Model Year Changeover Anomalies

[EmTee]

So, another reason to go to the ROA International Meet is to learn about your car, and that's what I did...  On show day someone pointed out to me the fact that my '67 should have bright chrome on the bezels surrounding the front parking light lenses.  Mine are painted argent (silver) like a '66 would be.  Funny that I never noticed this until it was pointed out to me last week!  Anyway I was figuring that this would be an easy fix -- just remove the silver paint and polish the chrome -- done!

 

Well, not so fast...  Before doing anything I thought I'd do some research.  Now, I see no evidence that the front of my car has been apart, say as ther result of an accident repair, so that made me consider the possibility that my car may have come this way from the factory.  I checked my VIN and my car is serial # 10,270.  The ROA site says that there were 42,799 Rivieras built in the 1967 model year.  So, this implies that my car was built during the first three months of 1967 model production.  How likely is it that leftover '66 trim pieces may have found their way onto my car?

 

Edited July 7, 2019 by EmTee
added pictures (see edit history)

[RivNut]

Look at the rest of the similar items - the hood bar and the tail light bezels. They should all be the same.  

[EmTee]

The hood spear is a '67 -- shiny sides, not the matte-like treatment used in '66.

[JZRIV]

Tim

I believe argent silver as yours is correct. I’ve seen a lot of original cars over the years with argent bezels. I’ve also seen many chrome ones too that I felt were original.  Did you ask Darwin about it?

[EmTee]

7 hours ago, JZRIV said:

Did you ask Darwin about it?

 

Jason, thanks for the feedback.  My problem is I haven't seen very many '67 Rivieras around here in the last 30 years...  No, I haven't asked Darwin, but that's a good idea.  The more I look at the ones I currently have the way they are, however, the more I like them as they are.  The full-chrome finish just looks too 'busy' to my eye; the reflections of surrounding hardware that show up in the bezel (see the picture above) just seems distracting and takes away from the clean lines -- at least to my eye.  I am still curious to figure out which one (or both?) is correct for my car, but no matter the result of the research, I'm not really ready to lose the silver paint yet... 

[Seafoam65]

Nobody would have removed chrome bezels off your car to install silver ones. Odds of the bezels being original to your

car is 99.9 per cent unless your car was involved in a collision  that snuffed out the front end and 66 parts were sourced from a wrecking yard.

A lot of times GM had multiple vendors for a part or used up  existing supplies of a part from the previous year before changing over to a new part.

There were always lots of mid year changes on trim pieces back then on GM cars. I have a 69 Pontiac GTO and during the 69 model year there were about

five trim changes on the cars during the model year. My Dad's 65 riviera came from the factory with the glove box door Riviera emblem for a 64 model.

Also on the 65's two different horn bar bezels were used during the model year.

[NC1968Riviera]

On 7/5/2019 at 9:41 PM, EmTee said:

So, this implies that my car was built during the first three months of 1967 model production

The three character assembly date should be on the data plate on the cowl.

[RivNut]

Well this just dawned on me. Having had a couple of 66's and just one 67, and that was a long time ago I just now thought of this.  The 66 and 67 turn signal bezels are totally different.  The 67 has a horizontal bar across the middle of the bezel.  The 66 does not.  I'd say that you do not have 66 bezels on your 67. 😎

 

Edited July 9, 2019 by RivNut (see edit history)

[EmTee]

On 7/8/2019 at 9:19 PM, RivNut said:

he 67 has a horizontal bar across the middle of the bezel.

 

Yes, that's right and it just dawned on me the other day while looking at some pictures I took of my car and a nearby '66 in Gettysburg.  Duh, as you point out, mine has the bar in the center, so they are '67 bezels -- but they have the argent paint treatment like the '66 did.  So, my conclusion (based on my fairly early-build '67 serial number) is that Buick must have used the argent treatment on earlier cars and at some point during '67 production switched to the unpainted chrome version.

 

Bottom line is I believe my bezels are indeed correct --and I really prefer the look of the silver surrounding the parking lamps, so that's the way they'll stay! 

Edited July 13, 2019 by EmTee (see edit history)

[Turbinator]

Tim, after all it is your “chariot” drive it looking any way you like.

 

Your subject matter was interesting. I enjoyed reading all the comments. It was a pleasure to meet you at ROA meet in Gettysburg.

Turbinator

[EmTee]

3 hours ago, Turbinator said:

It was a pleasure to meet you at ROA meet in Gettysburg.

Turbinator 

 

Likewise -- it was great to meet you and that COOL '63 Red Riviera! 

[Turbinator]

Tim, I was just remembering my poor manners and I did not ask to see your Riviera. I apologize for my self centered behavior and will certainly extend an apology.

Bob

[EmTee]

Bob - seriously... No apologies, please!  I had a great time in Gettysburg INCLUDING the times I spent bending your ear.  I appreciate your advice on the AC and the opportunity to obtain a little R-12 for Goldie.  I'm sure I'll see you at another ROA meet in the future.  Or, feel free to let me know if your travels send you through upstate NY -- we can take the opportunity to discuss your poor manners over a fermented malt beverage (or two)...