Hello all,
Glad to be a member of this forum, I'm the proud new owner of a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Seville with what appears to be 43,000 original miles. I have a ton of questions for those who are familiar with these vehicles! Supposedly the car sat since 1974 and I'm told apart from the exterior paint and gas tank, it is all original. Floors and frame are in great shape for a 60 year old vehicle. Surface rust on under carriage but it actually looks cleaner than our 2003 Dodge Caravan underneath. Wondering if I should rebuild the original engine, runs strong no leaks whatsoever? I had a guy say that if it in good working order leave it alone. Thinking of pulling the motor to give it a fresh coat of Cadillac blue! Ok here are the questions, does anyone know of a place that can reproduce the upper dash? Does anyone know of any documentation that shows how to remove upper and lower dash? Any recommended chrome shops that can re-chrome the rear bumpers? Were gold sabers an option for 1957 models? Any idea where i can find the material to wrap the new dash when I find one? My power antenna motor works, but the mast is broken, anyone who can install a new mast? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
feefee7376@aol.com
Welcome to the forum and congratulations with the purchase of a very nice Seville! I will try to answer some of your questions:
-Buy a shop manual for your car, it is completely necessary when working on these cars and will tell you how to take apart the dash. Here's one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1957-CADILLAC-SHOP-MANUAL-ORIG-BASE-BOOK-FOR-THE-1958-SERIES-60S-62-75-86-/231840028141?hash=item35fabe15ed:g:~TkAAOSwe7BWuPck&vxp=mtr (http://www.ebay.com/itm/1957-CADILLAC-SHOP-MANUAL-ORIG-BASE-BOOK-FOR-THE-1958-SERIES-60S-62-75-86-/231840028141?hash=item35fabe15ed:g:~TkAAOSwe7BWuPck&vxp=mtr)
-If the engine runs fine I'd leave it alone and concentrate on making other improvements first.
-The dash pad is not being reproduced but two good restoration services exist: http://www.justdashes.com/ (http://www.justdashes.com/) in California and http://autoline.se/?lang=en_us (http://autoline.se/?lang=en_us) in Sweden. Be sure to let them know yours is for an Eldorado as it has a different texture than standard 57s.
-The rear bumper including the license plate surround are cast aluminum and very hard to re-chrome. Yours look pretty good, usually they are peeling and flaking all over the place if they are originals. The only place I can recommend is http://paulschrome.com/ (http://paulschrome.com/). They did the corners on our Biarritz and came out great.
-Gold sabers were not an option in 57, 56 was the last year
-The restoration of the dashpad requires a heat/vacuum forming process, You cannot recover it yourself and get a good result. Better left to the pros!
-I believe you have a snapped drive belt in your antenna mast. The antennas are not being reproduced and they are tricky to rebuild. There are some threads on the subject on the forum somewhere, I'll see if I can dig it up later.
-From the pictures it looks like your seats have been re-upholstered at some point. The original leather was a coarser textured "Buffalo Grain" which was matched by the vinyl "Elascofab" material covering the dash, upper door panels and arm-rest door pulls.
I'm compiling a database of known survivor 57 Sevilles and Biarritzes. I'd love if you could post a picture of you body data tag located on the top of the cowl, driver's side so I can add your car.
Good luck!
Nice yet another 57 to the group! Look forward to seeing future posts of your new ride
Willie,
Welcome, you have a beautiful car. You also may want to consider joining the CLC. There’s a wealth of knowledge here beyond the Board that can be invaluable.
If the engine is as good as you say, I’d just clean and paint it and enjoy using the car.
Let me add to Henning’s comments. Definitely buy a Shop Manual. It will be it’s worth its weight in money. I restored one years ago so my comments are from memory. The lower dash and steering column nees to be loosened and lowered about 2 inched to remove the top - SM explains how and why. If you don’t you may damage the edges containing the window switches. I had my dash top done by Just Dashes with excellent results. They used the vinyl top material from a ’76 Buick Century which was almost and exact match. It will have to be dyed - painted actually- to match the red color. Of all the materials I’ve used, I find Color Plus to be the best : https://colorplus.com/. It is water based, can be brushed or sprayed and is incredibly durable. They can also match colors exactly. If you need lacquer touch up paint for you dash try Reading Paint & Lacquer Dist.; Ephrata, PA. 717-859-2500. A few years ago, they were still able to mix to factory formulae.
I have not used Paul’s Plating but friends have. Their work may be a bit more expensive, but it is excellent and completed when they promise it. I would also just do the center, bar unless you’re going to show the in AACA or CLC judged shows. If that’s your goal, you need the correct back up lens and bullets for the lens and exhaust ports. McVey’s use to have them but not certain they are still available.
HTH,
Welcome. Very nice car. Harry
Hi Willie, always nice to see another 57 Seville on the forum.Check out Rockauto for manuals I have a paper one but also use the excellent CD version from Detroit Iron http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/cadillac,1957,series+62,6.0l+365cid+v8,1320679,literature,repair+manual,10335?a=Search%2Bfor%2BUBP
I'd also recommend leaving the engine alone if it's running good,just pull the anciliaries off and paint the engine .Best recommendation for correct paint match- Bill Hirsch
http://www.hirschauto.com/ENGINE-ENAMEL/productinfo/EE-QUART/
Also don't forget to repaint the valve covers gold to match the air cleaner.
If it is all original and has sat for 40 years I would certainly be checking the brakes ,My own Seville sat for 19 years and I ended up rebuilding the complete braking system .
Your car would also have left the factory with a Vicodec vinyl roof
It would be interesting to decode the data tag and see what color it left the factory,my own car was originally Olympic White with a black roof but ended up "resale red" before it crossed the Atlantic.
I really appreciate all of the info, you guys rock! Eldoking, I am thrilled that you are tracking the survivor Sevilles and Biarritzes. I saw that there was a guy doing that with the Broughams but always wondered how many Sevilles and Biarritzes survived. I have attached some pics to assist you, if you need anything else just ask! As far as the top dash, are you saying Just Dashes will need my old one to rebuild? If so I'm screwed cause it's in bad shape!
Quote from: 57eldoking on February 24, 2016, 05:50:40 AM
Welcome to the forum and congratulations with the purchase of a very nice Seville! I will try to answer some of your questions:
-Buy a shop manual for your car, it is completely necessary when working on these cars and will tell you how to take apart the dash. Here's one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1957-CADILLAC-SHOP-MANUAL-ORIG-BASE-BOOK-FOR-THE-1958-SERIES-60S-62-75-86-/231840028141?hash=item35fabe15ed:g:~TkAAOSwe7BWuPck&vxp=mtr (http://www.ebay.com/itm/1957-CADILLAC-SHOP-MANUAL-ORIG-BASE-BOOK-FOR-THE-1958-SERIES-60S-62-75-86-/231840028141?hash=item35fabe15ed:g:~TkAAOSwe7BWuPck&vxp=mtr)
-If the engine runs fine I'd leave it alone and concentrate on making other improvements first.
-The dash pad is not being reproduced but two good restoration services exist: http://www.justdashes.com/ (http://www.justdashes.com/) in California and http://autoline.se/?lang=en_us (http://autoline.se/?lang=en_us) in Sweden. Be sure to let them know yours is for an Eldorado as it has a different texture than standard 57s.
-The rear bumper including the license plate surround are cast aluminum and very hard to re-chrome. Yours look pretty good, usually they are peeling and flaking all over the place if they are originals. The only place I can recommend is http://paulschrome.com/ (http://paulschrome.com/). They did the corners on our Biarritz and came out great.
-Gold sabers were not an option in 57, 56 was the last year
-The restoration of the dashpad requires a heat/vacuum forming process, You cannot recover it yourself and get a good result. Better left to the pros!
-I believe you have a snapped drive belt in your antenna mast. The antennas are not being reproduced and they are tricky to rebuild. There are some threads on the subject on the forum somewhere, I'll see if I can dig it up later.
-From the pictures it looks like your seats have been re-upholstered at some point. The original leather was a coarser textured "Buffalo Grain" which was matched by the vinyl "Elascofab" material covering the dash, upper door panels and arm-rest door pulls.
I'm compiling a database of known survivor 57 Sevilles and Biarritzes. I'd love if you could post a picture of you body data tag located on the top of the cowl, driver's side so I can add your car.
Good luck!
Hey Eldoking,
how can you tell what color vinyl top the car came with? I didn't know they all came with vinyl tops!
Quote from: chris cunliffe on February 24, 2016, 12:37:41 PM
Hi Willie, always nice to see another 57 Seville on the forum.Check out Rockauto for manuals I have a paper one but also use the excellent CD version from Detroit Iron http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/cadillac,1957,series+62,6.0l+365cid+v8,1320679,literature,repair+manual,10335?a=Search%2Bfor%2BUBP
I'd also recommend leaving the engine alone if it's running good,just pull the anciliaries off and paint the engine .Best recommendation for correct paint match- Bill Hirsch
http://www.hirschauto.com/ENGINE-ENAMEL/productinfo/EE-QUART/
Also don't forget to repaint the valve covers gold to match the air cleaner.
If it is all original and has sat for 40 years I would certainly be checking the brakes ,My own Seville sat for 19 years and I ended up rebuilding the complete braking system .
Your car would also have left the factory with a Vicodec vinyl roof
It would be interesting to decode the data tag and see what color it left the factory,my own car was originally Olympic White with a black roof but ended up "resale red" before it crossed the Atlantic.
Good stuff,
Thanks for the link on the engine paint! Any links for the valve cover gold paint? Yes, I will rebuild the braking system,the car was delivered to my house on a trailer. I drove her into the garage and it took a bit of leg muscle to bring her to a stop.
Pretty much every original dash pad looks terrible after 60 years of exposure to the elements so you're not alone. They need the old one, it has a metal backing panel. They strip off all of the old foam and vinyl down to bare metal and apply new foam and vinyl in a heat/vacuum process. They come out looking factory new!
Thank you for the body plate photo! Your car was originally Olympic white with a black Vicodec vinyl top. The Kiowa red and white interior is correct for the car.
That brings up a question for me and my 1957. Has anyone dealt with the guys in Sweden who remake the dash pad? They are only asking 950 shipped but I'm not sure if they need my metal upper dash to complete the task. I vaguely remember talking with Just Dashes and they said they make everything without the need of the core. Is this true? I'm about ready to tackle the dash pad monster here in the next 8 months or so
They need the core. Just Dashes did mine 15 years ago and it's as perfect as you'd want. I seem to remember it was $500 or $600 then. Doubt I could afford to do it today...
Yeah Just Dashes is 1300 for the color that I need. I'll ask the guys in Sweden if they have a COR if not I'll send them another one other than the one I have on mine. I don't want to be completely dashless for 3 months while they build the thing
Welcome to a fellow 1957 Olympic White Seville owner. You have a very nice car. It looks like all of your questions have been answered so far and you can find a great amount of information by searching this forum. Joining the Cadillac LaSalle Club and getting the Authenticity Manual and build sheet for your car are essential steps. On my car the engine compartment needed the most work but I have concentrated on cleaning and removing/painting components as opposed to removing the engine. My next step is Bill Hirsch blue on the power steering pulley and bracket.
Dave Morris
Thanks 57 Eldo Seville,
Engine compartment on your baby is coming along. Did you pull the motor to paint it?
Quote from: Seville1957 on February 26, 2016, 08:34:11 AM
Thanks 57 Eldo Seville,
Engine compartment on your baby is coming along. Did you pull the motor to paint it?
No but that probably will occur sometime in the future. My car currently has 56K miles. The Authenticity Manual was the greatest help in getting the colors and decals right.
57 Eldo Seville,
Where can one find a Authentication Manual for the correct colors and labels?
You can get the authenticity manual from the CLC club store $40
http://store.cadillaclasalleclub.org/category_s/1818.htm
The gold for the air cleaner and valve covers -a good match is Sherwin Williams 1996 Chrysler Drama Gold 51525 I used this on mine.
I also noticed that you are missing door jamb switch ( available on Ebay for around $19) and also the front speaker which sits under the dash on the transmission tunnel.
I also noticed your body number is 950,mine is 967, so they could both possibly have been built in the same week
Quote from: 57shark82 on February 25, 2016, 09:12:47 AM
That brings up a question for me and my 1957. Has anyone dealt with the guys in Sweden who remake the dash pad? They are only asking 950 shipped but I'm not sure if they need my metal upper dash to complete the task. I vaguely remember talking with Just Dashes and they said they make everything without the need of the core. Is this true? I'm about ready to tackle the dash pad monster here in the next 8 months or so
The Swedes need the core. I've seen their work, its really top notch and better than the dash Just Dashes did for our Biarritz 15 years ago. I'm having them do my Seville's dash next winter. They may actually be doing more 50s Cadillac and Buick dashes than Just Dashes at the moment considering the large number of these cars being restored in Sweden.
Very interesting... and you may be onto something with the number of cars over there...
I do think the Just Dashes grain is a touch more shallow than the original. You may also want to consider matching material for the upper doors and rear seat.
It would be interesting to know how many 1957 Sevilles survived. I hear many were parted out in favor of Biarritz models.
I've been cataloguing them for about 10 years now, collecting information on cars that come up for sale online and cars I've encountered at shows both in Europe and the U.S. I probably would have collected way more if I had been more active rather than simply collecting information from cars that I stumble upon.
Anyhow, today I have pictures and information on exactly 66 cars of each model. Not very scientific but it should give a rough idea, also need to keep in mind there were 300 more Sevilles built. In general Biarritz models are in better condition than the Sevilles.
Quote from: Walter Youshock on February 27, 2016, 06:33:01 AM
Very interesting... and you may be onto something with the number of cars over there...
I do think the Just Dashes grain is a touch more shallow than the original. You may also want to consider matching material for the upper doors and rear seat.
You are correct Walter, the Just Dashes grain is shallower and finer than the original Elsacofab Buffalo Grain. However, you probably have to be a bit of a 57 Eldorado connoisseur to recognize that a Just Dashes dash isn't completely correct without having an original to compare it to. They do very nice work by all means!
The following pictures are of the red Just Dashes restored pad in our Biarritz and the original green pad in Dave Morris` low mileage Seville. At the bottom is a picture of a 58 Eldorado dash and side panels done by RD Autoline in Sweden. As you can see their grain is closer to the original Elascofab although it too is probably a hair too shallow.
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1477/24679637413_4c0ccd65f1_b.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1595/24938755259_212f2b116f_b.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1538/25280291976_bbf111576f_b.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1695/25188300012_b855c1010f_b.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1602/24680245983_f25d63a7c7_b.jpg)
I know of 2 that rotted away in junkyards in Northeast PA. One was white, black top and red/white leather. The other was Starlight, repainted white, black top and black and silver paisley interior.
I have parts of both cars on mine. One gave up its power trunk and the other the release button. As I recall, both were single carb cars without air cleaners or valve covers... they were probably gold...
That's sad that those two beauties were left to rot. I know of one junkyard that has a 57 Seville mounted way up on the pole with its top cut off. Birds crap all over the car and it is riddled with bullet holes from people using it as target practice! You wont see this done with a Brougham or Biarritz. Seems the Seville hasn't received the respect they deserve. I was tickled pink when I heard about the 57 Seville that sold for $150k last January! Any of you gents drive ur cars on the road? Not so sure I will put mine on the road when im done. Too many idiot drivers in my neck of the woods.
Driving them is what its all about! Nothing like getting out exploring the highways with these cars, it is an adventure like no other! We've put close to 30k miles on our Biarritz since it was done 13 years ago. That includes two coast to coast roadtrips on Route 66 and the Lincoln Highway from NYC to San Francisco. You only live once and when its all said and done the guy with the best experiences and memories wins. Even though I consider them rolling pieces of sculpture, they're just cars when it comes down to it. If its been restored once, it can always be restored again. 8)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1479/24677768264_f9a395477b_c.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1503/24681580833_08ebb04e93_c.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1631/25282102836_3690a8d6b5_c.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1623/24940672239_4077c77a48_c.jpg)
Quote from: 57eldoking on February 27, 2016, 10:20:17 AM
You are correct Walter, the Just Dashes grain is shallower and finer than the original Elsacofab Buffalo Grain. However, you probably have to be a bit of a 57 Eldorado connoisseur to recognize that a Just Dashes dash isn't completely correct without having an original to compare it to. They do very nice work by all means!
The following pictures are of the red Just Dashes restored pad in our Biarritz and the original green pad in Dave Morris` low mileage Seville. At the bottom is a picture of a 58 Eldorado dash and side panels done by RD Autoline in Sweden. As you can see their grain is closer to the original Elascofab although it too is probably a hair too shallow.
I recognize that Versailles Green interior.
Yes, I was drooling all over that car but it was a little out of my price range. It is one of the most original untouched Sevilles I have in my records.
Quote from: 57eldoking on February 27, 2016, 03:44:35 PM
Yes, I was drooling all over that car but it was a little out of my price range. It is one of the most original untouched Sevilles I have in my records.
The interior is very original with the exception of new carpet and rear package shelf. And the trunk is very original except there is no mounting provision for the jack and no holes where it should have been located.
The Olympic white paint looked to have been repainted forward of the windshield and original elsewhere. Or so I thought. Last week for the heck of it I did a search on the owner from 1970-1989. And talked to him on the phone a day later. Imagine my surprise when he mentioned the lime green (elysian green) color that it was painted when he owned it. It was also that color when his good friend owned it from 1963-1970. He knew that it should have been white and verified the mileage. So my car was painted Elysian Green from around 1963 to sometime after 1989.
You learn something every day.
Hoods and front fenders of this era SHOULD have a color variation from the body. The bodies were painted at Fleetwood and the hoods and fenders at Clark.
A real original paint car will have a slight color difference, especially on a metallic.
Just received an email from the Swedes and they said they don't need the core. They said this is something I install after they make it. That would be great as it would save lots of time/money
That's right, I forgot you can also install the pad yourself. When I talked to them they recommended I'd bring my metal board because I have AC which requires trimming and you only have one shot at making those cuts right. I only live a 4 hour drive away from them so I'll probably have them do it as they've done many of them.
I'm glad you posted pictures of Just Dashes grain. They are several hundred dollars more than the Swedes are. If the Swedes have the best grain then I'm going with them! This makes me happy cause I can get this done later this year and finally install my Autronic Eye
The pictures I posted only applies for the Eldorados though. Your Series 62 didn't have the Buffalo grain. Here's a picture of a Series 62 pad redone by the Swedes. Perhaps someone else can post a picture of a Series 62 pad done by Just Dashes. In any event the Swedes do impeccable work so I'm sure you'll be happy, especially since it's cheaper too.
(https://forums.cadillaclasalle.club/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fautoline.se%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F02%2Fbild.jpg&hash=54840639cbeb23ffcbad5d4bfbcfc3529ac886be)
Beautiful dash, does anyone have Swedes contact info? Also, do you guys have any recommendation for a shop to chrome the rear bumpers and rear license plate holder?
http://autoline.se/?page_id=245 (http://autoline.se/?page_id=245)
http://paulschrome.com (http://paulschrome.com)
I was told that Limbrandi's had a good quality chrome. They quoted me 1500 for my rear bumper:
http://www.carchrome.com/beta/librandi/about.htm
I'm a little late in responding , but here's my Just Dashes black dash done a few years ago and an original red dash . As others have stated , the original appears a little deeper grained than the Just Dashes repro . Quality of the Just Dashes product is excellent . .. Paul Tesone CLC #6876
Nice, I think Im going with RD Line for my dash. Recieved estimates for plating the rear bumpers, $6,000!
Another option you may want to consider is buying a new recast pair of rear bumpers. These are made in a modern aluminum alloy which is more stable and should be easier to chrome. I have yet to have a plating job on a set of recast bumpers priced out though. However what makes plating so expensive is the labor that goes into prepping the pieces. I would imagine new bumpers would require far less prep work.
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8575/15557767753_7ba8f20d6a_z_d.jpg)
Mine actually have what appears to be a brass plating on them, no signs of corrosion which is why im so shocked at the price.
The price does seem to be about what I'd expect for a typically corroded, flaking, pitting set of originals. I believe we paid $3500-4000 for ours back around 2001.
You could try these guys: http://www.customplatingspecialist.com (http://www.customplatingspecialist.com)
They did all the chrome on a 58 Seville which came out beautiful. The rear corners on a 58 are pressed steel though, but the license plate frame is identical aluminum. Doesn't hurt to ask at least...
Has anyone had an issue with their chrome rear bumpers with the exhause pipes?
Yes, the exhaust is highly abrasive and will wear your chrome. We had the exhaust routed thru the bumpers after restoration but eliminated it after less than 1000 miles of driving. In that time the exhaust bullets' chrome started cracking and the chrome inside the outlet ports was quickly getting dull. It is not a good idea for a car that's not a trailer queen.
Hahahah, trailer queen!
Hey guys,
the shop manual I have is kinda vague, but are the power window switches serviceable? None of the power windows worked when I got the car, I was bracing for the worst. I took a jumper with an inline fuse and walaaaaa the windows work. So the problem seems to be the switches.
Also,
As far as gas, do you guys use lead additive? 87,89, or 92 octane?
Does anybody have any experience with these newly casted 57 Eldorado rear bumper pieces mentioned few posts ago? Are they still available?
I have some doubts about quality and correct fitment.
We have a problem with our bumpers, cause 2 high end chrome-shops have tried to repair and chrome our not-so bad originals but it not working out well.
Blisters and problems appear after copper plating. Several attempt and repairs have made.
Maybe Pauls Chrome in US can do it but this 6000 + dollars + shipping, etc is really the last option. The Very last.
If these new castings are good quality and fitment and without oxidation/rust problems then we would buy these and our chrome shop will make real show-quality out of it.
Very interesting read, I love the detail!