Early on I had mentioned that cousin Paul's brother has a '63 Riviera. He had recently revived it after decades of so-so storage, so today I headed to the old neighborhood. With a fresh carb redo, fresh gas and filters, tires and exhaust it runs pretty good. So, with me behind the wheel we head out for a few miles, uh-oh, ran out of gas! I was able to get off the paved road and shot some pix while cousin Arlin trekked about a mile home for the ATV and some gas.

This is a pretty good 'ol car, virtually no rust, the chrome and trim are very nice, interior is mostly nice, paint is a bit rough. Needs a lot of hours cleaning and detailing! Gorgeous combo of Daytona blue with silver interior!!

Back at the farm did a tour through the maze of MM tractors in four very large pole buildings, 150 in all. Arlin is well known in tractor circles for having the rare and unusual.

That's great Bill. The undercoat guys were using it sparingly that day.........

Bill,

This ‘65 Corvette is really a neat car!
Are those seat covers needing an enhancement, especially the LH as they look a little flat?

The ‘63 Riviera is cool also, love that rear seating.

Is that trunk luggage rack factory on the Riv.?

Yes Chris, the drivers seat could use a bit of attention. Understand that the mission here is to update the mechanicals for my cousin and his family to enjoy trouble free drivability. If Brian or I were to own this car we would be taking it to another level with rebuilt original water and fuel pumps, more advanced paint correction and some work on the seats.

We are not doing this for personal gain, but because we have deep appreciation and respect for this great car. Brian feels that if it was his he would lift the body off again and bring the chassis up to NCRS standards. Great potential!!

We have nailed down 1981 as the year that the fuel line rusted through and the car was parked.

Paul mentioned again the day we picked it up that he always regretted not ordering Fuel Injection, but that was a very expensive option in 1965 dollars for a young man building a farming operation. It occurred to me while checking Brian's work on the shifter (smooth as butter!) that this is the very first Muncie trans that I ever shifted! - Bill W

I really can't answer that?? It appears that it may be? :dunno:

I wouldn't want to be quoted on this factoid, but I believe that 1963 was the only year a Riviera could have had a leather interior. Seems odd, but as a fan of Riviera's I have never seen leather on any other year. I ordered a 73 Riv Gran Sport in 73 and absolutely would have ordered leather if it was available as I felt that a Riviera should have every available option. A neighbor of my mothers had the very 1st Riv I ever saw and it was silver with a silver leather interior. As a 16 year old kid I never got over that beauty!.....Bill S

Update...
Brian and I had a busy afternoon. The speedo and Tach were very quick turn around. The speaker came back last week but still waiting on the radio.

Assembled the dash cluster and installed. If you've done R&R on a C2 cluster you know it takes a bit of patience. Changed the oil and filter, flush and fill the coolant and replaced the battery. Brian had previously refreshed the carb, Fired it up and checked operations, all good except the turn signals flashed a few times and quit?? Traced to a failed TS flasher that blew the fuse?? Hadn't seen that before, glad it happened now.

All done 'till the radio comes back, may do some mild paint correction in the meantime. - Bill W

Looking great Bill!!!

I just love the colors and the story!!