Hi All.. I'm Mike from Australia and new to the forum... almost at the end of a very long restoration of my 1968 Buick Rivieria, which was passed down to me from my father in about 1990 ... My Dad purchased the car from a dealership in around 1974, there had been one previous owner ... I started the restoration around 6 years ago and it's now finally 95% completed .. I'm still waiting on the front hood trim and my interior door trims to be restored .. The car has had a ground up restoration, the only thing that hasn't been removed from the car is the air conditioning box and the vacuum lines, (which now I regret!) .. I have added an Album with a few pics of the almost finished product on my profile .. I'm in the process of putting together all the pics of the restoration which I will add at a later stage .. Just a brief note on the motor - custom made headers, a nice cam, heads/nice port job and bigger valves, fully balanced, still yet to work on the carburetor, still running the motor in .. The car is riding on 7inch original Buick rims with 255 tires .. Interior is all original, other than the head lining and carpet .. The car still retains its 4 piston brake callipers .. Trying to locate some decent diecast trim pieces is difficult, due to the fact that I am in Australia - finding that I have to buy four pieces to find one I'm happy with ... Hope you enjoy the pics ... Mike
Welcome to the board. Nice Riv! Its really freaky to me to see the right hand drive version of a car that I drive nearly everyday. Is your custom made headers long tube or shorties? Id like to see pics of the collectors. Also I notice you have the ACC system. Does it work correctly? Mine had it and I swaped it for the basic system. Lastly, Wondering if the headlights work as they should. I see in the pics they are open but not on. Any questions feel free to ask here!
Welcome from Canada's Capital - Nice ride, one of my favorites !! :beer :beer I'm with Briz on the right hand drive version of this car, it does tend to look a little odd to us left handers. o No: The vacuum system on the '68s can be a real PITA to trouble shoot, but persistence usually wins, along with a little help from fellow Riviera owners. '69 models are close cousins when it comes to some of the exterior trim pieces. :TU:
Thanks all for your comments and feedback .. as far as the headers (check out pic 4/40), the last two exhaust ports of the headers join into one pipe near the idler arm, and the first two ports of the headers follow in behind joining into one pipe closer to the front of the car, leaving two pipes to join into one at the bottom of the front fender. I would say they are a fraction longer than shorties .. perhaps in between? The pictures are very deceiving because the exhaust system actually fits closer to the floor of the car than it appears to show. The AC worked earlier on in it's life but currently there are issues that I need to sort out with it .. The headlights are working and are retractable, but I'm just in the process of sourcing a headlight switch .. as mine is faulty .. (is the switch the same as oldsmobile?) I wonder if you noticed the steering box underneath the AC box? In the early days, conversions were basically done in the backyard, which resulted in bad workmanship. A lot of butchering of the chassis was done for the placement of the steering box, which meant a section of the chassis had to be removed and a new section built around the steering box, causing problems within itself. As you know, the chassis needs to flex so when you start cutting and welding sections in, it creates a point where the chassis is no longer flexible resulting in fatigue cracks. I've spent much time and money trying to rectify this. Ill attach some more pics soon.. Regards Mike
Good luck with getting that ACC to work correctly. I gave up after 2 yrs of fooling with it. My compressor always worked and it would blow cold. The issue was which vents it would want to come out of that day or hour. PITA! I used a headlight switch form a early corvette. Forget which year. you have to take the insterment cluster nearly completely out to replace it. Your R hand drive looks factory. Where did they get a reverse dash board?
I actually converted the dash myself, took at least 80 hours. I purchased a left hand dash, moulded the dash with paper mache to form a solid casket .. Once the mache set I removed the mould and filled it with a foam fill from an aeorsol can... then removing the mould leaving me with a left hand dash made of foam ... after a few measurements, I cut a section from the right hand side, to fill the left side (where the cluster gauges once were) .. once I had the basic shape formed I spent hours sanding and filing into shape. Once I fitted to my right hand conversion, it was ready to be fiber glassed over the mould. Once the fiber glass was set I removed the foam fill, leaving me with a fiber glass moulded dash .. Last step was the vinyl covering. Must say I was very happy with it myself! I've always been under the impression that none of these cars were built right hand drive?? It's great to see a few of these unique car making it to our shores, in particular the 64 & 65 Riv's.. Mike
Mike: The light switch is the same on many GM products from the 60's into the 80's. And you can add the "vacuum section" of the switch to a regular switch without any problem (in case that your problem is electrical and not vacuum related) You know that you have to press in a little pin on the switch to remove the shaft ? From an old post:
Welcome and it sure is a nice riviera Also want to use this opportunity to say hello to the former owner of my GS Hello Bart, everything still OK or are you secretly searching for a new GS !
Board memer "Deacon" (Dan) is also a former owner of your GS350. Click here for a thread about your car :Comp:
Yep, i have already had contact with Dan a while ago and had already found the thread, but thanks for the effort........where would the world be without Bad Boattail..... You're really amazing sometimes, you are a living, walking, talking, typing mega encyclopedia hahaha
Mike, I did some scanning for another new member with a 1968 Riviera, I think you will also enjoy this: Click thumbnails :Comp:
Mike, thanks so much for the pics. You put in many hours of hard work and it shows. The headers will give that 430 a bit more oomph. Good show mate! :TU:
Thanks for your comments all!! Article was a great read, in particular interesting reading regarding the Turbo 400 (altitude compensator).. Just wondering if anyone knows exactly how the altitude compensator works because I have had problems with my automatic shooting out oil thorugh the dip stick hole? No one could give me a clear answer as to why this was happening, even though the automatic was changing gears without any problem. I had no choice but to have the auto fully rebuilt, which solved the problem. Just wondering if there could be some kind of link between my problem and the way the altitude compensator was, or was not, working?? Cheers Mike
I had a TH400 blow fluid out the dip stick and it was due to a pluged vent tube on the top of the trans.
Hello Jeroen, No i'm not searching for a GS, I'm secretly searching for a GN or maybe a '69 Riviera. :bglasses:
Bart, there is a 1987 Grand National for sale in the UK. No import duties to pay, NO BPM and no trouble getting it registered in the Netherlands since it already has an UK registration :TU: That scan is from May 2012, and the car is still for sale in the January 2013 issue of Classic American magazine, with the same asking price. So maybe you can talk him down to 6000 in Euros ? Let me know when you are in for a road trip to check that car out. Taking the ferry from Dunkerque, France is really cheap, something like 35 Euro for a return ticket if we book an early departure. :TU:
Hmmmm Bart if i were you i would go for the '69 Riviera, and if you do, call me if you wan't to ever sell it, cause it would be a solid one for sure ;-)
