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.

Brakes...

After I put in the new brake caliper, I still had the same problem with the brake sticking.

So, last Friday I finally got around to taking it into a shop. I hadn't been too happy with the shop I had used previously. While they are close to work and very friendly, they hadn't done the best job of diagnosing problems (with either the Caddy or my truck).

There was a new shop about 2 miles from home that opened about a year ago. I noticed they had a big old early 70's Fleetwood 75 for sale one weekend. They also seemed to be doing a good business lately.

I decided to try them out. It turns out they hadn't worked on that Fleetwood - just a friend of the shop owner's was selling it. I told them about the issue I was having with the Eldorado's brakes. The mechanic said it was probably the brake lines: they apparently can collapse with age, creating a sort of one-way valve that puts the brakes on, but doesn't let them release.

He suggested that I could probably just replace the brake hoses myself. But, since I have been sitting on this for four months now, and I don't feel so comfortable working on brakes, I decided to let them do the work.

Picked up the car today. Seemed to drive fine on the way home. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the brakes are fixed and I've found a decent mechanic.

For a photo, a few months ago I happened upon a '78 Eldorado. It was in kind of rough shape, but the owner was a nice guy. Claimed to have bought it used in 1980 and had it ever since.



Oh yeah, the High Museum is having a special exhibit, "The Allure of the Automobile". I checked it out and the cars were beautiful and immaculate.

This weekend, they are having a special "hoods-up" showing, so I am planning on taking my daughter there for Father's Day. One of the cars is a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham with a stainless steel roof.

Brake Caliper

Finally got some decent weather this weekend, so I got working on replacing the seized brake caliper. What took a bunch of time was putting yet another boot on the CV joint. I've really got to get around to putting in new axles...

Anyway, I got a late start and quit early because I was getting hungry and tired. So, though the caliper is in place, I've still got to bleed the brakes. I'll do that next weekend, as well as patch the flat tire.

Replacing the caliper hasn't been hard - we'll see what happens when I actually get to driving (and more importantly, stopping).

The above photo is Kyra directing me from the service manual.

The photo below is an original Mini, fortuitously parked next to a new mini, I saw while I was running errands yesterday. Not an Eldorado, but a pretty nice car. It was in great shape and a whole lot of people were looking at it.

Library, Part II

The second automotive book I got from the libray is "Classic American Cars" by Quentin Willson (1997, Dorling Kindersley Ltd.).

The above scans are from that book. This book has great photographs! Coincidentally, the calendar I bought this year is excerpted from this book. I didn't realize that 'til I flipped through the book at the library.

I know this is a '76, not a '71. But as I wrote previously, my fascination for these cars started when I was a kid and a neighbor bought one of these beautiful 76's (just like the one in the scan - white with red interior). The 71's and 76's are my favorite years for these Eldorados.

Maintenance...

Just an update: I've had the new brake caliper for a few weeks now, but haven't gotten around to putting it on yet. The major reason is that it has been so very cold - snow and very windy. Hope to get to it soon as the weather looks to be warming over the weekend.

No worries, though. It has been too cold to drive a convertible, so I haven't been in a rush to get this done.

Library

Went to the library today and happened to wander over to the automotive section and found a couple of neat books.

The first is "The Cadillac Story - The Postwar Years" by Thomas E. Bonsall (2004, Stanford University Press). At a glance, it looks to be a bit dry, but informative. It has some great photos, unfortunately they are all black & white.

This image is from that book - it is an advertisement from 1973 espousing the great gas mileage of Cadillacs (especially the Eldorado).

When I looked at this at first, I was happy that my mileage is inline with the EPA estimates in the add. I find it curious, though, that they used other GM vehicles in the comparison. It seems like they wouldn't want to trash their parent company.

Also, I thought (perhaps incorrectly) that the Eldorado and Oldsmobile Toronado shared a lot of components (both being front-wheel drive, though the Toronado used a smaller 425 ci engine). So, I'm very surprised that the Toronado only gets 6.8 mpg, significantly lower than the Eldorado.

Poor Baby

Oh! The neglect!

The neglect for this Blog!

The neglect for the Caddy!

We have had so much rain over the last few months. I've kept the Caddy covered and haven't driven much and haven't done much to it. When I have tried to fix stuff, then other stuff breaks so I am just barely treading water maintenance-wise.

For example, as I wrote previously, I had the brakes done. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago I noticed a bunch of smoke coming from the right-side front wheel. It looks like the brake has seized there - the pads are rubbing against the rotor.

Before that, I took the car for a vacuum and wash. After vacuuming, I try to put up the top for the wash. CRACK! Looks like one of the top bows has slipped out of its socket so I've really got to do the top adjustment I've been putting off (and putting off... and putting off...).

Woke up yesterday and noticed that the one of the wheels is flat... sigh.

Anyway, I am going to look through the shop manual this afternoon and see how hard it is to fix that front brake. And when I get around to doing that, I think I might as well replace the front axles. They don't really need to be replaced, but the replacement CV boots suck and I have to pretty much constantly check them and squirt grease in there.

That won't happen this weekend though - too much other stuff going on. And it won't happen over Thanksgiving either. The family will be out of town so it will be a good time to do some house maintenance - painting, redoing trim, throwing stuff out, etc.

Not a Garage, Part II

As I mentioned in a previous post, I haven't been working on the Eldorado much because I've been building a shed. Here is a photo:



This is actually the state it has been in for the last 6 or so weeks. It needs some finishing touches like door handles, second coat of paint, some trim work, etc., but it is a full functioning shed. By that, I mean it holds a bunch of crap!

I installed some shelves and pegboard in the shed last weekend to help me get things organized. I still need to build a lockable cabinet in there to hold some expensive tools. I was going to try and get around to that this upcoming weekend, but other obligations are creeping up.

I haven't driven the Caddy since the weekend I put the starter in. The car starts a lot quicker now, usually.

I had Caddy-appropriate errands to run last weekend, but things were hectic and I didn't have time to go through the checklist (oil, fluids, tire pressure, belts, etc.) before driving off, so I drove the truck.

So, what's a Caddy-appropriate errand? Grocery shopping, library, visiting friends, dinner, etc.

Not Caddy-appropriate? Going to the hardware/home improvement store for big things like shelves or lumber, getting landscape materials - those are jobs for the pickup. Also, driving in the rain is not Caddy-appropriate. I didn't buy a convertible to drive it with the top up.

Caddy-essential tasks? Cruisin' and lookin' good!

New Starter

I'm feeling pretty proud of myself this evening - I successfully replaced the starter on the Eldorado. Happily, the engine started right up after installing the new starter. I took the car for a quick spin and everything seems to be fine.

I did the work this afternoon and things went pretty smoothly. Only two hassles - first, the old starter (pictured above) didn't want to come out. A few whacks with a big hammer took care of that.

Second, the ring connector on one of the wires connecting to the starter came off, so I had to take a quick trip to the auto parts for a replacement. I also picked up some GOJO while there.

I live on a busy street so I parked my truck behind the Caddy and put some orange cones to the side to lessen the chance of somebody hitting the car. It would suck if somebody side-swiped the car. It would be really bad if I was under it when they did it.



Usually, I work on the Caddy in the driveway, but this is where the tow truck dropped it.

Here is another photo of the Eldorado while I was working on it.

Road Trip!

I took a quick trip up to Chattanooga, leaving on Friday, returning on Saturday. The Caddy drove great the whole time, doing about 70-75 mph on the 250 mile round-trip.

No pictures, though, it was such a quick trip I didn't feel like taking a camera... The Eldorado got about 12 mpg. That's a little less than I was hoping for - I'd be ecstatic if I got 15 mpg.

It was a sunny & hot drive both ways, but I applied sunscreen regularly so I didn't get burned (at least not sunburned, maybe a little wind-burned).

Anyway, I stopped for gas about 20 miles from home and the darn car wouldn't start after I got done filling it up! Sounds like the starter to me.

Called AAA and they gave me a tow home. I tried to take some photos with my cellphone, but that piece of junk wouldn't save the pictures. (Don't get me started on my pos phone - it sucks and I'm surprised the battery didn't give out when I was calling AAA even though it claimed to have a full charge...) The driver was a real nice guy and gently dropped the car in front of the house.

Looks like a new starter will be about $40-50. Gotta look at the service manual to see how hard it will be to put in.

And, while the Caddy did die on me, it didn't die in Chattanooga or on the highway. I read a book in the shade while waiting on the tow. So, I'm not at all upset or disappointed with the car. We had a great time and got lots of looks and compliments on the trip.

Seat Belts

So, I'm heading home last night about 8:00, cruising on the downtown connector.

Blue lights in my rear view mirror. "Ah, this state trooper wants to get by me", I think, "he certainly can't want to pull me over". So I move over a lane. He follows me and hits his siren. "Crap!". I pull over.

The following thoughts go through my head in a matter of seconds:

• It must be speeding. I was speeding. But, I wasn't go faster than anybody else, slower than some. It's Atlanta, for crying out loud, everybody speeds. Can't be speeding.
• Something fell off the car. Hubcap? Muffler? I didn't hear anything, though.
• Ah, he must be curious about my awesome, awesome car. Yes! That's it.

Then I notice a second set of flashing lights behind the car that pulled me over. There are two state troopers on the shoulder behind me.

• DRUGS! They see me in this pimp-mobile and think I'm a drug dealer. Crap!

The officer approaches my vehicle. "Where's your seat belt?" he demands.

I gesture to the lap belt secured across my hips.

Trooper: "No shoulder belt?"
Me: "No sir, these cars didn't come with shoulder belts".
Trooper: "Let me see your driver's license". Examines my drivers license for about one second.
"Where you going?"
Me: "I'm going home". We've pulled over near the exit to my house.
Trooper, handing back driver's license: "Have a nice day".
Me: "Thank you, sir! Have a nice day!"

I had seen ads on TV about stepped up enforcement of seat belt laws, but never paid much attention because I always wear them. So this was definitely a surprise for me.

Maybe I need to get a bumper sticker that says "Vehicle not equipped with shoulder belts".

Not a Garage

Well, haven't been doing much with the Caddy because I am working on building a shed.



No, it's not a garage, but it will be housing spare parts and tools for the Eldorado.

I thought I'd get the shed finished this week, but things are taking longer than I expected. About four more weekends worth of work I think - roofing, building doors, siding, painting.

Been rainy the last few days, but got the Caddy out earlier this week to run some errands and just do some cruisin'.

Brakes

I broke down and took the Eldorado into the shop last week to have the brakes worked on. That squeal was driving me crazy and it doesn't look like I'm going to have time to work on them anytime soon.

So, $483.30 later, I have new brakes. Yay! $242 of that was labor, which is quite an incentive to do stuff myself. But, they got it done in one day - who knows how long it would have taken me?

Anyway, I got new brake pads and rotors on the front wheels,and new shoes on the rear brakes.

No more squeal!

The perfect example of a gas-guzzling land barge in the era of escalating fuel prices

Surfin' the 'net, found a couple of sites dealing with Eldorado history:

Last Great American Whale

Gas Guzzlers of the 70s

There isn't anything that says "pimp" quite like this car.

So, as you can see my current 8 mpg is a bit low. Some folks on Internet Cadillac enthusiast groups claim to get close to 20 mpg highway with these cars. Those cars are fastidiously maintained and well-tuned. I also assume they are driving with the top up and driving the speed limit (or the old 55 mph speed limit).

While my baby runs well, it is certainly not perfectly tuned; I don't drive it with the top up, and I drive fast - 70+++ mph.

Well, I guess that explains why I'm not getting 16 mpg...