Seville 1979 Restoration

[Matti R]

Hi!
My new project is 1979 Seville, triple black with 02200 miles in the clock. I already have two 71 Eldorados and Fiat 124 Spider -71 in different project stages, but couldn't resist this beauty. Local dealer had imported 43 cars from California to Finland last winter, and this one was the last one to sell. I went to see it, and even with the seller and additional battery we were not able to start it. Body and interior looked very good apart from driver seat, and the dealer swore that it was driven from the container to warehouse some months earlier, so I made very low-ball offer. He wanted to get it out from his yard and accepted my offer.
This Seville has been within Lazard family in Granada Hills, CA at least for 30 years, but not driven a lot during last 10 years. Bunch of service bills and registration docs were found in glove compartment. It seems that 102 t miles is realistic mileage.
Lots of things to fix in the car, but I like it. I don't do this for business but for pleasure.
- does not start. Found out that starter does not work. Brushes were so worn out that even half of the brush attaching screws were worn out, damaging the anchor as well. New starter solved this.
- it runs, but not stable. Exhaust is leaking with big noise. Need to study EFI a bit.
- moves slowly forward with all gears, R and P as well (!). Need to check the linkage. There was hardly any oil in TH400. I need to change oil and filter as a basic measure.
- brake pedal went straight to bottom. Brake fuild container was almost empty. After filling there is some resistance, but need to bleed it.
- coolant tank brackets broken, so it has fallen to touch AC compressor which has grinded big hole there. Coolant tank seems to be VERY difficult to find.
- Washer fluid tank missing, luckily found one in eBay.
- Trunk pulldown motor and puller missing.
- hoses to heater core disconnected, so probably the core is leaking. I changed the heater core for 71 Eldo some weeks ago, so similar exercise is coming with this animal as well. Blower works but makes noise.
- driver seat is very bad. I plan to buy replacement skins from Lseat.
- plus lots of other things.
But the most positive side is the rust-free body. I do not make body work like welding at all, so this baby fits me very well.
And of course, Gen1 Seville is very beautiful car with lots of options, 350 Rocket engine and TH400!

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Matti,

Congratulations on your purchase, and plans for restoration.

I have never seen a Starter Motor Commutator so badly worn, and the condition of the interior and engine bay pictures would indicate to me that the cost of freight from USA to Finland would have been higher than the actual cost of purchasing the car.

Bruce.

[jagbuxx #12944]

Congratulations on your new project. Once sorted the 79 Seville was a fine driving car. There is plenty of info on this forum and make sure you get the factory manuals and also helpful are the Cadillac Serviceman Bulletins that were monthly to the dealership back in the day. Plenty of service tips that wer not in the workshop manuals.

[Matti R]

G'day Matti,

Congratulations on your purchase, and plans for restoration.

I have never seen a Starter Motor Commutator so badly worn, and the condition of the interior and engine bay pictures would indicate to me that the cost of freight from USA to Finland would have been higher than the actual cost of purchasing the car.

Bruce.

Thanks guys,
I got this veeery cheap😄
Previous photos were the bad areas. Actually engine bay was not that bad, and rest of the interior is quite good. And I give big value to rust-free body.
I downloaded service manuals, and I already ordered lots of parts from USA to replace the broken ones. Looks like there is not a single Seville parts car here in Finland, and probably less than 10 pcs in driving condition.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Definitely better pictures.

Bruce.

[Matti R]

Rocket runs very nice when warm, but gearbox is the problem. It wants to go forward with all gears, even with reverse, neutral and park. Linkage is adjusted, oil on correct level. Something wrong with TH400 but what?

[Matti R]

I opened the TH400 pan and checked that manual valve works properly. That is nice, but on the other hand a bit pity because it means that the reason for problems is that most probably the plates in forward clutch are burned together as result of driving with too low oil level. This means that tranny needs to opened for repair. There are lots of instructions, books and videos available so I decided to repair it by myself. I never opened automatic transmission, manual ones only, but it does not look that difficult. Parts and rebuild kits easily available.

[James Landi]

Keep us apprised of your progress... many of us follow members'  repairs and restorations with great interest.  Thanks for posting, and best of luck for a quick "turn around" on your repair.  James

[Matti R]

Thanks James,

Small update: I managed to drive to petrol station. Transmission works forward, and suspension and steering work very well. Engine runs very well when warm. Cold start is poor, so I removed fast idle valve and will test that.
Today I received several boxes of spares from Rockauto: air filter, door gaskets, Fisher 1979 body manual, heater core,  etc etc.
Lots of fun ahead!!

[Matti R]

I tested Fast Idle Valve just by giving 12V to it. It gets warm but nothing happened. Then I switched it off and put to freezer to cool down. It shows 30 ohm resistance between the valve connectors and 14 ohm when switch is pressed. I did not find correct specs in service manual. Nor I found any spec how much the pin should extend.
After cooling, I applied some force to press the pin inside, and then 12V again. Now I managed to get it to move about 4mm (1/6 inch?).
There were tiny pieces of white soft residual in the valve, maybe that is the expanding wax material leaked from inside.

Problem in cold start is that I need to give small amount of gas in order to keep it running. Sounds like it does not get enough air, so the FIV probably is not opening properly, or not at all.

Cadillac EFI is very similar to Bosch D-Jetronic, which was used around 70-76 in Mercedes, Saab, Volvo, Jaguar, Porsche etc. Instead of FIV, D-Jet has external Auxiliary Air Valve giving additional air to cold engine, controlled by the coolant temperature.

[jagbuxx #12944]

Check the coolant temperature sensor. It is the most common failure in these systems and when bad, will make it difficult to start and keep running when cold. There is an ohm spec in the manual.

[Matti R]

Check the coolant temperature sensor. It is the most common failure in these systems and when bad, will make it difficult to start and keep running when cold. There is an ohm spec in the manual.

Thanks Frank! Air temp sensor was giving correct ohms, but the coolant sensor was dead. No connection at all between the poles. It seems that this sensor is not so commonly available, so it will take some time get the replacement. Rockauto is the fastest supplier to Finland.

[Matti R]

So, I ordered temp sensor, and based on RockAuto.com and Summitracing web pages I chose AX35 which is suitable for my Seville 1979. Was a bit expensive including express freight and customs, but I got it to Finland in 6 days. Then I took the old wire and connector from my car and built nice connector-wire-sensor package. Before installation I checked that it gives correct data, and to my surprise this AX35 sensor is ntc type, whereas ptc is needed for this application. It gives totally wrong ohm data! What a lousy service from Rockauto and Summitracing. To be honest, many other websites as well recommend this to Seville.

I need to order again from other supplier. They seem to be available in eBay.

[jagbuxx #12944]

I have a stash of these sensors that I’ve collected over the years as my 76 is fuel injected.
Let me dig them out and offer you one if you are interested.

[Matti R]

Thanks for kind offer, Frank. I already ordered one, and it is on the way.

Positive news is that yesterday I got parts delivery from US. First task was to install washer fluid reservoir which was completely missing. Wipers work, now with new blades, but washer not yet. Probably typical problem with broken rubber in the pump.
Step by step my Seville will get back to its glory!

[Matti R]

Passenger side plastic lamp frame was completely broken, and sealed beams were held almost by wires only. All 4 fixing brackets were broken, and even the small bracket for lower turn signal lamps was broken. I got a very good used frame from Texas via eBay, and built the whole package with sealed beams, springs and adjusting screws.
I had to replace the power window master switch in driver's door. Now I can close the window as well, not to open only Thanks to Charles for great quality switch.

[Matti R]

I should rename this as Reparation project, as most of the work is fixing faults and damages.

I took TH400 out and opened it with several interesting findings.
- forward clutch and direct clutch were stuck together REALLY tight. (second photo) After I got them separated, I took the plates out to find out that 90% of friction material had disappeared. Video below. I will replace all plates.
- rear band servo was stuck. That could explain missing Reverse gear.
- plates in intermediate clutch looked like new. Don`t know if that is related to rear servo. (First photo)
- lots of fine mud-like material in many parts, probably residual from friction material.

I wonder if the car has been started by pushing, or pulling. The starter was non-functional, and the car has been driven not long time ago, according to seller. Push start can damage the tranny, but I do not know exactly how. Maybe like this, destroying plates due to lack of oil pressure.

https://youtu.be/JcTu_V7xUa8

[Matti R]

Seville is now on the pit for the tranny repair, so I can repair the exhaust system as well. The pipe was rusted and broken in several points, and there was a loud  noise coming from exhaust manifold direction. I expected manifold to be broken but did not find any cracks etc. One hanger is badly bent and not functioning at all.
When removing the pipe I found out that there was no seal between the manifold and the pipe at all!! I believe adding the seal will be an easy fix to get rid of the noise.

[James Landi]

From what you're finding, it appears that the car was abused at some point in its lengthy history.  So much damage can be done through neglect, ignorance, or worse, intentional abuse.  Here's hoping that once the transmission is repaired, you'll enjoy "smooth sailing" with the rest of your project.  Enjoying your narratives.  James

[Matti R]

From what you're finding, it appears that the car was abused at some point in its lengthy history.  So much damage can be done through neglect, ignorance, or worse, intentional abuse.  Here's hoping that once the transmission is repaired, you'll enjoy "smooth sailing" with the rest of your project.  Enjoying your narratives.  James

Usually it is positive argument that ”car has been in one family decades” but this case proves that it is not always so.

I have other cars for cruising, and this Seville is  more for having fun in garage.