1951 Caddy daily driver

[James Landi]

Conor--- I urge you to purchase an inexpensive digital voltage readout device that will easy plug into you cigar lighter, so you can easily monitor the health of your battery and charging system, thus taking away the anxiety of not being able to start the car because of a failing charging system... suggestion respectfully offered to you, James

[Mowerhoarder]

Dadscad,

I assumed something like that happened, just glad it's back working for now!

[Mowerhoarder]

James,
Yeah I should probably do something like that, I did check it with a voltmeter and it's charging as it should so all good for now!

Also an update:
Was sitting at a stoplight and decided to "test" the brakes and pushed the pedal as far as it would go, popped a hole in the steel line and let all the fluid out. Was only a few miles from home so just made a very slow trip back using the parking brake and shifting to low gear to stop. Got to inspecting the brake system as a whole and decided to just replace all the lines, hard and rubber. I'm keeping this as a single reservoir master for now (or until I have to change it) and the wheel cylinders work as they should and it should stop pulling under braking with an adjustment. Also, the heater doesn't work, I have no clue how to separate the heater box to get to the heater core so I bought a shop manual to hopefully figure it out. What I'm having an issue with though is finding a replacement heater core for it, are they still reproduced? This is for the under dash unit and not the one under the seat. If they're still being made, where can I get one? Or if they're not made, could I have it re-cored like a radiator? 

[35-709]

" .... could I have it re-cored like a radiator?"
Yes.

[Mowerhoarder]

35,
Sweet! Just gotta figure out how to get the heater core out of the heater box now

[badpoints]

You should rebuild the wheel cylinders when you replace the lines. It is easy and inexpensive.They are probably binding on one piston and leaky or about to leak

[Mowerhoarder]

Badpoints,
That's not a terrible idea, they were inspected tho and seem to be functioning so I'm just gonna let well enough alone for now

[badpoints]

I just changed my brake lines on my 67 a couple of months ago. I used the nickel copper lines. I found flaring them a little tricky, but they are easy to bend.

[Mowerhoarder]

Badpoints,
That's the same stuff I'm using, just grabbed it from amazon? It as like $14 for 25 feet and fittings, I've heard that the fittings included are really terrible so I'm just gonna re-use the og ones

[dn010]

A word of caution regarding the cheap china-bomb lines you'll find on Amazon: 1- It does not state anywhere that the lines are DOT approved, meaning they could be thin in places and may eventually fail. 2- Those lines are actually steel with a copper coating, meaning they will still rust and may eventually fail.

These days I'm learning more and more, the consequences of shortcuts being taken by others and/or use of low quality parts.

[badpoints]

Must make sure that you are buying the Nickle copper alloy and not just coated lines. I paid a little more and bought from JEGS.
Also the right size. I thought mine were 3/16" but they are 1/4"

[Mowerhoarder]

Dn and Badpoints,
Yeah probably should've bought better quality line but it is what it is. I think the line is dot approved but honestly whatever, I'm just gonna send it and hope it'll be fine. I did get 2 rolls of it by mistake so hopefully one is decent, the lines don't really have to be THAT good and I can always just use the other roll and whip up some new ones in a day. The main problem is if the brakes go out, I'm gonna do some pretty rigorous "stress "testing before it hits the road. 

[Mowerhoarder]

Update: Got the line in the mail yesterday, was slightly pissed that rock auto doesn't list a rear brake line for the 51' and that it's the same line as the front. Ordered a rear from Cadillac parts ltd. and it's the exact same part number as the rock auto fronts. Oh well though, guess I shoulda done some more research before I loaded the parts cannon! Hoping to start (maybe finish?) the lines today and throw on some front shocks.

[dn010]

Are we ever going to see pictures of this thing or what?

[Mowerhoarder]

Breaking news! The brakes are done and working (for now), still gotta fix the heat but that's a job for another time. A 10 hour battle with steel brake lines is enough for me.

Also, here are some pictures as requested, the one of it sitting inside is how it was when I bought it, the one of it on a trailer is the day I brought it back from Michigan, and the other two were when I was doing the brakes just yesterday.

[dadscad]

She looks good!

[Mowerhoarder]

Update: Buffed the car and it looks absolutely beautiful, I'm kinda scared to drive it now because I feel like I'm gonna mess it up, it's like an original 60,000 mile show car now (minus the trunk). The brakes are now fixed with 3/6 new steel lines and 3/3 rubber hoses. I left the other lines alone as they were still bare steel underneath all the grease. Nothing leaks as far as the brakes go which is a huge win and also a surprise as I've never flared lines before. Finally hit 100 miles on it! Actually more like 120 but still cool, I really only drove the car for 4 total days between the brakes going out and waiting on parts for it. Gotta throw some u-joints in as it shakes from 40-55mph but shouldn't be terrible. I do need to fix the wipers though, does anybody know who/if rebuilds the wiper motor? I think I'd be fine with a redone motor and some rain x. Had to drive to school today in the rain and I was made painfully aware of that issue, just rolled the window down and pulled an Ace Ventura and just drove halfway out the window, sketchy, but it worked! Next up is fixing the heater, but after that, a sound system! Not doing anything crazy as I hate the look of modern speakers/radios in old cars. The only permanent modification I'm doing is cutting another hole in the package tray for a 6x9 speaker to match the original. The package tray is pretty warped already so I don't feel bad cutting a hole in it, definitely gonna try and get an old or old looking speaker cover though. I'm gonna hide 2 6 1/2 inch speakers under the dash with a small 6-12v converter to run a little Bluetooth soundboard. Pics will follow as soon as they send to my computer.

[Bob Kielar]

I used Ficken about 10 years ago for my 55 and the vacuum wiper motor still works.

Ficken Wiper Service 132 Calvert Avenue West Babylon, NY 11704
631-587-3332

Keep Cruzin,
Bob Kielar

[dn010]

You might compare the price of a rebuilt wiper motor to the price of doing a conversion to electric motor. For an additional $80-$100 it might make more sense to go electric if you plan to drive regularly.

[Mowerhoarder]

Bob,
Thanks! I'll give him a call

Dn,
Yeah it does make sense to me but I kinda turned off of resto-modding the car in really any way (minus the speakers). I heard that the vacuum wipers should work pretty good provided the fuel pump is making enough vacuum to power it and the motor(?) is rebuilt/working well. I think I'm gonna pull it off today and see if it's something that can be easily done or if its something else that's wrong. Still definitely considering electric wipers but the whole kit looks kinda ugly to me, especially the plastic knob in the inside. I don't know though, maybe I'll change my mind.