FINALLY the FINAL Ark work starts, argh....

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Its been a long 6 years, glad to finally be here.

Friday the custom fuel lines from In Line Tube, that have sat in a box in the family room since September (what a CF that was with them, never should have been that complicated to make those new lines) were delivered to the WORLD FAMOUS Hyannis Vintage Auto, The Ark is going in next week for the final work in preparation for some big Caddy show in PA this June, I forgot the name of it, it will come to me. And got a great pic of Michael's new pup "George" too. <This pup picture is CADILLAC Bruce, OK? The dog is owned by my CADILLAC mechanic. The picture was taken at a resto shop that's working on my CADILLAC> Today, Saturday, the materials for the driver's seat from SMS that have been on my coffee table in the living room for 7 months were delivered to the upholstery shop in Harwich. Finally... OMG finally.

Michael and I had this planned/scheduled to begin in October, last summer, I planned my shoulder surgery around this. Issues came up there out of everyone's control and everything got pushed back. Gary said The Ark comes in next week. If any shop can get 6 months worth of work done in less than 3, its them, they know I *NEED* the car back the 1st of April. 8 (eight) pages of 'honey do', including paint and bumpers, (they'll take off the bumpers and load them into my SUV, I'll drive them to Hartford CT/active LTC, then pick them up when done, 6-8 weeks), Tim's book is in the trunk so this HVAC system will work correctly once and for all, I have heat, I have AC and defrosters, but stuff still isn't "right". PPG paint stays in my den until the car leaves, then I'll put it in Gary's office. Boxes of parts in the trunk, AUTHENTIC/CORRECT parts. The Ark will shuttle between the shop and Area 51 as necessary. 'Are you going to haul it?' "no, we'll drive it" 'with no drivers seat....' "see that folding chair over there?" 'I'm going to leave now'...

Let'$ get thi$ over with. #ArkNRoll #TheArk #PraiseGod #Blessed #GrandNationals2024

PS and that huge snow storm battering New England now is a miss for us on Cape Cod, just rain and some wind. The Ark sleeps with his jammies on and The Lair is secure. Sweet.

[z3skybolt]

Nothing to do with anything...


But.... your comment about driving on a folding chair brought back a 71 year old memory. I grew up in astute poverty.  At age 5 we lived in a shack with leaking roofs: broken windows, no electricity and not even a water well.  We transported water from a neighbor's well 1/2 mile away.  My sister, age 16, and I were tasked one day with hauling water in our old beat up 1939 Dodge. It had no front seat, the floor was rusted through in several areas, and one drove the car sitting on a "folding chair".

So my sister and I were headed back home with a 5 gallon can of fresh water.  She hit a bump on the road: her folding chair slid forward, one of the front legs fell through the floor, she fell out of the chair and our driverless Dodge rammed into a tree.

We were not hurt. But the Dodge was finally totaled, and all the water spilled out.

So Laurie.....be very careful!  At least don't try to haul any water in your CADILLAC while sitting on a folding chair.

See...it really is about Cadillac after all.

Bob R

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

I would use the word "finally" with caution. In my experience when the "last" thing of a restoration has been done, more gremlins start to appear. Just MHO
Greg Surfas

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Nothing to do with anything...


But.... your comment about driving on a folding chair brought back a 71 year old memory. I grew up in astute poverty.  At age 5 we lived in a shack with leaking roofs: broken windows, no electricity and not even a water well.  We transported water from a neighbor's well 1/2 mile away.  My sister, age 16, and I were tasked one day with hauling water in our old beat up 1939 Dodge. It had no front seat, the floor was rusted through in several areas, and one drove the car sitting on a "folding chair".

So my sister and I were headed back home with a 5 gallon can of fresh water.  She hit a bump on the road: her folding chair slid forward, one of the front legs fell through the floor, she fell out of the chair and our driverless Dodge rammed into a tree.

We were not hurt. But the Dodge was finally totaled, and all the water spilled out.

So Laurie.....be very careful!  At least don't try to haul any water in your CADILLAC while sitting on a folding chair.

See...it really is about Cadillac after all.
Bob R

OMG! Great story Bob, I'm glad no one was hurt, and I bet you appreciate all the 'little things' in life too.

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

I would use the word "finally" with caution. In my experience when the "last" thing of a restoration has been done, more gremlins start to appear. Just MHO
Greg Surfas

Done "physically" I should have said. And I'm sure I'll be vexxed with all the 'new' parts electro mechanical since
they're all junk in the future. Take the heater control valve for example....

[dochawk]

But the Dodge was finally totaled, and all the water spilled out.

!!!

No, not the water!
 

[James Landi]

Laurie,

Way back in the early 70's when I was daily driving my 1956 Sedan De'Ville, I gave up on shoddy leaking heater control valves and installed my own fix, a home style water shut off valve.  Proved to be a source of comedic moments; when I'd have to stop the car and turn on (or off) the heat from under the hood.  One of many ''Landi work-arounds'' that some mechanics would enjoy -- (or the spark plug I threaded into the damaged oil drain that would no longer accept the plug...  I could go on!)    James

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Laurie,

Way back in the early 70's when I was daily driving my 1956 Sedan De'Ville, I gave up on shoddy leaking heater control valves and installed my own fix, a home style water shut off valve.  Proved to be a source of comedic moments; when I'd have to stop the car and turn on (or off) the heat from under the hood.  One of many ''Landi work-arounds'' that some mechanics would enjoy -- (or the spark plug I threaded into the damaged oil drain that would no longer accept the plug...  I could go on!)    James

Shark Bite here I come! LOL! Whatever works....

[dochawk]

One of many ''Landi work-arounds'' that some mechanics would enjoy --

My '93 Fleetwood has grounding problems that I haven't figured out.

So there are a pair of heavy toggles plugged into the relay sockets to turn on the fans.  And another toggle (with fuse!) hanging from the interior fuse box to turn on the tail lights.

[fwiw, the fuse socket accepts a standard spade connector, while I had to trim them for the fuse box]

[bcroe]

Shark Bite here I come! LOL!
Whatever works....

I have mentioned this before.  Not sure how a 70 does it, but
with my Seville type Olds engines, the heater water valve was
always screwed directly to an intake manifold water passage. 
The vacuum activator would be directly in line with the water
valve it was driving. 

One morning after driving all night thru 4 states, I stopped near
my destination for gas.  Soon coolant burst out under the car. 
The valve vacuum-water assembly had let go, I was thankful it
did not do it in the middle of the night in rural PA.  I did manage
to find a replacement, which was quite difficult to swap with a
huge pipe fitting.  I decided this design was a risk I could not
plan for and did not want to take. 

My solution was to convert to this design, perhaps from a Buick. 
If the vacuum activator fails, it will not dump all my coolant.  If
the actual water valve fails, I could remove it and temporarily
rig a straight through piece of hose.  This is what is now on all
my cars, no failures yet.  Bruce Roe

[James Landi]

''This is what it is now, on all my cars. No failures yet.''

Bruce,  Looks to be a substantial improvement... during that 60's and 70's design period, there is always the nightmare scenario where the diaphragm might fail, and the climate control drowns in hot pressurized coolant (Yikes)    James 

[mario]

"My solution was to convert to this design, perhaps from a Buick.
This is what is now on all my cars, no failures yet.  Bruce Roe"

good morning bruce:
i found one of those vacuum valves on amazon. it when i received it, i found that it is normally open. applying vacuum closes it. is yours the same? normally open. i need one that is normally closed until vacuum is applied. then it opens.
thank you.
mario caimotto

[bcroe]

I have not worked on that equipment for a very
long time, but I believe mine are all open to
coolant until closed by vacuum.  When I grabbed
those valves from the yard, I also grabbed the
fitting that screwed into the manifold pipe
thread, with a hose nipple on the other end. 

What is your application?  Bruce Roe

[mario]

good morning bruce:
thank you for the quick reply. it is non-cadillac (on a 1964, 389. can't say more) i don't want to violate any rules.
ciao,
mario caimotto

[Daryl Chesterman]

i need one that is normally closed until vacuum is applied. then it opens.

Mario, is this one from Four Seasons like what you need?

     https://www.4s.com/en/ecatalog?partdetail=74861&view=bg

Daryl Chesterman

[mario]

Hi daryl:
No. Four seasons makes a replacement part no. 74606 ; however, I liked the idea of not having a major leak if it failed. That is why I liked Bruce's style. I did find one that is normally closed until vacuum is applied and ordered it. The one in this pic is normally open until vacuum is applied. The correct one has the can on the opposite side.
Ciao,
Mario Caimotto

P.s.: Laurie, sorry to hijack your thread.

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Hi daryl:
No. Four seasons makes a replacement part no. 74606 ; however, I liked the idea of not having a major leak if it failed. That is why I liked Bruce's style. I did find one that is normally closed until vacuum is applied and ordered it. The one in this pic is normally open until vacuum is applied. The correct one has the can on the opposite side.
Ciao,
Mario Caimotto

P.s.: Laurie, sorry to hijack your thread.

Its OK Mario. BTW, my car has failed 5 (five) "Four Seasons" heater control valves, this year.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

That pictured fitting looks remarkedly the same as Ford used, so no wonder it failed in your Cadillac.

Bruce.

[mario]

hi bruce:
you are most correct. that is why i am going with the style (gm) that bruce used.

laurie:
i had not heard good things about four seasons parts as i mentioned to bruce above. i am going to substitute the style that bcroe used. his is apparently "normally open" and uses vacuum to close it. they make one that is "normally closed" and vacuum opens it, so you can choose what you need.
thanks for sharing your thread.
ciao,
mario caimotto