1956 series 62 convertible project

[Bronze]

After having received help on several matters i thought it would be appropriate to introduce myself and my project.
Having had a Sedan De ville for some years I decided it was time to start going "topless"...after scanning the net for some months i found something i thought i could work with and also afford. Got it on eBay from "cadcliff" who does not seem to be unknown to Cad aficionados. It is pretty solid and straight but had an engine transplant long ago to an Old 350 with 400 tranny. It also had been pulled loose from apparently having been sunk in sand and dirt, and the guy who did that had connected the hook in all the wrong places, so many part in the front end has been straightened or replaced, also a lot of bits and pieces are missing so the hunt is on for that. Thanks to Chuck on this forum i have got some good stuff for it. The car arrived in Sweden in the beginning of June. Got the Olds motor and Tranny running in a couple of weeks and was lucky enough to find a buyer immediately. Bought a 365 engine and trans from Alberts Used autoparts in New Jersey, Seized engine. Straightened out the Radiator support, new right side upper and lower control arms, all which had been used as connecting points when pulling the car loose. New front brakes. Got the engine in the beginning of august, Diesel in the cylinders and an iron to the flexplate. after a couple of days of tapping and pulling at the iron bar it started to move. Got it gently to turn all the way. Out with the freeze plugs, flush with high pressure, new plugs. Dropped oil pans of engine and tranny, cleaned it and new fluids. Dropped the whole package into the car, no spark. New coil and capacitor. Bingo! would fire with a drop of gas in the manifold. Bolt on Carb and it fires! half an hour of adjustment gave me a good idle. Time to source driveshaft, exhaust, radiator, linkages for throttle and transmission..Phew well all that is in and i have a car that runs around the block. Now i need a break from this and some time to recuperate the bank account so it will be (very illegally) driven to winter storage 30 min away in a few days. Just waiting for the hood to get back from some metallic massageing.
Here comes a few pics of what it looks like after 4 months of TLC.
Thanks for all the support so far and no doubt I'll be asking for more ...

[J. Gomez]

hmm, can't post pics. after i press "post" page uppdates vto a blank page and nothing happens. any advice?

Your files are too big try reducing the size around or below the 1Mg or reducing the size of pixels per inch of they are HD.

Pictures should be no problem by keeping them at the 1Mg however scan copies are different if they are scan at a high DPI which the pixels must be reduce down.

Good luck..!

[Bronze]

Thanks Jose!
Here comes a glimpse of my project

[Bronze]

engine

[Roger Zimmermann]

You bought a lot of work with that convertible! According to the firewall, the car was black from the factory. If you still have the body plate, the paint code will most certainly be the 10.
Good luck!

[Bronze]

A lot of work = a lot of fun when it comes to restoring an old Cad, right ?
Engine bay has been repainted plate says 12 - 50  Which would be Mandan Red over Canyon Grey which brings up a number of questions in my head:
1, If i google Mandan Reg i se a lot of quite bright red Cads, but the only residue of original paint i have on the car is the windshield frame inside and that red is more kind of burgundy i will try to attach a pic. Does this look like Mandan red to you?
2, If i get it right that means a Canyon gray car except from the small part above the thin chrome trim on top of the doors, but what should be painted red on the inside? It seems to have had a white steering wheel and white lower part of the dashboard.

3 the trim is 28, red and white leather, and i have found residue on the dash of a dark red vinyl, also the lower part of the front seat, below the chrome trim is dark red. Can i be sure that the seats would have been white on the sides with red piped parts?

The car is of course quite a bit away from doing the interior, but as there is no back seat I will need to have one made and then i might just as well do it in the correct colours.

I have not been able to find a good pic of a two tone convertible that shows the interior, If someone can point me in the right direction i would be most grateful.

/Martin

[Bronze]

Colour sample, is this Mandan red, white paper for reference

[Roger Zimmermann]

According to the sample I have, your red is the Mandan red. To be honest, I don't understand why there are both paint codes (12-50) which is making no sense. The top code 1 is for Ivory; you probably know it already.
Maybe somebody else will have an explanation.
The trim 28 is for red leather seat and seat back inserts with white leather bolster and trim. In fact, the seat bottom is red, the back rests are red till the middle and then white. Side of the seats is white.

[J. Gomez]

Martin,

The best option is for you to download the ’56 vehicle information which includes the Cadillac Data Book and the specs manual from the GM heritage site. -> https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-heritage-archive/vehicle-information-kits.html

For a quick reference you can also take a look at Ralph Messina’s compile records of the color, upholstery and accessories from here. -> http://www.rrrclc.org/the-cadillac-color-upholstery-accessory-database-1940-1979/

If you need additional details such as built sheet, etc. you can request the records from the CLC main site -> https://www.cadillaclasalleclub.org/page/VehicleAuth

As for paint color and paint chip the best site would be the historic color library from DuPont (aka Axalta now) here ->  http://historicalcolorlibrary.axaltacs.com/hcl/ .Site maybe a bit slow to access, just as FYI.

Good luck..! 

[Bronze]

Big thanks to you both!
This certainly will help me get a better understanding.
Roger, 12-50 would be a two tone paint, on a car with a roof, that would be 12, on a convertible it's just a small field on top of the doors, that continues into the inside of the car. Correct me if i am wrong.

Jose, i will study the links, and yes i am now a member in the mid century forum also, thanks for the hint

/Martin

[Bronze]

BTW, drove to the car to winter storage today. 45 minutes drive, so she is now officially a rolling restoration

[Bronze]

Would you say that the interior of this car is the correct combo of red and white according to my codes?
https://notoriousluxury.com/2014/06/19/1956-cadillac-series-sixty-two-convertible/

The thing that puzzles me is that i have the bottom most parts of the front seat and they have red vinyl on them, not white.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Well...you never can know what happens to a car after so many years...It's my understanding that with the trim code 28, the side of the seats should be white. They would be red with the code 29.
I have no information that a convertible could be have with a two-tone paint; if yes, this would be limited to the upper part of the doors and quarter panel, but not to be continued inside the car.

[6262]

Great thread! Makes me happy to see the original drive train and appearance return. Maybe I have the chance to see your car someday on a Swedish event.

I have not seen any reference to two-tone paint schemes for convertibles in factory documents. But I do not know enough about '56 to be certain. What is your source, Martin?   

[Bronze]

Hmm, This is getting interesting!
My "reference" is something i read on the net that i don't seem to be able to find now...Starting to doubt myself as both Roger on this forum and another knowledgeable person on midcentury cadillacs says a 2-tone convertible is a first to them.
However i do have the plate in the car and i do find residue of Red on the top of the doors and the windshield frame still has good red paint on it. Have i bought something unusual ? I guess i really should get the build sheet.

[Bronze]

Roger, regarding the paint, that is what i have. Top of doors and the part of the quarter panels that are above the thin chrome trim has residue of Red. but also the windshield frame, but that makes sense does it not. This is the parts that would have the top paint on a car with a roof ? The red windshield frame pain is in good condition as it has been covered with chrome trim, but the parts of the windshield frame that is not chrome trimmed would have shown red and not white paint.

[J. Gomez]

Hmm, This is getting interesting!
My "reference" is something i read on the net that i don't seem to be able to find now...Starting to doubt myself as both Roger on this forum and another knowledgeable person on midcentury cadillacs says a 2-tone convertible is a first to them.
However i do have the plate in the car and i do find residue of Red on the top of the doors and the windshield frame still has good red paint on it. Have i bought something unusual ? I guess i really should get the build sheet.

Well “very interesting..!”, the ’56 color chart does not show an option under lower code 12 for upper color 50, but is does if the lower color is 50 the upper is 12 is available. 

Yes you are correct the “built sheet” should be a must in this case, although it may show the same as your id tag, so you could be in the mystery  loop..!   

[Bronze]

Ok, will order the build sheet today.
As you see in the picture there is something strange with the rivets on the plate.  Starting to worry that the plate have been changed or altered at some point in time.

[Roger Zimmermann]

I don't believe that the body plate was modified; those rivets are not looking strange for me. Have a look at the plate my '56 de Ville had.
Did you find some gray paint on the lower body of your car?

[Bronze]

Hi again,
Here is the build sheet, not sure it adds much more to the body tag info.
Things i don't fully understand is "posture seat", "Basic G B",  "Equipment Group" and "opt GR ratio.
And i se no mention of special order, regarding the color combo..