My '52 Coupe de Ville ... a very tired old girl indeed

[Macabry]

Thanks for your replies folks ...

You're right about that front end John👍 ... thankfully I knew from the start it wasn't original and considering the cost I'll probably not replace it with a '52 front end ... depends on availability

I've seen some debate about underseal and originality ... under the hood of the CDV is also undersealed and there's a rather worn sticker advertising the underseal brand ... I'll take a pic and put it up sometime 👍... my feeling on the underseal on this '52 is that it is dealer applied, certainly when new.

Sounds like you know the "joy" of removing the inner wing sealant too Andrew 🙃 ... as you said, patience is key (not an enjoyable task at all)

[Macabry]

A short installment today,  had a few hours to spend on the old girl, initially I continued my underseal removal saga and then decided I needed a less strenuous job as its too hot in the shop ... ended up removing trim, also not one of my favourite jobs, but it all has to be done. Most of it came off fairly easily but I'm stumped as to how to get the beltline trim off ... particularly under the rear quarter windows 😲 ... I'm reluctant to try a pop it off without making sure I've removed everything else (screws/fasteners)

I do love this pillarless coupe's style though ... beautiful even in this condition 😎

For those about to remove bitumenous underseal I have some advice:
Whilst the heat gun and scraper works well it's smelly and uncomfortable, I have found a sharpened paint scraper (or wide chisel) and hammer far more enjoyable and just as effective and a little faster.

The last pic an interesting little sidenote, she has soft putty on the interior steel over sharp edges that was factory applied ... I've never seen this on any car before 

[James Landi]

I owned two '56 SDVs--- soft puddy was used in certain areas --- as I vividly recall, the fog lights had that sealant along with a gasket.    James

[Macabry]

Thanks James, its a new one on me, I've not seen putty used before ... must be Cadillac thing ... Cool 

It appears that it's been used over sharp edges, corners and bolt/screw ends ... I'm guessing to reduced damage to the interior panels and/or reduce squeaking/noise with body flex or vibration.

[Macabry]

Spent a another dirty day digging at underseal and seamsealer. I did a little bit on the firewall and removed some pieces including starting to remove the heater element cover. No exciting progress really... but as always it's relaxing and easy work 👍

Removing the seamsealer from the firewall (driver side) proved successful and happily there's no rust or filler in the panel 😎

As for my next work,  I still have to remove the rest of the beltine and window trim and I've got to look at removing the steering column ... no matter what car youre working on that's usually a pain in the a$$ so I'm sure that'll be fun 🙃 ... after that,  finish the underseal removal then I'll hopefully rotisserie the body and start the daunting underseal removal underneath ... 😪

Wish me luck !

[Macabry]

Only a couple of hours today ... lovely weather and family drawing me away from car work 😁

Got the Harrison heater unit out and took off the firewall insulation ... lookin' good

[Macabry]

Did a small amount of stripping today ... the car, not me, I'd be a terrible stripper, I've got no rhythm 🤣🤣🤣

Working on the roof/windshield surround trim ... I've gathered than the windshield "upright" A pillar windshield surround on both sides is held by a few screws but it also held in by the windshield rubber using J shape tabs  ... I'm guessing they come out and go in with the windshield  ...so I'll probably cut the windshield rubber.

The bottom stainless windshield surround has 2 screws at either end and is held by straight tabs in the rubber windshield molding that pry out easily ... but, it's also held by the wiper shaft spindles, so I'll have to pull those ... aaargh 

In other news, I have found minor damage from the front end shunt to the upper driver's firewall ... I was a bit concerned the it had shifted the A pillar back or inboard, good news, it definitely hasnt ... measurements and angles are equal both sides 👍

[Macabry]

Another couple of hours done today ... the stainless drip rail/gutter strip came off really really easily 👍 ... a lot easier than lots of cars I've worked on 😎 ... came off with a polished chisel (no hammering needed) best part is, the gutter is in pretty good condition, I expected it to be rusted through but it's all there.

Found an old matchbook in  the heater duct ... 🤣 ... classy stuff 🤣 (if the previous owner had spent more time on maintaining the car and less time on call lines perhaps I'd have less work to do)

[Macabry]

I have no build sheets for this car but while I was moving the rear seat base I found this tag ... very cool 😎

I assume the production date is 3/10/52 ... I'm unsure what the other codes are:

4610488   6
    9.8              52 44 b

It's not the vin ... at least not the vin of this car? ... who knows?

[David King (kz78hy)]

That tag will be the seat frame mfg. date, so the car build date will be a little later than that.

[Macabry]

Spent a while removing the the door top and beltline trim today ... easier than I'd thought 👍

Procedure:
Remove vent window and it's winder unit and front window runner channel (fairly obvious), unscrew the small self tapping screws from the interior top portion of the upper beltline trim, gently pry the end tab (rear facing) ends from the door, lever the top strip from the interior side of the door until it pops up, work along the strip until it completely pops out, the undo the screws holding the lower beltline trim to the top of the exterior door skin, pry the rear facing tab at the rear of the door until it allows the trim to slid off, gently pry from underneath until it unclips ... easy

[Macabry]

More trim removal today ...

Took the beltline trim from the rear window and quarterlights, fairly straightforward ... unfortunately there's a lot of rot under  the quarterlight strips but at least the rear window seems mostly sound 👍

It's odd, the quarterlight window sills are rotten but the sills and panels below them are pristine with no rust,  clean original paint ... I suppose it's the underseal👍