THE RESTORATION BEGINS!
The Riv looks pretty good in the above picture from the day I bought it, but time has taken its toll on the car. I sold the car in 2023, but you can enjoy the process anyway.
Here are some closeup shots of some of the damage so you can see how much work is going into this project. These show the extent of the rotten sheetmetal and peeling paint., just in case you're into that sort of thing. I found an online source for replica quarter panels to replace the cancerous wheel wells...
I have a brand new set of taillights still in the original box to replace these cruddy old ones. Mmm, minty fresh! By the way, the vertical bar in the middle of the chrome should be painted with a wash of translucent red so it disappears into the taillight lens. Betcha didn't know that...
Here are a couple shots of the interior that really don't do justice to the condition. The front seats have some rips and tears, but the back seat is just about perfect. Dashboard, headliner, door panels, etc. are all nearly perfect as well. By the way, the bucket seats with console combo is one of just two options on this car. The chrome sport wheels are the other. Aside from those deviations, this car is about as stripped as a Riviera could be had.
The rocker panel molding and wheel well trim had over three decades of nasty tar buildup on them. This degreaser, plus a lot of scrubbing with 0000 steel wool had them looking new again. (By the way, if you didn't know, much of the "chrome" on old cars is actually stamped stainless steel, and as long as it isn't dented or deeply scratched, it can be brought back to life by lightly scrubbing with steel wool).
This first shot is typical of the condition of the chrome rally wheels currently on the car (actually, this is one of the better ones. The chrome on the spare is peeling off in sheets, exposing deep rust.) They're dull, rusty, scratched and probably have fleas. A couple of these wheels might be salvageable, in which case I'll list them on eBay after cleanup.
The next two shots are the five wheels I bought on eBay for $200, shipping included... a steal! After degreasing and lightly scrubbing with steel wool, the chrome is pretty dang bright. Then I masked off and resprayed the black areas with semi gloss black. They look rather dashing with a brand new rally cap and lugnuts in place. I intend to stick with white letter tires on the finished car, though not quite as tacky as the Uniroyal Tiger Paws currently on it. The original 1971 stock tires had a boring double white stripe, and I just can't see this car like that. The '71 Skylark GS came with white letter Goodyear Polyglas tires, so I think I'll go that direction. The only other deviation from pure stock in this restoration will be putting a CD player in the ashtray (though the original AM radio will still be in the dash!)
Here are factory images of what you could originally get on your Buick GS or Riv according to the Color and Trim selector book... The third combo is the Riv wheel Photoshopped onto the GS tire. This is the effect I want to achieve.
Check these out... A matching set of 1971 Colorado license plates. Note the prefix, RV, perfect for the Riv. In some states you can legally register old plates that match your car's year. In Colorado, unfortunately, you can only do so if you were the original registrar (registree? registerer? registroid?) of that plate number. I might consider signing up for vanity plates that say RV-4231 and then use these instead of the new ones they issue me. The only problem with that is, Colorado has a killer deal on collector plates for vintage cars... $125 for 5 years, and you never have to do a second emissions test as long as you continuously register the car. My current plates are good through 2019.
My parts wish list to finish this car...
Chrome dashboard nameplate
Big pile of cash
If you have these parts in great condition, email me!
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