Cadillac & LaSalle Club Discussion Forum

Hey everyone,

My Dad and I are in the process of restoring his 1961 Cadillac convertible for my wedding next September. We're...I dunno...half way done at this point? Probably not even close in terms of man-hours still to put into the car. But we're done pulling parts off at least, and are now in the process of putting everything back in/on/together.

So far we've gutted the interior. Removed the front and rear seat, and the front seat is getting reupholstered. Took the dashboard apart and had the clock, radio, and instrument cluster rebuilt. We'll be repainting the dashboard as well. Dash pad is in great shape. New sound insulation will go in, along with new carpet. New power window switches for the driver's side door, too.

Engine compartment has been taken down to the frame and firewall. We can't take the fenders off as my Dad had the car repainted when he first got it and the painter glazed over the gap between the fender and body. We've stripped the undercoating off (oh man, did that suck) a lot of parts and have had them powder coated. All new front suspension bushings, bearings, and bumpers. New shocks and coil springs. Bought a generator to replace the alternator that was on the car. We've had the carb, power steering pump, water pump, radiator, windshield wiper motor, master brake booster/cylinder all rebuilt. Had the valve springs replaced and headers, rocker arms and push rods all cleaned up by a machine shop. Ordered a gasket kit and will be replacing all gaskets on the engine. We're pretty sure the timing chain cover gasket was leaking based on how the oil pan looked when we pulled the engine. We've had to buy a new exhaust manifold (cracked) and intake manifold (cracked!) along with replacing a few other parts, like the air filter housing and seized bolts we had to cut. Junkyards...not cheap!

I've grabbed a bunch of photos from different points to share with the group, and will be working to share more as we progress.

When we pulled the seats and carpet out we found a lot of rust on the car, mainly right under the front seat where there aren't any floor pans you can buy. Compared to many other cars, it's barely any rust so I know we're fortunate. But the car has never seen salt, so it was surprising to find. Luckily for us my Dad was a welder/sheet metal fabricator for 33 years so repairing the damage is (fairly) easy for him. The hard part is around the rocker panels. We've hit a few snags with finding suspension parts, but are pushing through those as best we can. Our plan was to have the front suspension and brakes back on the car and the engine and transmission going back in this weekend, but that timeline has been blown to bits. We're just outside Rochester, New York, so it would be nice to be able to work in the closed garage during the winter months as we put the engine compartment back together and finish patching the floor. 

I've included a photo of the data plate, but it's a series 6267. Power seat & windows, radio, heater, and E-Z Eye Glass. Trim 28, and it's paint code 50. Odd fact: the car has white hubcaps instead of red hubcaps. Not sure if a previous owner (my Dad's the third owner) replaced them or what. Does anyone have insight into that? We've ordered the build sheet for the car from GM's archives, but it's still a few weeks out.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/eddzzgoea2mw16w/IMG_1200.jpg?dl=0)
Powder coated parts

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/brys83m9agokykg/IMG_4710.jpg?dl=0)
patching rust

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/kb3grm790wovxnx/IMG_4712.jpg?dl=0)
patching rust

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/0huw7fw7jnxihbv/IMG_4725.jpg?dl=0)
gutted interior

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/20za53byoz8g55u/IMG_4727.jpg?dl=0)
replacement part for rust

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/moh2xx0odavqgxq/IMG_4812.jpg?dl=0)
pulling engine and transmission

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/63nx67qt90et4pl/IMG_4819.jpg?dl=0)
transmission before it went off to be rebuilt

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/wv4shwryhvep3lk/IMG_4851.jpg?dl=0)
numbers on the frame

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/w0q5jx71jeugek7/IMG_4852.jpg?dl=0)
data plate

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/anq3vkep2ypjcf5/IMG_4864.jpg?dl=0)
transmission before priming

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/d6p7l17hp8omef1/IMG_4865.jpg?dl=0)
primed transmission

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/l0avdc1dob9rvf8/IMG_4879.jpg?dl=0)
me painting the transmission

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/m03p0i5ijxwa5op/IMG_5010.jpg?dl=0)
generator we bought off eBay

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/397hxozgr1vtgm8/IMG_5048.jpg?dl=0)
crack in the intake manifold

That's going to be a nice car when you're done.  Great progress so far and nice work I must add.

If you're going for totally authentic, you'll want to remove the red tag from the field terminal on the generator.  Starting, I believe in 59, there was a paper tag affixed to the generator.  The tag is almost always gone, but you'll find a strip of what looks like yellow masking tape.  This is actually the glue residue and leftover paper from the tag.

Dan can you post a photo of what a generator with sticker should look like.  Thanks Dave

I don't have the sticker - it's long gone.  All that's left is the residue from the glue on the tag.

It was either Walter Youshock or Michael Cascio that told me about the tag.

Some engine work: We pulled the crankshaft to replace the rear main seal, and are also replacing the piston rings. Crankshafts...are heavier than they look.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ntazs63v75diyc3/old_RearMainSeal.jpg?dl=0)
Old rear main seal

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/urtxj0i6bxh7i36/old_RearMainSeal_Removal.jpg?dl=0)
Removing the old rear main seal. Took a little bit of picking to get it out.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/2c4dl5jxqwh0eb2/new_rearmainseal.jpg?dl=0)
New real main seal installed

Some of the last suspension parts are coming back from powder coating tomorrow, mainly the upper and lower arms, along with the crossmembers that hold the transmission. So we'll be able to get working on the brakes and suspension while reassembling the engine. After that, the engine and transmission will go back in.

All of that will start happening after Thanksgiving as I'm heading out of town. We're behind schedule, but who knows how realistic our schedule was in the first place.

Unless you have put the rear cap back on, rotate the seal so that one side is 1/2" above the face, and the corresponding end is set into the cap 1/2".

This way, when they are mated, the joints will not be aligned with the block surface, but inside the groove.

Doing this assists in sealing the seal.

Bruce. >:D

Nice Car. On Your Body Plate 06C means Your Car was built the 3rd. week of June 1961 very near the end of production as Body 15,500 was the last 1961 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible built. Acc. E H Y means E-Z EYE Glass , Heater and Six Way Front Seat. Code 50 paint was Pompeian Red and code 28 Trim was Red ans White leather interior. Your car might also have GuideMatic Eye on the dash as Cadillac never put code U, on the body plate when power options were ordered. I Own a 1861 cadillac Sedan DeVille 4 Window in Dresden Blue.
Sincerely , Bill Young

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ir7fr9uo4rgdppd/TighteningCaps.jpg?dl=0)
Tightening the caps on the main bearing with a torque wrench. In other news: torque wrenches are fun!

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/mhonwle8cahhs04/CleaningPistons.JPG?dl=0)
Using brake cleaner to remove some of the carbon from the pistons before we replaced the rings.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/zuhnw1buj3jpbuh/RemovingPistonRings.jpg?dl=0)
Removing the old piston rings.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ro4estzvtbpyi0n/CleaningCarbon.jpg?dl=0)
cleaning the last bits of carbon off the pistons before the new rings go on.

We're pretty behind schedule, so after New Year's we'll start working Saturday and Sundays on the car instead of just Saturdays. Hopefully that will help us get caught up.

We put parts back on over the weekend!

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/7auqzi01yrrc72a/Wiper_BrakeBooster.jpg?dl=0)

Our rebuilt windshield wiper motor and pump went back on the car, along with the rebuilt vacuum brake booster/master cylinder. Yes, I'm aware the grounding strap isn't connected to the body. No hoses are either.  :P

Early last week we sent the upper a-arms to USA Parts Supply to get assembled and the rubber frame bumpers installed. We had all the parts needed except for the rubber frame bumper, so it's mostly assembly costs for that. It still took some back and forth with USA Parts Supply but eventually they understood what we needed and we found a price that worked for us. The arms should be shipping out today, so ideally they'll be back to us by Friday December 26 so we can install them this coming weekend.

We have hit a big roadblock with our engine rebuild. Basically: It won't turn. We can't get the crankshaft to turn once we torque down the rod connectors on the pistons. When the nuts are all snugged up, but not torqued down, we can turn the crankshaft. Yes: we used assembly lube on the bearings and piston rod connectors. So my Dad's going to go talk to the local machine shop and see if they have any suggestions. My personal preference at this point is to give the machine shop the engine and let them re-build it. Remove all parts, dip the block, and built it up from there. The water jacket has a lot of sediment in it anyway, so getting the block dipped would be for the best. Plus, the engine will actually work. A small, but significant detail when restoring a car.

We're behind schedule, and further delays on the engine could be really bad. Thankfully(?) we have plenty to do while the engine is rebuilt if we go that route. Suspension, front brakes, and floor pan patching can all happen while the engine is at the machine shop.

With all the work you're putting into this car doing a complete rebuild when the engine is already out would make sense. Don't want the engine to give you a headache during or right before the wedding. I have a funny story from one of the first rides my dad and I took with our 57 Biarritz after a 16 year frame off restoration. We were driving along a back road and encountered a wedding party in an early 1920s Renault broken down in the middle of a hill. The bride's dad had been restoring the car for 5 years prior to his daughter's wedding. They were on their way from the Church to get their pictures taken before the reception and were running out of time. Realizing their situation we offered to take them to the picture location 20 minutes away. The bride and groom graciously accepted and we got them to their photographer in time. The Biarritz also stood in for the Renault as a backdrop for the pictures, a substantial upgrade in our eyes! As we were leaving the Renault showed up on the back of a flatbed, the bride's dad seemed pretty resigned. Poor fellow should have had a Cadillac!  ;D

Just curious - what are the extra wires poking through the speedometer cable location?

Quote from: Dan LeBlanc on December 22, 2014, 07:00:18 PM
Just curious - what are the extra wires poking through the speedometer cable location?

No clue! I'll check and see what they connect to in the car this week.

One quick thought. If you can avoid changing the adjustment of the TV Rod that connects the Carb with the Transmission that is good, as on the 1961 and 1962 Cadillac Owners Club website there has been discussion as to how sensative that adjustment is and if it is off just a little bit the car will not shift correctly.

Patching rust is decidedly un-sexy, but very important to do. The most vexing part about this is the car never saw salt. The first owner took it to Florida with him every winter, and the second owner only had it for a little while before my father bought it, and my father garaged it every winter. As many others have hypothesized, the car probably collected dirt and dust off the road, which then absorbed moisture and slowly rotted out the car over 50+ year.  :'( At least it's only in a few spots. I couldn't image the work that has to go into restoring cars that were driven year-round or left outdoors for years.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/gaitc1axxtioc0r/RockerPanel.jpg?dl=0)
Putting a patch on the rocker panel. We used tek screws and clips to hold the patch in place, and then tack welded it in place.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/13n7mqlnkwuaj6r/SideChannel.jpg?dl=0)
Patch on the rocker panel is welded into place. Now my father is fitting in a new piece of channeling. It's a game of a thousand small adjustments to get things to fit correctly. Lucky for us my father was a welder at Xerox for 33 years, so this is second nature for him. We've got a hole punch and a sheet metal brake in the basement, along with plenty of hand tools for cutting and shaping steel.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/xu7zh9c9zjadr4v/SideChannel_2.jpg?dl=0)
Everything is patched up though, and ready for the 'skin' to go on. 

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/tdknsmkg2nwupuz/Skinning.jpg?dl=0)
Putting the 'skin' back on the floor. It's a weld-and-hammer approach to get the radius right. If you look closely you can see we left the mounting holes for the front seat untouched.

Engine update:

Turns out we had the connecting rods and their caps all mixed up. I was looking closely and noticed small numbers stamped on each connecting rod. Hey, these numbers should probably match up! Some rejiggering and we're able to turn the crank shaft with all of the connecting nuts torqued down. Then came the question of "Hey, because the pistons are numbered, are they supposed to go in a certain order?" (Yes, they are.) We checked the manual and yup, they are. Pistons 1,3,5, and 7 are on one side, and pistons 2,4,6, and 8 are on the other side. D'oh. Dropped the pistons out of the block, and my father raises some concerns about wear on the bearings in some of the connecting rods. So back to the machine shop on Monday to see if they can order new bearings.

Quote from: Dan LeBlanc on December 22, 2014, 07:00:18 PM
Just curious - what are the extra wires poking through the speedometer cable location?

I checked into this. My father gave an "I don't know" shrug which is always exciting. I traced the wires back into the dash and as best I can tell they attach to the radio? So maybe something to do with the power antenna? I'll keep an eye on this when we start to reinstall the dashboard components (instrument cluster, radio, antenna and headlight controls, clock, etc.)

There definitely should not be any wires coming out of that hole.  All wiring comes out of one of two locations on these cars - the ignition switch harness protrudes through the firewall just behind the air cleaner, and at the bulkhead connector next to the brake booster.

Not sure what to say, there's always been wiring come out of there. There was even a grommet around it. You can see it in a photo from earlier in the restoration:

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/n1szk5yf1ljwhrf/Wiring.jpg?dl=0)

Someone may have added wires for something.

On cars without cruise control, the speedometer cable passes through that hole.  It is plugged with a rubber plug on cars with cruise.

While I'm thinking of it, not only do the pistons have their designated cylinders, there is also a front to rear orientation on the Pistons themselves. As well, be sure the numbers align on the connecting rod caps.

Yup, we found the "REAR" side of the pistons when installing them the first time, but totally whiffed on the piston numbers. Found them with the pistons in the block, so we've dropped them all out for the time being. I downloaded and printed out the cheat sheet from the 61-62 forum archives so we'll be sure to get the correct pistons in the correct cylinders when they go back in.

Andrew, I just noticed you live in Rochester New York. I lived there all my life till July 2012 when My Wife and I moved to Gainesville Georgia. If you are looking for someone to paint that '61 so it looks factory original I reccomend Tony Valentini " Tony"s Collision" on Atlantic Ave. He painted a 1968 DeVille Convertible for me in 2005 that was code 44 Chestnut Brown to color change to code 30 Silverpine green. The car took first in it's class and best of show at the Valley Cadillac , Cadillac and LaSalle Club show and when I told people it was originally a Brown Car they looked at me like I was from Mars. He and I have become good Friends over the years. He owns 2 '59s a series 62 coupe and an Eldorado Convertible .

Engine issues have been resolved. New connecting rod bearings were ordered and we installed those. Put the pistons back into their correct cylinders, got everything torqued down to spec and everything still turns. I guess we should read the manual a little more carefully next time, huh?

As a side note: The connecting rod bearings for a 390 cu. in. engine are apparently an odd size, so there's a huge cost associated with them. If you're planning on rebuilding your engine, be prepared to spend a lot of money on those bearings.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/6cmrkzb5oprxqdi/LowerArms.jpg?dl=0)
Assembled lower control arms from USA Parts Supply. We've got the bearing, ball joint, and frame bumper.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/uw88b9afbmlheju/UpperControlArm.jpg?dl=0)
Assembled upper control arm from USA Parts Supply. We've got everything except for the frame bumper. So now we've got to get ahold of the customer service rep on Monday and get that straightened out.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/89f1mhh3bwotqeq/RearCorkSeal.jpg?dl=0)
Putting the rear cork seal in.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/eu6ec69rlyvr1ub/OilPanSeal.jpg?dl=0)
Oil pan gasket.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/uc8ge9rsqx8ywf4/ButtonedUpEngine.jpg?dl=0)
Buttoned up engine. Still need to replace that last soft plug. Since this photo was taken we've also put the harmonic balancer on, and bought an engine stand for putting more of the engine together. So we'll be doing that tomorrow.

I am jealous of you two, assembling the engine together! You did what I should have done, and put it all back together yourself!

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ng11wgk6a5qpkae/EngineOnStand.jpg?dl=0)
Finally put the engine on a stand. We should have done this much earlier. My father's already decided the stand is merely adequate and plans on upgrading the casters and the pin before we loan it out to anyone.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/aoiqeg5vzq3jail/OilFilterAssembly.jpg?dl=0)
We put the oil filter assembly back on the block, and torqued it down to spec.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/tweczvh7wilahwo/RebuiltWaterPump.jpg?dl=0)
Rebuilt water pump courtesy of McVey Cadillac. They even included the gaskets!

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/lq3qzs0kew38q3n/EngineWithPump.jpg?dl=0)
Engine block with heads and water pump put on. A few water pump bolts are MIA so we're getting by with some substitutes for the moment.

When we first put the heads on, we had them backwards. We realized it when we went to install the water pump. That was a fun few minutes while we switched them around. We used a copper-based gasket sealant for the head gaskets as well. Hemming's had a blog post recommending copper-based sealants for head gaskets and exhaust manifold gaskets. 

You've probably noticed that the heads are a different shade of blue from the block, pump, and harmonic balancer. I sure have, and have no idea why that is. The block and heads were painted with paint from the same can (Bill Hirsch Cadillac blue). We're going to hit the whole engine with a coat of paint before it goes back into the car, so hopefully that will help with some of the color issues. Or maybe it's jus the light.


Lifters will be coming out and getting rebuilt and then we'll reinstall them along with the push rods. After that it's valley pan gasket, valley pan, and we're suddenly seriously close to putting the engine and transmission back into the car.

Quote from: chstitans42 on January 03, 2015, 07:51:33 PM
I am jealous of you two, assembling the engine together! You did what I should have done, and put it all back together yourself!

Thanks! It's been stressful at times, and we've made a few mistakes, but we've caught them all before it was too late. It's helped me improve my mechanical knowledge of cars as well.

Only a little bit of work this weekend. NFL playoffs, folks!

My Dad ordered a new exhaust system from http://classicexhaustinc.com. Pipes, muffler, and resonator. It's currently under the car for storage. We also bought another junkyard exhaust manifold as it turns out the passenger side manifold was also damaged. So that's a frustrating discovery this late in the process. Not sure if we damaged it moving it around. That's on the way, along with the rubber frame bumpers for the upper control arms from USA Parts Supply. The customer service rep was apologetic about them not being installed.

We put the pushrods back in, and then put the valley pan gasket and valley pan on, along with the breather tube. We're holding off on the rest of the engine parts until the engine is back in the car to make it a little easier to maneuver.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/xigwzp49rxh2kqy/EngineReadyToGo.jpg?dl=0)

This Saturday is the big day: Engine and transmission are getting attached, and then the whole kit and caboodle is going back into the car. One it's in place we'll work on the distributor, oil filler tube, thermostat gooseneck and so on. Oh, and put the valve cover gaskets on.  ;) We put the covers on to keep dust/dirt away from the rocker arms and valve springs.

Just a thought: we engaged in another thread regarding the installation of a PVC device on older engines.  I mention this in regard to your car because I once owned a '61 Cadillac convertible that sucked in toxic blown-by when I was at a stop light with the a/c running.  Would be much easier to install this device now with the engine out of the bay...

Engine and transmission went back into the car this weekend. We brought in some extra hands to help out: My brother and his father-in-law.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/l8x1s6h056zbe2x/TransAttached.jpg?dl=0)

Transmission is being attached to the engine. We used some drifts to get bolt holes lined up. 

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/nm5qy40dsg37163/IntoTheGarage.jpg?dl=0)

Guiding the engine and transmission back into the garage. We have a two-bay garage, so engine work was happening in the empty bay, while the car is in the other bay. The ground was frozen, but the weight of the engine meant we had to use breaker bars and 2x4's to help the engine hoist along. You can see some of the drag marks in the dirt from the front caster.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/m9aj7gmi8s0rz94/GoingIn.jpg?dl=0)

We're in the bay, and my father's pointing out the holes for the engine mounts. We have a load leveler as well which was a huge help for this process. The adjusting handle was pointing towards the firewall, so when the engine was in it was tricky to adjust the angle. I'd highly recommend having the handle point out if you're doing it for the first time yourself. Also, the garage floor slopes into the center, so the hoist wanted to roll on us a lot once it was in the bay. It got a little exciting, but no one was hurt and nothing was damaged.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/3t0z9iq0l4r0rom/EngineInPlace.jpg?dl=0)

And we're in! Obviously a huge step, and allows us up to start putting the front end back together. Things should start moving a lot faster now.

Wow.  You are brave doing all of that in the snow.  That is a huge step and you must have a great feeling of accomplishment.  Good luck to you and keep up the good work!

-mB

Small update: we got a large number of parts in from OPG, along with General Dual 90 tires from Lucas Classic Tires. The General 90's are reproduction and bias-ply as opposed to radial, so that will be a fun learning experience for me when the car gets back on the road. My father noted that "we'll just need to take it easy" when driving the car. Well, duh. It's a Cadillac, not a Mustang or Cougar.  :P

We've hit a snag with getting the rear crossmember and transmission mount figured out, so if anyone has knowledge of this, I've started a thread in the technical/authenticity forum: http://forums.cadillaclasalleclub.org/index.php?topic=134503.0 (http://forums.cadillaclasalleclub.org/index.php?topic=134503.0)

Parts keep going back on!

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/oscyffckju42xxt/Heater.jpg?dl=0)
Heater box when back on the car. Thankfully we kept the original gasket so we didn't need to try and make a new one. The nuts that secure it in place need to be re-plated.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/zcnkfr8b2csof6x/TrannyCrossmember.jpg?dl=0)
We were able to figure out the mystery of the transmission mount. It goes inside the transmission as opposed to outside of it like an engine mount. We got that straighten out and installed, but the transmission still leaned towards the passenger side of the car. It look a lot of leveraging but my dad was able to use a breaker bar to push against the transmission hump in the body to move the transmission into place. Then I slid the bolts into the mount through the crossmember and secured it into place.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/wsqcmgcrhhrmrnp/Engine_IntakeInstalled.jpg?dl=0)
Intake manifold installed.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/xojucnvlmi96kdr/Engine_FuelPump.jpg?dl=0)
Along with fuel pump and oil filler tube.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/grfa6ae5mg6h2p3/CarbCloseup.jpg?dl=0)
We also put the carburetor on, most for the hell of it. It's quite a bit bigger than we remember. 

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/fx9j1ewsquhkp6z/Engine_EndOfFeb.jpg?dl=0)
Here's the front end of the car as of yesterday. Engine and transmission are in, upper and lower arms are in, intake manifold, fuel pump and oil filler tube, and gooseneck for the thermostat are in.

My father's heading out of town so we'll pick back up in early March. I've got some parts to track down, but the next items to put back on the car are:

Coil springs
Shocks
Spindles
Tie rod struts
Power steering pump
Steering box

There's still plenty more to do, but thankfully the pile of parts to go back on is getting smaller each weekend. Which also helps with finding the remaining parts. Figuring out all of the fender bolts is going to be not fun.

very nice. Keep it up!  8)

Appreciate the pictures and detailed monologue on what you had to do to get where you are.

A couple of things to note . . . just trying to be helpful here.

On the transmission being closer to the passenger side of the car and requiring a lot of leverage to get it to align properly.  If you look at the ears on the engine block and the ears on the engine mounts, on one side, the ears of the mount are to be toward the front of the engine.  By that, the front ear should be to the outside of the two ears on the block.  On the other mount, the front ear of the mount should be in between the two ears on the engine block.  If they're installed either with the opposite orientation, or both with the same orientation, you will have the same conditions you describe - the engine pitched to one side causing misalignment of the transmission tailshaft.  Prying it into place to align it will put undue stress on the mounts and cause them to fail prematurely.  If need be, I can check the orientation on my Fleetwood and get back to you.  You may also be able to see it in the engine picture in the shop manual in the engine section.

You'll also want to remove the teflon tape I see on your temperature sending unit.  You do not want to use any sort of sealer on these threads as it can stop the sending unit from grounding, or cause a poor ground giving a false or no reading on the temperature gauge.  Same goes for the oil pressure sender also.  Last thing you want to do is have these two crucial pieces not working.

Good progress so far.  Looking forward to seeing more.

Hey Dan,

Not a problem, always glad to have some clarification on potential problems. I was thinking that the sloped and uneven nature of the garage floor meant the engine was finding it's own level. I'll take a look at the mounts next time I'm out there.

If I remember correctly, the mounting tabs are offset on the engine block, and that's why the engine mounts need to be mounted in a way to counteract that as the holes in the front crossmember that the studs slide into are in a straight line.

I found that out the hard way also.

It looks like you have a carter carb.  If so don't forget the spacer and stainless steel shim. All your work looks sharp.  8)

Quote from: 62 driver on February 19, 2015, 03:33:45 PM
It looks like you have a carter carb.  If so don't forget the spacer and stainless steel shim. All your work looks sharp.  8)

Yup, it's a Carter carb. I noticed the stainless steel shim on the old manifold looking through photos from the tear down phase. We'll need to track that down. Do we still use the gasket if there's a shim in place? I'm assuming yes. Does it go between the carb and shim? Should I use gasket sealer to attach it anything?

Thanks for the compliment on the work so far, but I'm going to sand and re-paint the valve covers. I did it outdoors when it was windy and the paint job looks...not good. And that's one place that people can easily see when you've got your hood open at a car show.

Proper order is carburetor, shim, gasket, spacer, gasket, manifold.

I've seen some repops on ebay recently.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/gndqpexzw3nykul/SwappingEngineMounts.jpg?dl=0)

We swapped out the engine mounts. The passenger side was put on incorrectly. Once we fixed that, the transmission was sitting correctly above the crossmember where it bolts into the transmission mount. When it came time to put the nuts on the engine mount bolts, we couldn't really reach them, unless we look the upper a-arms off first. So...we took the upper a-arms off.  :-\

Turns out it was for the best as we had the bolts 'upside down' with the nut in the shock tower and the bolt head on top. It's supposed to be the other way: bolt head in the shock tower, nut on top. So that was a happy accident.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/5tgvgkwjr6ik39j/PowerSteeringBox.jpg?dl=0)

We also replaced the rag joint on the power steering box and re-installed it. It took a lot of extra work, as the first attempt to install it went no where fast. We wound up cleaning a lot of corrosion off the spline from the steer column and the inside of the top of the rag joint. After we did that, it installed like a charm.

Power steering pump went on, and we put in the new temperature and oil pressure sending units. We also put on the sending line for the power steering hoses, but are missing the barbed connector for the return line on the power steering box. Any idea where we can get a replacement for that part?

I did some searching in the 61-62 Cadillac forum and found that NAPA has heater core hoses pre-bend with a 90º angle in them. Does anyone know what clips should be used to secure the hoses to the water pump and heater core?

Quote from: Dan LeBlanc on November 07, 2014, 09:21:32 AM
I don't have the sticker - it's long gone.  All that's left is the residue from the glue on the tag.

It was either Walter Youshock or Michael Cascio that told me about the tag.

Dan -

This is the tag you are referring to:

Yellow tag is easy to make:

That's what it looks like?  I've never seen one before.

Updates:

Interior
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/vey8u8cvxoha5nm/FinishingFloorPans.jpg?dl=0)

Floor pan patching is (almost) done! There's one square inch left to be patched, but everything else is all set. The passenger side was very minor, but the driver's side was in not great shape. The floors under both the front and rear seats needed a fair amount of patching. The initial look wasn't bad, but as we cleared out rust and rot the scope kept expanding. In hindsight, a donor floor probably would have made more sense than the many small patches we put in place.

Front seat and rear seat are being reupholstered, and carpet will be ordered this week. The same place that's doing the seats is ordering the carpet, and we'll be giving them the kick plates so all of the carpet matches. We're looking into pulling off the insides of the doors so they can replace the leather and carpet on those as well. When those are off, we'll order some replacement glass as we've got some cracks in three of the four windows. There's also some rust on the edge of the frame on the driver's side where it meets the rear window.

Suspension & Steering

The rubber pad for the coil springs didn't arrive in time, so the coil springs, shocks and spindles will have to wait for another weekend. Ditto for the struts, tie rods, sway bar, etc. I found the barb for the power steering box and installed that, along with the original clamps for the power steering return line.

Brakes, tires and wheels

Backing plates and brakes are ready to go on once the spindles are in place. We've got the brake hoses, and I found the copper washers for the brake lines (whew!). Front tires are getting mounted to the wheels so we'll have them at the ready when we're ready to finally take the car off it's jack stands. 

Engine

Ordered the heat insulator for our carter carb, along with a 4-blade fan off eBay. Exhaust pipes are ready to be installed. When installed the y-pipe (from the two manifolds down to the muffler) along with the steering and suspension, is there a 'best order' so we're not making things harder for ourselves?

Electrical

We got the engine to top dead center, but couldn't quite get the distributor to drop in. My Dad's going to reach out to a friend and get that taken care of. We also put the ground strips on and have some questions. For the block to frame, we have that installed without issue. For the block to firewall, we have two clips on the firewall. One is just around a blanking plate and the heater core, and the other one is by the wiper motor and brake booster/vacuum advance. The authenticity manual calls for a total of four straps: block/frame, block/firewall, and two upper arm/frame. In the authenticity manual the image shows the block/firewall strap on the driver's side connecting by the wiper motor and brake booster/vacuum advance. Do we need 5? Or was it one or the other from factory?

Speaking of the control arm/frame grounding straps: where can we find them?

Quote from: Dan LeBlanc on March 16, 2015, 10:36:26 AM
That's what it looks like?  I've never seen one before.

This is the real McCoy:

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/8pcxy690ybgzuai/MountedFrontTires.jpg?dl=0)

Front tires have been mounted. We had the wheels sandblasted and powder coated. I think I've mentioned it before, but we went with reproduction General Dual 90 tires. I'm really happy with how they look. Yes, I'm aware there's some blue stuff on the tire. We'll clean that off. ;)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/i3pi4t4g60k8ktt/FrontSeatback.jpg?dl=0)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/f0wciipv9xtuggt/FrontSeatbench.jpg?dl=0)

Front seat is almost done as well. New leather, new foam filling, and the spring frame was sandblasted and powder coated. The guys doing the work even wove burlap between the springs for extra firmness. The seat should be done tomorrow. I'm thrilled with how great it looks.

I owned in 61 convert... purchased used in 1966 and kept it through 1973... loved it.  Mine was white with a red interior...your renewed interior looks terrific.  I recall the ride was substantially improved when I inflated the tires to factory specs.   I also recall, to my surprise, that the section between the hood and windshield that forms the lower windshield was originally chrome plated and painted over... wondered why that was so...is yours chrome plated as well? 

The whole thing was chrome plated but outside the grille area is body colour

Dan, Why do you think that Cadillac did that?  Did the "up scale" models have the chrome finish and the '62's have that section painted over, or can I surmise that someone made a production error? How are you managing that part?  James

No. They were all the same.

For now, its fingers crossed and hope it doesn't peel.

It must've been a problem area as for 62, the chrome was a separate insert in the cowl.

Ours is chromed as well. Paint is long gone. We'll address that when we get the car repainted next year.

Andrew, I am living back in Rochester New York due to My Wife's health. Do You want to get together?
Sincerely , Bill Young

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/dxkv3woc7i735qu/FrontSeatCompleted.jpg?dl=0)

Front seat is completed!

Quote from: Bill Young on March 26, 2015, 12:12:42 AM
Andrew, I am living back in Rochester New York due to My Wife's health. Do You want to get together?
Sincerely , Bill Young

Yes, absolutely. PM sent.

Exhaust crossover and muffler are on the car, along with the transmission cooling lines. Sorry, no pictures. It's hard to get decent photos of something that's inches away from your face while laying on your back.

We also put the carb gaskets, spacer and shim on and torqued the carb down to spec.

The inner door panels are getting new leather put on them so they'll match the new seats. While that's happening we're cleaning up the interior chrome with some 4-ought steel wool. It's working great, if anyone's looking for a way to quickly clean up oxidation on their chrome. The shop that's doing our interior work is about to get busy with two boats coming in, so there's an urgent need in the near future to get our car mobile (i.e.: four wheels again). So we also tried to put the front coil springs, shocks, and spindles on.

Tried.

Turns out we don't have the front camber eccentric nuts. Oops. So those will be ordered today from Rubber The Right Way.

But, it doesn't really matter as the front shocks we ordered from Fusick are the wrong size. The thru bolt that goes through the lower control arm won't fit. We have the right size bolt as per the master parts list. It's 1/2" diameter. The hole in the shock we have is..oh, 7/16" diameter. So the bolt doesn't fit. There was some strong language uttered by me, as this is the SECOND TIME Fusick has sent us the wrong shocks. The first time they  sent us rear shocks (wrong part number in the catalog). Now, the second time it's a front shock, but apparently not the right part. I did some checking on the 61-62 forums for the 'right' shocks so we can order those. I've strongly suggested to my Dad that he voice his displeasure with Fusick and have them credit him some money as we have to pay to ship the wrong products back. We like Fusick as they're closer than McVeys or OPGI (we're in upstate NY).

With any luck we'll be able to get this sorted out and have the car on wheels this coming weekend. Hopefully.

Very productive day today:

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/uj2fgorua6rkmb1/SpindleAndSteering.jpg?dl=0)

Front spindle and steering knuckle.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/zlaswdolc6l7hb4/BackingPlate_2.jpg?dl=0)

Backing plate

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/96ir3o22t6dwyd0/BackingPlate.jpg?dl=0)

Tightening down the brake bolt. We torqued down the two bolts around the shaft first, so we had to loosen them and then installed the brake bolts. My Dad and I have taken to joking that we like doing everything so much, we want to do it twice.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/nto6nw1zi8k3en8/BrakeDrum.jpg?dl=0)

Brake drum is on. We went to installed the washer and nut and couldn't find them. A whole lot of anxious checking ensued while I hit up Google to see if we could buy replacements. Rock Auto has some, so we ordered them and then ate lunch. Came back into the garage after lunch and promptly found the 'missing' washers and nuts.  ::)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/8wacn90cz6ch3hj/WheelHub.jpg?dl=0)

Feels so good to give the brake drum a spin.  ;D

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/6rcgn2fwq4caa95/SwaybarInstall.jpg?dl=0)

We got the tie struts installed and secured to the lower control arms, and also started installing the sway/stabilizer arm.

Do we have it installed correctly? Meaning does the bar kick up or down? Our teardown photos missed documenting that.

Also, any hints on how to get the sway bar bushings to compress?

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/7lk8r5lhkznks04/StabalizerBushings.jpg?dl=0)

We've got them installed properly in that the grommets, washers, etc are all in the right order. But when we put the bottom grommet on the bolt underneath the lower control arm, there's not enough thread showing to get a nut on the bolt and start compressing the rubber grommets. I'm tempted to use a c-clamp on the top two grommets, but is there a better or correctly way?

Didn't these bottom bolts originally come with very thin "locking nuts"? You can always compress those bushings too much and have them develop cracks in the rubber, or worse, distort the vertical spacer.  If it's too loose, you'll hear clatter as you drive.  You can always tighten them.

Andrew,

The orientation of the stabilizer bar and order of the link parts looks correct.  It is often the case that not enough threads are available until the full weight of the car is on the wheels on the ground.  Leave the stabilizer bar links, and the bar's frame bushing clamp loose until the full weight of the car is on the ground.  This also apples to the control arm bushings - do not tighten fully until the full weight of the car is on the ground.

Keep up the good work.

Christopher Winter

Heater hoses w/ the 90º bend installed yesterday. Those hose clamps are a pain in the butt to get on!

I also hooked up the wiring for the starter motor, and painted the arm for the generator blue and moved it up to the water pump bolt. And also put in a new paper filter in the fuel filter assembly between the carb and pump. The bulk of yesterday afternoon was spent under the car (ugh) trying to get our driveshaft installed.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/cbaw6zxuhxkredh/PropellerShaft.jpg?dl=0)

It didn't go very well. We got the shaft threaded through the frame, but the first attempt didn't work as rust got into the knuckle that goes over the transmission. So, pulled it back out, cleaned it out, and covered the knuckle. Got it mated up with the transmission, but it won't easily slide in. We tried persuading it with a wooden mallet, but it only went in a fraction of an inch each time we hit the shaft. Combined with the alignment seeming to be off slightly, we stopped. The propeller shaft looks be slightly higher than the transmission. We're worried something's wrong but we don't know what it is. My Dad's going to talk to the transmission shop that re-built ours and see if they have any suggestions to help with installation of the propeller shaft.

Andrew,

Caution is advised.  You should not have to hammer the drive shaft into the transmission in order to install it.  If possible, find another slip yoke exactly the same as yours, or disassemble your front universal and use the slip yoke from the driveshaft to see if just the slip yoke will slide into the rear of the transmission.  This should determine if there is a problem with the transmission, or if it is a yoke or alignment problem.  If transmission, see the rebuilder.  If yoke, replace.  If alignment, double check your motor/transmission mounting points with the shop manual.  Hang in there.

Christopher Winter

Congratulations. This is what is lacking in our forum in France

While re-reading the manual we saw mentions of the polished/machined surface of the yoke. We're thinking that the powder coating make the yoke just a little bit too fat to fit into the transmission. We'll be removing the powder coating from the yoke on Saturday.

We also ordered some vintage license plates off eBay and they showed up. They look great, almost flawless!

Andrew,

The powder coat over the machined surface of the yoke may have added a few thousandths to the diameter.  This would probably not be a problem for the transmission's rear seal, but the larger diameter may have been a problem for the extension housing bushing.  Before you install the driveshaft with the cleaned-up yoke, look inside the extension housing of the transmission with a bright light and check the condition of the bushing.  The powder coating may have prevented the yoke from fitting into the bushing, and you want to be sure the bushing is not damaged.  When you took out the driveshaft after hammering it in, was the powder coating on the yoke damaged?  If so, there may be bits of powder coating or bushing waiting to be circulated in the transmission fluid.  Be sure to clean out the extension housing and replace the bushing if it is damaged.

Christopher Winter

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/lh1d9ees7fwq5o5/BackingPlatesAndHeaterHose.jpg?dl=0)

Bolts came back from plating today. We put the backing plates around the heater box. You can also see the heater hoses w/ the 90º bend in them secured with corbin clamps. The clamp that secures the ignition coil is ready to be secured in place as well. There was a bit of debate between my Dad and I over the correct color for the ignition coil clamp. I thought it was supposed to be gold cadmium, while my Dad insisted it was zinc. According to the authenticity manual, it's zinc. Whoops!

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/uzb2qsxjetpmd54/CleanedUpYoke.jpg?dl=0)

While I was bolting the backing plates on, my Dad cleaned up the yoke. He took the powder coating off and then used a buffing compound to bring the yoke to a nice machined shine. We sprayed some brake cleaner inside the yoke to clean out any last bits of rust/debris, and lubed it up with automatic transmission fluid. Then we covered up the yoke with a sandwich bag crawled under the car (ugh. My kingdom for a lift in the garage.) to install it.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/gtw1zdwtmdkyw77/WrenchingWithDad.jpg?dl=0)

And we were successful! The driveshaft is now installed. There wasn't any damage to the bushings or seals in the transmission, and it slid in oh-so-smooth. So once we get the engine firing, we can actually drive the car out of the garage! Steering...well, that's for this afternoon.  ;D Just need to put the drag link arm and tie rods on. Hell, maybe the steering wheel too. I'm guessing that using a pair of vice grips isn't the best idea.

I saw the painted dashboard parts and man they're beautiful. Paint was expensive as hell though. My Dad bought white cotton gloves for us to wear when we install it. That won't be for a few more weeks, but I'll grab some photos of the parts before and during the install.

very nice! Thanks for sharing!  8)

It's been a while! Over the past few weeks we've done the following:

• Generator mounting bracket and generator are installed. 
• Hood hinges are back from getting re-plated, and we installed the springs on them. Springs are powder coated black. To put the springs on, my Dad would hold onto the hinge while it was in a vise clamp. Then I'd pull on the spring with vise grips to get it to the hook. Nothing like some good old brute force.
• Pitman arm is on the power steering box, and the drag link is installed along with the tie rods. We ran some fluid through the power steering box and are able to turn the wheels without issue. Feels great to turn that massive steering wheel.
• Exhaust crossover is back on the car, as we removed it while installing the steering.
• Distributor is installed, and engine is at TDC
• Clip for coil is installed, but we need to find the screw that pinches the base together before putting the coil in.
• Transmission dipstick tube is installed, and we put fluid in the transmission
• Speedometer cable is installed
• Linkages from transmission to carb and throttle to carb are installed
• Shifter linkage is plated and ready to be installed
• Painted slush guard for transmission, that will be installed after the linkage is done and working
• The remaining nuts for the heater box are installed
• We connected the hard line from the master cylinder to the rest of the brake lines. The flexible lines are waiting, we ran out of time on Saturday

Next Saturday we're heading out to Buffalo to meet up with the President of the WNY CLC Club who has a 1961 that's all original, never restored. We'll be doing a bunch of photographing and documenting to fill in the gaps that we have on how everything is supposed to look and fit together.

In the next month or so we're hoping to get the engine firing and have the dashboard installed, the car back on four wheels along with a fair amount of the front end fenders/splash guards installed.

My Dad put the front flexible brake lines on during the week, and was talking about it with a friend across the street. Bleeding the brakes came up, and the conversation quickly turned into 'Yeah, you have to bleed them.'

So in order to bleed the lines, we had to get the rear wheels off.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/aezei9h2hen064i/CuttingWindowFrame.jpg?dl=0)
The way the car is parked in the garage, the rear bumper was underneath a window frame. So we have to uh, modify the frame a bit in order to jack up the back of the car and put it on jack stands to bleed the brakes. Chisel, hammer, jigsaw. All in a days work I guess.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/791hb71pa69a6dl/RearWheelsOff.jpg?dl=0)

The tires are not original to the car, my Dad put new ones on in the late 70's. But they really haven't been off since then. The tire iron worked okay for all but one of the lug nuts, so we switched to a breaker bar and had better luck.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/2q2n4nyvysj1cez/RearDrumExposed.JPG?dl=0)

Little dirty, but we got the wheel off. This necessity of bleeding the brakes was for the best as the tires were dry rotted. My Dad will get the old tires removed, the wheels sandblasted and powder coated, and the new Genera Dual 90's we bought put on. Lucky for us, my Dad has a TDI Jetta SportWagen so it's easy to haul this stuff around, and he gets great mileage to boot!

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/u3et8zcty2o2u26/BrakePedalDuringBleeding.jpg?dl=0)

During the bleeding I'd stay inside the car pumping/pressing the brake pedal, and my Dad would go to each wheel and bleed the brakes. The fluid in the rear lines was old, so it's good we're replacing it.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/pgmd68cpazkssej/AddingBrakeFluid.jpg?dl=0)

We went around five times. The lines are bled, and the pedal is plenty firm.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/miff21xye4x8y4q/CoreSupportAndHorns.jpg?dl=0)

We also put in some more front end parts. The core support is in place, along with some of the panels and the horns. You can see the hood hinge to firewall brackets are on the firewall, and one of the hinges is resting on the cowl. Once the fenders are in place, we can install the hinges. Springs were powdered coated, and the hinges themselves were re-plated gold cad.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/u0vujtsdosehzrn/HornsCloseUp.jpg?dl=0)

We also put some more of the exhaust in. The part that loops over the rear axel won't go unless we raise the car more, so that might wait until further down the restoration road. If you're looking at the engine compartment photos and think something is missing, you're right. We've pulled part of the wiring harness and sent it off to be inspected/repaired and what goes were to be better identified, along with getting a generator harness made up.

In order to put the splash guards in we'll need to drill out the holes on the fenders and rubber guards a little bit to fit the stainless steel rod we're using as staples. So fenders and splash guards are in the coming weeks. Once the rear wheels come back we should be able to drop this down onto four wheels. Interior should go back in next month. We need to mask off and paint the steering column, and install the dashboard along with the sound insulation before then. Then the body shop will install the carpet, door panels, kick panels, seats, and sills. Well, I'll probably try and help if they'll let me.  ;)

nice. Thanks for sharing!  8)

Thanks.  We should all pay better attention to the brake fluid in our cars.  Yes it need to be changed more often than we do!  The fluid is a magnet for moisture and literally can rust lines from the inside out.  I do my cars on a 4 year cycle.

Thanks for the progress updates.  Much better for me to be a bystander.

More front end work this weekend:

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/uo188fzkbji25av/BatteryTray.jpg?dl=0)

Battery tray has been installed. Ours was rusted out, so we bought a new one from McVey's, along with the hold down clip.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/0ppd2fb2057bpfv/HornsAndBumperBrace.jpg?dl=0)

We also added on the backing plates for the headlights and the bumper braces. Everything's going on 'loose' right now and will be snugged up once we get a few more cross-bracing parts for the grill installed. The fenders are partially collapsed so there's a little bit of pushing and leaning into the fenders to get panels to fit correctly. Between old bolts, powder coated parts, and said old bolts being replated, there are some bunged threads that need to be chased or have a tap run through them. It's usually not a big problem if you remember to be be patient and not try to force things together.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/260z2l1b06v04mh/BehindWheel.jpg?dl=0)

Backside of the panels is looking good as well. This is one of my least-favorite areas to work as I have to fit myself around the brake drum, and usually whack my funny bone getting in/out of here.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/vhjv4sjnm1pyixb/CloseupHoodLatch.jpg?dl=0)

Hood latch is in place as well. When trying to put everything back together...it's a process. We're comparing photos of Jerry Puma's 1961 sedan, our teardown, the master parts book, and other Cadillac photos I've found from forums and blogs. Then it's trying to find the right size bolt(s). The critical eyes will notice we screwed up on this part, as the bolts aren't the right ones. So we'll need to fix that next weekend. Like I said, everything's going in 'loose' right now, so it's a lot easier to swap out bolts when we find our mistakes.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/rs4o6bb264ws2wy/RadiatorClips.jpg?dl=0)

As you've probably noticed, the radiator is in place as well. That was actually one of the first parts we had rebuilt, so we'll need to touch up the paint on it. Also, it's much easier to work with the radiator when you don't have to lean over the front bumper and grill to reach it.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/rngz4u7q2otfghe/FrontEndWithHoodLatch.jpg?dl=0)

So here's where the car stands now. Sorry for the soft focus in this photo, it was pouring on Sunday and I didn't want to stand in the rain any longer than necessary.

But the Cadillac is at a point where my fiancée keeps saying "Oh, hey! I can see what you put on this time!" so you know we're making good progress. Hopefully the rear wheels will be powder coated by the end of this week. If they are, we can make one last trip under the car and then drop it down on to four tires for the first time in literally years!  :D

Impressive work!  Quality all the way.  Thanks for the update.

Andrew,

Nice work!  I like the fact that this is a father-son project.  Do you have a mental or written check-list for when you fire the engine?

Christopher Winter

nice.
Do you plate the bolts by yourself?

Best regards,
Nicolas

Quote from: savemy67 on June 01, 2015, 04:42:34 PM
Andrew,

Nice work!  I like the fact that this is a father-son project.  Do you have a mental or written check-list for when you fire the engine?

Christopher Winter

Thanks! We've really enjoyed working on it together. Yes, we have a check list on firing the engine.

Quote from: DeVille68 on June 07, 2015, 03:56:28 PM
nice.
Do you plate the bolts by yourself?

Best regards,
Nicolas

Nope. We found a place in Rochester that does the plating. It's about $20 a 'rack' (no idea how big the rack is). Several bolts were seized so we had to cut them during the tear-down phase. We've replaced some with purchases from Lowe's, and we bought some from a parts car as well.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/d812zmivcypntim/HoodRelease.jpg?dl=0)

Hood release installed. It works great, too.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/4j98klpyqpyu5vn/AirCleanerHousing.jpg?dl=0)

I put the air cleaner housing on for grins and giggles. We pulled the radiator out to installed the overflow hose and touch up the paint on it. We've also put in the voltage regulator and the housing for the washer fluid jar.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/jycjuailbtvcrb0/PolishingBumper.jpg?dl=0)

The bumper brackets are all installed, and we were going to put the splash pans in the bumper until we didn't have the right hardware. But we took the opportunity to clean up the bumper some more.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/oz0m4tnd16ubhe8/PolishingBumperCloseup.jpg?dl=0)

Cotton disc on the grinder and some buffing compound worked great. The chrome on the bumper is actually in really good shape for being as old as it is.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/bax47ta2wghq3xg/FenderCloseup.jpg?dl=0)

Then it was time to put the rubber splash guards on the inner fender wells. Oh boy. The master parts book showed where they should go, and there's still some markings on the inner fenders from where the factory rubber was. But...no clips/staples. What do to!?

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/5o92soil375oksw/MakingStaples1.jpg?dl=0)
1.5" of stainless steel welding rod

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/1uyoliy2o379g55/MakingStaples2.jpg?dl=0)
Put the .5" wide pliers in the post vise.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/fba9uh524ad5s5l/MakingStaples3.jpg?dl=0)
Some delicate and precise hammering...

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/l6cxn7ycqj9j2e3/MakingStaples4.jpg?dl=0)
And you've got a staple that will work in theory.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/5rqehff0e96c7rd/InstallingStaples.jpg?dl=0)
Of course theory and execution are two vastly different things, especially when it comes to working on classic cars. In summation: I hate this part. Hell for Cadillac owners is having to clean grills and install these staples for all of eternity.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/qd46ngfb0qxudk7/FenderInstalled.jpg?dl=0)
But we got the passenger side fender installed and loosely secured, so that's great news.

We still need to do the rest of the passenger side, plus the drivers side (sad faces all around) along with some flaps that go below the headlight backing plates. And speaking of those...

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/fgp37cltin15bhb/PassengerHeadlights.jpg?dl=0)

Passenger side headlights. Driver's side is still under construction.

We got the rear wheels and drum back from powder coating, and took those over to the local mechanic to get the rear tires mounted. Those should be done today most likely, so we can get the car back on four wheels this coming weekend if we're lucky.

Coming together very nicely.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/mp2pzqpu2jml44v/DriversSideFenderWell.jpg?dl=0)

Driver's side inner fender well went in over the weekend. We refined the staples process a bit and it went much better. Gotta love those learning curves, huh?

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/e2ffxwyzgus6fyx/InstallingDriversSideFenderWell.jpg?dl=0)

Of course, installing the fender in the car is still a huge pain in the butt, especially with those wonderful finned brake drums in place.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/8bm2lmmu71oqe5t/RadiatorHosesInstalled.jpg?dl=0)

We also put the upper and lower radiator hoses in place and secured them with 2 1/16" tower clamps. They fit great over the radiator, and we couldn't get them over the barb on the water pump. So, calling Fusick on Monday to see if they have a larger (2 1/4"?) tower clamps.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/vt6807c30luyf98/DriversSideHinge.jpg?dl=0)

With the driver's side inner fender wells in place, we were able to install the hinge on that side as well.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/baias1gbo6lq4qq/InstallingCowl.jpg?dl=0)

The original cowl was cracked, so we installed a new one from Rubber The Right Way.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/4tsld54ksp92hu9/CowlWasher.jpg?dl=0)

In case anyone's curious, the washers are gold cadmium.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/h6rw3atf1mlhrb7/EngineBay6_13.jpg?dl=0)

So here's the engine bay as of 6/13/15. The passenger hinge and the back side of the passenger inner fender are waiting until we get the power antenna motor installed.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/hvqpy4hhlkzwnzi/EngineBayCloseup6_13.jpg?dl=0)

Next week is the splash aprons that go below the headlamps, and then hopefully the bumper and grill will go into place as well. That's going to be a little tricky as the fenders are slightly collapsed so there's not enough width to get the cross braces that go above and below the grill into place right now. That's probably going to require a little bit of pushing and leaning into the fenders to get everything to fit.

Beautiful work! , It was great seeing You at Charlie Reidel's cruise night tonight. Remember only the Speedometer cable goes thru that hole in the firewall and it passes thru a standard small grommet .
Sincerely , Bill Young

very nice!  8)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/t8lxkyg8yfo4z3g/BumperSplashpans.jpg?dl=0)
Bumper splash aprons went on while my Dad double-checked that we had the right nuts, bolts and washers. Getting them into place required a little gentle persuasion, but it worked out in the end.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/hkvxvafc37ucehf/BumperBracesOnBumper.jpg?dl=0)
Backside of the bumper. You can see we used new hardware to secure the splash aprons into place. The old stuff was in bad shape. We weren't sure the easiest way to put the bumper back on, so we opted to reserve the steps from when we took it off. We also coated the nuts and bolts in Never Seez so we wouldn't need a blow torch to remove the bumper in the future.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/8rc7xpk2gbqsaf7/InstallingBumper_1.jpg?dl=0)
To install the bumper, I picked it up and held it in place while my Dad put a couple of bolts into place on the far edges. I wore welding gloves as the edge of the bumper started to cut into my hands. And yes, it did get heavy after a while.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/6ezh88zpfv3wzde/InstallingBumper_2.jpg?dl=0)
To get the rest of the bolts in on the edges, we used a jack to raise the bumper up enough to slide the bolts through the holes in the bumper and on the braces. The bolts around the license plate were much easier to get into place.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/eu2cw0gar5u3j0l/BumperInstalled.jpg?dl=0)
We hugged after this. The bumper was taken off November 19, 2011. So...it's been a while. But now, even to the untrained eye, it looks like a car.

My parent's had a new driveway put in last week, and the crew had a couple of old salts who were 'oooing' and 'aahhhhing' over the Cadillac. My mother got annoyed and closed the garage doors as they were supposed to be working on the driveway, not gawking at the car. My Dad opened up the doors later on though.  :)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/m6cy6bb5m2t07vl/EngineBayWithBraces.jpg?dl=0)
We also put the cowl-to-fender braces on. You can't see it, but we also got 2 1/4" tower clamps from Fusick (free of charge!) for securing the radiator hoses to the water pump. We also filled up the the radiator. We opted to use Evans Waterless Coolant for the engine based on Jay Leno's Garage reviews. Very pricey stuff, but it's life of the engine.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/qua9anxrsuj3m8v/VintagePlateCloseup.jpg?dl=0)
And put the vintage plate we bought off eBay in the front bumper. We also have the plate for the rear bumper and the yellow tag on it. My Dad and I are amazed at how good these plates look. They seem to have never been used before. No screw marks or washer imprints. Either they sat in a garage since 1960 that or the seller fixed up some old ones really nicely.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/4kxhwt2k2un1bbv/TransmissionLinkage.jpg?dl=0)
Probably my favorite photo so far from this restoration.  ;D

We wanted to put the passenger-side headlamps in, but we don't have the screws to hold the trim piece in place. So that will wait until fourth of July weekend (I'm out of town this coming weekend). All of the transmission linkage is hooked up, so once we get the headlamps in we can put the front wheels on the car and drop it onto four wheels.

Yes, we're missing a horn. It turns out it wasn't the correct fan, so we bought a used one from Doug Kielian who's parting out a 1961 sedan. We also bought a bunch of other parts off of that sedan as well, so they should be showing up this week.

We called up McVey's about the dome to our fuel pump. The fuel pump was original to the car and had 'AC' stamped on it. Our rebuilt one does not, and we're trying to buy a dome that says 'AC' from them.

Anyway! Things are moving along nicely, and we should be 'done' by early August. Cross your fingers guys, we're going to need all the luck we can get in July!   

Unless your original AC fuel pump cap is in really bad shape, you can swap them over.

A word to the wise regarding Hood installation. You will notice that there are removable panels toward the rear of the inner fender shields. These are there so you, while on your back can access the bolts for the Hood Hinges.  Place the Hood on the Car in the down position carefully after starting the Bolts in place securing the Hood to the Hinges so You don't damage the Hood or the car and position it front to back and side to side correctly. Then on your back tighten all the bolts holding the Hood to the hinges and the hinges to the Firewall. I Hope this helps.

Quote from: Dan LeBlanc on June 22, 2015, 11:04:24 AM
Unless your original AC fuel pump cap is in really bad shape, you can swap them over.

We don't have it anymore  :'(. The original pump was sent to McVey's to be rebuilt. They effectively did a core exchange and sent us one off the shelf that does not have an AC stamp on it. We didn't realize it at the time. My Dad called them up once we realized the pump wasn't correct and spoke with the customer service rep about it. The CS rep will look around and see if he can find a dome to send us.

Quote from: Bill Young on June 22, 2015, 11:19:43 AM
A word to the wise regarding Hood installation. You will notice that there are removable panels toward the rear of the inner fender shields. These are there so you, while on your back can access the bolts for the Hood Hinges.  Place the Hood on the Car in the down position carefully after starting the Bolts in place securing the Hood to the Hinges so You don't damage the Hood or the car and position it front to back and side to side correctly. Then on your back tighten all the bolts holding the Hood to the hinges and the hinges to the Firewall. I Hope this helps.

Ahhh...yes, that makes sense. It always impresses me the little things that the engineers and designers did to make it easier to work on this car. Not easy of course, but easier. 

Time to install the hood!

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/0ry1e7z3jpy3gkt/HoodInstall_1.jpg?dl=0)

So...it's a little redneck, but it works. The hood had been stored on top of the car, upside down for about 3 years. We walked it out, flipped it over, and walked it back in on top the hinges. To get the hood up off the cowl we stacked some planks on the cowl.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/4813rvyw6mt1tno/HoodInstall_2.jpg?dl=0)

After that we got the hinge to hood bolts installed and snugged up.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/i4vioh9ib3znd1f/HoodInstall_3.jpg?dl=0)

Hood's in place, and ready to close. We squirted some WD-40 into the hinges as they were a little stiff from the plating process.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/6qbm302mdkymw1z/HoodInstall_4.jpg?dl=0)

Obviously, it didn't fit. The front fenders have collapsed over the years, so we needed to force them out wider. Again: a little redneck, but it worked!

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/qcevgxggltk9r1q/HoodInstall_5.jpg?dl=0)

So there were many small adjustments. This was a tedious process. Lower hood. Doesn't fit. Raise hood. Adjust. Repeat.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/he1ebpi9sy2pg4t/HoodInstall_6.jpg?dl=0)

But eventually we got to a point where the hood would close. Yes, the passenger side is high both front and back, and the driver's side is high in the back. We'll be fussing with it some more. The passenger headlamps are partially installed. We were hoping to put them in as a completed unit, but bolt holes weren't lining up so some partial disassembly was required. The driver's side is also ready, but we ran out of time. The grill is being cleaned and polished before installation.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/qp0e5764kddnq6p/EngineBay_7_4_15.jpg?dl=0)

Engine bay as of this weekend. We put a new wiring harness in from Y and Z, and also the generator wiring. We got the correct fuel pump cap from McVey's and swapped them, and also put the hard line from the fuel filter to the carb in place. We're leaving the fuel pump unpainted as our vision for the car is one that's been on the road for a little bit. We've got General Dual 90 tires on, and the metallic pump to imply the pump was replaced. The speedometer cable is now through the firewall, and the other cables (green and brown ones) have been pulled out. They're connected to something on the underside of the dash, just to the left of the steering column. A previous owner was a firefighter, so it might have been a CB radio or a lights/siren setup for him.

For the engine bay, there's some wires from the wiring harness that need to be connected, the spark plug wires, and the vacuum brake hoses. Oh, and the spring for the throttle. And...I think that's it? Weird to say.

The interior is a different story. That's done, it just requires everything to be installed. Plenty more still to do!  :)

Looking great Guys! a lot of hard work completed so far. One point I would bring up only because You have gone to such great lengths to keep Her looking original. You can buy T3 Headlights brand new. They are not cheap but any knowing eye seeing Your Car with this detail will instantly recognize that You have gone all the way to replicate what first saw the light of day at Clark Avenue so many Years ago. Just a suggestion because You are heading toward a Car that will hold up against the most discriminating Judge.

This is getting exciting! Put a couple of milk crates in the front seat area and drive it to the Keyser show on Sunday!

Jerry

Quote from: Bill Young on July 06, 2015, 09:59:09 AM
Looking great Guys! a lot of hard work completed so far. One point I would bring up only because You have gone to such great lengths to keep Her looking original. You can buy T3 Headlights brand new. They are not cheap but any knowing eye seeing Your Car with this detail will instantly recognize that You have gone all the way to replicate what first saw the light of day at Clark Avenue so many Years ago. Just a suggestion because You are heading toward a Car that will hold up against the most discriminating Judge.

Thanks for the suggestion. We've got T3 headlights ready to go. Two high beam and two low beam.

Quote from: Jerry Puma on July 06, 2015, 02:09:16 PM
This is getting exciting! Put a couple of milk crates in the front seat area and drive it to the Keyser show on Sunday!

Jerry

No need for the milk crates, we've got the front seat done. I'm going to be out of town for the weekend though. Maybe we'll make it to the Valley Cadillac show.

So like I mentioned: The interior of the car needs to be put together. We pulled out all of the dashboard parts for service earlier on. Instrument panel, radio, and clock have all been rebuilt. We cleaned up all of the metal, and had the painted surfaces re-painted. They weren't in bad shape, but with the way the seats were looking, we knew we had to spiff up the dash as well. But before the dash can be installed, we needed to clean up the steering column.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/8tq5cwswhls4mng/SteeringColumnPrimed.jpg?dl=0)

Steering column sanded, primed, and ready for paint. There was quite a bit of masking to do.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/6maiviqr5iy5o8j/SteeringColumnPainted_1.JPG?dl=0)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/j45xb2lw0n04679/SteeringColumnPainted_2.JPG?dl=0)

Steering column painted. My Dad masked, sanded, and primed the column, then went up to the auto restoration shop in our town that painted the dashboard. They mixed up a small jar of paint, and my Dad zipped back home to spray it on.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/6u434gzwiccbuhn/DashParts.JPG?dl=0)

Dash parts ready to go into the car. Hey, having the hood back on the car sure is coming in handy!

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/1571kap1k7z1y2d/GloveCompartment.jpg?dl=0)

Glove compartment installation. Sometimes you need to get creative when getting components to line up straight and level. Or grow an extra pair of arms.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/z2n37wc8x0tkzr5/DashInstall_1.jpg?dl=0)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/4977r7jhfdly6op/DashInstall_2.jpg?dl=0)

Dash installation is moving along nicely.

I'm sure you are aware, but in case not, the fuel line to the pump mounts on the block/head side; not over the fan belt which will cut the fuel line.

There should be a small retainer clip that goes on one of the water pump bolts and holds it against the generator adjusting link.

Am I seeing things or is the left side dash pad extension black that should be red?

It's red. My Dad's taking photos with his phone while working on the dash this week, and I'm certain he accidentally turned on a filter in his iPhone's camera.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/p4h082n3wn9aapd/DashInstall_3.jpg?dl=0)

Dash as of last night. Still have to install the plate underneath the steering column, along with the light switch, radio, and clock. The plate under the steering column has the switch for the top, so getting that installed and secured has taken some extra fussing. After that, it's the medallion over the grill, dash pad and we'll be ready to go to the interior shop for carpeting! Well, assuming everything works and all of the bulbs aren't busted  ;)

Hello Andrew  I forgot I belong to this site until just today and I found your restoration page, WOW big ambitious project!   I hope  some of the part I sent you are working out,  I did find the little headlamp brk that mounts to the grill piece, Get in touch with me via email about the other parts  and I can get them boxed up and sent out.  I'm impressed with the car and your work  now seeing pictures of what you talked about keep at it and good luck.

Doug         

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/30a6o0pyzung2xu/DashInstall_4.JPG?dl=0)

Almost completed dashboard! There are some alignment issues to deal with along the ash trays. The big one is just above the ash tray next to the ignition. There's a small gap, but we're not sure how to adjust things to close that gap. Also, does anyone know how to replace the bulb on the dash pad over the radio? We can't get the cover off. Totally stumped on that one.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/cl82371ecbi46t0/DashInstall_5.JPG?dl=0)

A small panoramic shot of the interior. Sorry for the distortion. Steering wheel will go on after the sound insulation goes in.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/99bttxrnjqderav/NewBattery.JPG?dl=0)

Our new battery and batter cables came! The clip to secure the positive cable to the core support is on order.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/dt9sgq9h70s9br1/HornRelayGoesWhere.JPG?dl=0)

Where does the horn relay attach to? We got a new one as part of the wiring harness and it has two speed clips on it. Does it attach by #1 or #2?

Spark plug wires are in, along with the throttle return spring. Generator is wired up as well. Headlamps are in, the grill will go in this week as well.

My Dad's calling the interior shop today to schedule time for the car for carpet and installing door panels and seats. The shop asks for three weeks notice, so in theory the Cadillac should be done in about a month? Who knows! I'm excited, and my fiancée has said she'll be excited when it's running. So she's close to getting excited, which is a lot better than six months ago.  ;D

To change the bulb, the lens just pries out.  Take a small flat head screwdriver, put it in one end of the lens, and it will pop out.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/xqu2ebya2orkqxn/FrontGrillInstalled.jpg?dl=0)

Christmas in July, folks! The front grill is installed.

Stunning!

Outstanding work.

Andrew -

Where in NY are you doing this restoration?

We're in Rochester, NY.

On Monday, August 17 the Cadillac goes to the interior shop to have the carpet, seats, and door panels installed. To save a few bucks, we're putting in the soundproofing ourself:

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/3t9qd7oot7m6d91/SoundproofingInstall.jpg?dl=0)

It's really easy to work with. Very pliable and easy to cut.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ajsqlewyq5snweo/SoundproofingInstall_2.jpg?dl=0)

Fit a piece in, cut if necessary, and then peel off the backing and stick it on. Hammer flat, and repeat.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/nzxqaf0c10z8bpf/SoundproofingInstall_3.jpg?dl=0)

We didn't order enough to do the whole interior. Whoops. A slight underestimation of the surface area we are attempting to cover. We'll order some more on Monday.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/8ncz3iae0nfc02y/GloveboxLight.jpg?dl=0)

We got our new battery and have been figuring out the wiring, trying to find all of the grounds so things will turn on. It's frustrating at times, but worth it when things start lighting up and working. We had our radio rebuilt and an aux input installed. To operate it, turn the radio volume down to zero and play it through your phone/iPod/whatever. No setting to a certain station or anything. We tested it and it works beautifully. "Come Fly with Me" by Frank Sinatra has never sounded better.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/y20qcfujj16rcu4/HeadlampsWorking.jpg?dl=0)

Headlamps are also working, along with rear taillights. Directionals? Shhhhh, don't ruin the moment. They're not working right now. They worked earlier this week, but now nothing. Not sure if we blew a fuse or what. The wiper motor has stopped working as well.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/6pst7c1fwszd7cq/FrontEnd_7_25.jpg?dl=0)

Front end with the hood open.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/w83cpc739s7660d/EngineBay_7_25.jpg?dl=0)

Close up of the engine bay

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/rx5uiimyhhtcqug/FrontEnd_HoodClosed_7_25.jpg?dl=0)

And the hood closed. We put the chrome cowl in.

The starter is hooked up and works as well. You can turn the key and the starter will engage and the engine turns over. We don't have the coil plugged in so it won't spark right now. There are a couple of small leaks have appeared that we need to fix before trying to start and drive the car.

• It looks like the front passenger brake line has a slow leak where the rubber hose meets the hard line
• Transmission is leaking fluid around the speedometer cable as best as we can determine
• The engine might be leaking oil somewhere, but we can't tell right now

We also had an appraiser come by so we can get insurance for the car and get it registered.

We tried to start up the Cadillac tonight.

How did it go?

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/6kq6nkprfnxlx0d/WaterPumpLeak.jpg?dl=0)

Not well.

Let's rewind from this photo.

I got out to the house and we had the old fuel hose going into a gas jug as the gas in the tank is crap. Everything is hooked up correctly. Turned the key, the starter engages, the GEN light comes on, the fuel gauge rises...but the engine won't catch. Not surprising. Pour some gas in the carb, try again. Repeat. Check the glass bowl on the fuel filter. Nothing in there, so we add some gas to the bowl and try again. Still nothing. We pull the #1 spark plug and determine that we're getting spark. While looking around the engine we notice a lot of fluid under it.

Uh-oh.

Narrow it down to the driver's side of the engine. Is it the power steering pump? Nope. Looks like it's leaking around the head gasket? That's not good. Crank the engine again and HOLY CRAP that's coolant gushing out from where the water pump meets the head.

So...we have to pull the water pump off. Which took a lot of other parts coming off as well. Which leads to the photo you see.

As for the leak: as best we can tell, we forgot to plug a hole in the head. It's the small, 1/8" hole just below the hole for the water pump on the driver's side head. So we'll clean up the head and block, apply new gaskets to the pump, touch up the paint, and put the pump, oil filler tube and fuel pump back on along with the power steering pump.

And then try to start the car again.

To that point: Any ideas on why it wasn't catching?

To recap:

We have spark
The starter engages
The engine turns over
The push rod for the fuel pump moves
Not sure if the fuel pump is pumping, how do we test?
What else could be causing it to not start? Everything should be grounded if we have spark, right?

did you pour a little gas  in the carb? if all else is good it should pop for a little while.

Hello Andrew,

One way to test a fuel pump is to disconnect the fuel line at the carburetor, and crank the engine to see if fuel spurts out of the line.  Be sure you have a catch-can for the fuel, and that the engine won't fire (ground the coil wire).

As to why the car won't start, there may be a number of reasons.  Your post mentioned the fuel filter bowl was empty.  Most likely, the carburetor is bone dry as well.  If your carburetor has a bowl vent, you may be able to fill your carburetor by using an ear syringe to fill the carburetor through the vent.  Check your shop manual's section on the carburetor.

Your post says you have spark.  Be sure to check that the distributor is not 180 degrees out of alignment.  Assuming that your engine mechanical parts are correctly installed (timing gears aligned, compression OK), your no-start could simply be a matter of getting fuel through the carburetor.

Christopher Winter

If you've got spark, I would assume it's a fuel issue until proven otherwise (fuel pump working, gas in carb when you hit pedal).

Assuming those hoses are the ones from Fusick, the lower radiator hose should be installed so that the markings are visible from underneath the car (unless they changed the placement of their stamp).  I would venture to guess that your lower hose is installed backwards.

Alright, an update:

It didn't start, but we're closer

Got out there last night. We pulled the valve covers, spark plugs, and distributor cap and checked the timing. When we were at 5º before TDC, the distributor looked to be at #8, not #1.

Pulled the distributor out, dropped it back in and it looks to be lined up correctly.

Put everything back together, checked spark. We've got spark on #1

Put plug #1 in, attempt to start.

Fuel pump is working, glass bowl fills up.

We get nothing but the starter, and then a cough or sputter.

!!!!

It did something!

We try a few more times, and get another cough/sputter. But that's it.

My main concern now is either flooding the engine and/or fouling the spark plugs with too much fuel. Any suggestions? Is it the carb not pulling in enough air/fuel? Is there some adjusting we should do with it?

Pull a couple of plugs... if it's flooded, the plugs will be wet... another issue, do you have the wire from the starter solenoid to the distributor connected on to the resistor correctly.  Your coil needs to have a full 12 volts when the engine is cranking--thus that wire takes the resistor out of the circuit.  If the wire is attached to the wrong side of the resistor, you'll get spark, by very often, a very WEAK spark.  It's easy to mis -wire that resistor.

I talked to my Dad last night: it's running!

My Dad fussed with the timing some more and was able to get it dialed in better. Right now it's running for about 20 seconds and then quitting due to a fuel hose falling off or not having the vacuum advance hooked up to the distributor. But we're in the ballpark now.

Thanks for all of the help and suggestions so far!

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/lpf62cgazj942xo/MeAndBrie.jpg?dl=0)
My Dad and I put the rear seat bench in, and the front seat as well for when we drive it to the body shop to have the carpet and remaining interior pieces installed.

My fiancée was out at the house as well, so I asked her to hop into the front seat with me for a quick photo. It was a little surreal for her as the Cadillac has always been in progress since we started dating.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/478h3cay7lgzo1a/PuttingDriversWheelOn.jpg?dl=0)

Putting the driver's side tire on...

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/vsy1zleegqsxlib/OnFourWheels.jpg?dl=0)

Back on four wheels (or tires) for the first time since late November 2011.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/dbahph1snq4aiy6/FussingWithTiming.jpg?dl=0)

We're still fussing with the timing. My Dad bought a timing light, and also bought a wired starter motor trigger so we're both able to be looking at the engine while trying to start the car. My Dad was able to get it started on Friday, but Sunday we didn't have any luck. My Dad's going to call in some of his more mechanically inclined friends and see what they can do. We know it can start, it's just a matter of getting the car to start when we want it to start.

Andrew -

That fuel pump supply line is still on the wrong side of the fan belt and could easily br severed by the engine fan blades!

Quote from: Jon S on August 03, 2015, 09:04:29 AM
Andrew -

That fuel pump supply line is still on the wrong side of the fan belt and could easily br severed by the engine fan blades!

The gas that's in the tank is old. It's been in the tank for 4+ years, and we don't want to use it. For starting and testing purposes, we're running the old soft line from the pump to a small gas tank next to the radiator on the inside of the core support. It's clear of the fan blades.

The new soft line runs from the hard line up to the pump, and is held in place close to the engine block by the clips on the water pump bolts like you pointed out it should be.

Quote from: Andrew Trout on August 03, 2015, 01:23:54 PM
The gas that's in the tank is old. It's been in the tank for 4+ years, and we don't want to use it. For starting and testing purposes, we're running the old soft line from the pump to a small gas tank next to the radiator on the inside of the core support. It's clear of the fan blades.

The new soft line runs from the hard line up to the pump, and is held in place close to the engine block by the clips on the water pump bolts like you pointed out it should be.

Yup - Just making sure.  Continued Good luck with the project!

Andrew, I don’t see an email for you.  Please send me a PM or click on my email link in my profile.  I want to make you aware of a potential problem. 

Sounds like the timing is still off.  Are you moving the distributor as you attempt to start.  Mark the location where it started once too ;)  You can also check the position of the wires in the shop manual, not just the firing order.  Have that timing light ready in case it starts again so you can dial it in. 

Also, you probably know, but don't crank the starter for too long at a time or you will burn it up.  You can also feel your battery cables to see if getting too hot.  Maybe 10 seconds of cranking at most at a time, let cool for a little while before next attempt.   

Good idea on getting someone mechanically inclined as you need to make sure you are at TDC on 1 before installing.  You didn't say you checked that before dropping in distributor. 

For example: 
Hook your timing light to #1 wire and power.
Pull the #1 plug and put your finger in the hole.
Crank the engine until it blows your finger out of the hole.

Chuck

Well, it's been a few weeks. Between going to weddings, planning my own, plus my fiancée's bridal shower I haven't had any time to work on the Cadillac. Thankfully my Dad's been able to work on the car in the mean time.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/b4xrvuff0ksitgb/DialingInTiming.jpg?dl=0)

This is where we are with timing. It's pretty damn close. The car starts up very easily, so at this point we're comfortable saying "close enough" and will take another look at in the fall. Between summer heat and engine heat it gets very hot in the engine bay.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/s7c7hqmapslzhnl/OilLeak.jpg?dl=0)

On the downside, now that the car is running on it's own without issue, we've found an oil leak in the timing chain cover. The photo is horrible, but it's easiest to see when the engine is running. It's on the driver's side, either where the timing chain cover meets the oil pan or where the timing chain cover, oil pan, and engine block all meet. My Dad saw this earlier and pulled the radiator and water pump to get the timing chain cover off, and then replaced the gaskets and reinstalled it. Still leaks in the same place.

Any ideas on what's causing it? Do we need more gasket sealant or less? Are there any magic tricks to getting the cork strip that runs along the bottom of the timing chain cover to seal properly?

It's really frustrating as we can't drive the car in this condition, it will run out of oil in a matter of hours.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/gjmq8d1vh7bo4hi/WaitingForRollback.jpg?dl=0)

But, regardless of that, the car is ready to head to the interior shop tomorrow morning on a rollback.

Hello Andrew,

Nice to see the car out of the garage - looks great!

I noticed in the photo that there is a piece of cardboard under the engine with a puddle of what looks like oil.  Is that oil from the leak?  If that much oil is pumped/leaks out of the engine, so that the car runs out of oil, it sounds like there is something mis-aligned, and that the gaskets are not seating where they should.  Try probing the area with a paper clip to see if you can find a gap between the mating surfaces of the front cover, oil pan, and block.  Another item to check is whether your gasket set included the correct gaskets for these areas.

These multiple gasket joins can be a problem, but try to avoid using too much RTV in the event you have to resort to the "gasket in a tube".

Christopher Winter

Yes, we've got an oil leak around the timing chain cover. Not sure exactly where though. Good idea on using the paper clip. Do you straighten it out and drag the tip of the metal along the edge until you find a hole? 

Also check the condition of the shaft on the harmonic balancer where it goes in through the cover.  If it is badly worn, you can get a leak there also even with a new seal.

I believe to remove and replace the front cover correctly, the oil pan must be dropped also. 

Hello Andrew,

I speculate that if you are losing enough oil so that the car runs out of oil in a few hours, you have a really big gap at a gasket mating surface, such that the oil leaking out should be visible.  The paper clip would confirm that there is a sizable gap in the gasket/mating surface (the paper clip can be straight or bent depending upon how easy it is to access the suspected area).  Also, if that much oil is coming out of the engine, it may be being pumped out, so it is important to try to find exactly where the oil is leaking.

As Dan mentioned, if the shaft on the balancer is worn, the front seal wont be effective.  However, if the leak was at that location, oil would be slung around the front of the engine bay due to the rotating balancer, which, if I understand your problem description correctly, is not the case.

Both the oil pan and the front cover are steel stampings.  Depending on what service was done to the engine over the last 54 years, the mounting bolts may have been overtightened, and or the stampings may have been deformed.  With such a big leak, I would probably drop the pan and remove the front cover and make sure the mounting surfaces are true, and that none of the bolt holes have been dimpled.  Any dimpling can be reversed by carefully using a large ball bearing and a socket, or a small ball-pien hammer and a socket to dimple the bolt hole in the opposite direction.   ....almost there....

By the way, you and your fiancee make a cute couple.

Christopher Winter

Have you noticed any engine paint overspray on gasketed surfaces.  Incredible as it sounds, this condition can cause engine oil leaks even if the paint appears to be well adhered to the metal

I would be pulling the sump to see where the problem is.

These engines don't leak when using the proper gaskets, and using the proper procedure to fit them.

To do the job properly, I would suggest pulling the engine and put it on the engine stand where you can work on it and really see what is going on as you are pulling it apart.

Sounds like the front seal is not seated correctly.

Bruce. >:D

Quote from: James Landi on August 19, 2015, 10:36:28 PM
Have you noticed any engine paint overspray on gasketed surfaces.  Incredible as it sounds, this condition can cause engine oil leaks even if the paint appears to be well adhered to the metal

I believe it. We painted each component and then attached, then hit it with another coat after assembly. It's possible that's what is throwing us off.

Quote from: The Tassie Devil(le) on August 19, 2015, 10:55:13 PM
I would be pulling the sump to see where the problem is.

These engines don't leak when using the proper gaskets, and using the proper procedure to fit them.

To do the job properly, I would suggest pulling the engine and put it on the engine stand where you can work on it and really see what is going on as you are pulling it apart.

Sounds like the front seal is not seated correctly.

Bruce. >:D

Pulling the engine is not an option at this point. We're less than a month from the wedding.

I agree that the front seal doesn't seem to be seated correctly.

I'd be willing to wager that it is leaking where the cork seal on the front cover meets the cork seal for the oil pan gasket.  It cannot be sealed properly with the pan still installed.

Drop the oil pan, remove the front cover, regasket, put the oil pan gasket into place with a thin smear of silicone to hold it in place.  Also put a little dab of silicone in the seam between the front cover gasket and oil pan gasket.

It can be done with the engine in the car, but is a real pain to do.  Pulling the engine may not be an option but neither is driving it around with oil gushing out.  In all honesty, the last time I pulled a 61 engine - from the time I popped the hood until the time it was resting on the floor was 1 1/2 hours.  They're really not hard to pull.

Urgh.  How frustrating and stressful to be this close and have a "new" problem like that turn up.  We are rooting for you!

-mB

Interior is almost done. Car will be ready to pick up on Friday, but we're having them hold it until Monday and then getting it rollbacked to our mechanic's for some final work.

To better explain what 'interior is almost done' means:

• Dashboard was removed and re-painted
• Front and rear seat removed and stripped down to the frame, which was powder coated. Seats were then re-upholstered with new leather, foam and burlap.
• Door panels were removed and re-finished with new leather and carpet put on
• Kick panels removed, new carpet for them, the vents were removed and re-painted
• All the metal trim on the front seat was re-painted
• Armrests for rear seat were removed and re-upholstered
• sound/heat insulation was installed on floor pan
• new carpet
• new door sills
• Seats re-installed
• Door panels re-installed
• Rear arm rests re-installed

We went to http://www.carlsautoseatcover.com (http://www.carlsautoseatcover.com) in Rochester.

As I said, on Monday the car goes to the mechanic for finishing touches.

• Front end alignment
• Finish installed exhaust. The part that loops over the rear axel and the resonator and tailpipe
• Drain gas tank
• Bleed brakes
• Check timing
• Timing chain cover gasket
• Bolt driveshaft support into place
• Install rebuilt power steering pump
• Install replacement power steering gear box
• New York State Inspection

Yes, there's a fair amount of this that we could do. But it's much easier and faster to do if you have a lift, so we're outsourcing it all to our mechanic. Also, I get married in 23 days. Time is of the essence.

In theory, the Cadillac should ready for some cruising this time next week.

Andrew,

Thanks for the update - I've been waiting anxiously.  It sounds like you discovered the problem with your power steering! You will be in great shape for the wedding.  Feel free to come to Buffalo for the shake-down cruise....

Jerry

Whew! It's been a while.

Wedding:

Our wedding was beautiful. Weather was great during the ceremony and photos, food and drinks were wonderful, and all of our friends and family had a blast.

Honeymoon:

Equally beautiful. My wife and I spent a week in wine country in northern California. 3 days in Napa Valley, 2 days in Sonoma Valley, and a day and a half in San Fran. We had some of the best dinners we'll ever have, and tasted so many wines it's hard to remember all of the places we went. We also brought back over a case of wine for celebrating future anniversaries and milestones. And driving around wine country in a convertible Mustang is very nice.

The Cadillac:

Didn't make it to the wedding. There were too many small bugs and issues to make a trip down to our venue safe.


So where do we stand now?

In a pretty good spot, actually. The car starts up and drives fine. My Dad and I took it out for a 40-minute drive Saturday morning. It was a beautiful fall day. Driving a car that big is a new experience for me, but I was getting more comfortable as the trip progressed. It turns quite a bit wider than my car (2007 Mazda 3 hatchback), and is much wider so positioning the Cadillac in the lane on the road took some getting used to. Only having the rear-view and driver's side mirrors cuts down on rear visibility, but the thinner a-pillars and wraparound windshield is great front visibility. Bumps weren't an issue, and the front suspension was great.

We stopped at a local corner store for a few minutes and one of the customers came over and started asking questions about the car. That was pretty cool. I didn't snap any pictures of it, so I'm kicking myself a little about that.

Overall the little trip was a lot of fun, and very comfortable in a luxurious Cadillac.  8)

But there are still several issues we need to resolve:

  1. Replace power steering hose. The sending line on our original hose had a metal crimp on it that raises pressure at low idle. Right now the steering is EXTREMELY heavy at idle, and you need to either wrestle the wheel around or put the car in park and give it some gas to get the wheel turning. Once you get moving it's fine. So we're going to put the old hose on.
           2. Check speedometer cable because it's not working. Our cluster was rebuilt by McVey (or Fusick? One of the two) so that should be good. The fuel gage works and the generator light works. The needle doesn't move, and neither does the odometer. Might be the transmission as well, because oh hey, the transmission leaks. So we'll take the car over to the transmission shop that rebuilt it and see what they have to say. 
           3. Front seat is getting damaged. When you flip the front seat forward to access the rear seat, part of the seat frame pinches the leather and is starting to damage it. We'll be taking the car and/or seat back to the interior shop and having them fix that.
           4. Have interior shop fix the seat transmission, as it's not working.
           5. Check for more oil leaks (just in case!)
           6. Install new kit for horn
           7. Have brakes adjusted once horn is working, the car pulls to the right some when you really stand on the brakes
          8. Drain oil out of power top motor , use grade 4 bake fluid
          9. Install last part of dash and hardware to straight out dash by ash tray
          10. Buff out rear bumper
          11. Switch hood brackets at fire wall to see if hood will set lower
          12. Install 2nd set of inter fender wells
          13. Check into getting a trunk liner kit
          14. Get hubcaps repainted
          15. Black paint on dash needs repainted
          16. Order Floor mats
          17. Order new rear springs and rear arms bushing

Looking at the list, it seems like a lot, but compared to everything else we've gone through it's nothing. And hey: The car drives!  ;D

Another nice fall afternoon, so it's time for a drive!

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/x2dpzras8ri3gfx/SundayDrive10_18_15.jpg?dl=0)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/3tqj5r33avtjjvs/SundayDrive2_10_18_15.jpg?dl=0)

Before this, we also fussed around with the hood hinges some, with no luck. It's still sitting high in the back.

During the week, my Dad was able to swap in the old power steering hose that has a metal collar on it. Power steering was much better at idle, so turning the car around in the driveway was a snap.

I also adjusted the gear selection indicator so we're able to see what gear we're in. Much more helpful than wondering why it won't shift and realizing you're in low drive.

We took the car out for another drive, everything's great. The only issues for drivability are the speedometer not working, horn not working, and the canceling cam for directions not working. Oh, and random feedback in the radio while listening to my iPhone via an auxiliary input. I'm thinking we need a capacitor on the generator.

My wife's traveling for work this weekend, but the Saturday forecast looks beautiful so hopefully I'll be able to take her out for a nice cruise on Saturday afternoon.

Working on the little bugs now.



(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/fjaitn6osqytkpe/CheckingHornWiring.jpg?dl=0)

First one was the horn.

We're still not sure where the horn is failing. It's a little frustrating. The horns sound if you manually engage them, but there some wiring somewhere between the button and the firewall that's not working. And we have no idea what it is.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/3q7czjy5c1jwfb6/InstallingSpeedometerCable.jpg?dl=0)

Next up was fixing the speedometer. Transmission was rebuilt, new cable, and the instrument cluster was gone through by McVey's. So all parts should be working. But nothing was happening when we drove. We thought maybe the transmission shop forgot to re-install the gear in the transmission. Or we needed to pull the cable off and grease the connection. When we were under the dash checking horn wiring, my Dad noticed we didn't plug the speedometer cable into the instrument cluster.

Whoops!

So, threaded that on and took the car for a spin. Speedometer works, along with odometer and trip odometer! We'll take it out on a highway to check accuracy against some mile markers later.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/9g44bpwmz4pzkry/PullingSteeringWheel.jpg?dl=0)

After that, it was time to fix the steering wheel. Basically it squeaked when you turned the wheel. My Dad was thinking we had it on too tight (or too close to the steering column) so there was friction when we turned the wheel. It also made the steering a little tougher at low idle. So we pulled the wheel off three times (once it wasn't straight). On the third pulling we noticed that if you didn't crank on the screws holding the center trim into place the wheel didn't squeak. Just snugging them up is good.

While we had the wheel off we checked the canceling spring as that's not working either. Everything appears to be in good order, and you see it move when you engage the directional. But the directionals won't cancel after you turn. 

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/s6j56102l9vro81/WrongRegistration.jpg?dl=0)

I also noticed that the great state of New York gave us the wrong registration. Sigh. It's frustrating because my Dad had the old registration with him. All they had to do was copy the date.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/q3fizd5h46bmgy4/DoorInterior.jpg?dl=0)

Driver's side door interior.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/pf89d2hokfx92uj/WifeyInCaddy.jpg?dl=0)

And I got to take my wife for a ride! Beautiful fall afternoon with a beautiful lady.  ;D

Fantastic chronicle of your project!  What a car to do this to.  Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

The Cadillac went through another round of detailing.

The first time, my Dad went to a friend who's done body work for us in the past. The guy used to do really great work, but has gotten a lot older and his worked has fallen into the 'eh' category. Looking over the Cadillac you could see spots that weren't as well done as others.

So, asked around town and found a new shop and man did they do a great job.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/jjktncj5mov4yey/CaddyDetailed_1.jpg?dl=0)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/32royzv1pp0xjz7/CaddyDetailed_2.jpg?dl=0)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/je0905otfjgvm3o/CaddyDetailed_3.jpg?dl=0)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/fpltnwebwofdtaf/CaddyDetailed_4.jpg?dl=0)

They clayed the paint, along with washed and waxed. No swirls from the wax, either! The shop also polished the chrome and stainless trim, cleaned all of the windows (including the rear window on the top), and I believe cleaned the top as well. They were also able to adjust the brakes and fixed the horn. Apparently our horn relay was bad. I would have sworn we replaced it earlier this summer. Oh well. Now the car has passed it's NYS safety inspection and is road legal...just in time to hibernate for the winter.  ::)

On the plus side, now that the car is legal, we're able to drive it to the transmission shop and have them find the small leak we're dealing with there, and then go to the interior shop to fix the front seat. The stitching is tearing on the bottom part near your hip, where the seat folds over it to access the rear seat.

We're down to about 10 things to do on the car. Several are cosmetic issues with the dash panels not lining up perfectly, and the rest are getting the hood to lay flat and replacing the rear suspension this winter.

What a trip you have shared.  What a fine 62 which is my favorite body style.  Hope you can get some break in proving miles on it before it goes for a rest.

Car is looking really good.

Just do yourself a favor and install your tailpipe the other way (the end pointing out should be the one coming out of the resonator) and trim it so it just peeks down below the bumper before you whack your shins on that thing.

The great hood mystery has been solved.

We put the springs on backwards!

Huh.

My Dad took the car over to the interior shop to show them the seat. They'll stand by their work and repair it. We'll pull the seat this winter when we park the car to replace all of the rubber in the rear suspension. That will also allow more room in the interior to finish off the dashboard.

So the weather has been unseasonably warm up here, and my Dad and I opted to take advantage of it.

The seat leather has been ripping, and needs to go back to the interior shop for repairs and altering how the leather is sewed on so it won't rip in the future. We pulled the car out to have lots of room for removing the seat, but before that, we went on a quick trip.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/mj45kuy6sltj75r/DadDriving.jpg?dl=0)

My Dad driving the car.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/8ne7zq5amxqpm60/GettingGas.jpg?dl=0)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/hwnyy2ucvmbk08p/GasStationChat.jpg?dl=0)

We stopped at a gas station down the road that has ethanol-free gas (at over $3.00/gallon) and while we were filling up a guy at one of the other pumps came over to say hello. He was really impressed by the car, and at one pointed remarked "Hey, this is like...a show car! Do you take it to any shows!?"  Well, not yet.  ;D Next year we'll be doing quite a bit more.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/dah41kyt90h0fdm/BehindTheWheel.jpg?dl=0)

I got to drive the car as well, and we just drove around the neighborhood. Lots of fun.

Then it was time to pull the seats.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/3r6zrv3aeb4z44e/PassengerSideRip.jpg?dl=0)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/pbklmzrir619nwg/DriversSideRip.jpg?dl=0)

You can see the rips in the seats. The drivers side is a bit worse, and both sides will continue to get worse.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/1g7t8h9v91lssbp/RemovingTrim.jpg?dl=0)

We removed all of the trim from the seat before unbolting it. Unbolting was a pain, as it seems the interior shop used some sort of compound on the seat bolt threads so they're weather-tight. It make removing the bolts a real pain.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/eyytxs2zrhlsa4n/SeatInDadsCar.jpg?dl=0)

We walked the seat out, and put it in the back of my Dad's car. He's taking it over today (Monday) and they'll 'babysit' it for a while, meaning they'll get to it when they get to it. Fine by us, as we've got plenty of interior work to do this winter to get the dash pieces better aligned, and get the top to come down.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/z303h0a176wzt0f/SeatRemoved.jpg?dl=0)

Here's the interior without the front seat. The dash under the radio needs some straightening, as do the ash trays. We're also going to take the section of the dash that says "CADILLAC" out and get that re-painted, and attached the medallion to the radio bezel. Also, the panel that goes under the steering column will get installed after we get the gear indicator on the shifter better adjusted (it's still a little off). Plenty of little things to work on after the new year.

Hi Andrew!
Stumbled on your post and cot stuck! Nice work and a realy heart-warming story in father son bonding, feels like i know you a little bit now!
I am doing a simular project and came to a complete halt a couple of years ago. Looking at your work made me start working on the car again and its going to be finished this summer, thank´s and take care, maybe some kids will occupy the back seat soon ;) ;) ;)(https://forums.cadillaclasalle.club/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.holleyhivers.se%2Fmedlemsbilar%2Fthomas.jpg&hash=9e80db185bd2bc63edc3f62f9cb1659f47d6c0ab)
Thomas K

We bought some NOS parts this weekend.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/2bzdakw669qfzft/NewBumper.jpg?dl=0)

While looking around on eBay, my Dad spotted some nice looking white wheel covers. Ours are in fair shape, but not as good as the ones listed. We shot the seller a note and he put the four best ones he had together and sent us a few pictures. We agreed to buy them, and asked if he had any other parts.

Turns out the seller is Tom Murray of the Valley Forge CLC Chapter and he has a LOT of parts. We drove down yesterday to meet him and buy what we could. It was a long day. We left at 5am and go back at 6:30 pm. But it was well worth it! We got the parts listed below

Four wheel covers
Complete triple-plated rear bumper and lights
Interior instrument cluster and radio trim with clock
Passenger speaker bezel and medallion
Hood medallion (no V though)
Brake shoes
Engine mounts
Three tail fin lights, two covers, and one NOS cover
NOS PF7C filter
Most of a front bumper. Lower parking lights and upper center part are re-chromed, the upper sections below the headlamps will need to be re-chromed
Some other trim parts

We also got to see Tom's collection of cars, and spare parts. It's extensive.

We'll be replacing some of our current bumpers and interior trim with these newly purchased parts and getting the original parts cleaned up. This way we can have a better looking car this summer and not have to deal with the frustrations of having an incomplete car at any point.

Nice treasure trove.  Hard to find at any price.  Thanks for the update!

Wow.  That's some pretty awesome jewelry you picked up.   8)

It looks like Christmas morning!  I'm actually going to get my new front bumper ends on this year.  Are you planning to come to Club activity on the 23rd?

Jerry

Quote from: Dan LeBlanc on April 04, 2016, 03:50:12 PM
Wow.  That's some pretty awesome jewelry you picked up.   8)

Quote from: Rob Troxel on April 04, 2016, 03:46:44 PM
Nice treasure trove.  Hard to find at any price.  Thanks for the update!

Thanks! Tom has a huge collection of parts between his attic, basement, and garage. We got lucky that he had so many parts. Apparently someone in Sweden was trying to buy up everything, but he found it easier to have us come buy stuff instead of packaging and shipping overseas.

Quote from: Jerry Puma on April 05, 2016, 12:26:44 PM
It looks like Christmas morning!  I'm actually going to get my new front bumper ends on this year.  Are you planning to come to Club activity on the 23rd?

Jerry

I don't think I'll be able to make that event. My wife and I bought a house and that's around our potential closing date.

Time for the next adventure: removing the rear bumper! This bumper is actually not original to the car. The car was in an accident before my Dad got it, and the bumper was damaged. A replacement was found from a junk yard 1961. Based on the while paint we see under the red paint on the gas filler tube cover, we think it might have been a white one. There's a code on the bumper that says 8G. Not sure if that means anything.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/a7y167pvtclsj9r/RemovingRearBumper.jpg?dl=0)
Jacked up the back of the car, jack stands on the frame, and some WD-40 to help free up the bolts.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/5nj9gngfu2u3n60/RemovingRearBumperBrace.jpg?dl=0)
Then we set up the rear bumper on a table and started removing all of the bolts. The braces that connect the bumper to the frame will be sandblasted and powder coated black.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/i4dmfja4y44w4z2/ExtraLeverage.jpg?dl=0)
Some of the bolts were pretty rusted, so we needed extra leverage to get them free.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/yzf1sdp9xt8qo2p/BrokenBolt.jpg?dl=0)
I think some of them were seized. This is the only one that broke, but a few were pretty mangled looking.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/8ui19pues7h0q4n/RemovingTailightHousingBolts.jpg?dl=0)
Removing bolts for the tail light housing.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/l384ruednc9f81b/RemovingTailightHousingBolts_2.jpg?dl=0)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/grwidzzclui6u6r/HeatingUpRearBumperBolts.jpg?dl=0)
After a period of time, we moved the bumper into the garage and heated up the bolts with a torch. I swear, every time my Dad would light that thing it was pointed right at me.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/99jlzj36rnkeoq4/RearBumper_Removed.jpg?dl=0)
So here we are, the rear bumper is removed and broken down. Braces and shims will be sandblasted and powder coated black. The nuts, bolts, and washers will be cleaned up, re-coated and re-used. Any bolts that are too mangled to be re-used we'll replace. This whole process will take a few weeks. We're hoping to have the bumper back on by mid-May as that's when cruise night season starts to ramp up around here.

We got the metal braces and supports for the rear bumper back from being powder coated. One of the braces was cracked, probably damaged when the second owner (my Dad's the third owner) got into an accident. My Dad welded it and we're good to go.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/x1fkmuc2fmzqdkc/RearTailightSupport.jpg?dl=0)
We've learned a lot in the restoration process and had the disassembly of the bumper well photographed so we could put it back together. It also helps we did it a few weeks ago so it's still fairly fresh in our minds.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/5ckkogho7n8dnny/AssemblingBumper.jpg?dl=0)
My Dad working on the driver's side

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/uhhk5jztl4hzmh2/AssemblingBumper_PassengerSide.jpg?dl=0)
I worked on the passenger side

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/2dlyjfq0896gkxb/BumperHalfDone.jpg?dl=0)
Metal's together, time for the tail lights

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/td6x2yt2sgrswcw/NewTailights.jpg?dl=0)
Tail lights are installed.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/09nql7i0ji5bm1w/CompleteRearBumper.jpg?dl=0)
Complete bumper, ready to go back on the car on Saturday.