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: