AC, remote mirror, cornering lights, spare wheel on trunk floor, power aerial, vacuum trunk release, tinted glass. Also, paint appears to be pearlescent. I'm guessing that Arctic White was a flat finish? Many thanks. Dave.

Hi, Dave!

As it turns out, I already have this car in my database.

Original color code is on your data plate. Can you post a close-up picture of it?

You are right 03B is March 1963. In fact, it is the 2nd week of March (that's what the B means).

My database says that the factory color code was AA (Regal Black).

My last owner of record was Allan Nagy in Georgia.

[Guest daidock]

Hiya Jim. Pic of ID plate attached. It's not so good so I'll just add what it shows here as well.

03B

Style 63 4747

FB24661 Body

RR paint (definitely RR not AA)

Trim 798

ACC D 16 N2 S 24

There was a deep paint chip, right down to the steel, where I could see that it had once been a beige type of colour but no indication of black. The title cert was issued to Mr Conley in 1993 and previous owner was Premier Auto Sales, Corpus Christi, Texas. Thanks for your help. Dave.

[Jim Cannon]

You are right, it is PAINT RR. I found my error. My database has a car in it FB24461 and it got entered as 24661 (your FB number). I have corrected that.

You have a nice car here.

The TRIM 798 is Saddle Leather & Vinyl on the seats. Finding proper reproduction of that pattern is hard. Everyone wants to just sell you solid tan leather, but that is not what Saddle is.

The D is the radio; it does not tell you which of the 3 radio options the car had. When it has the AM-FM radio, as your car does, then it should also have the electric antenna (which you do, so it probably came like that from the factory). This is a little detail that people overlook when they add an AM-FM radio to a car that did not originally have one.

The I6 is Tinted Glass all around (not just windshield). About 65% of Rivs had that in '63.

N2 is the Air Conditioning. This was a pricey option (adding about 10% to the car's price). About half were A/C equipped.

The S without a number is a bit odd... someone at Buick had a hangover that day and did not get the full code stamped out. I would bet it should be S7, which is the remote side mirror option. About 80% of the new cars had that leaving the factory, plus I am sure dealers added several more.

And finally you have a Z4 (not 24). That is your remote trunk release. A very handy feature found in just over 40% of the Rivs.

Later models after you have the spare up on the shelf in the trunk, which is a better place for it (takes up less package space from you).

[Guest daidock]

Many thanks Jim! That all matches up fine. radio still works too, although if I turn the volume up I get feedback. Quite bizarre. That's another job to do along with fixing the antenna (motor works but drive cable bust). Cheers. Dave

[RivNut]

Make sure there's a noise suppressor connected to the distributor.

Ed

[Guest daidock]

Thanks Ed. It doesn't sound like the rapid click/buzz you get from the ignition, it's like microphone feedback. Comes in when you turn volume beyond about a quarter way. Had been working ok but isn't a major problem. I shall enjoy taking it apart in any case! Cheers. Dave

[steelman]

Thanks Ed. It doesn't sound like the rapid click/buzz you get from the ignition, it's like microphone feedback. Comes in when you turn volume beyond about a quarter way. Had been working ok but isn't a major problem. I shall enjoy taking it apart in any case! Cheers. Dave

Check your speaker, assuming you are still running the stock 63 single speaker. As the material in the speaker deteriorates with age, this could be the problem. Low volume OK and an echo increasing proportionally when the volume is increased is most likely a speaker issue, not a radio issue.

[Guest daidock]

Thanks Steve. That's interesting 'cos I recently had the speaker and grill out when I had the seat and shelf out. It is the original. I'll check it out at the weekend. Dave.

[RivNut]

If it is your speaker, check the archives and see what's in there about replacing Buick's 10 ohm speakers with the ones you'll find at Best Buy, etc. There are places that still sell the 10 gm speaker, there are some later model cars that still use a GM 10 ohm 6"x9" speaker, and you can rebuild speakers with readily available kits.