63 electra trim codes

[jnelson]

Hi everyone,
I need some help with my 63 electra interior. When i bought the car someone else had started working on the car. the interior is not original cause somebody put red zebra stripe cloth over my door panels. i want to restore to original. But i dont know what the car looked like from factory. please help. jnelson

[Buford26]

The trim tag on the firewall will tell you the trim and paint codes. You can find the descriptions of the codes here:


http://www.teambuick.com/reference/years/63.php
http://www.teambuick.com/reference/y...rim_number.php
http://www.teambuick.com/reference/years/63/63paint.php
http://forums.aaca.org/topic/231704-...odes-by-model/

[jnelson]

Thanx, The body, and shop manual i have for the car didnt tell me what the trim number meant. just the style number/ body number. i hope to post more later. Thanx again

[nailheadnut]

I have a '63 Riviera with white leather interior. The code on my data plate is 748. When I look at the links that are posted above, there's a big discrepancy in the codes. The link in this forum shows three colums, one for fabric, one for vinyl, and one for leather. The code for both vinyl and leather is 748. In '63, at least in the Riviera, there was not an option for white vinyl.

I think that whoever made up these charts didn't read into the original info deeply enough. 748 is code is for vinyl and leather, that means that the seats are leather and the sides and back are vinyl. The same for cloth and vinyl - the seats are cloth but the sides and back are vinyl.

Here's a more accurate description of the interior colors.

716 Blue vinyl
			*717		Blue Cloth & Vinyl
			*718		Blue Leather & Vinyl
			726		Silver Vinyl
			*728		Silver Leather & Vinyl
			736		Sandalwood Vinyl
			*737		Sandalwood Cloth & Vinyl
			*748		White Leather & Vinyl
			*778		Red Leather & Vinyl
			*787		Black Cloth & Vinyl
			*788		Black Leather & Vinyl
			*798		Saddle Leather & Vinyl

The * indicates that it's available with the custom interior option.

Compare this to what's in this link and I think you'll see the differences that I'm pointing out. For example, Black was only available in Black leather and black cloth. No black "vinyl only" option was available.

COLOR	CLOTH	VINYL	LEATHER	CODE
Black Black Blue Blue Blue Red Sandlewood Sandlewood Saddle Silver Silver White	X - X - - - X - - - - -	X X X X X X X X X X X X	- X - X - X - - X X - X	787 788 717 718 716 778 737 736 798 728 726 748

[Buford26]

I believe the trim code tables on this site are based on a series of books called the Catalog of American Car ID Numbers. There is one for 1950-1959, 1960-1969, 1970-1979:

https://www.amazon.com/Catalog-Ameri.../dp/1880524015

[Bob]

I see and understand the "clarity" issue suggested. To help, perhaps I should add this to the trim description pages:

When reading these charts, if an X appears under two material types it indicates that both materials were used. ie: cloth and vinyl or vinyl and leather. If an X appears under only one material type it means that the all the material was of that type. ie: vinyl.

[jnelson]

Thanks guys but i understand the charts just fine. I just wish i had pics of the car package that was ordered to restore it to original. The main interior wasn't touched yet but the door panels were off the car so i dont have an accurate discription of what they should look like. Trim code is 816 cloth and vinyl mix. I dont know if there is any badges on the door panels or what. So the mystery goes on.

[nailheadnut]

I see and understand the "clarity" issue suggested. To help, perhaps I should add this to the trim description pages:

When reading these charts, if an X appears under two material types it indicates that both materials were used. ie: cloth and vinyl or vinyl and leather. If an X appears under only one material type it means that the all the material was of that type. ie: vinyl.

I think that would be a good idea or just show the code numbers and shorten the description. Most guys know that the skirting and backs of all seats are vinyl. You could just list the code and whether it's vinyl, cloth, or leather then put a disclaimer at the bottom of the page indicating that all three choices had vinyl skirting and backs.

Ed