‘65 riviera grill in a ‘63

[the AG]

So I recently installed a 65 grill in my 63. I have gotten a bit of info from this site, so I decided to make a short post about what/how and what not to do to maybe pay it forward a bit. 

    I will preface this post by saying I am a complete amateur and I’m sure there is a better way to do this. 

   First, the real right way to make your front clip have clamshells, is just that. You would need the entire front clip. Fenders, grill, inner fenders headlight assembly even the bumpers are different. So at that point, maybe just buy a 65. 

    I’m building this car for my old lady and she saw the 65 grill and mentioned how Badass it looked, so away we go. 

     Assuming all of your other grill components are removed, I would suggest pulling the fenders. This is not necessary, but it will likely save you from beating them up during the install. If you choose not to pull the fenders you will likely need some help spreading them as you fit the grill.

      The 63/64 inner fenders or the backside of the grill are going to need to trimmed in order to sit in its proper location. This is another reason to have the fenders off, so you can check the fit as many times as necessary. You’ll know when it fits, because it will easily bolt up to hood latch brackets, make sure your not rubbing at the inner fender/backside of the grill. 

Next, While the 65 grill is still off the car, mount the valance(not sure if that’s the right term but it’s the painted part that goes between the fenders below the grill.) make sure you leave all the bolts loose so you can fit the fenders. 

   At this point, you can fit the fenders. Once everything is lined up and your happy with the gaps, tighten any bolts that are still loose. 

      Now for the headlights. My main source/friend/fellow riviera addict Dave suggests getting the best hid kit you can find and use all of the stock housings and lenses. For this all you would need to do  is install/wire the hid kit installing the bulb where the corner marker bulb would be. 

    That would absolutely be the easiest way. I never do it the easy way and I rarely take my friend Dave’s advice(although always spot on). I really wanted the round 5.75 headlights to be part of the look. I have seen where guys use Astro van lights and I’m just not crazy about the look. I got a 4x5.75 eBay led kit. 

    To fit the headlights and have some level of adjustment, you will need the assemblies from another car. I used some 67 caddy buckets that were on a junker in my backyard. While the bulbs are in the assembly, go ahead and dry fit them. They will have to be slid inside the fender and mounted from the backside. If you are using sealed lights, you will not need the lens and original bulb assembly so you will have extra holes in the front of the fender. Use the holes that are not being used by the grill to mount the bucket. The 67 caddy bucket actually wedges very tightly at the bottom(make sure they’re centered). I made 2 brackets per bucket to mount to the aforementioned holes. I dry fitted with the brackets welded on the bucket and marked my holes, drilled them and used some body clips so the bracket fits behind the fender and screws in from the front. I used some vacuum hose as a gasket for the light grills. There are posts on the backside of the grill that I used to affix the hose. I did have to cut it a little but at the top so it’s was thin enough to mount and seal. The “seal” for me is really just to keep the light grill from rubbing on the body. I am thinking about using a sheet of rubber and creating a shield that would mount behind the light, in front of the bucket and act as a gasket between the light grill and fender. This would keep water and debris from going into the small openings that aren’t covered by the new bucket assembly. 

    I’m still working out the turn signals. I am waiting for some led strip lights. If those don’t work I’ll just use some mini amber leds. 

 

    

[Seafoam65]

Excellent! That is really going to look great!

[dr914]

wow really looks great, certainly that 65 look was the best for the first generation cars.   I actually think that if there was a kit to do the conversion, even some originality freaks would purchase and install

[NC1968Riviera]

Nice write up. If you have some detailed photos showing the headlight bucket work mentioned it might help illustrate your text better.

 

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Edited September 24, 2019 by NC1968Riviera (see edit history)

[the AG]

@NC1968Riviera

i didn’t take any good pics. I will have to take some when I put the signals in. 

 

The one pic I can add that might help is show me the headlight assembly installed without the light grill to show the mounting holes.  

  I used the second set of holes from the top for my assembly mount tabs. 

    You can also see where I scratched the hell out of the fender while getting the grill in. I would absolutely recommend pulling the fenders first.