Proud new owner

[powerage]

Hi all

Finally bought myself a 1st gen Riv after falling in love with them about 10 years ago.. a little rougher than I'd like but they aren't exactly everywhere in New Zealand! (and the price was right)

A silver on silver ex California car, runs pretty well, 90% rust free (some issues around inside of rear screen)

Good interior - needs carpet headliner dash pad etc

Tidy original engine bay, good chrome and trim

Some wrongs that need to be righted - shaved handles, antenna and rear quarter scoop side trim(!!)

An average two tone black/silver paint job

Rubbers and felts and window channels are shot, gonna need a whole set

I'm guessing the no handle/door popper idea failed at some point and the drivers vent window was forced open, which has broken the stem of the vent window just above the gears driven by the crank handle.

Also appear to be missing one bolt and small bracket piece off drivers door glass mechanism causing a bit of movement with the glass. Will upload a pic asap to describe better. These two issues are top priority as car cannot be locked properly and door must be closed carefully as glass not quite aligning.

Any ideas of where to look for these pieces would be greatly appreciated guys - I will have lots more questions as I tidy up this beautiful car. I look forward to talking Riv's with you all!

Matt

Also, can anyone translate this?

63-4747 FB31793

726J2 DD

D I6 N2 U7

[RivNut]

Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the forum.

The data plate on your car decodes as follows;

63-4747 = 1963 year - 4747 model (Riviera)

762 = silver vinyl; J2= power seat; DD= "Silver Cloud" paint

D = equipped for a radio

I6 = Soft Ray Tinted glass

N2= Air Conditioning

U7 = Power windows.

This data plate refers only to the options built into the car at the Fisher Body plant in Flint, MI. Other options such as tilt wheel, four note horns, twilight sentinel, guidematic, cruise control, etc. were installed at the final assembly plant and will not be shown on your data plate. New door handles are available if you can't find good used ones.

Vendors who advertise in the back of the Riviera Associations Riview, their bi-monthly publication, can provide you with most of what you're missing. Be aware that your '63 is different in certain aspects to the 64 and 65. Your door glass is pressed into a channel, the 64/65 door glass is bolted to the channel. Therefore, only a '63 bracket will work on your window. Vent window gears should be the same for all years. If you can post pictures of the parts you're needing, it will help us identify what you need. I may have the window items that you need, but I could tell better if I could see for sure what you're talking about.

Keep us up to date on your progress.

Ed

Edited April 11, 2015 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Guest dwhiteside64]

This data plate refers only to the options built into the car at the Flint plant. Other options such as tilt wheel, four note horns, twilight sentinel, guidematic, cruise control, etc. were installed at the final assembly plant and will not be shown on your data plate.

Ed

Great info Ed. Not to hijack this thread, but can you tell me what were some of the assembly plants around the country and how can one tell where you car received it's final assembly?

[Guest dwhiteside64]

Congrats Matt and welcome to the forum. We are some diehard Riviera fans here so don't be shy asking anything you may have questions about concerning Rivieras!

Edited April 11, 2015 by dwhiteside64 (see edit history)

[RivNut]

Great info Ed. Not to hijack this thread, but can you tell me what were some of the assembly plants around the country and how can one tell where you car received it's final assembly?

For the Rivieras up to 1979 (?), they were built at Fisher BOdy in Flint, MI. In 1979, production moved to New Jersey. The FB number on your data plate is a unique identifier for Flint. I don't know if it stands for Flint Body or what. Final assembly was not far from the body plant; I doubt if they were shipped across country. Other assembly plants had different codes. Here's a link that tells some of them for the era. This data shown in the link is for 1963, the year for the car in this thread. There are others on the Team Buick website. When you're looking at this, study the four digit body style numbers. The first two are the model (47XX for Riviera) and the last two are for the style (XX47 for two door sport coupe.) You'll find a pattern. 4647 = Wildcat two door coupe, 4847 = Electra two door coupe.

http://www.teambuick.com/reference/years/63/63_body_number.php

Ed

PS:

Do you know why a chicken coupe has only two doors?

If it had four doors, it would be a chicken sedan.

Edited April 11, 2015 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Guest dwhiteside64]

PS:

Do you know why a chicken coupe has only two doors?

If it had four doors, it would be a chicken sedan.

Ha! Ed I may have to use that one on my car enthusiast friends! Thanks for the link too....

[1965rivgs]

For the Rivieras up to 1979 (?), they were built at Fisher BOdy in Flint, MI. In 1979, production moved to New Jersey. The FB number on your data plate is a unique identifier for Flint. I don't know if it stands for Flint Body or what. Final assembly was not far from the body plant; I doubt if they were shipped across country. Other assembly plants had different codes. Here's a link that tells some of them for the era. This data shown in the link is for 1963, the year for the car in this thread. There are others on the Team Buick website. When you're looking at this, study the four digit body style numbers. The first two are the model (47XX for Riviera) and the last two are for the style (XX47 for two door sport coupe.) You'll find a pattern. 4647 = Wildcat two door coupe, 4847 = Electra two door coupe.

http://www.teambuick.com/reference/years/63/63_body_number.php

Ed

PS:

Do you know why a chicken coupe has only two doors?

If it had four doors, it would be a chicken sedan.

Ed,

The first gen bodies were built at Fisher in Flint but for `66 the bodies were built at Fisher in Euclid Ohio. I`m not sure what happened after that....

Tom

[RivNut]

Tom,

Were the cars finished close to where they were started? Or were they crated up and sent somewhere else for finishing?

Ed

[sean1997]

The body tag gives the plant where the body was assembled. The serial number/VIN gives the plant where final assembly occurred. Some bodies, especially convertibles, were shipped to other plants for final assembly. I've seen bodies for convertibles built at Linden in the late '40's that were sent to South Gate for final assembly. In the '50's there was a number stamped in the corner of the body tag indicating the plant the body was shipped to for final assembly. This would match the first digit of the car serial number for those years. A list of plants is attached.

Buick Plants.pdf

Edited April 12, 2015 by sean1997 (see edit history)

[Guest dwhiteside64]

The body tag gives the plant where the body was assembled. The serial number/VIN gives the plant where final assembly occurred. Some bodies, especially convertibles, were shipped to other plants for final assembly. I've seen bodies for convertibles built at Linden in the late '40's that were sent to South Gate for final assembly. In the '50's there was a number stamped in the corner of the body tag indicating the plant the body was shipped to for final assembly. This would match the first digit of the car serial number for those years. A list of plants is attached.

Thanks Sean for the excellent list. I was wondering though - I was under the assumption that Fisher Body (I only know of Plant 21 in Detroit and another handful in Ohio) was where a Riviera began it's life before being sent to "Buick City" in Flint, MI for final assembly. Do I have this entirely backwards? I am very confused now.... :confused:

[1965rivgs]

Thanks Sean for the excellent list. I was wondering though - I was under the assumption that Fisher Body (I only know of Plant 21 in Detroit and another handful in Ohio) was where a Riviera began it's life before being sent to "Buick City" in Flint, MI for final assembly. Do I have this entirely backwards? I am very confused now.... :confused:

The first generation Riv bodies were assembled at Fisher Body in Flint, transported a few blocks away to Buick assembly, also in Flint. Starting in `66, probably because the Riviera was a shared platform with the Toronado, the bodies were assembled at the Euclid Ohio Fisher plant and shipped to Buick assembly in Flint.

Tom Mooney

[powerage]

Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the forum.

The data plate on your car decodes as follows;

63-4747 = 1963 year - 4747 model (Riviera)

762 = silver vinyl; J2= power seat; DD= "Silver Cloud" paint

D = equipped for a radio

I6 = Soft Ray Tinted glass

N2= Air Conditioning

U7 = Power windows.

This data plate refers only to the options built into the car at the Fisher Body plant in Flint, MI. Other options such as tilt wheel, four note horns, twilight sentinel, guidematic, cruise control, etc. were installed at the final assembly plant and will not be shown on your data plate. New door handles are available if you can't find good used ones.

Thanks Ed, interesting as my car does not have power seats. Maybe they were swapped out at some point. If they were it looks like the same time as the rear, as all seats match in condition and discoloring. Speaking of seats, should the bottom rear come away so easily? The interior has been in and out, as a previous owner has painted the floors.

[Guest dwhiteside64]

The first generation Riv bodies were assembled at Fisher Body in Flint, transported a few blocks away to Buick assembly, also in Flint. Starting in `66, probably because the Riviera was a shared platform with the Toronado, the bodies were assembled at the Euclid Ohio Fisher plant and shipped to Buick assembly in Flint.

Tom Mooney

Thanks Tom for clarifying that for me. At the very least I had the order correct lol.