Repair Update

Okay, I'm finally almost finished replacing the smog and water pumps.

As I mentioned, the top bolt for the water pump was a bit stripped so I had to put in a new bolt and secure it with a nut. This required moving the A/C compressor out of the way.

Also, it was a tight fit to get the pulley onto the new water pump flange - I wound up buying 4 short screws to clamp the pulley down onto the shaft. I couldn't force the pulley on with my hands - too tight. So, after clamping it down I removed the 4 short bolts and attached the fan assembly with the long bolts. This method was kind of nice as the holes for the fan assembly, pulley, and water pump were lined up by using the short bolts, saving some aggravation trying to get the long bolts screwed in.

So, I got everything put together, tightened the belts and filled the radiator. Cranked it and didn't notice any leaks so things seem to be okay. Crossing my fingers!

It was getting late in the day so I didn't take the car for a spin and the weather looks kind of crappy today, so it looks like I'll wait 'til next weekend to warm up the engine with a drive and change the oil.

I noticed that a lot of the rubber gaskets around various emissions components (PCV valve, etc.) are pretty rotted, so I'll have to look into getting replacements.

I still have to attach the fan shroud, but I think I'm pretty much done with this job.

Brochure Photo

Here is a sweet photo of a 1971 Eldorado from a Cadillac brochure. It's a lighter blue than my Eldorado, but the interior is the same. Gorgeous!



I downloaded this from www.oldcarbrochures.com, a really neat site I just discovered the other day.

Working on the Eldorado

I read somewhere online that the A.I.R. pump is also referred to as a 'smog pump'.

Yesterday morning was quite lovely - partly cloudy and mild temperature. I would have liked to be driving the Eldorado rather than working on it, but I needed to get the new parts in.

I spent a few hours on Thanksgiving and Friday pulling the smog pump and the water pump. Here is a photo of the old and new parts. Fascinating, huh?



As usual, these projects take a lot longer than I expected: what I think is gonna be difficult isn't too hard and I get frustrated over the most unexpected things. In this case, getting the pumps & pulleys unbolted was fairly easy - actually getting them out of the engine compartment was a pain. There just isn't much space between the engine and radiator and there are air-conditioning and gas lines cluttering up the space. I probably should have taken off the alternator to give myself some room.

Also, getting the lower radiator hose off the water pump was a pain. I decided to replace it which necessitated a trip to NAPA. I got that plus some other stuff - I need to change the oil, too, so I picked up a filter and quarts of oil. And a new headlight bulb for Marcia's Bug...

Okay, I got the new parts in and torqued the water pump to spec. There is one bolt that is not tightening completely, though it is snug, so I think some of the threads might be stripped. I'll have to buy a new bolt and see if that works. Luckily, this bolt is right at the top of the pump so it doesn't go directly into the engine block. It attaches to a flange at the top of the engine, right under the A/C compressor, so if I can't get it tightened properly then I think I can put a nut on the other side of the flange to get it tight.

Another complication was that I lost the washer to one of the bolts holding the smog pump on so that meant a trip to Ace Hardware for a 19-cent washer.

I was hoping to get the new belts on, but it started raining yesterday afternoon and it was getting late. So, hopefully I'll get that done next weekend and get the Caddy cranked up. Then change the oil.

On a side note, the cat really appreciates the Caddy. Ever since I brought it home, her favorite vantage point is from the top of the convertible, and she quite resents it when I have to kick her off. Here is a photo of the kitty on the Cat-illac:

Smoke

I was gonna drive the Caddy to run some errands on Saturday morning. Of course, I took some time to check the various fluid levels since I hadn't driven it in a while. Everything looked fine.

Shortly after cranking it, I heard screeching sounds coming from the front and smoke started pouring from under the hood. I shut it down and opened the hood and found a broken drive belt.

It looks like what has happened is the Air Pump seized, causing the belt to grind against the pulley, overheat, and snap.

The air pump is part of the emissions control system. It pumps air into the exhaust port of each cylinder to help oxidize any unburned hydrocarbons. It also heats air before it goes into the carburetor. That belt also drives the water pump.

So, it looks like I need to replace the air pump, which isn't too, too pricey - about $100 for the part. The bummer is that I believe the belts were all pretty new and I hadn't planned on replacing them anytime soon, but since I have to replace one, I should replace them all.

Also, as I've mentioned before, for such a large car it is pretty tight under the hood. There isn't much room between the radiator and the front of the engine, so it is gonna be a pain to replace that pump.

Since I'm gonna be under there, I am wondering if I should replace the water pump. It seems to be working okay, but its not that expensive (about $50) and I really don't want to have to get back in there in 6 months if it goes bad.

Anyway, I guess I need to go ahead and order the parts and try to find a free weekend to put in the new parts. Sadly, it looks like I won't be driving the Eldorado for a while...

Photos

Here are a couple of photos from October 4 when Kyra & I went for ice cream.

These photos were taken by our friend Robin who was out registering voters during the Kirkwood Fling.

Mini

Here is a photo of the Caddy with a Mini:



It was such a nice day today, sunny and cool, that I had to take the Eldorado for a drive.

Don't know where that bolt came from. Had a bit of a scare Thursday morning when I started the car to go to work. A very loud CLUNK! came from the front when I first tried to turn it over. Marcia came out of the house asking "What was that!?". She quickly followed that by saying "Go ahead, drive it. It'll be fine, it will be fine...". I'm not sure if she just didn't want to see the Caddy again, or didn't want to see me again...

No weird noises or other parts falling off since then...

Spare Parts

I found this 3 1/2" bolt and washer down at the base of my driveway after getting home this afternoon.



They certainly look like they could have come from the Eldorado. They don't look like any of the bolts I had to take off to replace the shocks and springs.

I live on a busy road, so it could have come from some other car, but I'm thinking something big is getting ready to fall of the Caddy... Rats! I was planning on doing some highway driving tomorrow, but I guess I should do a good inspection before driving it again.

Smart

Eldorado vs. Smart Car



Smart cars are 8.8' long and 5.1' wide.

So, the Eldorado is over twice as long as a Smart Car, and a foot and a half wider.

Ice Cream

Kyra & I took the Caddy for a spin this afternoon. Kyra didn't want to go but I bribed her with the promise of ice cream. We saw some friends, went to the playground, and stopped for the promised ice cream. Kyra had chocolate and mint chocolate chip. I had cheesecake and chocolate.

The car rides quite a bit nicer with the new suspension components and I don't have to worry about dragging the bottom going over speed humps anymore. The annoying squeak from the back seems to have been fixed as well.

Front Shocks

I put the front shocks in after I got home from work this evening. I got done just as it was getting too dark to see.

For such a big car, it is really tight working on the shocks - hardly enough room to turn a wrench.

I'm looking forward to taking the car for a spin tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be nice - sunny and not too warm. Hopefully, nothing will fall off the car!

Rear Springs & Shocks

This weekend I worked on getting new springs & shocks into the Caddy. I was hoping to get all 4 shock absorbers in, but I ran out of time. I did get the rear springs and shocks in, though.

The bolts were all pretty rusty, but weren't too difficult to get off. The really hard thing was getting the bolts that hold the top of the shocks in place. They are fastened to nuts that are hard to reach and impossible to see. You are supposed to bend a wrench to get into that tight space to hold the nuts. I did that, but it was almost impossible to get it around the nuts. I lost my grip on the wrench and it slipped away, down into a crevasse between the brace that holds the top of the suspension and the rear of the passenger compartment. Never to be seen again, apparently.

Anyway, I found a workaround and finally got those bolts out.

I did the passenger side first, which took a loooong time. The driver side went a lot quicker. You have to use a jack to position the axle just right to be able to unattach and re-attach the shocks and the control arms.

Here is a photo of the car after the installation. As you can see, I've got a little too much air in the shocks, but its not a bad look, I think.



Next weekend, I'll get the front shocks in place. They are supposed to be a lot easier than the rear shocks.

Update

Not much too report - just been driving the Caddy on the weekends in mixed city/highway driving. The car likes cruising at about 70 and doesn't mind getting pushed up to 90 for passing.

I have got to get the rear suspension fixed - I need new shocks all around, and new springs in the back. Complicating matters a bit, the automatic level control system was disconnected sometime in the past. That system raised & lowered the back of the car according to load, so that if a bunch of people were piled in the back seat, or there was a lot of stuff in the trunk, the car would still ride level.

Also, springs for later Eldorados are easily available, but for 71-73 they are harder to find. Apparently, increasingly stringent bumper safety standards between 1971 & 1976 caused the front and back of the cars to become heavier and the suspensions were reworked a bit.

Anyway, I think I've got some sources for springs and shocks - I just need to make some calls to see if they are going to be compatible with the load-leveling being deactivated. It doesn't look too hard to do, but all the bolts are pretty rusted so it could take a while to get them off.

I was hoping to replace the control arm bushings, but it looks like specialized tools are needed - perhaps the whole control arms have to be replaced. That gets into some real money, so I'm hoping adding the springs and shocks will get the ride where I want it to be (and will stop scraping off chunks of the exhaust system when I go over a speed bump).

I did get the radio out of the glove compartment - its now velcroed under the dash. And I got speaker boxes for the front speakers, so it sounds pretty okay now. I still need to hook up an auxilliary power supply so the radio will remember its settings - was going to take the one from the clock, but since that requires removal of the whole dashboard, I might just use the wire from the cigarette lighter.

That's it for now.

Road Trip

Marcia has some of her work in the Perspectives Pottery Show in Watkinsville, just south of Athens. We drove to the opening on Friday in the Eldorado - the longest trip we have taken in the car so far.

I had installed the new top cable in the morning and the top works again, although the side with the new cable now goes down faster than the side with the old cable. Not sure if I need to replace the other cable or just need to adjust some stuff.

The car drove well and we only had one minor problem. I noticed that the exhaust pipe had worked itself loose - it had rusted out around one of the supporting brackets. I taped it together for the ride back and it held well until we drove up our rather steep driveway where it got scraped off. So, I'll need to get that fixed. Also, I need new shocks...

Anyway, we spent some time in downtown Athens and had a nice dinner there at a place called Farm 255.

Here is a photo of the Eldorado in Athens:

Top Manual

I got a used copy of the 1971 Folding Top 'B' & 'E' Convertible Styles supplement for the 1971 Fisher Body Service Manual.

Shortly after I bought the Eldorado, I read on message boards that it was very important to get the body service manual, one of the primary reasons being that it has a section on the folding top mechanism. (It also has a lot of info on the windshield wiper system, electrical system and seat mechanism, among other things).

Unfortunately, its section on convertible tops only applies to the 'A' bodies, which used an older hydraulic system to raise and lower the top. It has nothing in common with the motorized system on the Eldorado, which is an 'E' body.

I found this supplement at www.factoryautomanuals.com, and it was less than $10 with shipping. I just took a quick glance at it today and it looks like it contains lot of very helpful info about how to adjust and test the mechanism. This is going to be an invaluable resource for me and I'm really glad to get it. Here is a sample page:

Top Troubles

The top on this car has never worked perfectly for me - it always needs some babying to get it to go up or down. At the least, this puts a lot of stress on the rear window. The rear glass was broken out when I bought it because it wasn't closing right and was bending the glass. I tried putting some Lexan in there figuring that was bendable, but I was in a rush one day and when I put the top down it bent the Lexan right in half and cracked it.

Anyway, last weekend, the top got hung up half-way down. Found some time to look at it today and the problem had gotten worse - it wasn't moving hardly at all.

I took a look at the mechanism (after taking out the back seat again) and found that one of the cables that pulls the gears to move the top had broken. You can see the end that fits into the motor has broken off:



This isn't an expensive part - $35. It should be here next week.

So, hopefully this will get the top working again. I'm a bit concerned that there is some binding in the mechanism that led to the torque twisting off the end, but I'll have to wait to get everything back together to investigate.

Why?

So, why would I buy huge, gas-guzzling, money-sucking car like this?

The simple answer is: Because I've always wanted one.

When I was a kid, one of our neighbors bought a brand new white Cadillac Eldorado convertible with a red interior. I don't remember the year exactly, but it was probably a '76. He used to take us kids for rides in it occasionally. Here is a photo of a similar car:



Ever since I've been fascinated with the Eldorado convertibles made from 1971-76. I've always wanted one (and by "one" I mean "several"), but I could never justify spending the money. And if I had been thinking rationally, or told my wife about my plan, then all sorts of good reasons would have been presented to not buy this car.

After all, I know nothing about automobile repair, am not mechanically inclined, do not have an "awesome set of tools", don't have extra money to spend on repair or restoration, don't have time for a hobby and don't have space for it.

Every few years I'd surf around the web and kind of check out Eldorados. I saw a lot of info about problems with these cars, and it seemed like ones for sale were either fully restored and very expensive, or junkers that were good only for parts.

Anyway, I was looking at eBay a few months ago, and this baby popped up in the Atlanta area. It needed work, but ran, had most of its parts, fairly new tires, wasn't outrageously priced...

So, with the economy in a downturn, I felt it was my patriotic duty to spend money rescuing this fine classic American automobile.

At this point, I'm really happy that I did. I love driving this car - it fits me. Being a big guy, this car is just my size. I can stretch out, lean back and cruise in comfort.

I do feel guilty that I haven't yet put a coat of wax on it, put new shocks on it, or checked the rear brakes. And I'd really like to get it repainted, but this will all happen in time. I doubt I'll ever restore the car - I like to drive it and I plan on keeping it road-worthy, but to spend beaucoup bucks beautifying a car that is driven regularly and not garaged isn't in the cards.

This is my dream car and I wish I had bought one sooner - 'cuz now I'd have two! So, yeah, its silly to indulge in this, but I highly recommend giving in to frivolous feelings, if only for the big smile it puts on my face.

Photo

I've been busy so I haven't had time to do much with the Caddy lately except drive it. Probably just as well - it has been so hot here, working outside would be no fun.

Here is a cellphone photo with downtown in the background.

Belly of the Beast

Here is a scan from the shop manual showing the largest engine ever put into a passenger automobile - the 500 cubic inch V-8 Eldorado engine.

Back in the 1930's, Cadillac made V-12s and V-16s, with displacements of 368 ci and 452 ci, respectively.

Jaguar also made a 5.3 litre V-12 in the 1970's, which is about 325 cubic inches.

Colors

Today, I received the 1971 Cadillac Shop Manual and some other documents I bought off eBay, including a paint chart which is displayed here.

The color of my Eldorado is 'Brittany Blue'. Or at least is was, now it more of an 'oxidized and cracked blue'.

Salvage Yard

Kyra & I took a trip to a salvage yard today looking for parts. We think this may be a '61 Caddy, but we're not sure. It looked like most of the parts were there - at least two hubcaps were inside. This will make a nice project for somebody (not for me, though, I'm holding out for a '59 - don't tell Marcia).

Kyra & I spent a couple of hours working on the Eldorado yesterday. We figured out that the reason the windshield fluid wasn't squirting is because of a bad pump. The pump is integrated with the whole windshield motor assembly, so you can't just buy the pump. We did pick up a motor and hopefully I'll be able to pull the pump out of that.

We didn't find any of the other parts we were looking for - eBay seems to be the best place to find stuff.

We also determined that the problem with the power locks isn't fuse related. And we found a crack in the driver-side CV boot (not the one Marcia replaced) so I squirted some grease in there.

Here's another photo of Kyra at the salvage yard. It was kind of rainy today so we drove the truck instead of the Eldorado.

90 MPH

Got the Eldo up to 90 today, baby!

It was a little hard to take a photo while haulin', so the picture doesn't quite show 90, but we got up there, and maybe a little faster.

It was such a nice evening: mid 80s, low humidity, just a few clouds, I decided to take the Caddy for a spin. After filling it up (cha-ching!), we hit the highway. Since the car seemed to be running well, I took the opportunity to open it up a bit.

The Eldorado felt real good, straight and steady at that speed. Until we hit some bumps and then it was like "BAD IDEA! BAD IDEA! BAD IDEA!".

As you can tell, I'm a lot more comfortable driving the car than I was a couple of months ago. Seat belts are for sissies! Brakes are for losers!

Speaking of brakes - brake fluid seems to be the second most leaky thing after engine coolant, followed by oil. Transmission and power steering fluid seem to be okay.

Oh yeah, the power steering does quit unexpectedly sometimes, so I thinking I'm gonna need a new power steering pump one of these days.

And... while the car felt great at 90, it subsequently developed a new squeak. Luckily, I only hear it at or below 35 mph, which gives me some great incentive to keep tearing up the highways!

Here is a photo of us coming back into town this evening:

Parts

Here is photo of Kyra with the trim for behind the driver-side front wheel. I also got another piece for the other side even though that hasn't fallen off yet. The pieces are more worn than what is on the car, but I think they will polish up okay. They don't have any serious dents or rust, so now its a matter of finding the clips to hold them on.



I also noticed that the trim on the door is getting loose in a couple of places. I had an opportunity to buy all the lower body trim from the same eBay seller and it was quite tempting. Given enough space & money, it would be great to do that and store the pieces until I need them. Unfortunately, most of my discretionary income now goes to gas, and we live in a small bungalow on a small lot with no garage. In other words - we have no storage space!

Driving Around

I took Marcia out to dinner Saturday night - the weather was nice so of course we took the Eldorado.

This car gets a lot of attention - people stare, wave and smile. People come up and ask questions about the car and relate stories about people they knew who owned one. Marcia doesn't travel in the Caddy very often so she's not used to the attention. It kind of feels like being a movie star, I guess.

She was wondering why the car gets notice so much. Here is my theory:

• It's old. You just don't see many cars this old on the road, much less an old Cadillac like this.
• It's huge. It's wider and longer than a lot of SUVs.
  
• It's a convertible. I think convertibles get more attention anyway, but it is rare to see one of these land yachts.

Also, I suspect folks think we must be filthy rich to be able to afford to put gas in this baby. Maybe they are being nice to us hoping that we will start passing out $100 bills or remember them in our will or something.

On another note, I got the little piece of chrome that fits behind the rear wheel off of eBay. Haven't had time to see if it fits yet...

Radio

Sure, the sweet, sweet purr of a massive V-8 is music to my ears, but I thought it would be nice to listen to the radio or MP3's occasionally. I bought a cheap-o system shortly after buying the car but only got around to putting it in yesterday - that took most of the day.

I'm getting really good at taking the back seat out and putting it back in. The rear speakers fit behind there.

Since the new radio won't fit in the old slot, I've got it stashed in the glove compartment. I'll move it out of there eventually and try to mount it under the dash.

First thing I played on the new radio - Master of Reality by Black Sabbath.

MPG

Okay, the bad news is in - it looks like I'm getting about 7 miles per gallon in mostly city driving.

I was hoping for about 8-10 mpg in the city and better than that on the highway. Maybe that is too much to hope for - I think that these cars only got about 10 mpg when brand new (I'll have to check on that, though).

The car has a 26 gallon tank so it will go about 180 miles on a tank. I should mention that the owner's manual specifies premium gasoline. I'll let you do the math on how much it costs to fill up the tank.

I've been getting a strong smell of gasoline over the last couple of days (been driving it quite a bit over the Memorial Day weekend - weather has been great). So, I think that there might be a bit of a gas leak so I'll need to track that down sometime.

Parade

This morning we drove in a parade celebrating the 125th birthday of Grant Park. There were marching bands and floats and I got to drive the Eldorado with four 5-year olds in the back. The three girls had tiaras and fancy dresses and looked like little princesses; their prince got a fancy hat later in the day. We had a great time blowing horns, waving at people, eating candy and having our picture taken.

The photo above is us getting ready for the parade to start.

The photo below is with Council Member Carla Smith and her chief-of-staff Sheryl Bennett riding in the back. Kyra is back there with them, and the other three kids are in the front seat with me (kind of hard to see them, but they're there).

Happy Mother's Day!

For Mother's Day, some mommies get nice gifts, taken to a nice restaurant, maybe a spa treatment, or some other token of appreciation for the hard work and love they put into raising our children.

Kyra's mom gets to put a new CV boot on Daddy's Eldorado!



The car developed a noise about a week ago (or maybe it had been there before - there are so many noises that come and go its hard to tell) and the mechanic said it was the CV joint. The CV boot had cracked and the grease had leaked out.

Yesterday, I pulled the torn boot and a loose clamp off. I noticed the noise disappeared after doing that, so I'm hoping that the clamp was scraping against something and the joint isn't burned up. I don't hear a clicking or grinding anymore, even when turning. So, I bought a boot kit ($8.35) hoping that fresh grease will solve the problem. Also, bought jack stands ($39.99 + tax) to keep the car raised.

Not to get into the details of putting on a new boot, but its a pain, and it turns out Marcia's petite frame and nimble fingers were better suited to the job than mine. That's how she wound up getting stuck with the job.

While under there, we noticed that the other boot could use replacing, so I expect her to get on that within the next week or so. After that, she can think about replacing the shocks and checking out that brake squeal...

Just to show that Daddy helped a little, here is one photo of me under the car:

Tags & Title

The Eldorado didn't come with a license plate for the front and it looked weird with that empty space there. I thought it would be nice if I could find a Georgia license plate from 1971 (the year the Eldo was built) and it didn't take long to find one on eBay for only a couple of bucks.

The car didn't have a title, but it is old enough that a title isn't required to register it in Georgia. Though the line at the tag office was long, the staff was pretty efficient and friendly and I got a license plate for the Caddy pretty quickly. Kyra was with me and the wait wasn't long enough for her to get cranky.

Good news: I got the new valve stems for the front wheels put on today.
Bad news: The passenger side CV joint needs replacing. I'm gonna see if I can kludge together something and put off spending a couple of hundred bucks on that...

Photos

We are racing home after ballet yesterday trying to beat the rain.

We got a few drops on us before we got home. We probably would have beaten the rain completely but we stopped at the grocery store on the way home and a couple of people stopped us to ask questions and admire the Eldorado.



And this photo was taken today - I got some hubcaps on the car. Now I need to start looking for a replacement for the missing chrome on the front fender, behind the wheel...

Specs

From the owner's manual, here are some specs on the Eldorado:

Engine displacement: 500 cu. in. (8.2 L)
Horsepower:
  Gross: 365 @ 4400 rpm
  SAE Net: 235 @ 3800 rpm
Torque:
  Gross: 535 ft. lbs. @ 2800 rpm
  SAE Net: 410 ft. lbs. @ 2400 rpm

Length: 221.6 inches
Width: 79.8 inches
Weight: 4810 lbs.

So, the Eldorado is about the length & width of a 2008 Chevy Suburban. The Eldorado's much larger engine produces less horsepower, but more torque.

As for gas mileage..., I'll save that for another post.

Hub Caps!

Drove out to Hub Cap City in Austell yesterday and got 4 Cadillac hubcaps. These are not 1971 hubcaps, but they will fit the Eldorado.

I got these for $50. Since that is a lot less expensive than 1971 wheel covers, I am going to store the originals and put these on instead. That way, I won't cry so much if I lose one of these.

Update: Judging by this eBay listing these are from 1969-70 Eldorados and I got a good deal.

Car Cover

Finally sucked it up and bought a car cover last night because the rear window leaks and I want to keep the rain out.

I don't mind bailing out the car after a rain, I just don't want to spend another $50 on a new relay for the top motor. Or worse, have to buy a new top motor.

$89 for the cover (after I get $10 back from the mail-in rebate). It is supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow so we'll see if it actually keeps the interior dry.

I also called around to salvage yards/hubcap dealers looking for wheel covers for the Eldorado. The most helpful answer I got was "Good Luck!". It looks like the '71 wheel covers are "one year only", which makes them more difficult to replace.

October 1970

Found this photo of a 1971 Eldorado hardtop on the Motor Trend website. The accompanying text says:

"Cadillac's new-for-1971 El Dorado 'personal luxury coupe' was none of the above. It was about the size of your average Rose Parade float, ran a gas-sucking 500-cubic-inch V-8 underhood, and weighed somewhere around 4800 pounds."

They say that like its a bad thing...

Q & A

I've gotten a few questions which I'll take a couple of minutes to quickly answer.

First, I've supplied a fairly recent photo of Kyra (sans Eldorado) above.

I still have my 10-year old red Dodge Dakota pickup truck. That is what I consider to be the "dependable" vehicle. The Eldorado is for fun - driving around on weekends, little road trips, etc. I have been splitting my driving about equally between the two for the last week or two. The weather has been really nice here so I've been driving the Caddy to work a couple of days a week.

I don't have any idea what the real mileage is. Although the odometer works, and shows less than 80k miles, it could have rolled over and the actual mileage may be close 180,000 miles. Or, somebody may have rolled back the odometer and the real mileage may be somewhere between 80 & 180. I know very little about the provenance of the vehicle.

It's really hard to tell from the condition. It's a 40-year old car and the original carpet was very worn. The seats are in decent shape, though, as are the armrests. The dash has some small cracks. I can't tell if the pedals have a lot of wear.

The original top is in good shape, except for the missing window. The car drives straight and the engine runs well, though noisy (probably need to tighten up the exhaust system). The automatic transmission shifts well. It needs a new water pump.

It has fairly new tires, and the belts and battery have been replaced recently as well. It has fresh engine oil and transmission oil (maybe covering up some problem with the transmission?)

It has a lot of squeaks and rattles, and seems to ride a little too low to the ground. There are times when it sounds like parts are falling off the car, or fluid is leaking. Actually, one thing did fall off from under the front a couple of weeks ago. I have no idea what it is.

The paint is in pretty bad shape, and there is some significant rust on the underbody. Missed that when looking at it initially. It seems like somebody did have it garaged for a large part of its life. I know that it spent some of its life in Maryland. I guess it snows there, with subsequent salting of the roads which would explain the rust.

Looking at eBay, a lot of these vehicles show about the same mileage, but always with the caveat that the mileage is not guaranteed to be accurate.

So, I'm just crossing my fingers that I'll have a few years before spending big bucks on engine and transmission rebuilds.

Anyway, the shop should get the new tire valve stems later this week or early next week. I am still searching for some reasonably priced wheel covers.

Running Errands

This photo was taken on April 9 as Kyra and Daddy are going out to run some errands. Daddy is not happy because the Eldorado is not starting (it needed a jump).

Marcia took cruel delight in photographing me in the non-running Caddy.

Blog Start

While talking to my neighbor, Willie, about the trials of doing minor repairs on the Eldorado, he said I should keep a diary (and perhaps a running tab of expenses) about the experience.

So, I decided a blog would be a more 21st century way of keeping a diary. Here it is. I'll pre-date some blogs to describe my experience over the last few weeks of Eldorado ownership.

Yesterday, though, I drove Marcia & Kyra to the grocery store in the Eldo. It was a beautiful day but Marcia really hates driving around in a convertible. She has no love for the Eldorado.

Hubcap Tragedy

I lost a hubcap on the downtown connector driving to work this morning. This totally bummed me out all day. (I drove the connector a couple of days later looking for it, but didn't see it anywhere.)

Also, it looks like replacing the tire valve stems is going to turn into a saga all its own.

A little background:

The passenger side front tire valve is a little dented/misshapen, so it is hard to get a hose to fit to inflate the tire. The driver side front tire has a slow leak, and the tire had gone completely flat by Wednesday night.

Since I wanted to get the tires repaired on Thursday, I worked on getting the flat pumped up on Wednesday evening. This was quite an undertaking, requiring the car be jacked up, a can of Fix-a-Flat, and borrowing Willie's air compressor. In order to facilitate access to the valve, I took off the wheel cover. And I thought I had fitted it correctly when putting it back on.

But when I got to work Thursday morning I noted with great dismay that the hubcap was missing. Sigh. Anyway, it looks like it is gonna cost about $65 to replace it. I am waiting to hear back from a local hubcap place...

I took the car to a shop near work and asked them to look at the tires. They first looked at the messed up valve. It's different than the valve stems on more modern cars. It has a curved connecting tube that connects the stem to the rim. The younger guys there said "We've never seen anything like this before". The older mechanics said "We never see these anymore". They checked their suppliers and none of them had them in stock.

Then they looked at the tire with the leak. Sure enough, its leaking at the valve stem. So that one needs to be replaced, too.

I left my spare there so they could make sure they got the right part from the supplier. I also asked them to order a couple of extra for me so I could have them available when I need more. Hopefully, I'll hear from them on Monday.

I'll let you know how much this is gonna set me back...

Arabia Mountain

Today we drove out to Arabia Mountain to do a little walking.

http://pathfoundation.org/index.cfm?event=showArabia
http://www.arabiaalliance.org/

This was a nice chance to take the Eldorado on a little road trip. The car drove well on I-20, driving straight and cruising and accelerating well. The wind noise covered the sound of the engine so it seemed quiet until we tried to talk. I did about 60 mph most of way, topping out at about 70 or 75 mph.

Marcia sat in the back on the way there. It is quite windy in the back seat, and she was pretty unhappy with her hair whipping into her face, so we all three sat in front for the return trip - me driving, Kyra in her car seat in the middle, and Marcia in the far passenger seat.

It was a nice ride and a pleasant walk. There is a lot to see there so we want to take another hike out there.

Repairs...

Over the last week, we've been pretty busy with repairs. It was Kyra's Spring Break and I took the week off work.

I had promised Marcia that I would take care of a bunch of stuff around the house, but that was before I bought the Eldorado. Sooo, nothing got done around the house, but a lot happened with the Eldo (though, you can't tell by looking at it...).

• Washed the car: I had planned on waxing it, too, but the pollen has been so bad its not worthwhile. Also, the paint is in such bad shape I don't think waxing is going to help much.
• Primed: There were a couple of big sections on the trunk where the paint had peeled, and some other areas with missing paint and rust. I used steel wool to remove the rust and primed these areas to keep them from getting worse.
• Fixed the rear window: Got a piece of Lexan (about $50 from Lowe's), and some caulk and tape. Marcia and I cut the Lexan to fit the opening in the top and managed to get it in. Lots of nicks and cuts on our fingers.
• Pulled out the back seat to access the top motor and electrical relay. Rain had gotten in through the back window opening and shorted out the relay.
  
• Kyra and I found a mummified mouse when we were vacuuming out the car. It had crawled into a compartment behind the rear seat.
  
• Since the back seat was out, I thought "Why not take out the front seat and replace the carpet?"
• Marcia helped me get the front seat out - this was before I got the electrical system for the top repaired, so it was a lot harder than if the top was down. Marcia is a trooper - it looked real painful to be bending over awkwardly inside the car while lifting that heavy seat.
• Replaced the top relay: The top works now (electrically, that is - mechanically, it has some issues and needs babying). Also remounted the top motor with some kludged together bolts and rubber grommets.
  
• Replaced the carpet: This was easier now that the top can go down. I tried to get the seatbelts out and wound up gouging the dickens out of my thumb when the wrench slipped. Cut the carpet for the car and got it in. It doesn't fit great, but it looks a lot better than the original, ratty carpet.
• Rust inhibited the floor pan: Rust is a killer for these old cars. Discovered that part of the floor pan had been replaced. Tried to scrape some of the other rust, and sprayed some Rust-Oleum (sp?) rust inhibitor on those spots as well.
• Put it all back together.

Day 1

Saturday, March 29, 2008 is the day I bought the Eldorado.

The odometer shows 78,587 miles. The color is "Brittany Blue" with a blue interior and white top.

It was a bit of an adventure getting it home, I'll write more about that later...