1958 Buick Riviera Super

Buick Riviera Super (1958)
for sale

Price: US $200.00

Description:

This 1958 Buick is an amazing opportunity.
This is an excellent easy-to-finish project car.
Most of the work has been completed
. It is not far from being ready for paint and to put back together. Unfortunately, I have lost my storage space and won't get the opportunity to finish the project I've invested so much into. I'm losing thousands of dollars and a car I really loved. My loss is your gain.
The 58 Buick is full of fins and chrome and features
more chrome than any car in history
. Beautifully styled automobiles, these cars are absolute head-turners and truly iconic.
I purchased the car in February of 2013 in completely original condition. It was in driving condition and the previous owner drove it regularly 150 miles to visit his parents on weekends. I drove the car home on the interstate at 70mph. Since the car was in original condition and had very minimal rust problems, this was an ideal project car. I began to disassemble a month after purchase. You can see a couple of photos of the car before I began tearing it apart. I have thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours into doing the hard restoration work. This car is complete. There is not a single chrome piece missing. Any missing, damaged or rusted parts have been replaced from rust-free parts cars. Below I will outline the work that has been done and what remains needed to be completed. I am trying to be as thorough and detailed as possible. I want to be honest and clear about the condition of the car.
I was careful looking for the right 58 Buick project. This Buick is a desirable Super model. The Super is a big series car sharing dimensions with the Roadmaster and Limited. Specials are much more common to find and less valuable. There were 140, 000 Specials made. Only 42, 000 Supers. This particular Super had a couple of unique options usually only found on a Roadmaster or Limited. This Super has the highly desired
Flight Pitch transmission
instead of the Dynaflow. This was an expensive option. This also has the most expensive paint option and looked great with the Blue Mist and Polar Mist top.
Work already done:
1. Engine was removed to replace the front seal in the transmission. All hoses and fluids replaced. Carb rebuilt. Engine reinstalled and everything tested. Runs strong. Brand new hard-to-find battery2. Purchased rust-free fenders from a parts car in Colorado. The area below the headlights is always a troublesome rust area on these. Finding these fenders for a Super was an important find.3. Carefully removed all chrome4. Sandblasted doors, quarter panels and front fenders.5. Sanded hood and roof to bare metal to prep for primer6. Replaced carpeting7. Purchased exact replica headliner from SMS (The best there is for a 58 buick) 8. Removed old headliner. The new headliner is included, but not installed.9. Removed door panels. In good enough condition to reuse.10. Weak metal areas or rust was cut out and replaced with strong sheet metal. This work was done by an experienced GM body man, not myself.11. Areas that were cut out and replaced included: drivers floor, small spots on rockers, small spots at the bottom of doors and quite a bit of work in and around the trunk.12. All visible areas are fully repaired and look good.13. Floor and trunk were sealed in rustoleum.14. The car (except the trunk lid) were sprayed by an experienced painter with a good quality epoxy primer. First sanding of the primer was just begun.
Areas of concern or things that need to be completed
1. Trunk lid will need significant repair. The car comes with your choice of 2 trunk lids. The original has significant rust issues and a few small holes rusted through. A replacement trunk lid that I purchased was much more solid, but is warped where someone attempted to weld in replacement sheet metal on the bottom lip. 2. The epoxy primer was done to preserve bare metal. The primer is not paint ready. It hasn't been sanded for the most part. The primer also shows water spots that dried on the primer during transport. Again, this is an initial coat of primer to preserve metal. Sanding and paint prep will be necessary. There are also a few imperfections like a very small dent in a front fender that will need to be finished up before paint. 3. Rear bumper rails have some rust through. Particularly the drivers side. These are problematic on virtually every 58 buick. 4. Most chrome is good. Some has minor pitting. One front eyebrow has a visible dent. 5. The metal under areas of the chrome had lots of rust pits. This was all blasted and all rust removed. I did not smooth out areas that will be covered when the chrome is put back on.6 The welded areas in the trunk are visible and not smoothed over since they would eventually be covered.7. Door jams and piece right in front of the windshield have not been sanded or blasted though they have a little surface rust only.8. a rear vent window has a crack. I have a replacement vent window from a parts car that is included.9. Gas tank is from a small series 58 buick. The filler neck comes up just a little short, but you can still fill it. I have a correct gas tank that I found from a parts car, but I haven't tested it for leaks. This gas tank is not included in the auction, but I will be running a separate auction for it because of the high value. These are virtually impossible to find and no replicas are currently being made. 10. Minor seepage of trans fluid at the torque ball when car has been sitting a while. This is extremely typical and not really problematic.11. Some chrome clips broke and will need to be replaced. These can found very for pretty cheap on ebay.12. Exhaust has a few pea-sized holes. I wasn't going to worry about it for now, but there are some nice exhaust systems on ebay if you wanted to get replaced.
In a nutshell:Engine and drivetrain: Runs and drives well. no concerns Tires are good.Exterior: Very solid and nearly done. Trunk lid needs significant work. Interior: Surprisingly in good shape. The padded dash has no problems. The seats have no rips. Carpet is new. Door panels are in pretty good shape, though not show quality. New headliner included.
A brief video can be seen at: here cut and paste URL
The car is located in a suburb of Chicago. The car runs and can easily be driven onto a trailer. I am willing to ship overseas for an international buyer. I have shipped 2 other 58 buicks to Sweden in the past.
All in all, this is the perfect winter project that you could have painted and put back together to drive next summer. Bid high and often! Best of luck!

update: 2015-09-20

Features:

Condition:Seller Notes:
Used
“Great winter project!”
Year: 1958Mileage: 65,000
Make: BuickSub Model: Super
Model: RivieraNumber of Cylinders: 8
Engine: 364 NailheadVehicle Title: Clear
Drive Type: RWDFor Sale By: Private Seller

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