Information on 1969 Eldorado

[Shorty64cad]

Thanks Jeff and Eric,

I've just been going back through my correspondence with the seller and found this:

"Just did some more digging on the collector, Seems that John Dannenfelser passed away in 2008, thus the sale of his collection, He was born in Texas then moved to Reno Nevada and seems that he might have had a business in Oregon, which all three areas are close to each other.
Hope this helps a little bit. If I find more information, ill pass it on."

So, it seems that the John from Nevada is certainly "my" John.  My car was definitely titled in Oregon, so perhaps he had a large collection that was housed in Nevada, with a small part of it kept in Oregon?  It would explain why no one would know of it there.  This is great stuff, thanks to all of you!  Eric, I'll send you a PM with the VIN.

Thanks again,  Greg.

[Bob Hoffmann CLC#96]

Greg,
When I first met John in the early 70's, he lived in Salinas, Ca. He then moved to Reno. I'm don't remember when he moved to Salinas or when he moved to Reno. And I'm not sure where he lived before Salinas either. What is the date on that Oregon paperwork?
HTH, Bob

[Huffstutler]

Greg,
When I first met John in the early 70's, he lived in Salinas, Ca. He then moved to Reno. I'm don't remember when he moved to Salinas or when he moved to Reno. And I'm not sure where he lived before Salinas either. What is the date on that Oregon paperwork?
HTH, Bob

Bob, I told Greg not to rely on what is on the title because it appears it was signed ahead of time then dated at time of sale or his name was forged for the sale... which was through an auction house in 2011.  John died in 2008.

[Bob Hoffmann CLC#96]

Eric,
I'll re-phrase my question. What is the date the title was originally  issued?
Bob

[Shorty64cad]

Hi Guys,  Eric has done a great job finding out more information for me.  He found this auction site, which is definitely my car:

http://www.silverauctions.com/auction_view.php?eventid=127&lotid=32430

It is interesting to note that this auction states this is part of a No Reserve "Collection" which is stated for many of the auctions before and after.  Could this be the "200" cars as stated by my seller?  Bob, did you know John to have heaps of cars?  Also Bob, I didn't realise that titles had the year first registered.  We don't have that on our registration here.  When I looked back at the title, it states that the licence date was 02/13/85 and was released three days after the auction, so John owned the car for 23 years before he passed away in 2008 and it took another three years before it was sold at auction to Midwest Car Exchange and then to me last year.  There is a big chunk of the Eldo's life just there, Thanks Guys!

Cheers,  Greg.

[R Schroeder]

I bought my 78 DeVille there , 3 years ago. They get in some beautiful cars.
Yours sure had a long trip home.
Roy

Posting of yours when they had it there.

http://www.mcecars.com/viewInventory.cfm?invID=399

[Huffstutler]

Hi Guys,  Eric has done a great job finding out more information for me.  He found this auction site, which is definitely my car:

http://www.silverauctions.com/auction_view.php?eventid=127&lotid=32430

It is interesting to note that this auction states this is part of a No Reserve "Collection" which is stated for many of the auctions before and after.  Could this be the "200" cars as stated by my seller?  Bob, did you know John to have heaps of cars?  Also Bob, I didn't realise that titles had the year first registered.  We don't have that on our registration here.  When I looked back at the title, it states that the licence date was 02/13/85 and was released three days after the auction, so John owned the car for 23 years before he passed away in 2008 and it took another three years before it was sold at auction to Midwest Car Exchange and then to me last year.  There is a big chunk of the Eldo's life just there, Thanks Guys!

Cheers,  Greg.

Thanks Greg, glad I could help!  Did the title say in what state the car was titled prior?  Some even have that information or even the last license plate number to give a hint for tracking previous owners.  Then you can contact that state's Division of Motor Vehicles registrar office and do a title search for the previous ones back to original sale. 

But a car this nice should have had the original owners manual in the glove box and possibly paperwork of original sale in it... where the car was sold (dealer?), or even the original window sticker.  If not, you may get lucky and find build sheets somewhere in the car that say the dealer location?

Eric

[Shorty64cad]

Thanks Roy and Eric!  The title doesn't have any information prior to John's ownership.  The only other information that it does have, obviously, is that its licence number for the 28 years or so in John's posession was BDD033.  You are right, Roy, it sure has had a journey after leaving Oregon.  It went to Nevada to be sold, then went to MCE in Illinois.  After I bought it it was trailered to Indiana, where my shipper was based.  He loaded it into a sea container and put it on a train to go across country to the port in LA.  Once on the ship it went to Seattle, Vancouver, Tokyo, Yanchien (China) and Hong Kong, where the container was unloaded.  It was then loaded onto another ship which went to Taiwan and then to Melbourne Australia.  The container was then trucked to the outer eastern suburbs (Lilydale) and unloaded.  I then picked the car up and drove it around 5 miles to our home, wearing the biggest grin you can imagine, something like this:   

[Rob Troxel]

What part of Melbourne are you in?  We go your way about once a year as we have many friends in Brighton and Carlton.  We love Brunetti bakery!

Given the price of petrol in your area, we have nothing to complain about in the states!  Your car would be a great tourer in to the gold areas of Bendigo!  I'm sure you get lots of looks!  I hear there is a CLC Cadillac tour coming up that goes somewhere north of your location.

Great choice of cars! 

[R Schroeder]

Wow,that was a trip.
I just had my buddy drive me down to MCE to pick up mine..........ha
200 miles.
Roy

[Bob Hoffmann CLC#96]

Greg,
Here is all the info I have. John never had 200 cars. I think it's dealer hype. I knew the man for years & never heard him mention Oregon OR having 200 cars. It's irrelavant how many cars he had. You've determined he had yours.
You can pay $50 & get a cars built sheet. This should tell you where the car was sold. There is NO magical sheet in the car that tells the dealers name. If you're lucky, you may find a broadcast card. I'm surprised that auction company was STILL floating the title in his name after all these years. But maybe I shouldn't be surprised. LOL
Are you going to the Australian GN in 2014?
HTH, Bob

[GoldEldorado]

Where can one obtain a build sheet?  I would like to know if my Eldorado was made for an overseas delivery.

[Shorty64cad]

Rob, I am in the outer eastern suburbs in a place called The Basin.  If you come to Melbourne often enough, you may know the national park called the Dandenong Ranges.  We live in the foothills of that range.  I have a brother in Bendigo, so I know it well.  It is a great place and high on our list for our GN in 2016, when it is Victoria's turn once again.  The next one is this time next year, west of here at Busselton in Western Australia.  (About 3000 miles away!) It is a fantastic part of the country and I will be there, but probably not with the Eldo.  You've already commented on our fuel prices!!! There are already posts outlining this event and we have been getting many Americans coming Down Under for our Nationals for many years.  I strongly encourage everyone to come here and have a great time.

Roy, it was hell of a trip for the old girl, but it's pretty much the only way to get them here!

Bob, thank you very much for your input and I totally agree, I'm not fussed about whether the car was part of a collection or not, I love it for what it is and yes, I will get a build sheet, as I have done with past Caddies that I have owned.  See you in WA??  Hope so.

Josh,  You can get a build sheet by following the instructions on the CLC home page under"Technical Resources."

Cheers,  Greg.

[Glen]

I notice the Eldo is missing the ALC compressor.  What is it using for springs and vertical shocks?  Normally the rear end would be sagging a little without the level control. 

[Shorty64cad]

Yes, Glen, you are right.  Unfortunately it has been taken out and so far, all I know is that it has pump up shockies on the back.  I have to say, though, that it still drives beatifully.  Does any one have a pic of the engine bay with the ALC compressor in place?  I'd love to see where it sits.

[Glen]

This photo is from the shop manual and shows the location of the compressor. 

[cadillacmike68]

Yes, Glen, you are right.  Unfortunately it has been taken out and so far, all I know is that it has pump up shockies on the back.  I have to say, though, that it still drives beatifully.  Does any one have a pic of the engine bay with the ALC compressor in place?  I'd love to see where it sits.

If you can pump the rear shocks using a fitting in the back, the original ALC system has likely been replaced with just a set of air shocks. You can use a portable compressor a a fuel station to adjust your ride height.

Piecing together a working system will be a royal PITA. I'm not even trying for my 1968, I have a little compressor that i can use or the nearest fuel station will do when i can find one with free air.

[Rob Troxel]

It's a bit of work to bring the 67-70 Cadillac Eldorado ALC rear suspension back to working order but it might be worth it. I think Glenn, who posted earlier knows as much as anyone on this subject. 

What I learned on my 68 Eldorado was that the rear single leaf springs had lost their resiliency or temper and the car was sitting very low on it's haunches.  I'm sure my pump petered out trying to keep thing level. (the first owner also towed a boat, which hastened the springs demise)  We ended up replacing the single leaf rear springs with a 3 leaf units on each side to return the car to its intended ride height.  A rebuilt pump and regulator was installed along with new air shocks , air lines, and the height sensing valve on the rear.  As I recall there is at least 250 PSI going from the pump to the air shocks

[Shorty64cad]

Thanks Glen for the pic.

I'm with Mike on this one.  It drives beautifully.  I've had cars before that I've installed with air shocks and I've always liked the ride and the Eldo is no different.  It's had a valve installed just under the rear licence plate, so it is very easy to access.  To get it back to normal, I'd have to source and ship parts from the States and find someone here prepared to take the job on.  It ain't happening anytime soon!  Maybe it would be a good project for the future.

You pay for air over there?  I've never heard of that here, which makes it even easier to put air in the shocks.  Any service station will do.

[Rob Troxel]

With the advent of self service gas stations, we lost the free air pump at most filling stations.  I ended up buying an air compressor for the shop and a portable tank.

By they way, I'll keep an eye out for the ALS components and let you know as they show up from time to time on Ebay.  Installing the stuff is not hard.  Not something you need to do right away but the parts are out there if you decide to do it.

I think you live in a great area there in the Dandenong Ranges basin.  We have been thru there on numerous occasions.