63 riv questions . trans & seat covers !

[Guest wildcat65401]

Hi everyone,

Time for more of my magical spelling !!!

[a] Can I buy what I need to get my drivers seat fixed ? ie; a new saddle leather cover and the padding that goes with it. Where would I find one and how much or will I have to buy a set for all four seats ???

Okay , this is the one you guys will probably get mad at me over. I'm now on my second T.T. Dynaflow in a few years and to be honest I've had enough . I want to put in a 400 ideally . So I have a few questions about this . My pal has a 300 from his '65 Skylark which works great . Will it fit with a minor mod ? Its free and I know its history ,so its a great choice if it would work . Next up is a ST 400 out of a '66 gs which is being parted out by another friend of mine .

I heard that the ST 400 from '65 and '66 is my only real option . Does this mean they will work without the $500.00 adaptor kit from transmissionadaptors.com ?????

Yet another question . Is the rebuild kit for a "ST-400" more expensive and harder to find than the one for a "TH-400" OR are they both the same thing ????

Okay , thats probably enough questions for the moment .

I know you guys know all about this stuff and as usual I really am very grateful for the help .

Happy new year everyone.

Paul .

ps I just saw a gold w blk top 2 dr hrdtop '69m electra for sale here in Atlanta . W about 120,000 miles , pretty straight all orig all there . let me know if you want the info . It was around $4,300.

see ya

[Pete Phillips]

I purchased '63 Riviera upholstery kits from Clark's Corvair Parts, and was very pleased with the quality, service, and accuracy of the reproduction. In vinyl, they cost around $400 for all of the seats (front and rear). Leather would be about twice that amount, I am guessing.

www.corvair.com

Can't help you on the transmission questions, but I would imagine that a TH-300 would not hold up very long under the torque and power of a 401 or 425 Riviera engine.

Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

McPherson, KS

[Pete Phillips]

Yes, Clark's will sell individual portions of the seat covers, for individual seats. You do not have to purchase the entire set.

[Buicks Rule]

The regular 65 Skylark ST-300 tranny will not bolt up to a nailhead. The heavy duty ST 300 tranny from a 65 Skylark GS WILL bolt up to a nailhead. However it probably won't work real well hauling the heavier riv. If you are going to do a tranny change it is probably better to go with the ST 400 tranny. Your best bet would be to find a 65 Riv and get tranny, drive shaft, cross member, flex plate and anything else that "could" be different between a dynaflow 63 and a ST-400 65.

Since the 66 Riv is a completely different frame/body, as are all the big cars, only a doner 65 Riv would be sure to have all the surprise special parts to make the conversion on your 63.

Maybe you ought to try a different tranny rebuilder. The 63 Dynaflow with a 401 or 425 should be pretty bullet proof. In the long run, having the dyna fixed well would probably be more cost effective than changing out the tranny, which will lower the sales value of the car if you ever go to sell it.

Good luck.

[Buicks Rule]

Because they didn't build a huge number of 65 Skylark Gran Sports, the ST 300 GS tranny that bolts up to a nailhead can be a little hard to find and is usually more expensive than the regular ST 300.

[Guest wildcat65401]

Thanks for the info.

The '66 I was talking about was a gs skylark not a riv, I left that out for some reason [sorry]. and it took me months to find a reasonable quote here in atl ga to rebuild the dynaflow . Everyone seemed to want to charge me around $2,700. which to me says"I really don't want to do this ,go away!".

And when I did get it back for the second time I had no "Park" and the stator control arm was not even hooked up . I waited three months for that guy . My luck has not been good with the old Dynaflows I'm afraid.

Any info about the cost of rebuilding a ST-400 ????

see ya later .

[The Old Guy]

The rear of the crankshaft in a 63 401 is different than the crank in a 64 up. I am not sure of exactly what the difference is, but the ST-400 will not fit without some changes.

[Mrbuick714]

I hooked a ST400 onto a 63 401, BUT, I had to use a 64-66 crankshaft and flex-plate. The 63 block is different as far as the THRUST main. The 64-66 thrust main will no go into a 63-earlier block. ,but the 64-66 crank worked fine. Car lived to a ripe old age,no problems. I have a 65 ST 300,we drag raced with it and couldn't tear it up,We replaced it with a 400,and it was not all that much better than the 300. We used VP to our advantage. Incidentally,our "Nailhead"won the Gold cup that year,thanks to William Trevor's help,(also thanks to "Sig" Erson)

[Buicks Rule]

From what Mr. Buick 714 says you might be in for an expensive surgery.

Call Northwest Transmission in Ohio. They advertise in the Bugle. Don't know if they rebuild dynaflows or just sell parts. But the do know what they are doing. Maybe time for a nice springtime ride in the modern car to NW Ohio with dyna in the trunk.

Cost of a Turbo 400 rebuild can vary. One I did ran almost $1000 with me doing the work due to a couple of bad hard parts.

[Guest wildcat65401]

Well,

The thing is , my car is not valuable anyway . The block is not original its a '62 i think and the last time I got the dynaflow fixed I had to buy a '62 electra parts car and give the tranny guy both mine and the '62 dyanflow to make one "good" one . Which he failed to do . I now have about 40 to 60 % less power than i used to have !!!!!!! NO FUN. This is part of the reason I want the dynaflow out of there , I dont have $2500 plus to fix it again !! Even if I did why would I the last two guys both screwed it up ????? Two different shops ! I've spent monthes trying to find someone willing to fix it for a reasonable price [around $1000] I have not had any luck . I love my car , love Buicks . I even like em the way they were made , I dont just wanna hop it up because I feel like it . I'm trying to keep my car on the road thats all. So after two Dynaflows and nearly $4000 I'm staring to think that mabye I need to try something else . If I send my dynaflow away for the third time and spend another couple of grand and it lasts no time and works like crap I'm going to feel like a complete idiot . And thats not why I like old cars .

Oh, I dont know . .....what would you do in my place ??[two dyna T.T.s and loadsamoney]

help.

[Guest]

Here is your answer then:

Replace the entire drivetrain. Find a 64-66 401 or 425 with the 400 transmission variant included. I would go through the motor at least for gaskets and wear items. If you want, have the 400 trans rebuilt at this time. Once installed, you should be set. Why keep trying to fit a square peg into a round hole if the motor is not original?

I have owned a 64 Riviera and every model of 64 Buick for that matter. Why? Because of the old Dynaflow concerns. Nobody in the modern transmission shop knows how to rebuild these older transmissions so even if you paid $$$$ to have it done, it probably was not done with the care of an "old timer".

I never had problems with my early versions TH400's. I never even changed fluids. I drove a smoking, worn out 64 Electra to the Rocky mountains swapped it for a 64 LeSabre with a 401/TH400 and drove it back. I drove the 64 Riv from Spokane Washington to Missouri same deal. Visually, everything will look stock - you still have a nailhead and few people get down there and go - "hey, you don't have a Dynaflow" then walk away with 'sign of the cross' fingers.

It might take 2-4 months to find a Nailhead-trans set up but I see them on ebay a lot and of course you could find one in buy/sell forum.

Once installed, especially if all is rebuilt - then you will have years of trouble free touring.

Bryan Moran

crazy4abby

[55PackardGuy]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I never had problems with my early versions TH400's. I never even changed fluids.</div></div>

Ha! Those were the days. I swapped engines (but not tranny's) in my '65 Electra after I blew up the original 401 (my fault, being REALLY stupid). I ran the same transmission up past 130,000 miles and I doubt if the fluid had ever been changed. It just never even occurred to me to do such a thing! lol

Not recommended, but true. On real cold days (below zero) it would shift kinda slow, probably because the thick oil had a hard time getting through the undoubtedly dirty screen.

The trans and engine swap was the first thing I thought of for the '63 Riv, too, but I couldn't put it as well as you did. In my day, you could just cruise the local junk yard and find plenty of nice specimens of this combo. Just be sure to do a compression check before going to a lot of trouble putting it in.

Just like the name implies, nailheads are hard as nails, and the 400 transmission seems to be, too.

[Guest wildcat65401]

Okay,

Now we're talking! Thanks guys. These were the kind of suggestions I was looking for. Well, just to confuse the matter even more. If we're talking about a new engine and trans, I have a '69 430 and 300 [or 400 I'm not sure]. Does anyone know if its possible to make this combo fit in the '63 Riv without much more work than a 401 or 425 swap ??

By the way Bryan , my girlfriend read your post and said "oh look another crazy Irish guy". then we saw your name [Moran] Which I believe is Irish .. We got a laugh outta that . I moved here to Atlanta ga from Dublin Ireland in 1999.

Anyyyywayyy. Thanks .

Paul McQuillan.

ps . the 430 and tranny I mentioned is from a '69 4 dr Electra.

[imported_buick5563]

Hi Paul,

You can DO anything with enough time and money. A 64/65 swap will be easier because of the same motor mounts and accessories,etc. Remember you will also need a different gear indicator for your new PRNDL setup.

For a while I wanted to lift the body off of my 55 and put it onto the body of a 69 sport wagon because the wheel base was within 1 inch, but: A) I'm not an engineer, Jesse James, or C) any other Discovery channel dude, so I opted for the "easy" way out by rebuilding my engine and pretty much everything else. You will almost certainly be better off in the long run buying a beater 64/65 Riviera for $1000 bucks and stealing anything you might need.

Good luck, I hope your girlfriend knows your country of origin isn't the worst of your problems Sorry, lot's of Irish friends growing up.

Mike

[Guest wildcat65401]

The funny thing is, my '63 Riv is a $1000 beater ?!?!?!

Oh well.

[Guest Moepar]

Since the engine is non orginal anyway, why not swap everything??

Too bad you've had such probs with the '63 dynaflow. I had two '63 Le Sabres & only problem I had with one of them was when my idiot in-law drove it 750 miles in low from western North Carolina to Northern Virginia. I coulda killed! My favorite Le Sabre too! Anyway, we rebuilt the thing ourselves after we limped it back home. All but two veins were out of torque convertor. We just got out our service manual, stumbled our way through it, and amazingly it worked better than when it left.

[Guest wildcat65401]

Thats what I've heard , that nearly anyone could rebuilt it? Funny how I can't find anyone and I'll pay them??? What the hell, I think I'll try and find someone to look at it again> Someones got to know how to make it work I'm sure [in georgia that is!].

See ya.

[Guest wildcat65401]

Or mabye we'll figure out how to squeeze the 430 and 400 into it !

[55PackardGuy]

The 430 is a very good engine. Lighter, more efficient, much more modern design and really durable. Power, torque, mileage... can't say enough good about it. (See other posts, particularly by BqUICK on the performance board.) BUT, in a '63 Riv, I'd really hesitate to go with anything but a nailhead. Even if the car isn't "worth much"now, it's still a milestone car and intrinsically quite valuable--and appreciating--if kept even close to stock. Besides, if you're going to the expense of interior work that will increase the value, you don't want to work against yourself by doing other mods that decrease it at the same time.

Just a thought.

BTW, the '63 and '64 Rivs are two of my absolute dream cars.

[Guest]

Paul,

I would stick with a 401 'Nailhead' transplant not a 430. This is the part that would bother me if I was to potentially buy it or if you would show it or take it to a Buick Club event. The 401 looks very different from a 430, as you know. Remember, if you find a 401-TH00 to transplant then your pulled 401-Dynaflow will have value to sell, making up some of the loss there. Plus, a 64-66 401 should swap in a lot easier then a 430, which was made for a later Riviera chassis. May be the same but I doubt it.

I am Irish all the way. But removed by many generations. Potato famine issue. We are proud of our Irish heritage with my dad, brother and one sister already going over there for visits. I am 41 and have never made it yet. I am Mazda technician so I was hoping there was a Mazda dealer over there so I could do a 2 year "sabbatical".

Good luck on the 63 Riv.

Bryan Moran

BCA 28571

[imported_buick5563]

Shoot, every one of the old cars I have ever owned has started as a beater.

Mike