1951 Caddy daily driver

[Jay Friedman]

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

I second the motion.  Ficken rebuilt my '49's vacuum wiper motor some years ago and it works perfectly. It goes so fast I only have to turn the button about halfway for sufficient wiper speed. Yes, it slows down a bit in low vacuum situations like going up a hill, but still wipes well.

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.

I looked into an electric wiper motor too.  The primary supplier of new electric wiper motors charges $279 for a '49 (and $299 for a '51 like Mowerhoarder's).  However, their wiper motors are all 12 volts, and '49 (and '51) Cadillacs are 6 volts.  Therefore, a 6 to 12 volt power inverter would be needed, and since their wiper motors draw 4 to 5 amperes the inverter would have to be heavy duty. (The firm selling electric motors used to sell suitable inverters but no longer does.)  Looking on the internet I found a suitable inverter for about $100.  Bottom line is that it would have cost more than $400 total with shipping to convert to an electric wiper motor, compared to Ficken's charge of about $150 with shipping to rebuild a vacuum motor.

[Mowerhoarder]

Jay,
That's what I was looking for! I figured that it would be far cheaper to just stay vacuum and keep the og look too. I did look at an inverter for it and that was about $100 like you said, I think I'm just gonna pull it off today and send it off too.

[D. Mailan]

Just wanting to add my two cents

On those vacuum wipers.

I have rebuilt three of them two 56's and a 58 myself. They are really strait forward and incredibly simple. There are two things that are most commonly needs attention with rebuilding them.

1. The grease inside the vacuum chamber has solidified preventing movement.
It is very easy to open it up with a needle nose pliers. Put some high temp wheel bearing grease and re-assemble. You can also put some marvel mystery oil inside to make the "paddle" inside work smoother.

On the front there is the valve that switched the back and forth movements. That can also be opened up and cleaned.

Where the wiper switch cable connects to is the vacuum adjustment/ speed adjustment. Located at the bottom of the motor. It is a rubber/plastic piece that needs to be wiped down. you can add some grease to make movement smoother. 

2. The second thing to check is if your cable from the switch in your dash is working. If it is not turning or moving (it may actually move but it may not be pushing the cable inside) you can take it out and have it sit in some marvel mystery oil. They commonly freeze due to water running down the firewall and causing the cable to rust.   

The wiper motor is such a simple piece that only has two or three moving parts. If yours isn't warped or missing parts, you can easily take it off, rebuild it yourself and put it back on in less than an hour. As long as you have some good grease and some marvel mystery oil you're all good. If after this you cant get them working, then I'd recommend sending them out.

The three I have done have been working perfectly for many years. These vacuum wipers get some negative reviews due to their variability in speed with engine rpm. I think they work just fine. I drive a Cadillac not to drive a new car, but a classic car. There's no need to waste hundreds on a new electric motor.   

Best of luck
Derick

[Mowerhoarder]

D,
I probably should've ripped into it myself but I really just wanted someone else to do it lol, I'm pretty burnt out on the car after the brake ordeal so just gonna hope nothing else breaks until it's warmer and dryer. I did see the MMO treatment and I'm a fan of that but I think it was already done as the motor dripped a bit of it out when I pulled it off.

Update and question: Gonna tear into the heater today hopefully, does anybody know a rough estimate of how much it'd be to get a new heater core made for it? or re-cored? Also, how much would it be to get the heater control valve rebuilt? And what's up with the Caddy daddy website? Seems like pretty much everything on there is way overpriced, for example, turn signal bulbs. On Caddy Daddy it's $36 and some change for a set not including shipping/tax. It'd probably be over $50 for two light bulbs which I think is just insane. Are they some gold plated illness curing lightbulbs or the same quality as everything else. I went and used the part number on the website to get a set of 4 bulbs for $12, or $21.49 after shipping and tax. looks like the same quality bulb to me but maybe someone has some insight on that. Obviously he seems like a pretty successful business with all the youtube videos and everything but just seems overpriced. 

[Jay Friedman]

Update and question: Gonna tear into the heater today hopefully, does anybody know a rough estimate of how much it'd be to get a new heater core made for it? or re-cored?

Also, how much would it be to get the heater control valve rebuilt?

And what's up with the Caddy daddy website? Seems like pretty much everything on there is way overpriced, for example, turn signal bulbs. On Caddy Daddy it's $36 and some change for a set not including shipping/tax. It'd probably be over $50 for two light bulbs which I think is just insane. Are they some gold plated illness curing lightbulbs or the same quality as everything else. I went and used the part number on the website to get a set of 4 bulbs for $12, or $21.49 after shipping and tax. looks like the same quality bulb to me but maybe someone has some insight on that. Obviously he seems like a pretty successful business with all the youtube videos and everything but just seems overpriced. 

Try https://acmeradiator.net/ who I had repair a heater core some years ago

https://www.heatercontrolvalve.com/ is the best place to have the heater "Ranco" valve rebuilt.

Those 1022 fog light bulbs are unique to 6 volt 47 to 52 Cadillacs and have become quite rare.  Therefore, some vendors charge lot of $ for them.

[Mowerhoarder]

Jay,
Thanks! I'll give them a call. I did call the person you recommend for the control valve and he said that he wasn't able to rebuild it which I thought was odd.

[Joe Jensen]

You might try these guys:
https://www.heatervalves.net/

Joe Hudacek rebuilt my vavles in 2022.

Good luck!
Joe

[Mowerhoarder]

Joe,
Thanks! I'll give him a call

And an update: pulled the heater out and somehow got the core out, it's pretty shot and either needs redone or replaced with a custom one. Got the heater control valve out and it really doesn't look too hard to do myself, we'll see though. Gonna take the heater core to a shop today and see what the damage is.
Also, here's some pics

[Mowerhoarder]

Update: Went through some receipts that came with the car and the heater valve was already rebuilt in 2010! At least that's $150 I didn't have to spend so that's pretty cool. On the flip side, got a call saying that the heater core is bad which really sucks as I can't find a replacement for it. Does anybody have one or know who sells or could make one? 

[Joe Jensen]

If I am understanding the MPL correctly the hester core for the defrost (assuming you have the deluxe automatic heater) is P/N 311 5648.  It appears that part was used on multiple years from 1940 to 1953.

You might try searching for that part number.

Good luck!
Joe

[Mowerhoarder]

Joe,
Wow! That's gotta be a helpful book to have when restoring one of these. All I get when I search the part number is the underseat heater underneath the passenger seat, the one I'm talking about is the one inside the heater box under the hood.

[Joe Jensen]

Yes, what I sent was the under seat heater by mistake.  Here is the correct page P/N 311 5648 I believe.

I can't find anything on a google search.  With this information at least you know what years use the same core.

Good luck!
Joe

[Mowerhoarder]

Joe,
Thanks again! I did look up everything and the closest one I can find is one from a 55' eldorado which may or may not work. I did call a ton of radiator shops so I guess just play the waiting game and see what happens.

[Mowerhoarder]

Update: Called around to some shops and a few think they can fix the existing core! Woo hoo! I do have a question about the hydramatic transmission though, I was reading through the shop manual and found something mentioning a kickdown which I thought was odd as mine has never downshifted when I mash the throttle. I know they're supposed to start in second gear from a stop unless you floor it, then it starts off in first gear but I didn't know it had a kickdown. My question is should it kickdown in all gears when you floor it? The book mentions a 4-3 kickdown so I'd assume there would be a 3-2 as well. The transmission was rebuilt pretty recently and should be good to go but has some issues I didn't realize before. When you floor it from a dead stop, it shifts from first to second just fine but takes a looooooong time before shifting to third. I've never been in a car where the transmission slips so I'm not sure what it feels like but I assume it feels like this does. It shifts when I let off but it seems like the motor revs way too high, to the point where I'm not sure if it's gonna blow up or shift and then I let off. I assume it's just a low fluid issue or maybe a clogged filter? I think I'm gonna have the pan off to put a gasket on it as it leaks a bit so I guess I'll see then.

[Joe Jensen]

I am happy to hear you found someone who can rebuild your heater core.  I believe this is probably your best option.  To find another core you would probably have to buy a heater.

For your kick down (called throttle control linkage) read the page I included that describes how the transmission should work.

I believe you have some diagnostic work to do on your transmission.  My '49 starts in first gear and runs through all the 4 gears as you gain speed.  It does not shift like a modern transmission though.  I have attached some pages of my Pontiac Hydra-Matic shop manual that covers 1948 - 1953.  These are the same transmissions as the Cadillac but Pontiac made a good service manual.  I would start with easy stuff like checking the fluid level.  There is a proceedure for that as well (see attached picture). Then pull the bottom pan and see what the fluid looks like and how much debris are on the bottom of the pan.  If you can find someone near you with the internal band adjustment tools, with the pan off, adjusting the bands is simple and I would suggest doing it anytime you remove the pan if you have access to the tools.  The next thing to do after putting it all back together and refilling the transmission would be to check the transmission oil pressure.  I have included a shot of instructions for that as well.

Good luck!
Joe

[Mowerhoarder]

Joe,
Thanks for the manuals! I guess I'll try to adjust the throttle linkage sometime this week. I did find one heater box for a series 62 convertible which should work, the guy said he'd test the core for me so hopefully that checks out as it's way cheaper than fixing my existing one.

[Joe Jensen]

Please keep track of your adjustment.  There is a specialty tool required to adjust ir properly.  If keep track of where you started you can always go back to that point.

Here are some pages from the 1949 shop manual that explains the adjustment.  Your adjustment could be different.  I don't have a 1951 shop manual.

Good luck!
Joe

[Mowerhoarder]

Update: Finally passed 500 miles put on the car, actually about 700 right now but it's been great the whole time! Really no issues to speak of, still runs like garbage but still runs, still pulls to the right under braking, and still is awesome! Next up on the list of things to do is an alternator conversion or hopefully just turn up the third brush in the generator. Mostly because this thing can't even keep up with the lights and heat, let alone an inverter and phone charger. Gotta re-line the brake shoes at some point but for now, just gonna keep driving it!

[Mowerhoarder]

Also a question: what intakes work on this engine? I want to ideally put a cam in and run a 3x2 intake which I think would look awesome on the car as sort of a 50's hot rod esque build, I don't want to cut any holes in the hood as it's still pretty nice and I want the car to look stock from the outside. What kind of hp could I expect from doing that? Maybe 50? 100? I really don't know. I do know that the rocker shafts are pretty fragile and that you can adapt ones from a hemi to bolt on and make some mounts for the end, I really don't want to pull the engine, nor do I have the means or time to as this is my only car still

[David King (kz78hy)]

If you are going to update the induction, I suggest going to modern fuel injection.  Phil Terry did on a '54 and last time I talked w/him, he loves it.