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.