Customs 1965 Buick Riveria-To new for the H.A.M.B.?

Ya, there cool cars

 

Richard very cool we had one come on the market over in NZ rusty very rusty sold for around 4g. When I saw the beers I thought you were going to say thats what you paid for the car

 

We did last night, and primed the hood tonight. Gotta get the roof and tops of the fenders sanded and primed, fix the rust around the rear window, and paint the top half of the car. Slap on a driver's side seat cover, a head liner and some carpet. Then enjoy it as-is until The Ugly Truck is done.

 

fine dont ever invite us over lol. My wife found this all you can eat italian buffet(thats actually good) off the Kemah exit so if you ever need any help close to lunch or dinner she wont complain lol

 

P.S. (Pre Script) that guy that runs this site has a soft spot for Rivi's, just a little FYI.




I'm still stoked you called me about getting Jeff Whitely's wifes old car. That thing was tits, and I told him I was going to punch him in the nuts when he told me they were going to sell it. Then Joe boought it and it felt like it stayed in the family sort of, now you got it so I will dub it the "Houston Whore" cause that bitch has been around!!!!

No seriously very very cool car. Has the right stuff done to it.
Carry fuses, and have fun with it. Does it have the Switch Pitch tranny?

Parting shots of me having fun with mine, lunching the Nailhead fuelpump in Ellinger, TX on the way to Roundup (ruining my new Cyclone Speed tshirt). Thanks to Mark Truit, Derwood, John Collins, and my wife, I got a tow strap/tow to a gas station, a fuel pump found in Houston, and a wife to drive it half way to Austin.

 

Do they not all have the switch pitch? I was wondering how to tell if it is working. I had to punch it tonight to get in front of some traffic, and it spun the tires into second gear. I don't like to abuse my vehicles like that, but it seems pretty peppy for 4000lb+, nearly 45 year old car. Looking forward to having some fun with it.

 

Neat car. love those old Rivi's.

Looks like you did good.

 

All H.A.M.B.ers have an open invite to come visit, especially if'n you are willing to grab a tool and pitch in. There is a hot tub and a BBQ pit, + a full size fridgeand A/C in the garage. The lathe and milling machine are in their own little building; and there will be A/C in there by summer as well. I also have MIG, plasma cutter, 60 gal. air compressor, bead roller, shrinker and stretcher, etc.; if anyone needs to work on their own shit, we can help each other out. I have several projects in the works now, I can use all the help I can get.

 

GS car? Dual quads?

If so, you also may actually have one of the rare 3.42 posi's, and if so.....well, I pretty much hate you.

Looks like a solid starter.

 

I heartily agree with DirtyDan. The best thirty bucks you'll ever spend, it's packed with vendors who specialize in Riviera parts and even features an occasional kustom. Jimmy Vaughn left a copy of his newsletter on my 65's windshield when I first moved to Austin and I joined. Learned a lot.

 

Looks great!
I just sold my 64 a few months ago...

 

It has GS emblems and glove box door, but a 401 and a single 4bbl, and I'm told it's not a real GS.

 

I don't drive it low like that, so I'm not sure. As far as the strut rods, whoever put the airbags on this car relocated the lower shock mounts to the strut rods; the upper mount was steel plate welded(sorta) to the frame. One has already broke off(no penetration, I'm suprised this car has been on the road for so long like that), and the other "weld" was cracked, so we rewelded them both. But the strut rods still looked O.K., I guess they are strong enough to handle it. I will probably do something different with the shocks, as well as add some bump stops so I don't go skidding if I have an airline failure.

 

Well I always thought so, but I have a 401 with a Dynaflow out of a '65 sitting in the back of the shop. I never ran the numbers, but with anything old, its always a chance its not original. I just dont know. I parted that one Rivi to finish the one you know and love and that motor/tranny has always thrown me.........

 

I found this here: http://www.buickperformance.com/switchpitch.htm
Mine has this switch(we thought it was part of the cruise control, guess not), so I guess mine is a switch pitch converter.

"
<CENTER><TT>Here is a pic with the arrow indicating the factory</TT></CENTER>

<CENTER><TT>switch for the S/P trans."</TT></CENTER><CENTER><TT></TT> </CENTER><CENTER><TT></TT> </CENTER>

 

If you had a 65 with a Dynaflow it was not original. 65 was either a ST400 (Super Turbine) or a SP400 (Switch Pitch). 63 was the last year of the Dynaflow.

 

Man I know, but who in their right mind would have gone backwards with a car and did so in meticulous to factory spec fashion? I mean everything was so factory looking. I dont know, now I wish I'd taken pictures of the thing. I do know that I have the 401 and Dynaflow sitting in the back of the shop and it came out of a '65. My thought once I pulled it was no way it was stock. Then had several mechanics tell me that it could have been factory left over end of run stuff, sorry I dont believe that either.

Aight sorry Richard to get your thread derailed.

 

I'm a Ford guy, but '65 Rivieras are just cool.

Patrick Swayze had one in "Roadhouse" (or so I hear), but I still like 'em.

 

My 1st couple posts were bout first-gen Rivis. I still kick myself for not picking them up in time. Only other car I'd probably drive other than my 60 Buick is a first-gen Rivi. I know of a 64 sitting but not for sale......

Good score man. I hate you now.

 

............cool richard i am going to drive the van over and dig through your wheel collection lol.


I am bringing the camera sunday just to take pics of it so get that 50 foot paint ready

 

Both a '64 and a '65.
http://www.bluntgraffix.com/buick-riviera/buick-riviera-hollywood/buick-riviera-hollywood.htm

 

Good idea, we can scrounge around, mix and match and see if I have something to fit; there is a Mexican tire shop around the corner open every day, even Sat and Sun, they'll mount 'em up for $5 a tire.

And the 50 footer Earl Sheib Special is already in progress.

 

Congrats on the score. Thats a good idea, this weekend I got the dash and all the elctrics back into the 50, but I'm lost when it comes to putting the 4 bar rear end in.

Alex

 

Hey if its a mexican tire store they might have some astro supremes lol

 

Not to run this thing way off the track, but the Riviera monicker was in use way before the 63's. My 57 is a Riviera Hardtop.

But Richard did good, one of the many cars that Buick did that don't really need much. Stance, paint, and rims...

 

glad you're enjoying the "houston whore"!!!! had a lot of good times in it.

 

Oh well.

Still a killer car.

If you want to make it run a little better without going the dual quad route start looking for a factory spread-bore intake & a big q-jet. And T/A performance has shorty headers specifically the for 63-65 Rivs (at least they did...I bought mine a few years ago).

And there's another company (I forget the name offhand) that rebuilds headlight motors. I have their info in my apartment somewhere if you need it.

I went through a big restoration of my 65 Riv years ago and learned quite a bit in regards to finding parts. It's definitely NOT like restoring a late 60's chevy. There was next to nothing for aftermarket stuff.

If you plan on keeping it and not flipping it for a profit, I'd definitely recommend the ROA (Riviera club of America), if for other reason than the classified ads in their monthly magazine. I found a lot of stuff there at a reasonable price.

 

It has an Edelbrock carb; not sure if it's a spreadbore, which is what I'd prefer.

I would appreciate the headlight info.

Me make a profit off a car, that's a laugh! I will join the ROA.

 

More than likely it is a square-bore intake. There are a LOT more of those out there, and I don't think they even used the spread-bore on 401's. I think it was on the 425's only (I could be wrong about this...Z-man???), so there are way less of them out there. I have one, and it was a bit of a bitch to procure.

Anyway, I'll hunt down that headlight info. If I find anything else of use I'll shoot it over too.

 

Probably get better milage with the spread bore; do they have them aftermarket in aluminum?