REBUILDING A 1953 BUICK SUPER RIVIERA....
|
My father and I looked at this car in early February, 2003, with the intent that it would make a good parts car for the 1953 Skylark that he's restoring. We had heard that a tree had fallen on it, and that it was only good for parts, but after some thought I decided I would buy it instead. So, she got a new lease on life. Follow along for the rest of the story... |
||
 |
The tree cracked both passenger side windows, as well as the windshield. A donor car will be used for those parts. | |
 |
She looked pretty solid... Believe me when I say, I've seen worse.......... | |
 |
Ok, so the dent isn't really all THAT deep.... It's fixable. I know this because a friend of my dad's, who does body work professionally, wants to buy it..... Well, she's not for sale. | |
 |
The interior wasn't all that bad. At least it was intact... | |
 |
Away she goes... | |
 |
Ah, now she's looking better.... All it took was a good wash job. Sometimes you have to look beyond the dirt. This was a super solid car with great potential, and it shows here........ | |
 |
Yes, the engine was clean... | |
 |
Ah, it didn't take much to straighten that roof rail...Now the rest of the roof has to be popped out... | |
 |
Headlight detail... Yes, a previos owner had already done the hard part of "Frenching" them in... | |
 |
The roof is smooth... No more damage is visible. | |
 |
Out of the shop, and ready for paint... | |
 |
Out of the paint shop... | |
 |
Here's that roof that used to be smashed in... Not bad... | |
 |
June 2, 2003: We dropped off the interior parts at the upholstery shop... Here's what we ripped out of the old Buick... | |
 |
July 4, 2003: Looking good... Here are the seats.... The inserts are actually bright gold, even though in the photos they look sort of beige... | |
 |
July 4, 2003: Looking good... Here are the other parts for the interior... The white tuck and roll pieces are floor mats... | |
 |
July 4, 2003: My upholsterer is a great guy named Arnie... We gave Arnie this scan out of a 1958 Buick brochure to provide the patterns that I thought would look good on the old '53 Super.... | |
 |
November 27, 2003: Sans headlight surrounds, and no hubcaps yet, but coming together... | |
 |
November 27, 2003: Those are mid 50's Dodge caps. They're only temporary, as I have something even better in mind... | |
 |
November 27, 2003: It's funny how the paint looks one way in the dark, and another in the light... | |
 |
November 27, 2003: Flash... | |
 |
January 2, 2004: Nosed, Decked, and Frenched, she's finally ready for the road... | |
 |
January 2, 2004: Compare this with the first picture. The whole project has taken less than a year, and even that was on a part-time basis... | |
 |
January 2, 2004: The interior has been reinstalled... | |
 |
May 16, 2004: First voyage... | |
|
If you have found this page through a search engine, you may want to go to the home page for more unusual car stuff....
|
||
| ...my dad's 1953 Buick Skylark, 1953 Buick Super Riviera restoration (MILD KUSTOM) pics.... PLUS, my wreck! Come on in for the rest of the story.... | ||