1939 Cadillac Convertible Sedan #23 of 36 Built

[James Landi]

Mike-- so sorry that you've been hit with this  deeply frustrating piece of bad luck.  In no way intending to "throw a wrench" into the progress you've worked hard to accomplish; however, you might consider using one of those expanding rubber plugs for the "time being."  On rare occasions, the original steel "freeze outs" are corroded because the past owners allowed the coolant to turn corrosive, so using a temporary rubber plug will provide you with some useful longer term "testing" of the entire motor as well as a test for the other plugs.  You may find that, over time, other plugs have been compromised.  I've successfully used a " temporary  expanding plug" as a "workaround," and over a period of  years, never developed any leakage even in vast temperature swings.  Hope this helps...  press on, respectfully,  James

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Thanks guys for weighing in....

I think what happened is that the plugs they used were too small....the plug that popped...I put it back in the hole and it fell right to the bottom and it barely touched the sides.....that's not right....

I figured the other plug is too small also....It would be just a matter of time before it went also....so I pulled the intake and exhaust manifolds to get better access to the plugs and it would give me a chance to look around at some of the rebuilt motor while I was there....I'm hopping they didn't short cut other areas during the rebuild.....

This morning I found and bought a new 1-3/16" and (2) 1-1/4" freeze plugs....the brand new smaller plug again fell right to the bottom of the hole....the 1-1/4" plug was snug right at the top of the hole...that's what I remember a plug should fell like going in....I spread some red Permatex on the edges and then tapped the plug gently to get it started going down the hole, then did what Bruce said to do with the ball peen hammers, they went down deeper and that also spread them out nicely....

I changed both plugs and boy the internals look alot cleaner than the motor I pulled from the convertible...remember those pictures?...yikes!

Like I said today I changed both plugs and then put the top of the motor back together again....nice and easy, no broken bolts and no left over parts...haha....

I'll exercise a couple of cars tomorrow and give the Permatex time to set up and then get back to running this motor again....I want to get it timed and running good before the fenders go back on.....

Mike

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Mike,

These plugs are supposed to be a snug fit in the hole, and should not have to be tapped in with the hammer to seat them, before doing the bigger tap.

I am curious as to the size of the hole as against the plug, and what it is supposed to be.

The only Welsh Plugs that need to be tight going into the holes is the cup type.   As these rely on the sides of the cup to hold them in, and are installed with something like a reasonably sized mandrel (read as a socket on an extension)   The extension is there to protect the fingers on the hand that is not wielding the hammer.

Bruce.

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Bruce once I dropped the smaller plug into the hole....you could tell that a hit wouldn't spread the plug wide enough to seal....those were the sizes I pulled out that failed 1-3/16"...

Then I put the larger one in...1-1/4"....it was snug all around...a little tapping with a small hammer got it started all around the hole going down....then the final pop of the hammer spread them nicely to seal....I think it's going to be ok...

I looked in the manual and there was nothing on the size of any of the freeze plugs....

Mike

[James Landi]

Mike, it's all good that you fixed it properly.  Of course you're right on target about the engine running in tune.  I purchased a vehicle that had a machine shop rebuild price of nearly $5,000, and the owner could not keep his rebuilt engine running. He was sorely and justifiably frustrated, and when I got to it, the vacuum advance was ruptured and the carburetor was a disaster. So you're correct, you can't assume anything. Another rebuilt motor was sold to me "on the cheap," and it had the wrong (sized) push rods, and that took some "doing" on my part to figure out... go figure. Looking forward to the day, in the not too distant future, when you have that old gal running beautifully... Happy day,  James 

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Well things are starting to take shape here...

Got the car in that high build primer today.......lots of sanding now on the horizon...

Motor is running pretty good and the new wiring harness is at least run to various parts of the car.......

Looks like I've got more than a few hours under that dash hooking up everything....Under the hood and the wiring going back to the rear of the car were pretty easy......I labeled everything in the hopes to make it easier to connect....Rhode Island Wiring did a nice job breaking everything down for easy installation.....

Mike

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

more pictures

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

more pictures

[James Landi]

Va va voom:  so impressive... really coming together.  Can you post a video so we can hear  the engine running when you have some time?   Looking like (and sounding like) you're making impressive progress.   Happy day, James

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Thanks Jim for the words of encouragement......Video??....I'm lucky I can hold the camera the right way and not photograph my forehead !!

I got under the dash and made all the connections for the gauges, switches and the lights....Once your under there you don't want to have to get out, so having everything within reach is key....I also tried to label everything before I got under there to help with an easy installation.....

That little cardboard box is important because it keeps all your tools in one place....I've tried to work without it and somehow every screw driver, nut driver and pliers ends up underneath me and of course I can't reach any of them....included within eye sight is the shop manual, wiring diagram, an extra 1939 gauge cluster so I can see where everything should go and a small mirror just in case....Also the all important drop light....

All seemed to go well without a hitch....then I moved onto the fuel tank sending wire and the brake light switch......worked on the tail light wiring into the rear taillight fixtures....all is good....

The voltage regulator looks a little tricky with 6 wires in the harness....I'm used to a 3 wire voltage regulator....I'm going to need help when I get there....1939 is different than 1940.....

Mike

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Here are some more helpful wiring diagrams from the shop manual and Rhode Island wiring....I needed them all....

Mike

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Started to sand that high build primer....looking for small dents and dings...not too many but you can see a few dark spots that will require some body putty.....Boy the shop is getting dusty now...only to get alot worse....

Mike

[Brad Ipsen CLC #737]

This car originally had a 6 terminal voltage regulator on it.  They are very difficult to find and even if you do lots of work to get them working.  Cadillac was not supplying them by 1941 according to the Serviceman.  Attached is instruction on where to put the 6 wires on a 3 terminal replacement.

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

This car originally had a 6 terminal voltage regulator on it.  They are very difficult to find and even if you do lots of work to get them working.  Cadillac was not supplying them by 1941 according to the Serviceman.  Attached is instruction on where to put the 6 wires on a 3 terminal replacement.

WOW Brad!!...big help !!....Thank You !!

Mike

[Roger Zimmermann]

Nice idea with the small box to keep the tools in one place!

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

I know it's still a ways off but I thought I would experiment with colors for the car....

I know the body color....Farnconia Beige....which is a dark rich looking brown......the top color I don't know....the rims on the car seem to be a good place to put a contrasting color....

I went to the fabric store and got some samples of material color to simulate the convertible top.....I then painted some washers with various red color paint rattle cans I had on the shelf, I put silver coins to illustrate the hub caps......then dipped a paint stick into the Franconia Beige paint.....

The combination is going to be nothing like the flashy colors of the 50s but....I wanted an understated quietly elegant looking car......

Anybody,.... please chime in and tell me your thoughts....like the rim contrast color....stay with a red?...go with the body color on the rims or totally different color....

Mike

[Ralph Messina CLC 4937]

Mike,

Beautiful job. The car looks great. FWIW, the ’39 Du Pont color chart shows your wheels the same color as the body: Franconia Beige. The color contains “Dark Red Oxide” as one of the tints which may help if you want red wheels. The only other ’39 red wheel color  is Corsican Red which I suspect is bright red given the body colors it’s paired with. But, after the amount of work you’ve invested you have the right to paint it any color you’d like

More pics as you progress please

[Tom Boehm]

Hello Mike, I like how you are going about choosing a color scheme. I am a professional painter/decorator (brushes and rollers) and I do the same thing with wallpaper, fabric, and paint color samples. I did the same with paint samples, linoleum samples, pieces of original upholstery, and floor mats to decide on colors for my Lasalle. I would suggest using a much bigger sample of the body color in your simulations because it will be the biggest area on the car. Since you asked for opinions.... I like the bright red wheels with the darker top fabric. Body color wheels would be OK too. I don't think the darker brown/black wheels would look good with your body color. Also, consider the tires. Are you going with whitewalls or blackwalls?

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

The work continues....quite a bit has been done in the last 6 weeks....

Finished up sanding the Rust Defender.....getting it ready to put the seal coat on....that means the paint isn't too far behind....

Mike

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Applied sealer to the car....this has to be sanded to get the last of the small scratch marks out.....

The grille on this car is really tough to work with....lots of panels, fenders, the hood and the grille all come together at almost one point near the nose.....we did lots of loosening of bolts and moving fenders, the hood and head light panels, even the radiator support to get the 80 year old nose to look right....

We decided to paint the car with the grille and fender trim in place because it took a long time to get it to look decent...no sense pulling it all apart again and risk scratching the paint putting it back on....

Mike