Projects 'Necessary Evil' 1956 Cadillac

Sorry if this isn’t Hamb-friendly. I thought I’d chuck up some pics of our Cadi that we’ve just got back on the road, since there’s a few other Cadi guys here.

My wife and I bought the car about four years ago now, and got it on the road not too long after. When we got it, it had a freshly built 400ci sbc fitted, along with a 700R4 trans and 9-inch, although it had never run since being imported to New Zealand in 1994 despite the previous owner buying most of the parts needed.

This is how it looked when we got it.


It wasn’t long before we got rid of the ugly wheels and put some wide whites on it, and it started to look a whole lot better.

We cruised around with it looking pretty much like this for the next few years, clocking up as much as 1500 miles in a month heading to events around the country.



The Mexican blankets were ditched along the way for some white tuck’n’roll, along with a few other minor improvements.



With the weather in NZ being a lot different to Arizona, where the car came from, the patina soon started to turn into surface rust and was deteriorating more than we’d like. We loved the look of the car but knew we had to do something, hence the car now being called ‘Necessary Evil’, as it had to be done, regardless of if we wanted to or not.

And if you’re going to do something… you may as well do everything, right? Well, that’s what we decided anyway. We loved it looking as it did and knew it was a risk to change it, so for it to end up looking better, it needed to be done right. With this in mind we took it back to bare metal and started from the start.


My wife was dead set on a blue, so we had a custom DuPont colour mixed up and it soon started coming together. Wanting a bit of a kustom look, we decided to go with a chunky flake on the roof, dash and air cleaner. We toyed with the idea of scallops, but decided against it.

Every nut, bolt, rubber, trim, chrome piece, etc was replaced, rebuilt, repaired or painted, and even the engine was rebuilt with a new cam and fitted with new exhaust to nearly double the power output.

And here’s how it turned out, just six months (working around the clock and with plenty of help from friends) later. It was back on the road just in time for the National Hot Rod Show, where it was awarded third best in class, and best flake.









I’ve got hundreds of pics if anyone is interested, and there’s a full build thread here, but you’ll need to register to see it:
http://forums.v8.co.nz/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4752

Now that it’s shiny, we feel the need for something else that isn’t. I’m thinking a Model A coupe, and have just the engine sitting waiting to go… but that’s another story!

 

That is awesome you guys did a great job! Love the paint job!

 

You've done a ton of work in six month, mate! I love the fifty six Cadillacs. Heck, I just love 'em all. Interesting point about the patina and why it had to go, but it makes sense. Just a tad more rain in New Zealand than Arizona, I guess Came up like a peach.

 

Why wouldnt it be hamb friendly? apart from the speakers, I like the toolbox idea.

 

Thats a great transformation. Looks a million times better than the old version.

 

Cheers guys. Yeah the tool box worked out well. There's so much room in the sides of the trunk that we didn't really lose any room either.

Off on a road trip this weekend, so will try and get some more pics out in the sun.

 

Gorgeous! Thats a great looking Caddy!

 

Wow...you ONLY got a third...??? I'm really surprised at that. I'd like to see what got first then...That Caddy is bitchin'...love the color...didn't like that flat black so you've improved it for the better...

R-

 

love the blue paint job , car turned out real nice , good job

 

Double WOW! Very nice work.

 

beautiful job,,,,,AND in only six months,,,,WOW!!! super impressed,,

 

Beautiful Caddy!

 

WOW! Great Caddy - well done!

 

Damn good job! I have the same Cadillac . I love this car.

 

much improved

 

damn beautiful! im really diggin that toolbox idea

 

That's a real clean Caddy!

 

The tool chest in the trunk is so freaking cool!!!!!

 

Cadillac , you say. Looks gorgeous. I gotta get back to work on my 55 Caddy. I REALLY need a fix ( take it for another spin )

 

Looks great man! Good job.

 

I loved it when it was black, but now ..... WOW, nice work!

 

Cheers for the comments guys!

Just got back from doing over 300 miles, most of it in the rain this weekend. A few new squeaks to sort out, but not bad going for a fresh rebuild.

 

Here's another thumbs up on the toolbox, never seen that before.

Good lookin' Caddy.

 

Holy Crap that is nice. Love the interior.

 

+1 For the Tool Box in the trunk never have seen that before!!

 

Just curious, all that work why not go frame off and refresh the suspension and such too? Hows it look underneath?

 

stunning !!!

 

All that hard work paid off with a stunning Cadillac.
Now maybe you can catch up on sleep.

Gary

 

Fair question. Suspension was all rebuilt when we first got the car on the road a few years back, so didn't need any changes this time around. Since we drive it, we didn't feel the need to paint under there either. It's got a newish coat of chassis black from before we got it, so it's not too bad.

 

Those aren't dog friendly seats!