Shedding

The dog, Max, has been shedding like crazy.

It has been raining every day for the last couple of weeks.

Today, there were blue skies.  A perfect day for a ride in a convertible.  Why not take the dog and let the wind blow off some of that fur?  We took a nice drive, mostly on backroads, for about 2 hours this afternoon.  Max seemed to have a good time sniffing the air and looking around.

Unfortunately, the wind only seemed to loosen the fur, not blow it off.  Max exploded like a dandelion when we walked back into the house.


What have I been doing for the last two years, and why haven't I posted?  Hope to bring things up-to-date in the next couple of days...

E L D O R A D D

As I mentioned in a previous post, one of the letters for the 'Eldorado' badge on the trunk was broken during the repaint.

I finally got around to ordering new trunk letters. I was excited to get them - they are so shiny and perfect. As I pulled them out of the package, I realized that I was missing an 'O'.

The letters spelled eldoradD.

Sigh.

I e-mailed the supplier and they responded that they would ship the missing 'O' asap. So, I'm hoping to get that in the next day or two.

New Paint, Part 2

A little more info on how I went about getting the Eldorado painted.

As I previously wrote, when I took the car cover off this Spring, the paint looked really terrible. Flaking off the trunk, rough on the hood. In short, the car was getting the wrong kind of attention and it was kind of embarrassing driving around.

So, I surfed the net a bit and took it to several body/auto restoration shops over the course of a couple of weekends. One day, I easily put a hundred miles on the Caddy because one of the shops was way north of the city, and the other was way south. The car ran well on the highway.

The estimates I got ranged from $8,000 to $28,000, with the work taking between 6 and 18 months. I was kind of surprised about how long the work would take, so I considered putting it off until the winter when I don't drive the car much. But, I really didn't want to drive a cruddy looking car over the summer.

I wasn't too shocked about the $8k estimates, as a conversation I had with a body shop a couple of years ago indicated that I should expect to pay that much. The $28,000 kind of floored me though, but they wanted to do a full exterior restoration, replacing the taillights, chrome, etc.

After some consideration, I decided even $8k was too much. While I'm pretty confident in the mechanical integrity of the car, you never know when something major is going to blow up. I just couldn't see spending that much money when there is a possibility of having the car turning into a 5,000 lb. paperweight.

I should mention that I got to see the current projects these shops were working on. There was some amazing work. Everything from a '57 Chevy to an Aston Martin to a '76 Eldorado. It looked like all these shops did excellent work, but I am not really looking to make a show-car out of my Eldorado.

So, I went to Maaco. The Internet intelligentsia seemed to indicate that Maaco quality depended on the shop. Some shops are good, some are horrible. I took some time to talk to a local Maaco shop, saw some cars they were working on. They had a couple of 60's era cars on the lot and the work seemed pretty good - even paint, no over spray.

The Maaco estimate was way less than half of any other shop, even for Maaco's premium paint job with clear coat.

So, what's the difference between Maaco and the other shops? The other shops take the time to take off all the body panels and all the chrome. They realign all the panels, the hood, and trunk so all the gaps are even. The body on my Caddy is pretty straight, but the trunk is misaligned a bit.

Maaco doesn't do auto restorations. They don't align the panels and they tape the chrome rather than removing it.

Also, you save some money at Maaco by not repainting the door jambs, and the underside of the hood and trunk, whereas the other shops include that in the price. The estimate included sanding and primer and some body work. They estimated the work would take 2-4 weeks, which really appealed to me.

So, I felt pretty comfortable with the Maaco guys I talked to and dropped it off at the beginning of April.

It took them two months to finish, which was a little frustrating, but I think the results look good. The paint is smooth, no drips or orange peel. There is a little over spray, but not noticeable from a few feet away. They did take off some of the chrome, but mostly covered the chrome with tape. The metallic paint has a nice shine, and the color complements the chrome.

When they stripped the old paint, they found the body needed a little more work than they expected, so we went $520 over the estimate. The shop was pretty good at checking with me about that.

Anyway, the car is back to getting the right kind of attention. To paraphrase Jonathan Richman, "Girls turn the color of an avocado when I drive down their street in my Eldorado".

New Paint

I got the car back on Thursday morning. Yay! It is very shiny.

I went with a bright blue metallic paint with clearcoat.

Not an authentic Cadillac color. It is pretty flashy, but hopefully not too ostentatious.

There is still some stuff to be done; I need to get pinstripes added and I'll hopefully get that taken care of in the next week or two.

The interior really looks dingy compared to the new paint. I think I am just going to buy some seat covers rather than reupholstering the seats. The next big restoration expense will be replacing the top. Maybe I'll take care of that this winter.

Also, they took the E L D O R A D O letters off the trunk prior to painting. The pins on one of the 'O's broke off, which wasn't entirely unexpected. The holes for the badges are visible, so I think I am just going to order some replacements and just store away the originals.

I rinsed some dust off the paint just prior to taking the photos so there is some water beading on the hood and trunk.

Waiting...

Wow, it has been 6 months since I've posted. Of course, I don't do much, if any, driving during the winter, so nothing to report there.

I pulled the car cover off way back in March and the paint looked really, really bad. I washed it and drove around a bit, but I was kind of ashamed of the way it looked. So, I decided to get it painted. The Caddy has been in the shop for two months now, and for the last month they've promised to get it done "next week". sigh.

Anyway, I'll post more about that after I get the car back. Hopefully soon...

I got rid of Marcia's Bug early this year. The whole problem with the check engine light not going off was because the stupid dealer put in the wrong part. I took it to an independent VW mechanic who found the problem.

The independent mechanic also checked all the codes, gave me a printout, and wrote down the correct air sensor part number. So, back to the dealer with all the info. Of course, they wouldn't admit to anything. And then they claimed that they couldn't check because the independent mechanic had cleared all the codes.

Then my dear wife, Marcia, who doesn't know the difference between FWD and RWD, suggested that they actually take a look at the part and see if it was the right one. Go Marcia!

After putting in the right part, the check engine light stayed off. Put an ad on AutoTrader and sold the Bug in about a week.

btw, the name of the independent mechanic is Karma VW. If I still had a VW, I'd use them again.

I bought Marcia a used, low-mileage 2006 Infiniti M35. I got a really good deal on it. At first, she didn't care for it. Too big for her. But the car has some nice amenities, including a rear backup camera, so she has taken a liking to it. It is also a 4-door, which makes it a lot easier to get daughter and dog in and out.

I'll post more after I get the Eldorado back, along with photos. I did stop by the shop last week, and they had done some work on it - it was looking good but had a ways to go before being done.

Repairs...

A lot of stuff to report on over the last few months.

I've been traveling out of town quite a bit over the last few months, so work on the Caddy has been in fits and starts.


Fuel System Problems

I was all set to take the family to the DragonCon parade over Labor Day weekend. I'm not much of a sci-fi fan, but the parade is very entertaining and Kyra got a kick out of it last year.

So, I loaded the family into the Caddy. The car started right up, I drive down my very steep driveway, brake at the street to check for traffic, give it some gas and STALL.

No worries. It will start right up, I thought. NOT. Anyway, the car wouldn't start after trying it several times. When I poured a bit of gas into the carb, the engine turned over, but would quit pretty quick.

I live on a busy street and 1/2 the car is in the street. Remember, this is a big car, so we are talking about 9 feet of Eldorado hood blocking the traffic lane. Wife is getting stressed as cars go by. I'm getting stressed as wife and daughter are complaining. Blood pressure goes way up.

So, I figure I can push the car out of the road a bit. And I can! The problem is that besides being steep, our driveway is also very narrow, with concrete walls on each side. So, a bit of steering is needed.

Ever try to turn the steering wheel on a 1970's Cadillac when the engine isn't running? It is hard. My wife is 5'2". Pretty much impossible for her to turn the wheel. My suggestion to her was to 'Stop bitching about how you can't do it and just ******* do it!'.

That went over well.

Anyway, my next idea was for her to drive my truck and use it to push the Eldorado up the driveway while I steer. Wifely veto of that excellent idea, and a wifely storm back up to the house.

So, I called AAA. They were out within a 1/2 hour and I had it towed. The shop that did my brakes is open for a few hours on Saturday, so I had it taken there.

Anyway, the fuel lines were bad. I've known that, but never worried about it too much. Been on my long list of TO-DO items. So, I have the shop replace the fuel lines. No time for me to do it.


NO BRAKES!!!

The shop replaced the fuel lines and gave me a call to let me know the car is ready. The owner mentioned that he had taken it for a good drive and everything seemed to be A-OK.

I tap the brakes as I exit the shop driveway and nothing happens. I push hard on the brakes as the Eldo coasts into the road. Nothing. Luckily, there were no cars coming, or it would have been ugly.

I steer the Caddy into the road, going downhill, locking my knee and throwing my whole body into pressing the brake. I slowed enough to make it into the next empty lot and turned the car around.

There is a reason the brake pedals are so big on these old cars. It is so that you can put both feet on the pedal should the brakes fail. I'll remember that next time.

I gently drive the car back into the shop as the mechanics are getting ready to go home for the day. "I got no brakes", I say. They take a look.

Their best guess is that the replacement boots and straps on the CV axles had worked themselves loose, slapped around and whacked the brake line, causing a brake fluid leak.


New CV Axles

Another thing I've been putting off until I get some time. In this case, like the fuel lines, I was forced to pay for the work. They didn't charge me much more than Rock Auto would have for the parts, though the labor was kind of a killer. They said the old axles came out pretty easily, much to their surprise.


How much money have I spent lately?

Not nearly as much as I have spent on Marcia's New Beetle. That car is 9 years old now, and that check engine light will not stay off.

Besides replacing the timing belt, water pump, thermostat, etc. we've had to replace the catalytic converter (which was still covered under warranty). But in order to replace that, the dealer had to fix all sorts of very expensive stuff to "clear the codes".

Of course, the check engine light lit up within 10 days of their repairs...

The definition of a boat is a 'hole in the water you throw money in'. The Eldorado may be a land yacht, but the Bug has definitely been the boat lately.

The thing that really makes me mad is that even with all the computer diagnostics the VW mechanics are still guessing at what is wrong, and they basically just replace stuff until they get lucky.

The Eldorado's carburetor works great, and probably hasn't been adjusted since it left the factory. No 'mass airflow sensor', etc. Of course, the car gets 12 mpg, but it is an easy-to-diagnose-when-there-is-a-problem 12 mpg.


In Conclusion

Enough ranting. Assuming I haven't jinxed things with my carburetor comment above, the car should be in excellent mechanical shape now - new brakes, new fuel lines, new CV axles. I am keeping my fingers crossed...

The weather has been great lately. Cool and dry, so it has been great to drive around on the weekends. This is the weather that brings out all the cool cars - Kharmann Ghias, El Caminos, 60's era Cadillacs, Chevys, Fords, Dodges and any old convertible. Basically, fun and good-looking cars without working air-conditioning that are too hot to drive in the summer.

4th of July

This evening, the family went out to watch fireworks. We just cruised over to Turner Field and parked on a side street. A bunch of neighbors were out to watch the fireworks as well, and set off fireworks of their own - some of the them were pretty impressive.

We also took the dog. Max was kind of freaking out at home with all the explosions outside, so we decided to pack him up as well. He was well behaved, more interested in other dogs and people milling around than the show.

Kyra got to stand up in the back seat to see the fireworks, and Marcia kind of curled up in the passenger seat. It was a nice summer evening and we had a good time.

It was even Marcia's idea to take the convertible! What a surprise! A couple of weekends ago, just the two of us were going out for a quick bite and a beer and she pitched a fit about having to ride in the Eldorado. It took a 1/2 hour of cajoling to get her into the car to drive about 2 miles.

Here is a cellphone photo of Kyra, Marcia and Max going to see the fireworks.