George Buick Riviera Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I liked your engine sling so much I bought one just like it off amazonFunny, this is real globalization ....I have here exactly the same tool ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZRIV Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Gerry, e-mail me the pics, and I can post them. Thanks for the referral on these guys, as I have two sets of Buick wheels I need restored. Jason, please post pics when you get your wheels back.my e-mail is robert@digital-artsav.comGot all five wheels today and opened each box with hesitant anticipation knowing if there is a problem it won't be easy to get corrected being so far away. All five wheels look phenomenol. Its hard to believe they are the same ones I sent. I had to check the date codes to be sure. I'll try to post before and after pics if I get a chance. There are zero polishing or grind marks which is amazing considering the rust pitting that was on the face. The chrome finish appears to be of very high quality with excellent depth and consistent smoothness.They even painted the inserts which I "assumed" they wouldn't do and never questioned it. Even the paint job meets my high level of expectation. Unfortunately they are black so I'll have to redo them in gray. I'm sure they would have painted using the gray had I asked them to.So as I said in another post these guys would be heros if the wheels came back to my expectation and they are in my book. Shipping both directions was $335. Tough pill to swallow but seeing the quality makes it irrelevant. So total bill was $1460.Thanks Ted for the excellent recommedation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob J Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Sounds great Jason. I'm really looking forward to before and after pics of those wheels. I've got two sets that need re-chroming.Rob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rsmalling Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 yeah those wheels sound beautiful Jason! Cant wait to see some pics. Its a chunk of dough but worth it for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob J Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Project Update:Got all the old bushings, balljoints, bearings ect. all removed from the chassis parts. Got the frame, rear axle housing, and major suspension pieces all blasted by a local blaster, and today, I epoxy primed the frame, rear axle housing, and other suspension pieces. Should shoot the Chassis Black soon, then on to reassembly time. Looking forward to actually starting to put things back together. Lots of tedious and time consuming work cleaning, blasting, and wire wheeling all the little small parts and pieces. Here's the pile of all the old suspension and brake pieces removed that will get trashed.Rear axles reconditioned, and the new bearings pressed on. (My 12 ton press sure came in handy on this project)Before:After:Frame, suspension, and rear end pieces back from the blaster.Frame and rear axle housing freshly epoxy primed.Small pieces cleaned and detailed.More to come soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mt65riv Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 That's a busy dang day! Nice work. Your neighbors must love you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZRIV Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Very nice work - Looking good! I recall when I did my frame I stored it on its side along the wall in the garage so it wouldn't take up a whole bay while I was restoring everything that goes on it, then when suspension, eng and trans was all complete I layed it down and started assembling. It was a bit discouraging for months because I was putting in a lot of hours with no real visible sign of progress but then within a couple weeks the whole chassis was assembled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rsmalling Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Rob,Super Job! I really enjoy the pictures. You are moving right along with your project. Its great to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob J Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 (edited) Update: Been raining the last couple of weekends here, so my progress has been slowed a bit. But, finally was able to paint my frame, continue to clean and recondition-rebuild parts, received my Steering box back from Lares, my center link back from Rare Parts, and started bolting parts back on the frame. It's nice to at least begin to start putting things back together. Once I get the chassis a bit further along, the engine and tranny re-builds will be next. Still a long way to go, but at least I'm starting to see clean and shiny parts.Rebuilt steering box back from LaresCleaned, Blasted and painted Rear Brake parts.Before and after of rear Upper Control Arm with new Bushings installed from Rare Parts. Edited April 29, 2012 by Rob J (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rsmalling Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Lookin' Great Rob! Awesome photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob J Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 (edited) A bit more progress. Been a bit slow progressing the last month or so due to work, kids, ect. But, there has been some progress.Chassis is coming along. All new rear control arm bushings from Rare Parts installed, new springs from Coil Spring Specialties, new shocks from CARS, new Track bar bushings from Classic Buicks. New Brake lines from Inline Tube. Every part was taken completely apart, blasted, repainted with Eastwood Chassis Black, and reinstalled.Transmission Case stripped, cleaned, and painted with Eastwood Alum-BlastTransmission rebuilt and back from AAMCO Edited June 21, 2012 by Rob J (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rsmalling Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Very Very Cool RobJ! You are doing a fine Job on your 65! I need you to come out here and do all my rear bushings! :cool:I hear ya on having a slow down in production, its hard having a life and bringing a Rivi back to life at the same time! You have it going on man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alini Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Cant wait til you get this updated so I can see how close I am to catching you I should be painting frame this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob J Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Chris, will get some updates soon. Since the summer is so hot and humid here in Miami, and I was extremely busy work wise, progress was a bit slow this summer. Engine will be finished soon, so I should be updating soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alini Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Im not trying to race you, just Im on your shirt tails with my build, which has helped immensely with my project watching your pictures and kind of following your lead.But my car will be better than yours when I'm done just kidding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob J Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 (edited) OK folks, finally an update on the last 10 months of progress. Got my engine back from the machine shop. The longblock is finally all assembled, and here it is with a fresh coat of paint sprayed this weekend. Most of all the engine accessories have been cleaned, blasted, reconditioned, and painted awaiting to be bolted back on the engine. Got my radiator recored as well. You have no idea the amount of hours of work have gone into rebuilding the engine and all of it's associated parts. Lots and lots of work, but things so far are coming out beautifully. Got my wheels back from the re-chromer, and got a new set of Diamond Back Classic Tires. Now, I have to get the tires installed on the rims, then I'll have a roller. Once that is accomplished, I have to rejoin the engine and tranny, and drop it in the chassis. I was hoping to have sent the body off to the body shop by now, but haven't been able to. Some home projects (pool construction mainly) have taken away the availability of paint and body funds, so I'll have to wait a bit longer to recoverHere are some pics. Of course I'll be putting in a set of fresh spark plugs. LOL. Edited May 6, 2013 by Rob J (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob J Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 Here's some pics of the brakes complete. And, the rebuilt carb.Parts actually look better in person. The camera flash makes the indoor pics look like crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rsmalling Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 Very Cool Rob! You are doing a fine job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatbuick Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Beautiful work Rob. Keep it upAre those rallye wheels new or did you have them re-chromed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 What brand / model / size tire is that? From whom did you get it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob J Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Tony, the wheels are re-chromed originals.Ed, the tires are from Diamond Back. They are the Diamond Back II's 225-75-15's. The tires are made by Toyo, then Diamond Back smooths the front wall of the tires, and vulcanizes a White Wall stripe on the tire the width of your choice.Diamond Back Classic Radial Tires Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted "Wildcat65" Nagel Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Tony, the wheels are re-chromed originals.Ed, the tires are from Diamond Back. They are the Diamond Back II's 225-75-15's. The tires are made by Toyo, then Diamond Back smooths the front wall of the tires, and vulcanizes a White Wall stripe on the tire the width of your choice.Diamond Back Classic Radial Tiresvery nice, I am running the same tires on my riv. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIVNIK Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 hey Rob! Space Coast Plating in Melborne is a couple hours north of you....they have a great reputation & are the place to go for chrome in cent. Fl......nice work, Drew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest loadmaster Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Hey Rob,The car is really taking shape ! Thank you for posting all this information for other Riviera owners to learn from. IF I win the lottery before my '65 Gran Sport sells, I'll be looking back for cosmetic resto/detailing tips. Keep up the good work ! BTW, I've listed my GS in the AACA Buick for sale forums...Take care,Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob J Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 UPDATE: OK, after months of not being able to do anything on the car due to a crazy summer and other boring stuff, I have FINALLY have been able to allocate some time to her the last couple of weeks. Got my torque convertor back from the rebuilder, got the engine and tranny married, and got them stuffed back in the chassis as they were done almost 50 years ago by Buick. After dropping in the motor, I have been working on getting the rest of the engine and tranny related parts and pieces back together. She's finally coming along, and she's finally a roller.I ordered a Waldron's exhaust system, so when that comes in, I'll be installing the exhaust system, and I should be ready to fire her up soon. I plan on starting and breaking in the motor on the chassis as sits before I put the body back on the frame. Unfortunately my body is still sitting on the body stand where I placed it almost two years ago, but I will be sending it out to the paint and body shop before the new year. If all goes well and as planned, I am hoping to have the car mostly complete in the next year or so. We'll see if I can pull it off.Here are some recent pics. I'll pull the chassis outside and take some better pics once I get the exhaust system in, and installed. Chassis is close to being complete. Hoo-ray!!!!!!It's amazing to me looking at the older pics above when I took the body off the frame, and looking at the chassis, motor, and trans now. They look brand freaking new. Hard to believe its the same chassis.Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rsmalling Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 Its a Work of Art! Great JOB Rob!!! You'll be sporting that ride around in no time. Sweet. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZRIV Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 Looking awesome Rob. Great to see the progress. Let us know how the exhaust system install goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRiviDad Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 (edited) Rsmalling: Hello, Nice to see you on here. Glad u kept your Riv after Pomona. RobJ: looking beautiful. You've inspired me to start a thread with pics of my build progress. Only thing is your build looks like you know what your doing lol I'm afraid I might get banned for some of the choices I've made on my build. I noticed u have the alignment shims in your upper control arms. Is that just to get it close to where it was when u pulled her apart? Or was it aligned without all the weight of the car?Regards,David Edited December 18, 2013 by RockinRiviDad (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRiviDad Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Rob, is that kick down switch brand new or did u rebuild it? Is that steel vacuum line along side your trans dipstick tube new or did u clean up the original? If new, where did u buy them from? Regards,David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob J Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 (edited) Those are all the originals that were on the car that I restored.I'm fairly certain that Inline tube has the tranny modulator vac hard line. BTW, I have made more progress since these pics, need to update. I'm taking some much needed time off for the holidays, and will hopefully get more work on the car done as well. Looking forward to it. Edited December 19, 2013 by Rob J (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRiviDad Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 Thx Rob. Ok I have the originals I will restore them too. I won't buy from the inline tube guys again (brake lines I bought were not what they promised)Looking forward to more pix of your progress. Can't to see your exhaust installed. I am following your lead. As long as I stay two steps behind u then I know things will turn out good lolGot photo bucket thing kind of figured out too thxRegards,David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRiviDad Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 How's it going Rob? The holidays are over…it's time to get back to work lolDavid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mikael Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 (edited) Hi there, Rob,if I remember correct, you found a new air cleaner decal somewhere. Where did you find that, with small diameter like your original and what would be a specific code to order? I would need one for my own restoration. 1965 Riviera with 401. I already bought one from CARS, but chose a wrong one, D92A-4. It's been great to follow your posts.Mikael Edited March 18, 2014 by Mikael Checked spelling etc (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cshuey425 Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Bummed this thread ended so long ago. I was hoping to see the final product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seafoam65 Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 (edited) Yes, what happened........did Rob J fall off a cliff? Just once I wish someone would do a stock resto post on a 65 and actually finish it and not give up or disappear from the face of the earth. Edited August 14, 2018 by Seafoam65 (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 On 8/14/2018 at 3:24 PM, Seafoam65 said: I wish someone would do a stock resto post on a 65 and actually finish it and not give up or disappear from the face of the earth. This way to the final Riviera parts. Why horse shoes are a symbol of good luck. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seafoam65 Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 (edited) These resto blogs always end in the same place.......the body is removed and set aside, then the chassis, engine and trans and rear end and suspension are restored to show standards........then the restorer just falls off the face of the earth. I have three theories.......the neighbors get tired of the noise and paint fumes coming from their neighbor's driveway and in the middle of the night they quietly murder the restorer and make it look like a robbery gone bad, or the wife gets fed up with the project and informs the restorer that from now on it is her way or the highway, and the whole unfinished mess is sold to the first person who answers the for sale ad for ten cents on the dollar, and the wife keeps the proceeds, OR.................the wife murders her husband and is soon featured on an episode of Dateline. In this month's Hemmings, a 65 GS Riviera is for sale that is sitting in a million pieces with the chassis restored and nothing else done.......Hmm where have I seen this before? Here's a shoutout to Jason Zerbini who actually completed one of these restos on his 66 GS Riviera.......AND........... he managed to stay married! The special 65 Cadillac Bronze GS Riviera was recently finished to best of show standards, but that doesn't count because a resto shop did the work. As an aside, I actually completed one of these frame off restos on my 69 GTO convertible, but lost my first wife about the time I was wrapping it up! To this day I have no clue why she left! Edited August 15, 2018 by Seafoam65 (see edit history) 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRiviDad Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 8 hours ago, Seafoam65 said: wife gets fed up with the project and informs the restorer that from now on it is her way or the highway This pretty much sums up the rumor I last heard about Rob J’s build…not sure of details 8 hours ago, Seafoam65 said: I actually completed one of these frame off restos on my 69 GTO convertible, but lost my first wife about the time I was wrapping it up! To this day I have no clue why she left! Sorry to hear about your loss. I’m sure the GOAT had nothing to do with it…haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 I'd like to see it finished as well, I started reading this thread back in 2012, WAY before I even owned a Riviera. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 You've got your mechanics and your body men in the hobby. I have seen a lot of mechanics restore a very nicely detailed chassis. I have seen a lot of body guys driving some nice shiny cars that don't steer, start, or stop. I wouldn't hesitate to jump into one of my cars and drive it a couple thousand miles to a meet. But when I get there someone would say "When are you going to paint that fender?" "Well, I bought a quart of paint two years ago but I didn't want to be called the guy with the tutone white Buick." Seems like it is always one or the other. Bernie 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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