Proud Father

Dave,
Nice car and nice paint, even got under the hood and trunk, Nice Job. Very clean car.

Thanks Rick. Did you notice the grill emblem is set back?

Very nice work,car looks sweet.New magnaflow mufflers and tips,then she will be complete!!!What do you think?

Nice looking car dave, she looks like shes in great shape, love the interior. What I'm really interested in is the roof. Did you paint it black? It looks interesting, if possible, could 'ya get a pic of it up high?

Thanks guys. Yes, the roof is black. It looks really good with the glass tipped up. I will take some pics from above so it is more visible. Hey Flyineagle, nice ryme. You should be a poet or a rapper with skills like that. But the factory exhaust is in great shape, just need to paint the tips. Magnaflows will have to wait.

nice! i like the black roof.very good idea.and the riv looks much fuller with the lower spoilers painted to match. really clean interior. your son must be besides himself. i bet hes the only kid in school driving a riv.

You know that Robo. Everyone asks him what it is. One guy saw the R in the grill and asked if it was a Rolls. I got the car running really well so no mods till spring. I will put a new coupler in an extra sc I have laying around and lower intake gaskets soon, but that will be it for now.

Here are a few pics I took before it was painted.

wow! removing all the 1/4 glass ant trim musta been a b...h! btw,what kind of flex additive did you use for the bumpers? and have you seen sqrivis custom made fiberglass bumpers for the riv?

Robo, I used BASF flex additive in the clearcoat of all the flexible parts. BASF says not to add to basecoat nor is it recommended. Also I used a flexible primer made by USC (urethane supply company) on all flexible parts repairs. I did see sqrivis bumpers. During the process I didn't think I would like it, but the finished product looks really good. I am going to mod a rear cover and roker moldings before spring. Nothing to crazy. Just want to give it more of a full ground effects look.

good to know. a guy i used to work with used Bulldog flex. i didnt think it worked that good. the flex ive used in the past was a dupont product i think. i remember it being super expensive. oh btw,did you remove the chrome window, trim front/back before spraying? and if you didnt why did you remove the 1/4 glass? just gleening info for my shoot. thanks

All the windows were removed before paint. The w'shield and backglass moldings are alot easier to replace with the glass removed. Also, the windshield was scratched and pitted so I wanted to replace it. Also any windows that lay flush against the body like our 1/4 glasses would cause a paint peeling problem if not removed. I also stripped this car to bare metal so could not have done a quality job without pulling them. My glass guy pulled all glass and replaced windshield and both front and back moldings for $250.

wow! dats alot of work!

The story of my life. It took me and my son 3 months in almost all of our free time. Tried to have it ready for his first day of school but ended up about two weeks late.

Very nice car

These pictures show hood and decklid removed for painting. This allowed me to paint jams and hinges at same time as body. Looks very clean when hood or deck lid is opened.

I love the black roof. I always thought the Riviera would look awesome in two toned paint.

Great job there dave, looks like you do quality work. Just wondering, what rubber parts did you re-use due to the part being discontinued and what is new?

Hey BMD, the only rubber that needed to be replaced were around the windshield and back glass.Also the right 1/4 glass rubber was dry and cracked so I got a good used one.Wilbert's Auto Parts in Webster NY 1-800-462-6749 is really good for Buick parts I think they deliver all over the northeast. .My glass guy did a really good job matching the w'shield and back glass moldings.He even mitred the bottom corners on the rear.

Cool.

My 17 year old son who I built this car for because of his achieving honor role in school every marking period since 7th grade scored a 1250 on his SAT's. This will almost guarantee his acceptance into a top notch engineering school. He achieved all this while playing a sport in all three school seasons, playing golf at a competitive level in summer, and working part time at my collision shop. Sorry if I bored anyone with this, but as a father it is hard to keep your mouth shut when your kids do something to make you proud.Little Dave I'm proud of you!!!

Little Dave is 6' tall. Big Dave is barely 5'9"

thats great! i would be proud of my son too!

CONGRATULATIONS!
Little Dave did not get that way because of the school system. That just doesn't happen today.