55 roadmaster riviera resto mod

interior done

i worked some late hours this weekend , absolutely everything in the interior is finished , except the crank handles an final stereo wiring as I am still waiting on my amps . I also made the decision to not worry about the vent window issue I have at this moment till I have had more time to find an new left and right frames but those will have to be taken care of befor I paint .
 

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trunk work

started working in the trunk last night , made the sight wall in front so the trunk looks nice an clean, laid the first carpet an built a box for the sub woofer ,an covered it all . a buddy of mine told me I'm going overkill on the stereo . lol . I had to explain to him that after working in a local ,large ,entertainment venue for some very big name artist's running stage monitors an some of front of house sound for 11 years you gain a appreciation for GOOD CLEAR SOUND that has the full range of tone an some low end chunk it becomes hard to listen to a standard stereo after that . ( at least for me )
 

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trunk work almost done

I have been at the trunk work off an on for a few days making new side cards was a challenge but there they are . so now im thinking about a double hinged floor and enclosing the rear body panel then DONE ! for a while . an enjoy it this season before the big make over in the off season when I repaint it , silver top, lace paint , black body magenta flake , silver scallop .
 

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trunk done an did a thorough diagnostic on the engine

trunks done ! so I went up to the motor I was having some stumbling issues when pulling out from a stop and accel on the highway , members of another forum helped me sort these out , as well as checking an resetting spec on timing , idle an plug gap , followed by some adjustment of the throttle linkage an various vacuum and compression tests . over all compression is a bit low but consistent between cylinders an carb is adjusted perfectly enough .
 
1954 55 or 56 vent window assemblies ARRRGH

SO frustrated 54 55 or 56 series 50 or 70 ,vent window assemblies are like trying to find hens teeth , an evey one who says the have them are scams or the wrong parts, I ask for pics no pics ,no reply this maddening ! any body actually have even a left side ? im inching closer an closer to just deleting them an making those doors 1 big pane of glass I have every thing I need in my scrap pile {perk of owning a bodyshop} from wrecked doors . but id really rather have the vent window assemblies . anyone know of a set or just a good left side ?
 
Probably not much help, but:

According to my Hollander, the '54-56 56R, 76R, 76RX Riv. Cpe use vent glass 1022 which is shared with '54-56 Cadillac 62 Cpes. exc. Conv.

These may be them on ebay: Buick vent windows
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There was one more for 475.00, but I couldn't make it come up on the search.

https://klassiccarparts.com/cars-parts/buick-parts-cars/1955-buick-roadmaster/
http://www.ctcautoranch.com/Parts C...Century 1/1956 Buick Century Parts Car 1.html
 
Probably not much help, but:

According to my Hollander, the '54-56 56R, 76R, 76RX Riv. Cpe use vent glass 1022 which is shared with '54-56 Cadillac 62 Cpes. exc. Conv.

These may be them on ebay: Buick vent windows
1


There was one more for 475.00, but I couldn't make it come up on the search.

https://klassiccarparts.com/cars-parts/buick-parts-cars/1955-buick-roadmaster/
http://www.ctcautoranch.com/Parts C...Century 1/1956 Buick Century Parts Car 1.html

ANY LEAD IS A GOOD LEAD ! Thank you sir
 
trusted enough for a good drive

we had a beautiful weekend an I thought it was time to take the roadmaster out for a good drive . after all the repairs I have made it was like driving my couch ! all went with out a hitch till I gassed up an the fuel tank leaked ! { so very upset} well I had to drive out the gas I put in it . I hate draining an dropping a tank with a lot of fuel in it so 100 miles later tank almost empty I took it back to the garage . my new tank should be here tomorrow or today if I'm lucky . other than that it was a good day to cruise around . stopped at joann fabrics while I was out an found the lace patern I want to spray on the roof !
 

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what do you do with the cloth? pre-paint it and let it dry so when you're spraying the roof it doesn't just soak through?

Bob , its an old school technique , first you do a dry stretch of the lace on your roof to find out how well it will conform to the shape , this one conforms preety well , then obviously you respray the roof with a dark or light color . mine will be a bright silver for now. (that may change)
next allow your base color to dry enough that you cannot finger mark it or leave tape marks , dampen your lace with water an wring out well .( this will help make the lace heavier an stretch easier) stretch tight over your roof . then get your contrasting color an thin it 2 : 1 paint ratio . set our paint gun to about 15 to 20 psi an spray over the lace lightly till you build up the desired effect also experiment with lower air pressures some lace will lift if the pressures are to high . allow that to dry for about an hour then lift the lace an you will get a beautiful negative patern . clear coat as normal sand an buff . done . not my work but this is what you get . I do recommend if you haven't done this before experiment on an old fender , hood or other piece of sheetmetal . its really not that difficult to do but looks like it is .
 

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well, that sounds damn cool.

could i browbeat you into composing a How-It-Was-Done article documenting the entire procedure? you know, with pics of your work project and all.

that would be a nice addition to the reference section.
 
well, that sounds damn cool.

could i browbeat you into composing a How-It-Was-Done article documenting the entire procedure? you know, with pics of your work project and all.

that would be a nice addition to the reference section.
I can do that , I am planning on starting the body very soon , it seems like most of the mechanical issues are coming to an end .
 
swapped out the fuel tank

I finally felt comfortable enough to take the 55 out for a nice long drive as it has performed very well locally meaning 50 or less miles . I filled it up never looked back drove it an easy an extremely smooth 125 miles round trip , but kept getting a wiff of gas every now an then , parked it an crawled under it fuel tank had leaks . sorry no pics , but I ordered a new fuel tank from tanks inc. an would highly recommend this company to anyone who needs or is suspicious that they need a tank , I was so impressed by the information on their site an the high quality of the tank I received . its not a concours replacement tank but it is damned near it !
 
freshen up an dress up of the nailhead .

wow, sorry folks life took over for awhile , an hadn't much time to spend on my buick roadmaster . Even still as soon as things settled I am back at it . did a few more mods an cleaned up the engine an bay . swapped out the 2 barrel an added the 4 barrel intake an aluminum valley cover , polished finned valve covers an breathers, located a 7 blade clutch fan from an old gm motor I had laying around, found a set of oem plug wire covers!
(good score there!) an its not on the engine yet but also have found the oem air cleaner assembly.! moved the rad down an inch an remounted it {someone did it very shoddy now its like a rock!}still have a few more small changes under here but its essentially done , an a night an day difference !
 

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I'm back life came at me for a while made some changes to the 55 found a lot of the parts I was looking for through dumb luck , the car hasn't changed much except for bullet wheel centers ,fog lamps and anbest of buick.jpg oem reproduction rad an lake pipes. but it got a bout 1500 miles on it since then . an now I have a new prob rearing its head . here is a current pic at a show in Pittsburgh .
 
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