Checkin' in from rural KS with the 1959 I always wanted!

[BIGTOM]

GOOD MORNING! Need to get ready for church, but here she is the day I unpacked her. Back story to come later today. I know we all love the photos, so here they are:

[gary griffin]

   You are a truly brave man Tom, and when you are done you will know the car as well as you know yourself.

    I have done a few restorations but never one as complicated as yours will be. It will give you a great deal of satisfaction and some frustration I am sure. I do not know your skill level but most of it is just hard work and tenacity. You can farm out the work that may be beyond your skill level and the work that takes special equipment such as a paint booth.

    Do you have all of the components and parts for this project? I would recommend that first you inventory what you do have and try to figure out what is anything that you need. I also recommend that you sort the parts out by the order you anticipate installing them and putting them in numbered containers and keep a inventory of what is in each container and it,s condition such as " door handles needing chroming" for example. Keep a digital camera in the garage and take a lot of pictures. I have taken hundreds of pictures and when I need them I print them out and take them to the garage. I use probably only 2% of the pictures but when you need one you really need it.

    Storage of parts is quite important and setting up a bench to recondition them and test them is also important. As an example when I removed my horns I tested them then cleaned them up and painted them with POR-15 and put them in a numbered container.  Buy 100 of each size freezer bags with the white area to write on and put everything into them with notations.  In my spare time I open these bags and clean the parts and paint them. I wish I had bought a small powder coating kit but too late now.

     I do not know how you acquired the car but expect parts to have been lost and begin the search early. When I bought my 1942 Cadillac I was told of a couple of missing parts but it ended up being many more and some were difficult to find. I searched 2 years for a foot rest that was one yer only and one model only for example.

     I used a lot of outside help in the last restoration and kept a running blog in the restoration forum pointing out the trials and tribulations of that particular project which is nearing completion.
      I used a shop I have used for over 30 years and they gave me a great labor price and it was used as a fill in job so it took a while longer than I had hoped for but the results are starting to show.

     Rely on this forum for advice and assistance in finding information and parts and keep the pictures coming. Many of us would love to follow your restoration.

    I do not know where you live but join your local club and you will be surprised at the assistance you will find.

    GOOD LUCK

[BIGTOM]

Thanks for the advice Gary!

I do have a back story that accompanies these photos and my '59. Since i was a teenager (42 now) I wanted a '59 Caddie and this incredible body style was first introduced to me via the Springsteen song Pink Cadillac in the mid '80s and these gorgeous fins were an image that was on a tee shirt that i had and i knew that i had to have it. Then i saw the price tag and that thought quickly vanished. All through the years i knew i wanted a resto project and it was something that just sat in the back of my mind for years. FF to last year, I was at an auction and essentially got a 1950 chevy truck dropped in my lap for next to nothing. The problem; I budgeted myself one amount and with the things i wanted to do to the truck, it blew my budget by more than double. At this point i knew the truck was a thing of the past (I was a bit relieved as my wife would in not tolerate the cost/time of 2 restos in one lifetime as she just doesn't get into this type of stuff). I immediately started casual looking around and I found the '59!!! The listing said that the owner had essentially bought the car from that desert auto place that has all those rust free vehicles and started the resto, disassembled the body, rebuilt the drivetrain and then some personal issues forced things to come to a halt ca. 2000. FF to about a month ago and insert me. I bought the car for what i always thought was a great deal as it's a rust-free car with ROCK SOLID floors and body and what the photos don't show is the front end, the bumpers, other door, trunk and drivetrain. I have about 97% of the car and when he dropped it off he told me that when he bought the car in 1992, it was delivered with a bunch of parts in the trunk and that's where he had left them. That afternoon, i popped the trunk open and discovered several boxes taped shut and inside these bags were zip lock bags containing parts with post-it notes stating what the part(s) were. Additionally, the stainless was bundled together with old masking tape which at this point was crumbly and would essentially disintegrate when messed with (I'm sure you all have had to deal with old brittle masking tape) but it's all there from what I can see. The green totes in the photos are full of the boxed parts and I have aprox. 25x15 garage bay to work in. All parts are secure and in dry storage as I'm terrified about losing anything. I have a mechanic friend of mine dealing with the engine (from sitting around, some dirt got into it and the previous owner said that it needed to be cleaned up and checked out. My mechanic has verified that the 390 has new pistons, new cam, new timing chain, heads are redone and many other things as well. Following inspection, my guy said that he believes what the previous owner said that the engine had been completely rebuilt. Also, he said that from what he can see - the tranny had also been rebuilt. The carb needs to be rebuilt and I'm sure that the rear end diff needs to be drained and checked out. When I was in the Army, i spun wrenches for 3 years, so I feel that I can do much of the work, but since I have a friend who's willing to help me for a VERY reasonable fee and since he's got the tools of the trade and access to the shop at his place of employment, I'm utilizing his skills. Re: the body, I'm working with a guy who's got a shop locally and I plan on doing the lion's share of the priming/sanding and he said he'd do the finish work. In my opinion, the body doesn't need a whole lot of help as it's pretty straight but my body guy has told me that he feels i'm going to need to prime and sand the body about 9 times as I want to paint it a darker color eventually. At this point, I've had the body and body parts media blasted and primed (I'll upload the photos in a bit) and the body has a small amount of filler, but no rust - seems like it had a minor side swipe at some point and the driver's side rear quarter had been completely replaced but done very well and leaded in properly. Moving forward, I have a lead on an upholsterer and there's no doubt that all the seats and door panels will need to be redone as well as the dash. My plan for the dash is to send it to Just Dashes in CA, as I heard they are the folks to go through - but I'm open to any other suggestions.

[BIGTOM]

Here's the VIN plate, any guidance to decipher this info is greatly appreciated.

[BIGTOM]

Here's some more! The last photo is a plate I found on eBay. In KS, you can register your car with the appropriate year plate if you can find it. This plate will be on this caddie when she's done... pretty darned cool in my opinion!

[BIGTOM]

The plate

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

This is one good reason to buy a car that is all together.   Takes less to get it all home.

Lucky you didn't have too far to go as with him bringing everything to you is a bonus.

Bruce.

[BIGTOM]

LOL, very true! Glad that it's all here now. I'm going to try and pull the gas tank here soon and check out the steering parts while it's all easy to get to. Question, what books will I need to aid this process? I need as much literature as I can get my hands on.

Thanks in advance

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

You really need the 1959 Workshop Manual.

This edition will give you everything you need to work on the car, and it has MANY pictures.

If you can't get a Manual off ebay, then the CD would be a last resort.

Bruce.

[59-in-pieces]

Tom,
You are a man after my own heart.
Most people who would see your car, would turn tail and run, while you and I see the challenge to a spectacular finished car.
The fact the car has been a dream of yours now man and boy, all the more reason to tackle the challenge.
It surely helps that you can spin a wrench, as the majority of the cost to restore this vintage of car is labor. 
Although the parts are still out there, I would take a quick inventory and make a list of what is missing and while you work on the car, always be looking for parts and buy out ahead of your immediate need.
Best of luck to you, and the hours, and hours, and hours - get the picture - you have ahead of you of fun.
Have fun,
Steve B.

[BIGTOM]

Tom,
You are a man after my own heart.
Most people who would see your car, would turn tail and run, while you and I see the challenge to a spectacular finished car.
The fact the car has been a dream of yours now man and boy, all the more reason to tackle the challenge.
It surely helps that you can spin a wrench, as the majority of the cost to restore this vintage of car is labor. 
Although the parts are still out there, I would take a quick inventory and make a list of what is missing and while you work on the car, always be looking for parts and buy out ahead of your immediate need.
Best of luck to you, and the hours, and hours, and hours - get the picture - you have ahead of you of fun.
Have fun,
Steve B.

Thanks Steve! This is not only a challenge, but a labor of love. Had the drivetrain needed to be rebuilt and there was a ton of rust etc, I'd probably not be here today - but since it's largely a reassemble, I'm ok with it. I'm under no delusion that this thing'll be done in a month or two (and I know I'm going to get a few laughs) but my target for finish is one year; naysayers are welcome to add their two pennies as I'm a pretty light-hearted guy and take nothing personally. My first step is to get the 1959 workshop manual - in all honesty, at this point is hoping the wiring harness is viable. Thankfully, this beauty has been sitting indoors, away from the Midwest elements since the early 1990's.

1 month down and 11 to go!

[59-in-pieces]

Tom,
You have an exceptional opportunity here that very few others have had.
Yes, you are special and so is your car.
Take the time to ring out (check continuity) of every wire in each and every harness, either while the harnesses are out of the car (which is best because you can find and fix the breaks more easily) or just after you install them - but before they get covered up or things get hooked to the ends.  You should pay particular attention to where the harnesses go through the door jams at the kick panels.  This area is notorious for broken or breaking wires from the thousands of times the doors have been opened and closed, and the harnesses are forced to bend back and forth.
Oh yes, many landmines await you, but building from the ground up is mighty lucky.
Have Fun,
Steve B.

[Coupe Deville]

As far as The tag Goes, E is EZ-eye glass, H is heater and Y is 6 way power seats. Not sure what S is.
This will be a fun project. I know what it's like to own a 59 but to build one would probably be amazing.

-Gavin

[joeceretti]

It looks good to me. If you obsess over it and can afford the parts you may be missing I can't see why it won't be done in a year. But then, I don't know what difficulties you may encounter along the way. As time goes by the parts become harder and harder to get and become more expensive. I suppose the question is, do you want it to be a driver or as close to new condition as possible?

A driver condition car is much easier to accomplish in a shorter time but I suspect that is not your intention here.

I look forward to following your progress. Please keep us posted!

[BIGTOM]

As far as The tag Goes, E is EZ-eye glass, H is heater and Y is 6 way power seats. Not sure what S is.
This will be a fun project. I know what it's like to own a 59 but to build one would probably be amazing.

-Gavin

The S is for electric trunk popper which is cool for such an old car!

[BIGTOM]

It looks good to me. If you obsess over it and can afford the parts you may be missing I can't see why it won't be done in a year. But then, I don't know what difficulties you may encounter along the way. As time goes by the parts become harder and harder to get and become more expensive. I suppose the question is, do you want it to be a driver or as close to new condition as possible?

A driver condition car is much easier to accomplish in a shorter time but I suspect that is not your intention here.

I look forward to following your progress. Please keep us posted!

I have every intention of driving this car, so the body will be straight and the paint will be nice when it rolls out from being painted. When the hood is lifted, it'll be appropriate and the interior will be done by a pro. The chrome/stainless will be polished upon reassembly and after all of that is done, it won't see rain if I can help it and the battery will be disconnected in the winter. So, it'll be a semi driver - if that makes sense. So although I plan on putting a few miles on it, I'm still going to try my hardest to keep it gorgeous. IMO, a daily driver might have a little rust or a primer spot her or there, seat covers from Chiltons, original carpet etc. and that's just not what I'm going to do (not that there's anything wrong with that). If I can't do it right on this car, I'd rather wait and miss my deadline. I'm pretty worked up about it though! This weekend my goal is to survey the steering parts that are present and drop the gas tank, if I can stretch it - check out the wheel cylinders and maybe the wheel bearings.

[joeceretti]

Making sure the braking system is working properly is just about the most important thing you can do.

[BIGTOM]

GAS TANK REMOVAL

Where has the time gone? Apologies, but personal issues sidelined me for a bit... I'm on the mend. OK, here's what the tank looked like when I yanked it.

[BIGTOM]

Sending unit moved freely and all parts appeared strangely preserved. Note: moisture on the stool is water from a drink; sending unit came out bone dry.

[BIGTOM]

Here's a little smooch that this tank got; the seam seems intact. Also, here's a peek inside... I was shocked to say the least. VERY shiny and clean looking. Begs the question - was the tank replaced at some point? Not sure, the bolts were characteristically tough to get off and there was a layer of undercoating on one side.