64 Riviera Transmission cooling line replacement

[64Rivvy]

I'm about to replace my tranny cooling lines with new pre-bent lines. I've seen some people say you need to lift the motor to get the lines in there. If that's the case I'm going to just replace the motor mounts and tranny mount at the same time.

 

Do I need to lift the engine to replace the cooling lines or can I get them in there without touching the engine?  I'd rather not open a can of worms if I can avoid it. Everything always dominos with these old cars. 

 

If I do need to lift the motor to replace the lines, can I replace the tranny mount without removing the driveshaft or will it need to come out.  Thanks.

Edited November 16, 2020 by 64Rivvy (see edit history)

[telriv]

No need to remove the driveshaft.  You will need to lift the engine to replace the mount why not replace them then????   IF I remember correctly the engine does not need to be jacked up to replace them, BUT it makes it slightly easier.

[first64riv]

I did the passenger side because it was leaking.  I did it without lifting the motor BUT it was a royal pain in the butt.  I left the other  side alone because it was fine.

 

Good luck!

Chris

[telriv]

You have to pardon this/my reply as I've been working on ALL kinds of vehicles for over about 60 years.  AND ALSO on my '64 Riv. I bought new.  There are some things that are a ROYAL PIA like A/C, Heater core replacement, messing with the console & some other things I can't think of at the moment.

Basically most ANY work is rather easy IF you check/read the chassis manual & go about it in a logical step by step manner.  For the most these are pretty easy cars to work on.  At the time they were over built & things just didn't need replacement IF they were properly taken care of & making modifacations to make some things better. Like the left motor mount.  I bought my car when I was 18yrs.old. By that time I had been playing with cars for about 5 or so years & ALL the paper route money that I saved was enough for the down payment.  At one point I had 13 '55 Buicks, mostly Specials & Century's. My favorite was the standard shift '55 Special I kept the longest.  I had it even after I bought the Riv. One of the 1st. things I did was to improve the brakes. I picked up a totaled '63 Riv. & swapped EVERYTHING. Now without power brakes they acted like power & I could drive as fast as I wanted with that little 264 & still be able to stop wth NO FADING or otherwise nasty effects.  I then picked up a '59 Electra for the engine.  I drove that car almost 20 miles to home with four flat tires on 95, the CONN Turnpike. Never even accured to me that it was probably illegal as heck, BUT I made it home.  I rebuilt the engine with ALL used parts except for the rings.  That car would haul butt. At 60MPH I could floor the gas pedal in high gear & with a squech of the tires & be at 100MPH in about 3 1/2 -4 seconds.  Being 18 I had NEVER driven a car that was so fast & totally quiet as my Riv.  So quiet that I started hearing a squeaking noise. It was kinda driving me crazy.  After a couple weeks I found that the rubbing block on the points just needed greasing that's how actually quiet the whole car was. Of course the car had to earn it's keep & did so racing on the streets in as safe a manor as could be done way back when.  Of course the roads were no where near as busy in that time period unlike things are today. After about 6 months the 1st. left front motor mount broke. Thank GOD for the big pancake air cleaner as when the mount broke the center of the hood would rise.  Thankfully I didn't have A/C or could I afford it or else the fan shroud more than likely would have broken & depending it could also take out the fan blade, radiator, pulley's etc.  After 3-5 mounts were replaced I HAD to do SOMETHING.  This was WAY BEFORE Buick came out with the cable fix that attached to the upper control arm & even if they had to me it was ugly & really didn't do what was needed.  The fix I came up with is 4 links of chain. I welded two links together & left the center loose about a 1/4", so it had some flexability.  Under the P/S pump it's really not even noticeable.  I haven't replaced a mount since even with the slicks mounted. Up until about 10 or so years ago I raced whenever I could safely & testing out my rocker arms in the 1/4 mile.  In '94 I made 97 passes down the 1/4 mile alone testing these rocker arms. With the slicks on it would pull the left front about an inch or so.  I have video & pics to prove it. 

Anyway I'm getting way off subject here.  I'm sure not eveybody wants to here my life story.

Looking at the 1st. gen Rivs for as much as a personal luxury car goes it was fast for the day & handled better than most of the cars from the early/mid 60's.  Today we have so many more options than even 5 years ago. You can make them ride & handle as good as just about a newer more modern car & basically what's done is fairly easy.

 

Tom T.

[64Rivvy]

So I finally did this last night. It was every bit as miserable of a job as I thought and then some. A visit to the the outer rings of hell possibly. Part of what made it so bad was just how much gunk and grime there was down there that I needed to clean out.  The new lines also needed a lot of tweaking.  Just glad it's finally done and i pray they don't leak at all.  I didn't have to lift the engine just a lot of fishing the lines through different ways and bending them to for through and then bending them back.