1968 Eldorado Restoration

[Rob Troxel]

Anybody know where to get a check valve for the main vacuum line for the headlight doors?  Mine leaks down pretty fast. Glen,

Went into my 30 year box but could not find you a check valve.  Sorry but I will look other places later this week.

Regards,

Rob

[Antoni Deighton]

The fender and hood have been prepped and it's in primer! I'm probably going down to check it tomorrow. I'll be sure to take pix for you if I do.

[Glen]

Anybody know where to get a check valve for the main vacuum line for the headlight doors?  Mine leaks down pretty fast. Glen,

Went into my 30 year box but could not find you a check valve.  Sorry but I will look other places later this week.

Regards,

Rob

Thanks Rob.  I have not had time to take a picture yet. 

[Antoni Deighton]

David,

I don't have it in front of me, but you might want to get a climate control manual from Cadillac Tim (Thomas Groves). It sounds like your master switch (for the blower fan) is working fine, but you'll probably need to resurface the rotary valve in the power servo and possible the head unit. It's not a difficult procedure and the manual clearly states the steps to trouble shoot the system so you can track down any problems.

I've got my ACC working (mostly), and when I get my car back (I got a call saying it was done today!) I want to check the thermocouple and then the other lines to get it all dialed in properly. The bodywork became the priority after dealing with the engine cooling, and exhaust, and now I plan to move on to the interior...

[Rob Troxel]

David,

Did you have a chance to look under your Eldo hood to see if you have the rubber splash guards in place for between the bumper and the radiator and also the headlights.  I have the replacement kit of these but for the life of me i cannot figure out how they go  (Not talking about the ones in the wheel wells)

Thanks

Rob

[Glen]

I know the feeling about the garage.   The building I have my father’s 38 Caddy was Ok when I put it in.  There were a couple of roof leaks but not bad.  After a while I notice the rafters were sagging and the leaks were worse.  I tried just changing the bad rafters but ended up just changing them all and putting sheet metal on top.  Then I notice the plywood siding bulging.  Investigation found the studs were gone from termites and the only thing holding up the roof was the plywood.  So now it has new walls with steel I beams and steel post

[djohnson]

GREAT LOOKING ELDO.

[Rob Troxel]

David,

Thanks for letting me know the picure request in on your radar.
I had the transmission rebuilt on mine (Also a 68 Eldo) last year because the seals were like cookie dough and it leaked much fluid when sitting.  While doing this we replaced the flywheel too.  Something that was a fairly common need for these cars.  Mine has 67000 miles but was used alot in town so the starter flywheel got a work out!  I'm working on getting all the lights working such at the Back Ups and the cornering/side markers.  What I have learned is that in many cases it is bad grounding that is the culprit for the cornering lights and etc.  What a pain to change those corneing lights>>Actual removal of the housing to get at the bulbs>>two bolts and six screws!

Right now I have a water pump starting to leak so this spring it goes in for that as well as a new AC compressor/etc to get the cool air going.

[Carl Glass]

David

I have had my headlamp switch apart a few times, and in my opinion, while obviously the entire switch assembly is one year only, it might be possible that the stem and the potentiometer could be easy to find.

Hope that helps, and i havent gotten your hopes up for nothing.

I don't think the extra lamps would kill the circuit, but i'd rather it be right.

Carl

[Rob Troxel]

David,

Let me know how those instrument lights are resolved.  Ypu did a good thing by switching out the whitewalls your car had on it when you bought.  I just saw a red one on a recent EBAY listing with full Whitewalls and it looked terrble.

[Carl Glass]

Oh David, i feel your pain.  Don't you hate when it is one tiny step forward and many large steps backward?

I have the wiring diagrams and would be happy to help you diagnose your window problem.  I have my driver's door panel off now, so all the wires are easily accessible as well.

Carl

[Glen]

David,

You said that both ends of the red door light are hot?  That means you don’t have a ground.  The door switch grounds the one end of the light. 

Also the headlight switch is a one year and Eldorado only switch because of the vacuum switch for the headlight doors.  67 (also one year and Eldo only) did not have parking lights on with the headlights as 68 does but otherwise they are the same.  The common problem with the dash lights is the variable resistor on the headlight switch.  It is possible that a switch from another car of that era can donate that resistor.  If you want to run the dash lights at full brightness as I do you might want to just jumper out the resistor at the switch.   

Wires in the harness going to the driver’s door are subject to a lot of flexing and they sometimes break and leave the insulation intact.  The way to find that is to flex the wire and see if there is a point that bends sharply. 

HTH

[Rob Troxel]

Dave,

That conduit between the body and drivers door is most likely the issue.  I had to "fillet" that conduct open to get at all the wires I had broken.  I believe I had 5 of them to splice and in many cases the wire insulation had not quite broken open though the wires were seperated.  That and the grounding should do it.  On my repairs I actually did splice in a small section of new wire and solder the connections instead of a butt  crimp connector that might just break the wire in another place.

I had a 67 Riviera that was less than 4 years old at the time that had the same issue.

Good luck Dave.  Thanks for the pictures on the splash rubber!

[Glen]

  Sometimes I wish I owned a 55-57 Chevy where every part of the car is reproduced!

Dave

Where’s the fun in that? 

I would be interested to know how that light switch works on your Eldo.  The Cadillac Master Parts Book says the part number ends in 162.  The web site list this as replacing light switches with part numbers ending in 156 and 159. 

[Rob Troxel]

I have not pulled the trigger on ordering one of those switches but it sure looks close.  My switch still feeds the dash lights though the intensity is about 50 to 60%. The price looks good so I may try it just to have the part on reserve.

[Glen]

I just ordered one just to have a spare.  But I don’t know how long it will be before I can check the connector fit etc.

Now if they just had the actuators. 

[Rob Troxel]

Dave,

How did you do with the dash wiring?  Can they change the flywheel without pulling the trans?  Cost to do this?  Good luck.
I have a new water pump and hoses.  Glad I farmed this out as they had to heat four bolts on the pump to get this off. We replaced all the A/C stuff, compressor, POA valve, Expansion valve and also the blower motor.  More money!

[Glen]

The master cylinder for the 68 Eldo was also used by the 75 series and the Commercial Chassis.  The booster was a one year and Eldo only in the Cadillac line.  Other cars like Buick Olds etc. may have used it too but I don’t have a cross reference. 

When I had to replace the booster in my 68 ELDO I used the master cylinder and booster off a 70 Eldo.  It bolted right in and works just fine.  I like the brakes better now then before.  I don’t know how much it had to do with the poor condition of the old booster and how much it had to do with the better replacement booster and master cylinder. 

The 68 master cylinder is a one inch bore and the 69/70 is a one and one eighth inch bore.  I think the extra eight inch improves the braking on this car. 

[Gene Beaird]

I finally had to give in and have my garage replaced.   It was in poor shape when I bought my house and I've been puting it off long enough.   But the carpenter ants won and it was no longer sound nor weather tight.    Gotta have a nice dry and safe home for the 68 Eldo.     

So while the new garage is being built, I dropped the Eldo off at my local Caddy dealer to get the flywheel replaced.   I ordered a replacement from Cadillac USA Parts supply.   Plus a new set of battery cables.   They'll keep the car inside the service dept while it's over there.   Plus they are pretty busy and won't work on the car for a while, so that will keep her inside and dry over there for hopefully enough time to get the new garage built.





I hate it when life gets in the way of our enjoyment of the cars.   LOL

Wow.  That's a tiny garage to put such a big car in!  Time to head over to 'The Garage Journal' forum and start your 'Cadillac Garage' build thread.    

The crew cleaned things up nicely, though.  Hopefully you can keep the ants off the new garage.

[Rob Troxel]

Dave,

Any chance when they pull the tranny to just go ahead and rebuild it.  Even the back gasket cannot be changed without pulling the trans.  My seals were like cookie dough so at this point it would never be cheaper to do this.  Yeah, I know, yet more money to spend but at least you would get piece of mind on the condition of the chain, clutches, and seals being right when you hit the road.

Regards,

Rob