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.