Factory Markings on an original 65 Riv GS

[Guest carlbraun]

Hello Guys

Some photos of the Riviera with her front fenders off for the first time. Note the really cool factory markings.

There are three types here to see....

#1) the grease pencil "X" on the passenger side firewall.

#2) The number "303" is clearly marked on the driver's side firewall

#3) the neat paper tags marked "2" and "4" that must have been check-off tags to indicate some sort of quality check was performed. Look closely and you may see other remnants of glue where additional paper tags used to be before they dried up and fell off. THESE TAGS ARE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE FIRWALL

See pics below

Has anyone seen these same tags on thier firewall??

[bjfox1970]

Very cool! I would love to see more pics as you tear her down! I am planning on trying to stay as close to factory correct as I can on mine. Mine was a mild custom I'm going to put back to stock.

[Guest Kinmann]

Super cool! Im tearing mine down and was dying to find some paperwork under the seats, under the carpet, etc....but no such luck. Then I took off the front fenders and found some really cool markings with wax pens, etc.

The absolute coolest find so far was when I removed the interior sale panels...someone I assume at the factory wrote down his "Top 10 favorites songs at that time. Awe man...i just looked at it for several minutes and was super WOW'd! what history. Also, there is a poem they wrote down...I tried to find it, but no such luck.

I've said it before....If these cars could talk....what a story they would tell!

The owner of mine had his name stamped into the actual wheel hubs, I tried researching the name with no luck. Could you imagine finding pics ofyour jewel from the 60's and 70's?

Now that would be a treat....Thankfully there's people like us loving and preserving these cars!

[Guest carlbraun]

Super cool! Im tearing mine down and was dying to find some paperwork under the seats, under the carpet, etc....but no such luck. Then I took off the front fenders and found some really cool markings with wax pens, etc.

The absolute coolest find so far was when I removed the interior sale panels...someone I assume at the factory wrote down his "Top 10 favorites songs at that time. Awe man...i just looked at it for several minutes and was super WOW'd! what history. Also, there is a poem they wrote down...I tried to find it, but no such luck.

I've said it before....If these cars could talk....what a story they would tell!

The owner of mine had his name stamped into the actual wheel hubs, I tried researching the name with no luck. Could you imagine finding pics ofyour jewel from the 60's and 70's?

Now that would be a treat....Thankfully there's people like us loving and preserving these cars!

Kinman

i found the dude that owned my Riv back in the eighties. He said he never owned a Verde Green Riv GS but he did own a white one with green interior. I found a bunch of white paint under the green paint but its obvious the white color never made it to the door jams...the fenders were never removed from the car. Maybe an Earl Shieb mask and shoot paint job?

there is a thread on this forum that shows some mist green 65 Riviera back in the day. search the forum and you'll find it

[George Buick Riviera]

The absolute coolest find so far was when I removed the interior sale panels...someone I assume at the factory wrote down his "Top 10 favorites songs at that time. Awe man...i just looked at it for several minutes and was super WOW'd! what history.

Can you please post these TOP ten songs ? That is really cool :-)

[Guest carlbraun]

Can you please post these TOP ten songs ? That is really cool :-)

here are the top tunes of 1965...dont know if any of these made the assembly line worker's list...

1. Wooly Bully, Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs

2. I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch), Four Tops

3. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, The Rolling Stones

4. You Were On My Mind, We Five

5. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin', Righteous Brothers

6. Downtown, Petula Clark

7. Help!, The Beatles

8. Can't You Hear My Heartbeat, Herman's Hermits

9. Crying in the Chapel, Elvis Presley

10. My Girl, The Temptations

11. Help Me, Rhonda, Beach Boys

12. King of the Road, Roger Miller

13. The Birds and the Bees, Jewel Aikens

14. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Mel Carter

15. Shotgun, Jr. Walker & The All Stars

16. I Got You Babe, Sonny and Cher

17. This Diamond Ring, Gary Lewis and The Playboys

18. The "In" Crowd, Ramsey Lewis Trio

19. Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter, Herman's Hermits

20. Stop! In The Name Of Love, Supremes

21. Unchained Melody, Righteous Brothers

22. Silhouettes, Herman's Hermits

23. I'll Never Find Another You, Seekers

24. Cara Mia, Jay and The Americans

25. Mr. Tambourine Man, Byrds

[wildcat1562]

i found a 64-9 on the drivers side of my 65 wildcat, as well as the x under the passanger side of the car

what did these realy mean?

thanks

Greg

[George Buick Riviera]

here are the top tunes of 1965...dont know if any of these made the assembly line worker's list...

Thanks !

[fatbuick]

Found similar paper tags on mine but no writing. Too late to look now because it's got fresh paint on it. 0023

Carl, is your Verde Green Riv one that used to get around Alpine CA?

[Guest carlbraun]

I think the car youre thinking of belonged to Dick Sweeney...not this car. The car I'm working on came from eastern WA and is in great shape overall. The only metal work needed was the drivers floor and that was simply repaired with correct metal in order to keep the factory ribs and the oval knockout plug.

Major parts of this car will be headed to the media blaster next week. The hood, fenders, trunklid, inner and outer doors and misc parts will be blasted with walnut shell material mixed with Garnet...a jagged sharp sand to cut if needed. The main body of the car has been stripped to factory primer.

Once I get the parts back there will be a lot of final prep work to be done before the jambs will be painted, the body panels rehung and aligned and then the car will be painted as a whole unit.

[Guest Rob J]

Carl, please give us lots of pics. I enjoy seeing lots of pics of the work you are doing. I, too, will start a thread soon with lots of pics of my work in progress. The more I've gotten into the restoration of my white 401 car, the more involved it has gotten. I have recently decided to remove the body from the frame so as to really be able to clean and refinish the car more thoroughly. I was hesitant, since I broke most of the body mount bolts on my GS, but all the body mounting bolts came out with relative ease on this car. Getting a lift installed soon in my garage, so that will make things much easier.

All in all, we are in similar stages, so pics, pics, and more pics please.

[lrlforfun]

OK Carl: Be extra careful of media blast with the hood and deck lid. They warp very very easily and unless the guy behind the gun is really an artiste you are looking for trouble. I have 3 hoods and 3 deck lids that the media blast guy, Meyer's Sandblasting, Oakland, CA ruined. All they are good for is a quick paint job on a light colored car.

The other really horrible thing with media blast is that unless the entire vehicle is completely disassembled and is brought to their place as a rolling shell the media gets everywhere everywhere. I probably need to repeat my self here. That media gets everywhere everywhere everywhere. I don't care how much you mask that's how it is.

When I redo my next first-gen Riv I will bring the media guy......nothing. Why take the fenders off? Unless they are wiped out and need to be replaced it makes no sense. The hood and deck lids are way too vulnerable, the door skins are really the only e-z thing that won't get you into trouble and they can be stripped by hand anyway. And because most door skins have that square looking undercoating on the back side it's hard to determine the amount of do-doos that have been filled in, which could make even more work.

So, that's my take from lots of experience. I have built several first gen Rivs and I thought the truth serum was the ticket until I learned some of the pitfalls. Good Luck, Mitch

[Guest carlbraun]

Mitch

thanks for the words of advice. I'll be in your neck of the woods later this week...flying into San Jose to go look at a GTO thats for sale near there.

I'm having the larger panels blasted as the rest of the car undercarraiage amd engine bay restoration has been completed and my body work guy says it will get jacked up if there is media blasting done on the car...like you said it goes everywhere.

I've talked with the media blaster and have stated my concerns. He is highly aware of the potential for warpage as others have been too, and assures me he has done quite a few cars and has never warped a panel yet...we'll see.

He says the walnut shells he uses are condusive to cool blasting and will only use a small amount of Garnet if its needed at all. we'll see how it goes. this guy just did a nice 56 Ford pickup and the big rounded hood turned out great.

I'm mostly concerned with the underside of the hood and trunk lid and wanted that blasted as there is a lot of intricate metal work underneath.

I'll keep everyone posted

thanks again

[Guest Rob J]

How about soda blasting? I've been under the impression that that is the way to go these days in regards to not warping or heating up the metal. I'm not a body man expert, and am in the process of stripping my car in prep for "blasting", so I am still educating myself as to which way is the best way in order to not damage things?