Taking orders for new Eldorado Brougham front diaphragms

[David King (kz78hy)]

Good news for the Brougham owners with cars on the original air suspension. Paul Lamping in Germany has found a source to produce replacement front diaphragms (1465556). The fit and function is the same as the original version and assemble in the same manor using your original suspension parts.

Paul, who owns #321 has driven over 2000 miles this summer on his car testing the new parts and I have driven around 500 miles on mine (right front) without any issue as well.

Paul’s project has been 3 years in the making and it has taken several iterations to get to this point. As all things Brougham, it has been very expensive and troublesome to develop these low volume parts.
Paul and I have concluded that the market for the first run of parts should be in the 30 to 50 piece range. Based on that assumption, the pricing will be ~600â,¬ each including all additional costs (freight, tax, customs) when shipped to the USA. That equals right around $700 ea. in USD. European ordered parts will be ~530â,¬ without customs and shipping for the EU countries and all others will have to contact Paul for their particular country. The lower the number ordered, the higher the price will be.

This post will appear in as many places that I know, but I don’t know every place, so if you have a another forum, website, club bulletin board, etc., please forward this notice and offer out far and wide so we can get as large as possible initial order. If orders exceed expectations, then pricing could be reduced for all of us.
According to Paul’s source, the parts are able to be stored for over 20 years if kept in a cool & dark environment.
There is a 15% discount if 5 or more are ordered.

So how does this work?

Paul is the lead on this project and you will pay him directly and PayPal is the planned tool for that. Please email your desired order quantity to Paul and copy me. Pricing will be adjusted according to the final number ordered if different from the initial estimate prior to the order being placed. Once the production order quantity is confirmed and payment received, the diaphragms will be ordered from the vendor.
For orders in the USA, all of the parts will be sent to me for distribution out to the end user in the states.
Paul plans on testing every diaphragm at 150 PSI in his test setup prior to shipment to the end customer and the original compressor pump cutoff from the pressure switch is 125 PSI, so the diaphragms are tested beyond system working pressure.

Next actions:

You determine how many you want.
Email Paul and copy me on the requested number of diaphragms.
Order window to be 4 or 5 weeks to accumulate total count. Cut off date to be Nov. 1, 2018.
Paul to invoice you based on total volume quantity pricing.
Pay Paul via PayPal.
Paul to order parts from vendor.
Once parts are complete, Paul to test diaphragms.
After parts are confirmed good, Paul ships parts. One shipment to David King for USA orders. Paul will handle the rest of the world shipping.
David King will ship your parts to you in the USA.
You receive parts and install on you car.
You smile big because you car works again.

It is likely that this will be a one time order, so do not delay and if another production run is offered, then the quantity will likely be lower and the pricing much higher.

Once this run is complete, the rear diaphragm development is next.

Let’s make this successful, order today!

Paul’s email is: paul@l-v-m.de
David’s email is: dking92747@aol.com

[Roger Zimmermann]

It seems that Paul got some orders already; of course, he would like to get more to lower the price per unit.  I ordered myself a pair.

[David King (kz78hy)]

Here is a cut and paste from Paul Lamping on the technical info:

Our „Front Diaphragm“ project has been started for several weeks now. In the meantime, David and I have reached various questions that I would like to answer here:
My Front Diaphragm are 100% Made in Germany. All companies involved come from a radius of 100 miles around my hometown.
In total, 6 companies or persons are involved.
- David King, who provided me with the original design informations.
- a Person that has disassembled and accurately measured an old diaphragm.
- a company that creates the steel rings made of stainless steel.
- a company that produced the two vulcanizing molds. These parts are very expensive. They are milled from steel with millimeter precision using computer-controlled milling machines.
- a Person that assembles the cord fabric used. The fabric is similar to that, that Firestone or Continental for example uses in their current air bellows.
- The most important company, however, is the vulcanizing company. This selects the rubber compound and the cord fabric used and vulcanizes everything to the finished end product.

All in all it took almost 3 years to find the right mix and composition of all parts.
I do not know the original Cadillac Diaphragm. My Diaphragm feels a bit more stable and firm than the former "Mastermind-Diaphragm". Also, the wall seems to be a bit thicker.

I am the owner of #321. This vehicle is absolutely true to the original with all vanities etc. The vehicle has won many prizes in Europe, for example at the most important German Concours de Elegance "Classic Gala â€" Schloss Schwetzingen" and "Jewels in the Park â€" Schloss Dyck". Due to its excellent condition even Cadillac-Europe has lent the vehicle last year and exhibited for 6 weeks in the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
You can be sure that I only want something for my vehicle that really works. I am the hardest critic of the parts. The parts have now been installed in the car for more than 6 months and tested more than 2000 miles. I am convinced that they work!

There have also been questions about the rear diaphragm. As soon as possible, I will commission the analysis, drawing plans and vulcanizing molds. Since the right rubber / fabric blend is known, it will be faster than the front parts. Nevertheless, I assume that it will take until summer / autumn next year, until I can have the parts replicate.