welcome...great project wish my old man had done the same...he bought me a 1976 Corolla (doh !!!) Regarding the wife...I'm always in the sh1t just the depth varies day to day depending on what arrives in the mail..... She loves her holidays each year, so I let her run with that and smile and enjoy it.... balance....
Ha you got off with only 30mins? I've had my Buick (and for a while two of them) and I still hear about it. Welcome, and enjoy your Riv!
Updated profile information. I was told to pull the original rear and in favor of something else, so not surprised to see someone list that. Already heard about the vacuum operated headlights. I'm going to drop the tank, flush/clean it and pressure test it. I didn't realize it was an in-tank fuel pump. The oil pump I have been told is problematic and makes it difficult to maintain oil pressure but I'm not changing the motor. Thanks for the input.
Leave the rear end and only replace whatever bushings ect thats needed. the 9 3/8 is a pretty tough set up. Only thing you would need parts for would be if you wanted to change the ratio. Theres a 2 letter code stamped into the bottom of the left tube. that will tell you the ratio installed. The 68 does not have a electric pump in the tank. that started in 69. Whoever rebuilt the engine may have modified the oiling system when they did the machine work. Id hook up an after market gauge to see what the readings really are. 11 psi at hot idle is fine. If your headlights dont work drop me a PM and I can walk you through fixing them.
Thanks. The grill and headlights are dis-assembled right now, so they don't work. There were several stress cracks in the plastic grill that I repaired already. That stiffened it up pretty good. I'll let you know when I tackle those headlights. I have repaired the stress cracks in the plastic headlight rings as well. I am partners in a business that handles commercial/industrial spray coatings and one of them is polyurea, which is used for spray on truck bed liners (among other things). I'm not replacing the carpet or head liner. I am planning on spray coating them with some nice Buick logos sprayed in. Should be nice and fairly indestructible. That also leaves me the option to go over the top with carpet/liner in the future, with no problem. I am contemplating a frame off restoration so that I can sand blast and completely Armor Coat the under body. Not sure I want to get that far into it or not.
The '68 Riviera has a mechanical fuel pump (right front of the 430) - it's kissing cousin, the '69 has the in-tank electric pump, as Steve has mentioned. Get yourself a '68 Shop manual and Chassis Manual - they are available in printed format, or CD, and are probably the best investment you can make for your project. They will answer a lot of questions that you haven't even thought of asking yet' !! :TU:
Welcome aboard! 30 minute rant? I don't pretend to know your situation, but dayam. I don't take anything off the wife. The only time I was told I was sleeping on the couch (about 20 years ago), I told her that if she didn't want to be near me, the couch was hers. I hope it all works out for you in the end.
68 has a standard mechanical fuel pump on the engine, 69 got the electric in tank pump so you are good there. there is no other rear rnd that will bolt in so just leave it, it's probably not broken anyway!
That's going to be my attitude. If it's not broken, I'm not replacing it. The exceptions are going to be the brakes, as I am going to put front disc brakes on and possibly rear disc brakes. I will also replace the old rubber bushings with nylon to eliminate the sway in the rear end. It's already got the old Mopar mags on it, so I like that. I will put a new oil pump in it with an after market guage to keep tabs on the pressure. Thanks for the tips.
the poly bushings are a good idea, I still run drums all the way around on mine, rear disks would be overkill in my opinion as for the fronts go with one of the disk conversions as you can not get parts for the factory disk brakes for the Riv
nah .. most of that'll buff right off (with 80 grit) just from a quick look, you'll want to ditch the flex fan, source a 7 blade stock fan (18" i believe but Rivi may be larger) and get a fan shroud
Looks like you and no. 1 son will be spending a fair amount of time on ' the project'. Sometimes they just look worse than they actually are, but if it's anything like mine, it could be worse than it actually looks !! :laugh: . . . hang in there RJ !! :TU:
