1975 Riviera Refresh

[LazyLightning75]

One of my New Year resolutions was to get involved with the VW community. I've been reading the Samba for about two years now and figured it was time to contribute. I've learned so much from the site and it helped me make an informed decision to purchase my bus. A big thanks to all the frequent posters...you make this website a wonderful resource for the novice VW owner. I really enjoy reading the build threads and if I can contribute in my small way to someone else learning something, that will be a good thing.

Last year I got serious about buying a bus. I never thought it would be such a long journey. After several missed opportunities, a couple of deals that fell through, I finally picked up a 1975 Riviera last August. Ironically, the day before I bought the bus, a deal had fallen through for me on a 1974 bus (owner couldn't provide title - only bill of sale). I was about ready to give up, when my bus popped up on Craigslist. The price was right, it was a pre-smog year for CA, it ran and had it's FI, and the camper interior was mostly complete.

I bought it the next day and drove it home from the Bay Area with a huge smile on my face. To this day, every time I hop in it or even look at in the garage it brings that huge smile back to my face.

Here are a few pictures to introduce the bus and I'll post more on the small projects I've taken on to "refresh" it. I have the Bentley and the Muir book, but I find the Samba just as helpful. Much of the stuff I've done is pretty minor. I don't know where this "refresh" will end, but at some point I know I'll need the help of the members on the Samba. I figured it was time to get on the bus, rather than just sit on the sidelines.

The day I bought the bus:

M Code

Looks like the bus spent its first 6 years as a transporter and was converted to a camper by ASI in March 1981. Could this explain the gray interior vs. the typical brown plaid found in the Riviera?

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1975 Riviera 1.8L FI

[MorkC68]

Those side stripes look cool
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Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System

My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/

[williamM]

Wow- wish mine had started out that nice---

Note-- never tow it backward---

glad the FI is working. get spares now while you still can.

more pics, and show us the first camping trip-
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some days I get up and just sit and think. Some days I just sit.

opinion untempered by fact is ignorance.

Don't step in any!

[LazyLightning75]

Yeah, I love the stripes and the camping interior too. It's like stepping back in a time machine.

The first thing that needed sorting was the lights. Apparently I drove the 2 1/2 hours home from the Bay Area to Sacramento without brake lights. Luckily I had a good friend follow me home. His first comment when we got back was, "Boy, I haven't driven that slowly while on the freeway in a long time." The bus seemed to be happiest cruising at 55-60 mph.

One running light and both brake lights were out. Checked all the fuses and replaced a couple that looked like they were original to the vehicle. Otherwise they all seemed okay. Next checked the bulbs - all seemed to be working. Finally checked the wires and grounds, and found this:

Easy fix and back in business with a new connection.

Brake lights were a little trickier. After a little more troubleshooting, it seemed like the brake light switch(es) on the master cylinder might be bad. My understanding is they're redundant switches, so if one goes bad the other will still operate the lights. Could they both be bad?

They weren't too expensive, so I swapped them both out and the brake lights worked again. Although I got lucky here, it quickly became apparent that I was going to need a few more tools for testing and troubleshooting, rather than just haphazardly replacing parts.
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1975 Riviera 1.8L FI

[LazyLightning75]

Next on the list were my keys and locks. I had only one ignition key and another key that operated the driver and passenger side doors. Neither key would lock the slider or rear hatch. The previous owner had replaced the driver/passenger door handles and locks with some later versions, but she kept the originals. Smart woman! I pulled all the locks and sent them with the originals door handles to the locksmith.

Turns out the original driver's side door lock had a cracked lock cylinder. The locksmith was able to replace and key it to the original. However, the biggest reason none of my locks worked was because my one and only original key was so worn.

New key on top, worn key on bottom.

New keys, original door handles, slider and hatch locks back from the locksmith. One key works all. Hurray!

While the locks were out, I pulled all the internal mechanisms/door latches, cleaned them and reinstalled. Also discovered a broken plastic slide on the sliding door and the reason why my slider closed so lousy.

Cleaning and lightly lubricating the door latch mechanisms made a world of difference. The locksmith recommended a product called Triflow for lubricating the locks. He even sent me a small bottle when he returned my locks.
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1975 Riviera 1.8L FI

[The real Curly]

Wonderful pictures. Keep them coming. Love that Riviera package. My Riviera has the solid tan seats. I think some came that way.
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1975 Baywindow Riviera Camper

1931 Model A truck (Model A folks are smart and handsome)

[williamM]

Love -triflow_ - it will do it all-

Mine came with garbage roller guid and I found the complete thing for like $30.

It is still fighting reassembly though.

Use your triflow on the rollers in the top and along the runners and pivots- you will think you have a new roof.
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some days I get up and just sit and think. Some days I just sit.

opinion untempered by fact is ignorance.

Don't step in any!

[LazyLightning75]

My warped door cards and missing kick panels were driving me nuts. Seemed like an easy weekend job that would dress up the interior. Plus, I could replace a broken door handle. When I pulled the door cards, I found that moisture had gotten behind them.

With a little inspection, it became clear that the deteriorating window/door seals were letting water run down inside the door (seals added to "to-do" list). Not only was water getting into the doors, neither the driver nor passenger side door had a moisture barrier. I also found that the drain holes on the bottom of the doors were plugged with debris.

Here's a picture of the new homemade moisture barrier installed.

New door card and bits installed.

New kick panel.

I also found a pretty slick product that removes surface rust called Rustoleum Gel Rust Dissolver. I haven't used it on the body, but tested it out on the back bumper and hubcaps. Here are some before and after pictures.

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1975 Riviera 1.8L FI

[Ives676]

Looking really good! I wish my Riviera was as nice as yours when I bought it. Mine had been stripped of the interior and had a couple paint jobs over the original paint.

Keep up the momentum on your ride!
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1974 Riviera - Subaru EJ22
Build Thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=630031

[jtauxe]

I agree with your locksmith - Triflow (a spray-on Teflon) is great for locks. I never use oil or graphite.

One thing about your moisture sheet in the door -- it is missing the important inner sheet. You need to add that. There are threads on how to make the sheet, and you have a good start, but there is another part to it.

All in all, looks like a great bus, and you are making great progress!
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John
"Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie..." - Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
http://vw.tauxe.net
1969 Transporter, 1971 Westfalia, 1976, 1977, 1976, 1977, 1971, 1973, 1977 Westfalias,
1979 Champagne Sunroof, 1974 Westfalia Automatic, 1979 Transporter, 1972 Sportsmobile, 1973 Transporter Wild Westerner, 1974 Westfalia parts bus, 1975 Mexican single cab *FOR SALE*, 1978 Irish 4-door double cab RHD

[THall]

[LazyLightning75]

Yep, I definitely missed that inner flap. Thanks for pointing that out and for the link to the excellent write-up. Much appreciated! I'll have to add that back on the "to-do" list.

I feel pretty fortunate that I found the bus that I did. It's an excellent starting point for what I wanted. I really didn't want a show bus and I was cautious not to take on something that was going to require more skill, time, money, space and tools than I have. I was looking for something middle of road that didn't require a second mortgage to pay for. Not as easy as it might sound.

I kept telling myself when the right bus comes along, you'll know it (actually read that somewhere on the Samba). And, one day it did. The lady I bought the bus from was more concerned about finding a good home for it than making a dollar off it.

So, for now, I'm enjoying running errands in the bus and hauling kids around to swim practice (yes, winter swim just ended here in Sacramento). I'm getting to know the bus and listening to how it runs and rides. Doing what I can to fix a little bit here and there...no matter how small.

Sometimes it's the little stuff that makes me happiest, like replacing a missing hanger, so I can keep the seat belt from flopping out the door.

Or replacing some tired tail light lenses and gaskets with some new ones.

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1975 Riviera 1.8L FI

[LazyLightning75]

My window seals were pretty well shot except for the seal on the windshield which was replaced a few years ago. One window seal was split in two and others were dry, brittle and cracked.

Replacing the window seals is a pretty straight forward job and there is a ton of information on the Samba with tips to make the work easier. It definitely helps to have a second set of hands. For this job, my 14 year old son pitched in.

First, I cut the old seals out with a utility knife being careful not to scratch the paint. Once most of the seals were removed, the windows came out easily. New seals were stretched around the windows with the help of my son and plenty of silicone lube. We wrapped a parachute cord inside the outer slot
of the seal. A hollow pen core made this part easier and we doubled up the parachute cord inside the seal. We then left about six inches of the cord ends hanging down from the top middle of the seal. These ends would be used to pull the seal in place in the window opening.

While the windows were out, I wired-wheeled any rust on the sills and underneath the rear panel cover. Then followed up with a rust preventer, primer and paint. Most were in pretty good shape.

My son held the window and seal firmly in place in the window opening and I hopped inside the bus to pull the parachute cord and seat the seals on the widow flange. The seals/windows tightened up nicely most of the time on the first go-round of pulling the parachute cord. The second go-round insured any imperfections were smoothed out.

The original seals had the plasti-chrome insert, but I opted for the all rubber seals.

I also tackled the broken and missing trim around my pop top. The fiberglass was starting to take some abuse where it was missing.

I wanted something similar to the original white Riviera pop top trim and found a reasonable replacement from McMaster-Carr. It's a plastic edge trim with metal core, textured, white, 3/32"-3/16" inside width, 50 feet. Plenty to do the pop top and luggage rack. The stuff pushes on tightly and is snug enough that I didn't use adhesive. I tapped it with a rubber mallet to seat it evenly around the edge.

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1975 Riviera 1.8L FI

[zoobum]

Wow! You are really chugging along here. It's great to see the little accomplishments even if it's window seals and such. I get the same satisfaction seeing your progress as if I did it my self, and insperastion to work on mine.
Keep up the great work!

P.S. I have a Riviera too! Welcome to the club!
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-Zach
1979 CA Riviera 2.0L FI

[KentABQ]

[Pinetops]

Nice bus
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"A rolling bus gathers no rust."

[LazyLightning75]

Thanks for all the comments! I also enjoy reading all the threads here and learning about everyone's experience with their bus. So much to learn and absorb.

While I was working on my window seals, I wanted to do something with my sliding side windows. One latch was broken, one screen was missing, and there was a fair amount of mold and mildew in them.

Lovely paper gasket.

My first thought was to find some replacements. There are several options, but I couldn't find any with screens. Screens are a must for a camper to let that cool summer night breeze in and keep those pesky mosquitoes out. All the new windows were a two channel design (one for stationary glass and one for slider). My window has three channels. The third channel gives you room for a sliding screen. I even called the company that manufactured the window back in the day. They had a replacement window, but no screen. I did order replacement latches from them. They were an exact match.

Manufacturer's Sticker (also known as Motion Windows)

New latch on top, old latch on bottom.

Now I had the latch, just needed the window felt, channel seals, and whisker strip. After visiting three auto glass shops, the only thing I could find locally was the whisker strip. Time to turn to the internet to find the other parts.

New whisker strip on top and old on bottom. Local glass shop gave them to me for free after I told them they were going into a VW bus window.

Installed in metal window divider.

The windows are pretty easy to take apart once you drill out the old rivets. The window frame opens right up and you can access the glass and all the seals.

I found the window felt and channel seal on a vintage trailer website. The channel seal was an exact match (slot depth 3/8", fits a metal channel width of 11/32" to 3/8", for glass with thickness 3/16").

The window felt wasn't even close. But, with a ton of trimming, I got it to fit down into the channel and it works quite well.

Original on left, new on right.

I watched a couple of TV shows and trimmed the felt to fit.

New felt and channel seal installed.

New aluminum screens installed.

Finished product ready to install. You'll need a rivet gun to put the window frame back together and it also came in handy to rivet part of the new latch to the window frame.

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1975 Riviera 1.8L FI

[Ives676]

Very nice! Great work!
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1974 Riviera - Subaru EJ22
Build Thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=630031

[LazyLightning75]

A few more minor updates to report. When I bought the Riviera I was a little worried about finding replacement parts for the camper. So far, I've found most of what I needed from run-of-the-mill RV parts suppliers on the internet. It just takes a little searching and it helps to know exactly what you're looking for. The right search words are key!

Camco Recessed Water Fill (colonial white) - Part #37102

My son pulled out the compass, made some paper templates, and cut some rubber gaskets out of materials we ordered through Amazon.

Installed.

Camco Evacuation Flange (polar white) Part #37271

Shurflow City Water Inlet - Part #18302918

Evacuation Flange and City Water Inlet installed

Lastly, the electrical outlet was a little worn but restorable. With some gentle bending and new paint, it cleaned up nicely. I stripped the paint, primed and repainted with some rattle can pastel weiss from Wolfsburg West.

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1975 Riviera 1.8L FI

[notchboy]

Off to a good start
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