Bought a project car....

[FLHCAHZ]

I just bought a '72 Boat Tail Riviera, a true barn find (yes it has a '71 deck lid). I have always loved these cars and can't believe I actually own one. Car has been in a barn/warehouse since 1989 and moved to a car wash stall until and put up for sale.  I made an offer and brought it home.  Here is what it looked like when I first saw it:

I got it to the house about 2 weeks ago.  Got it running, initially with a small fire in the engine bay.  After some wire chasing and correcting - i had it running off a gas can for about 15 minutes.   Someone has really butchered the wiring, and the interior needs gutted and re upholstered.   I have all of the mouse nests out and have been working on it in the evenings after work.  I'm working on the mechanicals and trying to bring back the paint.

 

Here is what it looks like after a bath and some polishing on the hood:

[ksnow]

That looks like an awesome project. Be sure to keep us updated.

[Zen]

Looking good! Those boat tail Rivs are so cool.

[NOBLNG]

Fantastic find Chaz…I’m jealous.🙂

[Falcon Ranchero]

That's absolutely awesome. A boat tail Riv is on my list of cars to get one day. Used to be a black and white '71 or '72 in town, sitting in a camping trailer storage lot, rotting away. Then one day it was gone. Have fun with your car. Red is a great colour too.

[Bainford]

Congrats, Chaz. That's a cool project, for sure. An excellent find, and looks reasonably tidy,... on the outside, at least. Well done!

[Ace-Garageguy]

COOL CAR!!!  Nice find. I'm glad it has a good home now.  

[stavanzer]

Beauty, eh!

[Calb56]

1 hour ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

COOL CAR!!!  Nice find. I'm glad it has a good home now.  

What Bill said! Congrats!!!

[Can-Con]

Pretty sweet. Mine was the same colors inside and out but with white vinyl on the front 3/4 of the roof.👍

[meechum68]

That is a beautiful car!  

[Bills72sj]

The Air Force Officer my mom got remarried too had one of those when they were dating. It was a red 72 as well. enjoy your "new" ride.

I spent a little time looking for an engine wiring harness for you. Here is a link:

https://www.ronfrancis.com/product/592

PS. I am putting a new engine in my boat tail 1972 Grand Prix next year. Your mention of your engine harness issues has prompted me to research a harness for me. I found exactly what I need from Lectric Limited. Thanks for the motivation!

 

Edited August 7 by Bills72sj
update

[DanL]

Great car... Great project

[FLHCAHZ]

9 hours ago, Bills72sj said:

The Air Force Officer my mom got remarried too had one of those when they were dating. It was a red 72 as well. enjoy your "new" ride.

I spent a little time looking for an engine wiring harness for you. Here is a link:

https://www.ronfrancis.com/product/592

PS. I am putting a new engine in my boat tail 1972 Grand Prix next year. Your mention of your engine harness issues has prompted me to research a harness for me. I found exactly what I need from Lectric Limited. Thanks for the motivation!

THANKS!

 

[FLHCAHZ]

Spent some time in the garage last night working on the old paint.  I think we have a bona fide 10 footer:

[FLHCAHZ]

Well, I've only had one day off of work in the last 10 days and that day was dedicated to mowing the lawn and fixing a coolant pump issue on one of my motorcycles. I have managed to get some additional work done on the paint. The Mirror Glaze product would not remove the oxidation from the paint, so I tried some Mequires light cut compound followed by some Meguires polish and synthetic wax on just the roof and hood. Extremely please with the results. I will add that the paint on the car does have a fair amount or orange peel. Most like painted by an inexperience painter.

[espo]

9 hours ago, FLHCAHZ said:

Well, I've only had one day off of work in the last 10 days and that day was dedicated to mowing the lawn and fixing a coolant pump issue on one of my motorcycles. I have managed to get some additional work done on the paint. The Mirror Glaze product would not remove the oxidation from the paint, so I tried some Mequires light cut compound followed by some Meguires polish and synthetic wax on just the roof and hood. Extremely please with the results. I will add that the paint on the car does have a fair amount or orange peel. Most like painted by an inexperience painter.

Might try using a Clay Bar product to get the oxidation and dead paint off along with the imbedded dirt and grime. Follow with a good wax job then. One of the draw backs to getting into a "buffing" situation is you're removing some of the paint . 

[Jonathan]

Oh wow. 

I've always loved these cars.  Nice find.  Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[FLHCAHZ]

14 hours ago, espo said:

Might try using a Clay Bar product to get the oxidation and dead paint off along with the imbedded dirt and grime. Follow with a good wax job then. One of the draw backs to getting into a "buffing" situation is you're removing some of the paint . 

For Sure.  I have "Clay Barred" it twice and got the paint smooth as it gets.  It really did pull a lot of the impurities out of it. I'm doing my best to gently message the paint back to some shine and clarity.  It really has come a long way so far.  At this point I am not using any machines,  I'm doing all the polishing by hand.  I have not touched the deck lid yet.  I'll wait 'til the whole car is as good as I can get it then compare it to the trunk lid the difference will be amazing.  I will be sure to post pics if anyone is interested.      

[espo]

8 hours ago, FLHCAHZ said:

For Sure.  I have "Clay Barred" it twice and got the paint smooth as it gets.  It really did pull a lot of the impurities out of it. I'm doing my best to gently message the paint back to some shine and clarity.  It really has come a long way so far.  At this point I am not using any machines,  I'm doing all the polishing by hand.  I have not touched the deck lid yet.  I'll wait 'til the whole car is as good as I can get it then compare it to the trunk lid the difference will be amazing.  I will be sure to post pics if anyone is interested.      

Sounds like you're going about this the right way. May I suggest another step to think about. Take a look on MAXL.Com for a description of the product and application to see if you think it may work for you. I have always prided myself on keeping up the appearance as well as maintenance of our vehicles. Last year I went over both of our cars and the difference is nothing short of amazing and the cars stay cleaner longer as well. I can now spot cars on the road that have had this or a similar application done. I got a 20 oz. spray bottle off of Amazon Prime. The application process is little more than spray and wipe. 

[FLHCAHZ]

Worked on polishing the left quarter and cleaning the body spear last night:

[JollySipper]

Definitely a nice looking car! I really like that color, too....... The interior needing work could be the opening needed to do something custom with it!

[Tyreman]

"I'll wait 'til the whole car is as good as I can get it then compare it to the trunk lid the difference will be amazing.  I will be sure to post pics if anyone is interested." of course we are interested!    

[bytownshaker]

Nice ride.

[FLHCAHZ]

Well, I dug unto the fuel system. The tank is not terrible, but after removing it, I found some rust issues that are going to take more time and fabrication work that I had planned on. I was hoping to get away with some patching in the trunk, but now the whole pan needs to come out and some new cross members need to be made. On a happy note - I get to use my welder!