1965 Riviera Barn Find

[Don McClair]

My dream car has always been the 1965 Riviera and November of 2009 I found one that had been sitting in a basement garage for 23 years here in Georgia. The owner became the second owner in June of 1966 and in the fall of 1986 his wife had a fender bender involving the left front fender. The Riv was placed in that garage and taken apart and somewhere along the line interest was lost and it remained there out of the elements. He had purchased another front fender and a lot of other parts but sadly he passed away in 2009. His wife was selling off his car collection and I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I got the car for a song and I can't sing, but after a little time spent working with it I was able to get it started and after a couple of quarts of transmission fluid, I was able to drive it on the trailer for the ride home. One of the things he had done to the car was to drain all of the gas. After replacing the wheel cylinders and master cylinder, boost unit, and all of the brake lines I took it out on the road. I was very pleased with the first drive. Being a Georgia car the only rust was in the bottom of the front fenders. I have since added the rear window defroster, rear center arm rest, AM/FM radio, power antenna, and power vent windows. Replacing the window wiring harness was a lot of work but worth it. One of the biggest challenges was trying to get a shine on the old paint. It had been repainted in 1980 and was very dull. Since rubbing compound would not phase the dullness, I used #000 steel wool, then #0000 and then rubbing compound, cleaner and finally wax and it really had a respectable shine. After a couple of trips including one to Pennsylvania during the ROA meet in Hershey, (it was in the parking lot at the hotel but was not entered in the show) I decided the time was right for a remake. I dismantled the car completely and stripped off all the paint down to bare metal. This past Thursday it was trailered to Woodstock Georgia to the shop of "Then and Now Auto Restorations" for the body and paint work. With the green interior color, color choices are sort of limited but when complete it will be Verde Green with a black vinyl top. I am also cloning the car into a Gran Sport with all of the correct badges twin fours etc.

The one thing that helped me in many ways was this forum. The members comments and also with the help of Tom Mooney and Dick Sweeney have been invaluable. I have added some pictures with the first picture of how it looked in their basement and the last picture of it at "Then and Now" last Thursday.

Thanks guys!

Edited September 13, 2012 by Don McClair (see edit history)

[JZRIV]

Don,

Sounds like a great project and you are doing it right. Good thing it wasn't stored all those years in a real barn or it may have been in a much worse state deterioration! You should have put your car in the show in Hershey. Its more about being out there sharing the pride than it is about getting awards. Cars in all conditions are welcome.

Yes, restoring a Riviera without the assistence of ROA's members, Technical Advisors and member dealers is very challenging. Every Riv I've seen restored or "fixed up" by a non ROA member has multiple issues along with stories of frustration by the owner that could easily have been solved had they been part of the support group.

Good Luck with the rest of the project and keep us updated.

[Don McClair]

Thanks Jason. I wanted to put it in that show but my time was limited. Also, I did not explain above but the main reason for the color change is the 66 Skylark is Sea Foam green and I didn't want a pair of twins. I had another 65 Riviera that was badly rusted out but it had most of the options that I have added to this car which made the additions really inexpensive.

[JZRIV]

I agree having two cars the same color can be boring. I had a 67 Riv GS and 71 Riv GS at the same time. Both white, black top, black bucket interiors. Cool novelty at first but it wore off quickly.

Verde Green ranks high on my list of favorite colors on the 65. Nice choice.

[cjp69]

Mark Reeves and the crew at Then and Now do excellent work, it should look sharp when done!

[1965rivgs]

Dom,

Cool find, pays to be in the right place at the right time. I like your planned color choice. Color is obviously a very subjective issue. You will receive some flak about the vinyl top. Personally I think the Verde green against black contrast will prove stunning, especially in what will obviously be a very "crisp" looking car. Good luck!

Tom Mooney

[Guest rsmalling]

Very Nice Don! Great looking Car

[BadgerRivFan]

Dom,

Cool find, pays to be in the right place at the right time. I like your planned color choice. Color is obviously a very subjective issue. You will receive some flak about the vinyl top. Personally I think the Verde green against black contrast will prove stunning, especially in what will obviously be a very "crisp" looking car. Good luck!

Tom Mooney

Don - I definitely agree with Tom, verde green with the black vinyl top will be awesome. I've see one picture of a car with this combo, and it was sweet. Congrats on your find and keep posting updates with photos!