I am just not auto monogamous. I play with cars for a few years, sell them and buy and try something new. I sold my 49 Tin Woody back in February and have been casually looking for something to take its place. The Tin Woody was like a lot of things I've tried, the idea was better than the reality. So, last week I spied a nice low mileage, hard to find 65 Riviera in NC two hours away from me. I immediately rode over the next day and checked it out. It was nice but I had some concerns and tried to get the seller to a price more to my liking. We ended up meeting a little on my side of the middle. Once I got the car home and really started looking at it, the happier I was with my purchase. This thing has been kept in climate controlled storage for the last 11 years and only had 37k miles on it. This owner only put 4k in 11 years. It literally appears to have zero rust and a good repaint. Everything else is original except the wheels, I think. However, there are some issues. 1. Mice had apparently set up housekeeping in this car unnoticed by the owner. By the time he noticed, it was pretty infected. So, I have to gut the interior, including the nice headliner and clean all of the rodent piss and dung out of it from one end to the other. Fortunately, it does not appear that they got into the HVAC. 2. The engine had a loud tick tack sound that is definitely in the valve train. I am hoping it's a stuck lifter or bent pushrod. Worst case is a cam. Since I am going to detail the engine compartment, I will probably remove the engine to do the work. We will see. 3. The factory AC is not working correctly and it is one of those systems that uses a lot of vacuum switches and actuators. That could be a challenge to straighten out but I have ordered a shop manual to help me and I will prevail. Since shifting my automotive tastes to American iron about 15 years ago, I have not owned an original car. I have decided to keep this one mostly original but will lower it and upgrade the suspension, plus put a better stereo in it. Other than that, I am going to detail it and drive it. Also, I name my rides and I am in the process of deciding what to call it. Old Yeller', Mickey (Mouse) and Donovan (mellow yellow) are under consideration. And no, it is not a GS. The PO thought the badges looked cool. Unfortunately, there are two holes for each badge, so they are staying.
Pretty car. If you have to take the headliner out to clean out mouse nests, you might consider painting the underside of the roof once you have everything cleaned up. My '57 Chevy had mice in the roof really bad (to the point I had to sandblast the inside of the roof and fix some rot) but what really killed the smell was painting over everything once it was all clean. Was well worth the effort.
Those are fine driving/riding cars. Hope the rodent problem is not bad. Look for chewed on wiring and vac lines.
I haven't seen any chewed up wires or vacuum lines, thankfully. Also, it doesn't appear that they got into the HVAC.
One of my bucket list cars. I saw one locally a few years ago, but it had serious rust and mold issues... a hard pass at $12k...
Damn shame those pesky rodents did their damage. That interior looks sooooo nice to have to strip it all out.
Very nice car! My brother has a real nice 64 that is all original other than stance. Makes me regret passing up a couple Rivieras I could have had for next to nothing a few years back. If I had only known what I was looking at when I opened the hood and saw the two fours on a $200 car...
Congrats- hard to know all details when doing a quick walk around before purchase. do not cut any corners when doing rodent clean up repairs
Nice car. I would get one of those Ozone machines put it in the car, it should take car of any of the odors.
That is a very nice looking piece. The 63-65 Riviera is probably (in my opinion) the best all around styled car from GM in the 60’s. Very well balanced and really needs nothing. It’s perfect just like it rolled off the assembly line.
I used to have a 1965 Pontiac Grand Prix painted the same color (Pontiac called it Mayfair Maize, Buick called it Bamboo Cream but it was the same formula.) It was sort of an unusual GM color, I haven't seen many cars painted that way.
Beautiful Riviera ! While it won't address any stains, I highly recommend getting some Nok-Out for your interior. It'll get rid of the piss smell and any other unwanted smell that might be in there. I've used it on leather upholstery and Pendleton wool blankets that our cat had peed on. It took a few applications, but it totally eliminated all the urine smell without any damage. https://nokout.com/about-nok-out-odor-remover/
OT car I’ve been redoing for my brother in law was infested with mice. Way worse than yours. Every time I shook the dash a mouse skull would fall on the floor. I used lots of cleaning products but couldn’t totally get rid of the smell. I bought an ozone generator, set it in the car, and covered with a tarp for 48 hrs. It worked amazingly well.
I have an ozone generator and plan on using it. They are handy for getting rid of unwanted smells, even burnt plastic.
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