A buddy of mine bought a 66 off ebay and we just got it yesterday,where would the engine numbers be on an early 430?i checked the usual places and didnt find anything. can anybody help?
66 had a 425 Nailhead, not the 430. The 430 came in 67 for the riviera's. http://www.buicks.net/shop/engine_ident.html
If it has the original 425, the engine code and production number will be on the top of the engine right in front of the valley cover, in '66 it would start with an "M". On a 430('67-'69), the numbers are located between the #5 and #7 cylinders on the deck surface.
Yeah i know its supposed to have a 425 but it doesnt it has a 430, we havent put it in the air yet to get a look underneath but from the top it looks like it belongs there. i'll keep ya'll posted on what we find out. overall its a fairly solid complete car. thanks chris
Are the door locks towards the back of the door, or more towards the middle? If it is in fact a 66, then you got the reverse image of Nailheadina67's car. He has a 425 in a 67.
I wonder if that's the car that was on ebay that I was losing so much sleep over? We concluded the wierd VIN number was one that was a replacement issued by the state and the motor was not original. If you have a 430 in a '66, (could be your screen name :Brow: ) someone put it in there.........it could not possibly come from the factory that way. There are too many changes that would have had to be made to the car from the factory making it impractical to do that on just a few models. Your VIN on the car should match the VIN on the engine block and be a number starting with 49487 or something like that. Is this the car you are talking about:
Incidently, if you look closely at that picture, the door lock buttons are in the center of the door panel which is a dead giveaway that's a '67.........the '66 had them at the end of the panel. That car was listed on ebay as a '66 and had the strange VIN number.
Hey Joe, he says his locks are on the back of the doors. Remember we noticed that the riviera in the picture you just posted had the door locks in the middle of the door... Door Locks on the back = 66 Door Locks in the middle = 67
The car on that photo doesn't have R I V I E R A spelled over the full front of the bonnet as on the 1966 model year Rivieras, so it's likely to have the small Riviera script on the drivers side front of the bonnet, another indication that it's a model year 1967 car.
Yeah thats the car ,the numbers he posted were the title numbers and not the vin numbers.Hopefully i can verify the numbers on the block this week maybe today,but i really want to look at the oil pan to see what/how it was modified.from the top it looks like it belongs there but cant verify it yet.were gonna try and get it running within the next couple of weeks or so i'll let ya'll know our progress later chris
That photo is just a few inches off, so I couldn't see the R I V I E R A script. What's on the Body Number Plate ? ST 66 or ST 67 ? Here's an article about a '66:
If your interested, I have a 66 Riv sitting in my garage you can compare with. I'm 1 suburb west of you in River Grove. If you want to have a peek, leave an e-mail address and I will contact you. Also have the chassis/motor service manual, that will give all the information you may need to determine what you have. Paul aka O.P.
Here's a link to a thread that shows some of the differences between the 1966 and the 1967. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=66313 The 66 serial number begins by 494876H9 While the 67 number begins by 494877H9 I attached pics of the 66 and 67 Riviera and GS emblems on the front fenders to show the differences.
Hey paul whats up you are in thechicagoland gsca right,ive met you at some of the events and such. i'm gonna get back in this year maybe even have a car to drive . talk to you soon
Easy thing to also notice is the thick dash pad on the 67's. They usually stay in good shape with several still being uncracked. The thin ones on the 66's crack all the way across. Of course the grill has the wider center bar that is polished and a 66 doesn't. It's hard to believe how alike the cars look, but how few parts interchange. I have seen several 66's through the years with the old Nailheads replaced with the later 430 and 455's. Hope you figure it out.
