1963 Buick Riviera Glove Box Lid

[Guest FrostByghte]

I seem to be in the possession of a 1963 Buick Riviera.

Are there any specific sites or 3rd party vendors available for parts for these cars? Specifically, the glove box lid has some dings on it...and the panel just next to it. I'm not sure what happened, perhaps someone was trying to pry it open at some point. It's not TOO bad so I didn't know if there is anyone that refinishes these items or do I just keep looking for a replacement and hope for the best? Thank you for any help.

Edited September 28, 2011 by FrostByghte (see edit history)

[Guest Birdman]

Ebay is always a great source for parts.

[Guest FrostByghte]

Been looking around there a bit...not sure what all my options are to fix the minor flaws with the car. Just joined the ROA so hopefully can get some good info there as well.

[Guest FrostByghte]

I guess this is the the actual covering on the glove box and the panel next to it. Looks like aluminum perhaps? I'm not sure...would anyone be able to point me at some sort of replacement for this material? Thank you very much.

[RivNut]

The first '63's did not have that finned aluminum verneer on them, nor did any of the other models which, for the most part, shared the dash with the Riviera. Once that aluminum is stretched, tugged, pulled, peeled, whatever, it will never go back. There are no reproductioins. Keep you eyes open for a complete door and replace the entire unit.

Check the classified section in the back of the Riview. There are lots of vendors who are parting out first generation Rivieras.

[Guest FrostByghte]

So this 63 should not have the finned looking aluminium? It looks slightly bad around the entire dash....

I'm just getting into Riviera's. I'm not too worried about staying totally original, but where applicable I would like to honor the original look of the car if I can.

I caught another thread that recommended this material:

Formica Corporation : 4749 Horizontal Corrugated Matte Aluminum

Or was that a joke?

I see a lot with wood grain as well. Just not sure what my options are. I just paid my dues to the ROA, so looking forward to member access and checking out back issues of the Riview!

[Guest Kingoftheroad]

So this 63 should not have the finned looking aluminium? It looks slightly bad around the entire dash....

I'm just getting into Riviera's. I'm not too worried about staying totally original, but where applicable I would like to honor the original look of the car if I can.

I caught another thread that recommended this material:

Formica Corporation : 4749 Horizontal Corrugated Matte Aluminum

Or was that a joke?

I see a lot with wood grain as well. Just not sure what my options are. I just paid my dues to the ROA, so looking forward to member access and checking out back issues of the Riview!

Joining the ROA was a GREAT CHOICE ! You'll find lots of hard to find parts and alot of friendly & helpful people in the ROA.

[RivNut]

After a certain production date, the '63 Rivieras came with the raised rib aluminum verneer on the glove box door, the section of the dash next to the glove box, and the dash surrounding the instrument pods. If there's some of the aluminum on there, then it probably did come from the factory with it. Once you take it off, you've probably ruined it. If the other pieces are okay, just find a replacement door with good aluminum on it.

This was a mid year production change just like the 140 mph speedometer was; (along with some other things throughout the year.)

Ed

PS - That aluminum panel from Formica is 4' x 8' and as Formica's website says it's 'good for structures and display cases.' Just a schmidge too big for a dash board.

Edited September 29, 2011 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Guest FrostByghte]

Ed,

If I am unable to find a good replacement....keep in mind other areas on the panel look BAD imho, do you have any advice for a material I could substitute? Perhaps not matching the stock look but something that would still look good? The veneer stuff is also coming off around the instrument panel somewhat as well.

Honestly I wish I had come to these forums before my purchase, I think I spent a bit too much. But apparently it has a 425 in it that has been rebuilt with a bit of cam put in and other work done...the car runs solid. Underneath it looks good, looks like all the bushings have been replaced and the car drives straight as an arrow. The body doesn't appear to have rust either. The interior was replaced but at some point the original owner appears to have gotten tired of the project and then just got the car ready to sell. So I want to slowly go in and fix all these little stuff...but not really in any rush.

[Jim65Riv]

PM sent.

[bepnewt]

Welcome, FrostByghte!

I'm not sure about your forum handle - if you're down in Altus, then it should be more like HeatExhaustion! It's good to see another Oklahoma resident on the boards, here.

The door on my glove box isn't in the best condition, so I'll be watching this thread to see how you make out on a replacement.

You should add a signature with what car you have and your real name. This is a first-name basis forum - lots of friendly people here.

Also, post a pic as soon as you can; we love pics! Even if it's not ready for a good pic, you should post one so there's a Before and After shot on the board here.

Again, welcome.

-BEPNewt

[Guest FrostByghte]

Thanks Brian...I'll make my sig a work in progress. Google FrostByghte...I've been using it since 1990 or so on the net. Real name is Randy Snow and when I started using BBS's, Compuserv, and other online sources back in the late 80's my nick became FrostByghte mainly because of the last name and I'm a computer geek/Network Administrator.

I'll try and grab a decent shot of the car soon. It's really not bad to look at in a picture, but you get up close and it has a lot of issues. I went ahead and ordered a sample of that formica to just check it out and see how it looks.

Another thing the previous owner appears to have disconnected a lot of the original uh...toggles that are under the dash. I'm not sure why, but I would like to get these working again as well. I guess I just need to get a BIG list together and slowly start attacking it.

[RivNut]

Randy,

On a '63, the levers control the heat and a/c systems. I'm going out on a limb here and taking a WAG that the previous owner didn't disconnect the toggles under the dash. Those toggles are connected to sheathed cables that operate valves and switches under the hood and on the inner fender. My WAG is that, because the toggles are made of pot metal, that the ones that you think have been disconnected may actually be broken. When the valves and switches become frozen, most owners think that by pushing harder, whatever is stuck will break free. What breaks is the pot metal the levers are made of. If they are broken, it might make you feel better to know that the toggles and levers are not Riviera Specific. The same set up was used on the bigger models - Wildcat, LeSabre, and Electra not only in '63 but in '64 as well. The Riv changed in '64 but not the other models. I've rebuilt one for my '63 but it took parts from it and a couple of others to find a good lever for each toggle. If the REMP lever is broken, it's because the temperature control vavle is frozen. No replacement fot that valve either.

If you have a toggle for an electric antenna, you push forward to raise the antenna, pull back to lower it, and it rests in the middle position I'd be more inclined to think the antenna is the culprit if that doesn't work.The courtesy light switch is on and off. If your car does NOT have a/c, the two right toggles open and close the fresh air vents in the cowl.

This will become a labor of love for you just finding out what everything does, what can go wrong with them, what can be found on the aftermarket (very little other than drive train parts) and why you will find that ownig a chassis manual is a good idea. Jim Cannon has some manuals on CD that are most helpful.

Ed

Edited September 29, 2011 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Guest FrostByghte]

Ed,

The situation with the toggle cables is that several appear to be disconnected under the hood. Just went and looked... What I have is this:

Drivers SIDE - Air NC - Temp C (does nothing) - Defrost ? - Rear ? - Courtesy Light C - Antenna ? (I don't even think this is an antenna with a motor) - Air NC - Cool NC

So basically if I put NC that is not-connected and I can visibly see the cable and it works fine. C is connected...I see the cable, it is hooked to something and appears to actually toggle something. A ? means I don't have any clue and don't know where the end of the cable is.

So it's basically a work in progress figuring out what this guy did. The car appears to have a compressor but there is a Pots switch under the dash. When I turn that switch the compressor comes on and Air blows out hot only. I can increase the fan speed with the pots switch. Obviously I'd rather have the toggles working again. I'm just not sure what the reasoning was for the disconnect or if the original equipment is even there to use anymore. I do have a 1963 Chassis guide with the car so plan on digging around in that over the weekend.

There are several little things under the hood no longer connected and I'm not sure what they are. When I was 20 or so I was into cars quite a bit but I'm 41 now and have forgotten a lot so it's going to take time to get back up to speed. From what I can tell those, this is a numbers matching 425 with a rebuild on it. It has some additional cam added, supposedly has 11.25:1 compression pistons and is bored .30 over. It feels solid, no problem with the motor. It has a MSD ignition on it and an electric fuel pump pushing out to a manual fuel pump I guess.

I'm going to really look at it with my father-in-law this weekend and try to start my to-do list. One really annoying thing, with the tilt steering when the wheel is all the way up the driver side blinker is always on...move it down a bit then turn right and the horn honks....move it down a bit more and all works well. So as you can see, I have a lot of good intentions to fix.

[RivNut]

Randy,

The "AIR" lever on the left is the fan speed control. The actual switch is on the passenger's side inner fender. A cable runs from the dash to the switch. As you push it in, you should feel a small step for each fan speed.

The "TEMP" lever is second from the left. The cable for it runs to the temperature control valve which is mounted on the firewall. It is connected to a heater hose.

The "DEFROST" lever has a cable connected to it that runs to the duct work to redirect the air flow to the defroster duct.

The "REAR" lever has a cable connected to it that runs to the duct work to redirect some hot air to vents located on each side of the back of the console for heat to the back seat passengers.

If there's an antenna switch, there's probably an electric antenna. Access to the antenna is from a panel in the front inner fender. Turn the wheels to the right and you'll find a nut that holds the antenna and panel to the inner fender. Take a look and can easily tell if the antenna is a power antenna or not. If you can move it up and down AND there's a motor connected to it, the antenna mast is broken.

Courtesy light should turn on the light over the glove box.

On the right side:

AIR is a cable that controls the fan speed just like on the heat side

TEMP is ditto for the heat side.

The Search link at the top of this page is invaluable. Most of what you're finding out as a newbie, someone else once discussed as well. The problem with your turn signals will be covered by Jim Cannon in an upcoming tech article. It has to do with the housing around the turn signal switch wire having been broken. Jim has a fix for that and we'll just have to wait for it to be published.

Why would anyone want 11.5:1 compression with today's gas is a real guess.

Look on the valley cover surface for the engine production code, it will tell you if you have a 401 or 425. JW for a 425, JT for a 401. The engine serial number to the right of the engine production code should be the same as your VIN (if no one has swapped motors.) Here'a a link that shows where to find the numbers.

Team Buick

Ed

[Guest Riviator]

Years ago, I sent my aluminum off to be restored by a reputable refinisher. They claimed they could do it. Major disaster. They did refund my money immediately. Since then, I've been able to find pieces/panels on ebay and got it all put back together. I also found the Formica on their site. I ordered a sample and it looked pretty good, but did not want to buy a 4x8 sheet. And Formica is not the easiest material in the world to work with. I did see the Formica 4749 in a restroom of a cruise ship and thought about how I could rip a piece off the wall. Good sense prevailed, so I scratched the rip off plan and making due with what I've got.

[Guest rocklyons]

I too have a few small dents where someone apparently tried to open the glove box with a screw driver. It's on my list of repairs as well.

[Guest FrostByghte]

Years ago, I sent my aluminum off to be restored by a reputable refinisher. They claimed they could do it. Major disaster. They did refund my money immediately. Since then, I've been able to find pieces/panels on ebay and got it all put back together. I also found the Formica on their site. I ordered a sample and it looked pretty good, but did not want to buy a 4x8 sheet. And Formica is not the easiest material in the world to work with. I did see the Formica 4749 in a restroom of a cruise ship and thought about how I could rip a piece off the wall. Good sense prevailed, so I scratched the rip off plan and making due with what I've got.

LOL...nice...well I ordered a sample. It does look very good. It isn't an exact match is would be passable. I'll start watching ebay a bit as well. What type of adhesive should I use to attach this and/or repair loose parts?

[Guest FrostByghte]

I'm starting to kick around something like a brushed aluminum or something here to replace the veneer type stuff stuck to the glove box and dash. Been looking for original replacements but haven't really found anything yet, plus I wouldn't mind a different custom look. Will post some photos if I ever decide on anything.

[CheezeMan]

Randy,

Any update on the ribbed aluminum? I've been looking for better pieces as well to fix my scratched ones.