Scott Holton/Kustom City Signal Hill, CaliforniaFor a lot of guys out there, the building of a car is where it's at; the finished product is sometimes icing on the cake that they're probably not even hungry for anymore. Then there's the rest of us who just can't wait for a project to get done so we can hit the road and hammer it. . .but that's another story. Anyway, Scott Holton at SoCal's Kustom City has been laboring on his '64 Buick Riviera project for some time now (through two shop locations, and even some time at his house!), and it doesn't look like he's eagerly anticipating the end result-Scott's content with a leisurely pace, taking his time with each aspect of what you could call a '60s full custom. Hopefully, with enough elbowing from his peers, he can turn up the heat on his backburner and get this bad boy wrapped up.
As you can tell from the images, Scott is staying very true to the Steve Stanford rendering. The fives-spokes have been translated into Colorado Custom's earlier Leadville model (20-inchers) with BFGoodrich Radial T/As-but check out the custom bullets he had machined and mounted to the stock centers, a la spider caps. And while the current stance is due to a lack of enthusiasm (no springs/shocks), an elaborate hydraulic/coilover system will soon motivate-or de-motivate, depending on the situation-the Riv's height. Under the hood, when there is one (which, by the way, is filled with underside lightening holes), Scott has rebuilt his 425 Nailhead (.040 over, 7.5:1 compression, Arias pistons, Crower cam) to accept a Paxton supercharger, something he'll have fun modifying that hood to accommodate. As for body mods, the '64 features a chopped top with a laid-back and sunken windshield, '64 Catalina side vents, '61 Cadillac taillight sections sandwiched by stock bumper ends, and a recessed backlight with mild sail fins. The front end will get a '65 GTO grille with vertical dual headlights and a split stock bumper (a majority of the parts were obtained from Tony Martinez at Memory Lane). In the end, a heavy silver metalflake top will complement a black lower section, and (don't cringe too hard) white patent leather will definitely liven up the early-style, dual-bucket interior. Stay tuned.