So just three days after I got my 1969 Riviera leveled with new springs and the newly chromed and painted wheels with new tires mounted on the car I am backing the car out of my mechanics shop and stupid me I managed to rake the right rear quarter panel against the shop door steel frame opening. The frame did not move but the bumper and fender sure as hell did ! This is a car that has been completely restored with a beautiful Twilight Iridescent Blue paint job that I had just bought. Needless to say I was sick to my stomach and I did not want to get out and look after I pulled the car forward into the shop. My mechanic and his helper looked with shock not believing I had just messed up my beautiful car. So, after I finished accepting the stupidity I drove the car to my friends body shop and we assessed the damage. He gave me an estimate and I forwarded it to Hagerty. They came through the next day with a deposit to my bank account (less my deductible) and I went to work taking the bumper off. By the way, notice there are no bumper bolts on this Riviera's bumper. As part of the Riviera design process they came up with a neat hidden method to mount the bumper. I just had to remove all the taillight parts and then remove the back third of both sides of the exhaust system including the resonators so I could get to the mounting bolts. Once I got to the bolts the bumper came off and I took it to the chrome shop to remove the dent and re-chrome (even though it had been re-chromed during the restoration). I ruined the red round running light but thankfully 2 Many Buicks responded to my search for a new light with an NOS one! So, the body shop took in the car and began work last week. The big dent in the quarter panel popped out with one firm smack with a fist from inside the trunk so we did not have much to repair with bondo etc. I had three very small bubbles at the bottom edge of the truck lid and when they removed them found they were caused by tiny rust spots left on the edge during restoration, they did not go through the metal. So they repaired the bubbles, applied the paint then clear coated the whole trunk and the full quarter. I picked up the car today and I must say it looks great. The fact that I had more than 1/2 gallon of the original Twilight Iridescent blue paint made the color match much easier. The white tape is holding the taillights sort of in place so I could drive the car to and from the body shop. I am now waiting on the bumper to be finished, I get to put it back on, and then I am back in business enjoying the car. Moral to the story: First: with a new car get accustomed to the width and length before driving in tight spaces Second: when your car does not have a passenger side mirror carefully depend on your other two rear view mirrors and don't guess Third: always ask you Buick buddies for support when needed especially hard to find parts (Thanks again 2 Many Buicks). By the way, before I was offered the NOS light I bought several other used ones so if one of you 68-70 fellow Riviera owners every need a light contact me. So, a happy ending to what could have been a much worse situation. Think positive!
Could have been worse. Take your eyes off the road for 1 sec and a F150 stops short in front of you. All over but the crying! 2 weeks after I finished the new hood!
Your not the only one to make this same mistake for the same reasons. I installed the passenger side mirror along with the repaint; life is now much easier!
Amen. The more I go back to this post the more I like it. I almost bought a loaded 70 Riv GS (Pretty sure it was a 70. Been a few years..) So loaded. Dark blue like yours. White bucket seat and interior.
That is a beautiful, beautiful car. I too felt the same pain, albeit many, many years ago. When I was a sophomore in college, I did almost the exact same thing to my 68 Firebird convertible. I had a definitive case of Cat Scratch fever (no joke!) and went to see a specialist researcher at Bethesda NNMC. Parked in an underground garage with a pillar near the right rear quarter. Well, with Cat Scratch fever I could barely move my eyes or turn my head, plus the pillar was in the blind spot and the car had no passenger side mirror. Forgot about the pillar and heard that same horrifying scraping sound you heard. The researcher was a great guy, but dude, c'mon. I had an all-over body rash -- "oh, that is fantastic, just fantastic!" Couldn't move my eyes -- "wonderful, wonderful". All my lymph nodes swollen up -- "beautiful". Maybe to you, but to me, not so much
I see you were cautious enough to remove the center caps while the car was at the body shop. Glad you got it worked out nicely. And Steve, way to step up for a Buick brother!
Thanks all for the positive comments and sharing the pain. And just tonight I was reading the newest Hemmings and they had a two page feature on Riviera's with a photo of a 1969 in the same Twilight Iridescent Blue as mine and stated it was the least color used in 69 with only 1679 Riv's painted the Twilight color. It also has the same light blue bucket interior I have. It stickered for $6218 or $45,010 in todays dollars. It also has the full floor console with shifter where mine came with the half console. It also has a white vinyl top which I am glad I do not have. I have all the parts to install the full console shifter and the tilt console steering column so a winter project is coming up. A few more photos in the sun. (prior to my stupid mistake!) Have a great weekend and stay safe and well!
