Newbie needs guidance from forum fundis

[Tagg]

hi guys,

I guess I should start with an introduction - My real name is Stephen and I said in the title I am a newbie at this restoration business. I am interested in taking on my first project but I want to do as much planning as possible before making the full commitment. I have found a car that interests me - a 1968 Buick Riviera with papers and relatively straight save for the rear bumper (see pictures attached).

I am currently negotiating with the owner for a reasonable price. in this regard I figure that a fully restored vehicle like this would at best sell for about ZAR150,000. Working backwards I am trying to some up with a reasonable upper limit in terms of what I can offer. The trouble is, as a newbie I am not sure how much effort it will take to strip the paint and get it repainted, get the mechanics checked out (I know the fuel pump is shot), and then to clean out the interior. Any advice would be sincerely appreciated.

[Tagg]

Added another picture of the front end after editing it to make it smaller.

I guess the main question i have is about the paint job and the cost of restoring that.

[Chevy-SS-Stroker]

First of all Stephen, welcome to the forum. You will find all the help and support right here on AMC.

The Buick is a biiiiig beast!!!! There are not many of them in SA, maybe 2 or 3 if so many!

This particular specimen looks in rather good nic, clearly it has been standing in the wind and weather for some years.

The cost of restoring this beauty is realy all up to you, depends on what you want to do and to what extend.

Are you going to do everything yourself or are you outsourcing the restoration, or outsourcing parts of the job? This is one of the factors that will eat into your budget. The first of course the cheapest way.

The big question.....rust...? It will take the revamp into a whole new spending bracket.
Painting the car professionaly will be expensive, Anything from R 20 000 and more, depending on colour and type of paint you will be using, that is with minimal body repair.

Mechanical repair is another pain, hidden costs, parts availability...etc...etc

Are you restoring to re-sell again, or keeping it for years to come? The market for re-selling is very very small, it will be a matter of the right buyer at the right time and the price you want.

Buying the Buick is realy up to what you are willing to pay. The seller will not have buyers standing in a que to negotiate...you are most probably the only one right now interested in the car.

Take your time, do not get over eager to buy. Have the car properly investigated and see what is the status on E-NATIS if any, there might be thousands of rands of outstanding licence fees.

Good luck with your venture. Before you finaly move to buy, run another fiew questions through the forum.

Cheers

AJ

[johan wepener]

Agree. Good advice.

Johan

[ters]

Welcome Stephen! You received the most comprehensive guidelines anyone could give from AJ! I would like to emphasise his tip "Take your time, do not get over eager to buy".

Ters.

[Moering Tool]

Pop a pm to Dave (aka raceface) on this forum, he has restored a riv and can point you in the right direction. (He still owns it, it may or may not be for sale... )

[Tagg]

Thank you for all the useful feedback. I have taken it all onboard and I am doing more homework. For one, after the visual inspection I have been trawling forums to get an indication of the availability of parts etc and I think I have already revised my cap down!

The Riviera is indeed a very large vehicle but I have always had a love for big body sedans from the '60s. First love was the '63 Impala, then all Impalas upto the '70 Impala. Then I was briefly infatuated with the '68 Eldorado. When a childhood friend inherited a '68 Riviera from his grandfather and experiencing the vehicle up close sealed the deal.

In terms of the work, I am not that knowledgeable about how to fix cars, but I want to use this project to change that. I have a desk job that I seriously need to escape from over weekends. Added to this my son has a crazy love for cars so rather than deprive him the opportunity like I was, I figure that this may be an interesting father-son project for us to get our hands 'greasy'. If/when this project gets off the ground I will start a thread on it and keep you guys posted.

Regards

Stephen

[jmvv]

Stephen,

If you do buy it, do not lay a single spanner on the car for at least three months.

Rushing into dismantling is the easiest way of turning a potential restoration project into a useless pile of scrap metal

Clean it, get rid of the rubbish, pump the tyres, do a thorough assessment, join a dedicated Buick Riviera forum as well, check what is missing and where you can find what (Google is your friend and Ebay is the enemy of your wallet) look at some Youtube videos of Riviera restorations.

Once you have done your due diligence, draw up a budget. Multiply that by four and factor in the Randela's airobics agains the Dollar.

If your heart is still strong after that and SWAMBO is still on speaking terms with you; only then do you start work.

Oh yes, you'll also find that your metric spanners do not work on a Riviera. You'll need imperial tools.