So this project is certainly not new; but I've never dedicated a post to it so I figured I'd consolidate some things here. This is my dad's old car that he bought used in 1970(or 71). I was born like 10 years later and even brought home from the hospital in it. Here's some chronology of it from then on as best as I can remember it: -Early 80's: developed some overheating problems which eventually lead to an engine rebuild as one of the original heads was cracked. My dad had the engine rebuilt and it was sitting in a crate in the garage for all of my younger years and the car just sat on jack stands in the driveway, slowly deteriorating. -Mid 80's: It migrated in the garage at some point where I'd frequently play in it pretending to drive and listen to the radio, etc. I think it was during these times that I developed the appreciation for that "old car smell". -Late 80's: I'd sort of work on it some(as much as a young kid could), cleaning rust off the exposed front frame w/ a wire wheel and drill, peeling off the rotting vinyl top, etc -Early 90's: We moved and it moved with us but back outside this time so it continued to rot; though the engine remained in the crate(more like a box-covered pallet really) in the garage. -Mid 90's: I started getting more interested in working on things/cars and in late middle school/early high school began working on it more. We drug it down from where it was parked and into the driveway where I started cleaning things up, rebuilding the brakes, front suspension, etc -Mid or late 90's: we reassembled the drivetrain and stuck it in the car, rigging up enough stuff to drive it around a bit(see profile picture). I spent some more time stripping and painting the underside of the frame, a fender or so and a door. -Late 90's/early 2000's: other projects and college got in the way so progressed stopped other than an occasional eBay purchase of some trim piece or other part I knew I'd need in the future. -Mid 2000's: It was moved back into a garage and some floor pan replacement work accounted for a peak in activity as I had a misconceived notion that we'd use it as our drive-away car at our impending wedding(my parents had done the same). Though it became apparent quickly that this wouldn't be happening. -Late 2000's: Other obligations continued and it continued to sit in my parent's garage. -2012: An unmeasurable relative spike in activity for the restoration. A group of coworkers(3 others) started discussing cost-sharing the rental of an industrial blaster and blasting their project cars. I got wind of it and decided to join in. I moved the car over to my place which I now had room for. We built a body dolly for putting the body on once off the frame to move around - lots of other prep work as I basically stripped the car down to nothing leading up to this event and trailered it over to where we'd be doing this. We spent one weekend of 18-20 hour days blasting all 4 of our cars (my '69 Riviera, a '69 Chevelle, a '53 Ford F1, and a 50 Ford F1). None of us got completely finished with all parts but everyone got their body/cab blasted and epoxy primed, and I also finished two fenders, and one inner fender. The hood got partially blasted on the bottom as did the truck lid. We used a dustless blasting system form a place in Texas that actually mixes 5 gal of water(helped to prevent panel warpage too), a 50lb bag of media (glass), and a "rust inhibitor"(which didn't really work too well) and made a short job of removing paint and rust(I blasted an entire quarter panel and B-pillar in about 15 minutes). It was a trailer mounted diesel powered compressor. I don't know how many gallons of diesel we went through but the thing was on all day every day and we went through 2400 lbs of media and also had to reclaim some. I was the last one to blast the bulk of my stuff and I'm not experienced with painting but I got decent results(a few runs to sand, etc) with the primer and and a good stable platform to continue work from. 2013: It's now back at my place w/ the body on the dolly(just did that last night - jack stands before that as the Chevelle guy needed the dolly) inside and the frame in the back yard. The next step will be to replace the floor pans with sections I picked up from OPGI sitting in the corner, then probably blasting/painting the disassembled frame, and likely rebuilding the suspension again since it's been 20 years since the last time I did it(some of the boots are rotten, etc)! The front and rear windshield channels need a lot of attention too as all that time outside took their toll on them. Other than some door dings here and there the body doesn't really need any large amounts of work - thankfully! We now have kids of our own so this is likely to truly turn into a generational project... Though unfortunately my dad has developed pretty advanced dementia so he won't be able to enjoy any fruits of the labor. Years ago I had originally planned on finishing it up and giving it back to him to let him drive in his later years but that was not to be. He hasn't been able/allowed to drive for a few years now. But my son is 4 years old now and is interested in such things so the legacy continues I guess. :laugh: I'm hoping for a marked increase in progress compared to the past as that bulk blasting session and embarking into a "frame-off" endevour(I was essentially just tinkering before) has certainly catapulted me into having some inertia. Plus it's a lot easier to get something done on it when it's at my own place... Here are some collections of pictures from the progress: The early years: http://www.turbocamaroproject.com/drupaltest/node/8 The blasting session: http://www.turbocamaroproject.com/RivieraResto/index.html A stop-motion video of the blasting/priming I compiled from the footage our "host"/friend set up for us: www.turbocamaroproject.com/RivieraResto/Riviera-480x360.wmv I'll try and add things to this post for those interested as progress develops.
Great story. You're going to have a very nice car when it gets done. I went through about the same steps on my car but in a much shorter time frame. In the end its worth all the effort and moneys pour'd into it.
Keep up the good work Wayne. :TU: You have a good base to work from. Please try to keep us updated when you have a moment or two (moments are tough to come by these days). ou: We are rootin' for you!
:TU:Great story. Good job, keep going. I am had just done the same thing with my '70 Riviera and my 4 year old son and 2 year old daughter are addicted to helping (though it really needs nothing now). I finished in 2011. Good links to what has been done to my Riviera - pictures are scatter throughout both threads. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.ph...-Riviera-Black http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.ph...'nother+70
Thanks for the comments and encouragement guys. There are some nice Rivs on this site! And 2nd gens to boot. black70, I didn't realize all of the similarities between the 69 and 70. The dash panels are nearly identical. The custom stuff you've done is pretty stinkin' cool. Did you use an off the shelf TCI controller for your 4L80E and then add your custom shifter and gear read out stuff or is it all custom? I bet the overdrive is nice. I've played around with PICs and Arduinos and it's pretty awesome to add some modern stuff in these old cars. I have most of what I'll need for an EFI BBB setup using Megasquirt, though I'm just not sure which vehicle to put it in. So what's the mouse for? Our kids are the same age/arrangement. She already likes roaming around the garage picking up tools and pretending to use them. So perhaps there's hope for them yet! ---------- Post added at 09:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:13 AM ---------- Anyone w/ a '69 ever mess with trying to fix their console lid? Mine is broken at the hinges and the spring on the hinge seems strong enough to overpower any plastic repair that could be made. Also, the rear console light lens has been broken for a long time. Anyone mess with trying to make one or have a source? I'd think all the original ones would be rotted out by now.
It was "verde green" (redundant? p ) and I'll be going back with that. The black it is now is the self-etching epoxy primer by Sherwin Williams.
Always great to see somebody restoring my favorite Buick model! Great story and enjoy the further restoration. Btw, do you mean these lenses? http://www.ebay.com/itm/1966-1967-B...Parts_Accessories&hash=item1c3a32c3b4&vxp=mtr
no, not the b-pillar lights. There's a lens in the bottom/rear of the console itself that I guess illuminated the floors of the back seat. It's rectangular in shape and wraps around the bottom surface of the console. ---------- Post added at 05:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:10 PM ---------- Here's a picture of the console from my car. So down at the bottom of the back of the console (below the broken off rear lid) there is a lens(well, used to be) down at the floor.
No problem. I've never seen that lens anywhere...I can't even find an example of it on the internet. Just looked at your car - very nice! It looks like you repainted the top/window channels? Did you have much rust repair to do? I will have quite a bit... Also, are there front windshield sources for this car? The only option I have is the glass out of my '68 parts car. I'd like to have a backup plan...
I understand now, you have the console ofcourse, sorry, i need to concentrate a little more when i read english...hahah ---------- Post added at 12:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:42 AM ---------- Thank you Wayne! We share the same color almost right! I had some work done to the channels but luckily did not have too much rust. Yes, I even had the whole roof completely painted...I could drive it without top, although it would look too new then. Luckily both front and rear windshield came out in one piece. It is a hard to find part indeed. I will keep my eyes open for you on the light assembly. Maybe Kurt on the board here has any info. He is very much into the 69 riv as well. Check his 69 Riviera GS here http://www.v8buick.com/garage_vehicle.php?do=view_vehicle&id=12 A front windshield would be no problem to order here in The Netherlands. But that is not of any advantage for you there. Are you going to paint it the original color? Do you have the interior complete and in good shape or?
> Many similarities bewteen 69-70, My dash is out of a '69 (I have the original also). My windshield is also (again I have the original - in poor shape. I guess I should throw it out). > I have a complete $200 holley projection kit and serpentine setup begging to be installed. > I built the TCM (yes all custom), the mouse buttons are used to shift up and down I have left this in there as a discussion piece. All command/control and displays are done with PIC chips. Totaling two . I have not implemented the fully automatic stuff or the TCC yet...been playing with the Grand National more lately. I envy that you have buckets and console:Brow:...all (two) AZ parts cars that I found having the console, column and shifter are trashed. Particularly the console, they are junk, sun dried, crack and apparently gold plated in relation to value.o No: By all means comb through my posts maybe some of the stuff I did you can improve upon. Great minds think a like, inject some new practical technology. I look forward to seeing your car finished. :beer
All the best on your restoration Wayne. If you're not already a member of the Riviera Owners Association you might consider joining. In addition to a lot of great articles - the president of the organization, Rich Z, is also documenting the restoration of his 69 Riv GS. He has done it in several parts that could be helpful. Also the Riv knowledge within the group is top notch. They publish a bi-monthly printed magazine (yes, there are still a few printed magazines around) called the Riview. Link is here: http://www.rivowners.org. They also have a discussion forum located here: http://forums.aaca.org/f177/. Good luck with your restoration. Eric
I have had 7 Rivieras in the past, but none now. I still maintain my ROA membership due to the great asset it is, and because I am sure I will have another some day. Frank ROA 10634
