I bought a 1961 Cadillac Eldorado GM factory custom off craigslist

Looking good.

Thanks for taking the time to show us the progress.

Next time- I want to go for a cruise....

 

Those lights look great. Doing great on restoring the pieces on it.

 

I've never used it personally, but I've heard a lot of good things about a product called ZOOP SEAL for polished aluminum. If I were doing what you're doing, I'd definitely look into it, guys use it on Airstream campers and whatnot and it's supposed to hold up really well, even out in the weather with use.

All the new work on the car looks great, and I think doing it in little sections is really the way to go. I can't imagine blowing the whole car apart for a restoration and still being able to keep all the little details straight, plus this helps retain all of what is still original while fixing damage and modifications that have happened over the years.

The fact that all of those little pieces were built just for this one car is really mind blowing when you try to wrap your head around it.

 

Nadeem , meet Andrea. She keeps Kermits P-51's shiny. Maybe she'd be
willing to share her secrets...

 

Absolutely.

 

Subscribed

 

The plan is to reassemble the front end when the parts come back from getting chromed, get her on a lift to fix a tranny leak, likely just a pan gasket, a detailing by a professional and then its public debut.


Ramblur, my son is drooling over that plane.

 

That P51 is Sweet..

 

Once again, Nads...wowing us with the attention to detail.

Jewelry is the best way to describe all the one-off bits used on these show cars. I can't even imagine the experience a 1950's-1960's Motorama would have been. All I have are books, pictures, and this thread...keep with it!

Amazing work

 

Got a lot done this weekend, I cleaned some wire terminals and got the antenna to work. I started assembling the grille which was a real chore, I'm waiting on the vertical which are being made by a waterjet.
Here's the hood and fender moldings installed, the one I made is the driver's side, the passenger one is the original, neither fit particularly well, I don't think they ever did, you should see the wallered out holes and hand made fabrication on this car, I guess it's evidence that it really was hand made.
My friend restored a Jensen, you should have the work on this beast, the frame rails were heavy walled water pipe.


The hood molding was incredibly rough, I can't believe the job Spacecoast Plating did on it, all the edges are still sharp and not polished round, I can't say enbough about their work.

 

I bought this original photo on ebay, it's from 1961 for the Chicago Auto Show, it's hard to tell but there are ribbed aluminum moldings across the bottom just like on my car, but the skeg's not extended to the ends of the fenders, interesting car.

 

Man, you are doing this car justice.

 

I'm trying, it looks bad right now, like I said it's just a cosmetic fix up for the really rough spots, I've gotta preserve its originality as much as possible.

 

I love using the word skeg to describe something on a car.
Mike

 

While surfing on the AACA forum someone posted the picture of this mid 60s Olds wheel cover . I would be willing to bet its from an early Toronado ( 66, 67) . While not a perfect match , a set could be a good starting point .

 

Just got caught up on your thread, wow nice work.

 

I got the grille all finished, I had the vertical pieces waterjetted. It's all straight now, it was a real mess, it looks great now, not perfect though, just like the rest of the car.


Before


Almost flat from being hit.

After

 

Grille looks teriffic. What's next on the agenda?

Ever figure out what those Olds caps above were from? They don't match any of the Toronado ones I've seen, I can'd find them anywhere.

 

Mo better.

 

I'm still inrigued as to what you are going to do about hubcaps. Has Cadillac helped you out at all with regards to data on them?

Your friend with the Jensen; is it an Interceptor?

 

Ted, it was way old, pre Interceptor days. I'm gonna take a shot at making the hubcaps.

Check out this kit I scored on the flea

 

Nailed that grille !

Glad this car is in your hands.

 

Wow. The grill came out great! Love your respectful approach to this car.

Nice find on the Palmer kit of the '61 Caddy. Notice they don't say "AUTHENTIC Replica" on the box, however – their kits are far from being masterpieces of the moldmakers' art. Never seen the Caddy but I do have these two builtup beauties in my model collection...

Ryan, cover your eyes...

'63 Riviera


Porsche cabriolet. This one uses the same chassis that was in the Palmer '60 Olds ragtop kit (and perhaps the '61 Caddy). They just turned it so the engine's in the back! Pretty sweet, huh?

 

Nice, the Riviera front looks like a Chevy Impala

 

Video of the first drive, I thought I was taking a photo hence the weird angles.
<object width="544" height="960"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/4611197192563"></param><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/4611197192563" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="1" width="544" height="960"></embed></object>

 

got the grille installed, it looks great and it fits great, all straight.

 

good job!

 

You can really see how damaged it was before in this pic.

 

You do nice work Nads.

 

Thank you.

Here's the trunk half polished so you can see the difference a little bit of sweat and labor can do. It ain't perfect but it looks presentable.

And here's the taillight bezels all taken apart and polished, these pieces are all unique to this car, everything shined up really nicely, all the metal pieces are handmade from brass and beautifully chromed.
This piece has "for Rodgers" engraved on the backside as well as the 50110 SO number