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My 65, another build to follow


RockinRiviDad

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Hello, this is my 65. I have owned it for 22+ years but it sat parked for 13 years. I am one year into my resto-mod and I apologize for not posting a build thread sooner. Forgive me but I originally got the vibe that some of you guys (purists) may not like what I was doing (not staying 100% original) to such a beautiful car. Thanks to a few members who advised me otherwise and with the inspiration of the builds I have followed this year (Rsmalling, Rob J & Alini to name a few thank you for posting) here it goes

I really like this forum...I've been lurking and found lots of help already...I see some guys post their step by step build on multiple forums at once (that seems like a ton of work but prob multiplies the info gathering). I will update with pics and write ups... I hope you guys enjoy and thank you in advance

before the start...this is how it sat for 13 years without the engine in it. Note the nose high stance. I am trying to catch the interest of my 11 y/o son but video games are all kids care about today. Cool Hide-a-key find in the inner-fender/fender. My original plan was to rebuild the engine myself...got cold feet and sent it out instead. So I thought I would use the machine shop build time to clean up the engine compartment (fire wall, cross member, inner fenders, core support and tops of suspension components and frame for paint...) "can of worms" effect set in quickly. More to come...

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Edited by MrEarl
change title per request (see edit history)
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these pics are from back in January. everything got power washed, scuffed up with sandpaper and taped...all in prep for paint. lots of things started to come off...(remember can of worms?) i was gonna go the rattle can route which I tested on that core support section you see. guys here suggested Rustoleum 7777...i liked the sheen.

pic of my son getting ready to pull the bumper...yea more things coming off

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you totally crack me up Bernie...thx for your humor

I am having a really hard time uploading pics from my computer to continue this thread. I seem to have better luck doing this from my phone app. Do you guys have any suggestions since all the pics are on my computer now. I would have to email pics to myself that I want to post, retrieve them, save them to my phone, then attach them to the post thru the app. Doable but I thought the computer route would be easier...not so far

Edited by RockinRiviDad (see edit history)
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Across the top of the reply box, fourth from the right end, is Insert Image. Go to brouse. Pick your computer, pick your hard drive and the pics you want to load. I generally look through my picture folder, as it is huge, and copy the ones I want to paste in my reply to my desktop so I can find them easy. You may already be doing this and it doesn't work, but it does for me.

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Thanks Steve. I have been using that tab but as soon as I select most pics it shows an "x" next to them. I learned quickly by trying multiple times that those pix with an "x" won't load from my external hard drive. I will try it like U said by transferring them to the desktop first. Thx

Here are pix (posted using my phone) of the motor during assembly at the machine shop. I can't find the before pix prior to sending it off. If I can find them later in the ocean of my wife's pix I will edit this post & add them.

Maybe someday when I grow up I will be able to build a motor just like these guys lol

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Regards,

David

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Another thing you might try is reducing the size first, if the file size is too large it will not upload either, maybe? What I usually do is make a copy of what I am going to post, use some kind of photoshop software and reduce its size, and upload that copy. It makes for "lots" of pictures on your computer but I never delete any of my original pictures. You might give that a try?

HTH

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David,

If it's Windows, I can guide you through a really easy way to post pictures.

Ed

Ed, no I am using a Mac. But thank u anyway.

Randell, this app I'm using has given me a sizing option before. Now it seems to have done the sizing thing automatically. On my last post the pix are def smaller when I view them on my phone.

How do they look on your end guys?

Regards,

David

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David, use a photo hosting service, and link the photos here. Easiest way to do it. I use photo bucket. BTW, I'm a Mac user as well. Would never go back to PC. I'm forced to use Windows 8 for work stuff, and it blows!!!

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Thx slosteve, I found the car here in So Cal, in a small town just outside of the San Fernando Vally.

Back when I was a kid I worked at a small "mom & pop" minor mechanic lube shop, great place to start for a kid. The shop was on a busy intersection where my boss had his buds park their cars with for sale signs on them occasionally. Lots of cool cars exchanged hands at that shop. One morning when I showed up for work that's where I found my 65. I'd never seen anything like it, didn't know the year, make or model of the car……really didn't care…as a young kid looks were everything (kind of still true today right..kind of lol) and she was beautiful. All I could think about was "how am I gonna make her mine" & "can I take the for sale sign off of her while I figure it out". My boss saw the gleam in my youthful eyes & let me squirm for most of the morning. 1200 bucks is what his friend wanted for the Riv…I didn't have that kind of cash…so my boss made me an offer…loan me $1200 if I agreed to paid him back $1500…no brainer even for a snotty nosed kid

Still a decent car but it def looks better in the pix than in person. Lots of wavy panels gets me to thinking maybe bondo? But I tried the magnet trick & it's still unclear.

I may try what Rob J suggested with the pix but I think photobucket charges for their service. Here's a couple more pix from my phone of another cool find…the protecto-plate & book. Shows its been a Cali car her whole life.

Also, I forgot to mention a sad detail when I posted the motor pix. It turns out the engine numbers on the leading edge do not match the vin number. That's what u guys mean about "matching numbers cars" right? I've had her so long that I just assumed it was all original…bummer right?

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Regards,

David

Edited by RockinRiviDad (see edit history)
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Ok, so the pix from the desktop method worked smoothly. I will look into the photobucket route tomorrow.

yes more parts coming off...Bernie is right about so many things coming off easy...I thought I had a concrete enough plan from the start I was only going to clean up the engine compartment...riiiiight. Years of power steering leaks, master cylinder leaks and oil leaks left the driver side saturated. As you can see from comparing the frame rails in the second pic. The third pic is the result of unknown man hours spent on degreasing, scrubbing, pressure washing (with a cheap unit) and wire wheeling with an angle grinder. The transmission is still in place cuz it thinks it's gonna be married up to the engine soon....not

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The transmission is still in place cuz it thinks it's gonna be married up to the engine soon....not

You're way past the point of no return. Don't stop now. Why not go all the way? It will only take another coupe of years and unknown quantities of cash. No hill for a climber!

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David, use a photo hosting service, and link the photos here. Easiest way to do it. I use photo bucket.

I set up a photo bucket account & test loaded a few pix but can't figure out how to link them to the forum.…yes I know…I'm an idiot lol. Can I PM u for direction with that?? Here are pix from my phone

Ed, ask and you shall receive…

The driver side upper control arm and frame rail came clean with hours of elbow grease. But I could only get so far under the arm & I could see built up crud on the underside.…so heck with it…suspension came off too…pretty nasty under there huh? I think u guys would agree u wouldn't have left the crud underneath & just painted the tops of everything. Or an I just naive???

Last pic is of frame ready for paint.

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Regards,

David

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How is this?

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The parts are hanging on an old closet shoe rack that I found at a yard sale. I attached the top tp a cross tie in the garage ceiling so it swings up out of the way and is held by a hook. All the shoe holding wires make nice hangers for parts. I can walk around and give a nice coat to any odd items.

Your picture looks familiar:

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Bernie

Edited by 60FlatTop (see edit history)
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RivNut (Ed), you asked for it…you got it…

Countless man hours on cleaning this frame with my 4-1/2" angle grinder. 4 cupped wire wheels later…

Crazy what a little determination (& lots of beer) will get you...

 

Rob J, these pics are from the photo bucket link. Works well but the reviews of the mobile app say otherwise. Do u have the app too?

 

Bernie, that rack is a genius move. Nice Stingray on the background too. Your frame turned out awesome. What paint process did u choose?

 

Regards,

David

Edit: photosuckit pix have been replaced 

 

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Edited by RockinRiviDad (see edit history)
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This is my KBS-coatings.com product writeup.

 

Not sure how I decided to go with this product but so far it has me amazed. Apparently, these people are one half of the POR15 originators that had a fallout and KBS was born. I read that the KBS people set out to outdo their competition with this new & improved product. I can't tell you the difference cuz this is the only experience I have.

 

If u buy the kit I used it comes as a 3 step system. First step is their brand degreaser (AquaKlean), second is their zinc phosphate metal etch (RustBlast), third is one quart of their paint (RustSeal)

 

In my previous post the wire wheeled bare frame pic is after the first KBS degreaser step.

 

This first pic is the second KBS step (RustBlast). U can see (sorry don't know why the pic is sooo small, still trying to figure this out) the orange hue from what they describe as the rust flash & the chalky white film is from the zinc which they say helps with adhesion. Directions state not to wash it off.

 

6 hours later on a warm Saturday morning with a 2" paint brush on just the frame alone & wha-lah. Days later I did the same to the upper & lower control arms & spindles. Weeks later I did my rear axle housing, rear backing plates & trailing arms all with the $60 one quart of paint kit & I still have some left over (not much). This is a budget build & that alone proves it. I cant afford powder coating its expensive but people who see the end result of this product think it looks & feels like powdercoat. Cant comment on the durability yet still a work in progress.

 

The paint process went easy, it lays out nicely with very very few runs. Although instructions state to lay two thin coats I went with one heavy coat which did sag in a few spots. Note: the rear axle, rear backing plates & all control arms were the only things I had sandblasted.

 

Cons: the paint & zinc stuff smell bad while applying it. I didn't think it was bad enough for a mask but the wife kept yelling at me to put it on haha…I wanted the satin finish so that's what I ordered…as u can see their satin is not what we call satin right? Their gloss must be blinding :) …lastly like all types of these products…don't get any on your skin or anything valuable…it won't wash off...it grows off

hope you guys like...

 

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Edited by RockinRiviDad (see edit history)
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ED! Come on! Get off your computer chair & into the garage…after u solve this next puzzle…

Before I painted my axle housing I tried to figure out these stampings with no luck. Does anyone have a "little orphan Annie decoder pin" I know this isn't a posi but I think I can swap out my third member later on for a posi right?

 

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Edited by RockinRiviDad (see edit history)
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When I was painting the rear end housing for my Riviera I was listening to an oldies radio station that took requests. Two guys called in from a town about 6 miles north of me. The DJ chatted a bit and they told him they were working on a '66 Chevelle 396. I called in a little later. When asked what I was doing I told him I was painting the rear end of my '64 Riviera. He said "Gee, I never thought of a person doing that."

"Just making it look nice for the Chevelle guys." I replied.

Most of the books are gone and a whole bunch of other stuff. I used to have one keeper and a couple of floaters so there was room. Now I have either 2 or 4 keepers, depending on my mood.

Bernie

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Nice illustration Bernie lol

After trying diff methods the lower control arm bushings stopped short of their seated position. So I scrambled & borrowed a universal bushing installation kit from a friend & it did the job. The entire front suspension bushings kit was purchased from Kanter.

 

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I bought a disc brake conversion kit for my car from a local Rod Shop. All fit well looks cool too. This was all finger tight as I waited for my -2" coil springs from CSS.

 

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Here are the -2" Gran Sport spec springs (500# spring rate) for my non-GS car next to the springs I took off.

 

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Before & after pix of my rear axle prior to pulling the axles. I am rolling the dice & just replacing the seals, bearings & fluid. So does anyone know what those stamped numbers mean on the underside of the axle housing?

 

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Edited by RockinRiviDad (see edit history)
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In attempts to save money on my "budget build" I try to do things I've never done before & sometimes fail…causing me to spend more money. One example of my failure is pressing out my trailing arm bushings lol…luckily you can still get replacements.

 

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My welding skills are subpar as seen here on my boxed trailing arm.

 

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Good thing is the thick KBS paint makes it hard to see the ugly weld beads. Once the arms are installed u can't even tell I screwed them up lol

 

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I used the Rare Parts "modified" Cadillac trailing arm bushings that they bend u over the barrel for.

 

Read all about how u can make your own in this attached thread. 

The second thread has good pix in how one member made his own.

 

 

 

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Edited by RockinRiviDad (see edit history)
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Front & rear Bilstein shocks, solid polyurethane pan hard bar bushings & Inline Tube stainless steel brake lines all in, mounted & ready to go.

 

Inline Tube stainless steel $180 brake line kit write up.

Kit showed up on my door step in a decent time frame. Great looking kit, I was happy with their customer service making ordering a pleasure. While on hold to place my order they have a voice recording advertising their brake line kits. Made me excited to hear "our precision computer bent brake lines will take the guess work out of your project. Just unscrew the old lines & screw in our quality brake lines with no hassle" probably not word for word but u get the picture. This was not the case with the kit I received. Some members here stated that fitment was not a big issue with the kits they received from Inline but a little massaging was required to get them right. Massaging I could deal with…the bends in the lines of my kit were clean & in the right places…BUT…some went in the wrong direct throwing the alignment waaaay off. I didn't own a tube bender (good excuse to buy a tool right) so I got one & went to work.

Overall, it turned out nice but I've never worked on bending brake line before. Not hard to reshape but a bit nerve racking due to cost of the kit & not wanting to ruin a line. I hope that I got the line straight enough at the fittings so that it won't leak…

 

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Edited by RockinRiviDad (see edit history)
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