Projects '56 Cadillac build - Undoing the sins of my youth

No Sainthood here---I'm a heathen.

Neal is right. Don't worry about the orange peel, it probably won't show much at all. If it bugs you real bad, sand and re-shoot it. Firewall, dash, door jambs, inside trunks, and interior pieces will probably work OK in the single stage. If you want to sand and buff for a nicer finish, go with base/clear for the outside. You should be able to get the color in a BC/CC formula. You probably wouldn't be happy with the color as a non-metallic.

Randy, this build is looking fine. I think we can move you several notches up from "rookie" status. You are doing great.

overspray

 

You had a good looking car despite the poor craftsmanship, and now it'll be done right, I hope you leave the fins off. It's a beautiful custom.

 

Thanks. Fins are staying off. The little knee shaped fins offended my eye at age 17 because they didn't follow any logical body line. Luckily, I still agree with my adolescent assessment and style choice...for once.

Got a chunk of the floor/ tunnel finished up. I stopped at the back seat so I could get my suspension dialed in before it all gets closed.



next project, lowering the rear...

 

Randy, Good to see a surviver car making a come back. Keep up the good work.

.........Jack

 

Modified the frame to clear a mechanical fuel pump & give the new, bigger balancer a little breathing room.





Repainted the block with a very dark blue as I wasn't happy with the shade of my first attempt. I love the new, darker color. Tried on a new valve cover option...

 

Likeing this lots! more please.

 

Keep us up to date on this one. I have a 56 and the frame and drive train are finished I just need to do the body. Yours is looking really nice.

 

like where this is going, keep it up

 

I will be watching this thread cool work so far man

 

Nice work

 

Enough space around that fuel pump to accommodate engine movement under torque?

 

Pretty sure. In the pic, the bolts aren't tight - It'll probably suck in a bit more toward the block when it's all finished. Also, this motor is no beast.

 

Looks great, I like your writing style too.

 

Been picking away at the mountain lately.

I decided against airbags. When I initially got the notion to bag my car, I had just finished installing a tri-4-link in a friends car. It came out well.

But...I don't want this car 90's low, I want it 50's low. I scored some 3" dropped leaf springs from Jamco and had a set of 4" - 2.5 degree tapered lowering blocks. Definitely lowered the ass end, but the u-bolts & lock nuts + the stock shock mount hung below the dreaded scrubline. I found a picture somewhere of a leaf spring bracket that corrected that .

I made a set.



Tried 'em out. Nothing was tight, and it was above the scrubline by about 1/2". Ain't much but I'll take it.



Also, I finished up work on a M/C mount that I've had unfinished for months. I used a few small pieces of the old mount to build around and fabbed the rest. It'll be nice to have a dual system in the car and it's located basically where the old one lived. Chased down flare fittings locally which was more of a pain than anticipated. But, if it was easy, I probably would have got it all right the first time...

 

Glad to hear it - I've got 3" blocks and cut front coils on my '55 Caddy - it's just low enough (to me anyways), scrapes here and there but it's very driveable for the most part.

 

Four inches of ground clearance is all you need...my Caddy clears just about anything on the highway at that...except speed bumps...and rabbits.

That's a slick set-up you built...that'd sure solve my problem of its nuts hanging way down on my Caddy (on the u-bolts, of course...!!!)

R-

 

Did you get that using stock suspension? I don't think my car will be that low... The rear physically can't go any lower without sticking stuff beneath the scrubline.

 

I used two inch blocks in the rear on the stock leaves and rear-end...and of course, on my build thread, you would see I used a '78 Pontiac Trans Am sub-frame up front...complete with disc brakes and power steering...

Go here to see the complete five and one half year build: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=329070&highlight=the+best+55+caddy+build

R-

 

Stock suspension up front on mine - I'll measure it for you later but if I've got more than four inches there I'd be surprised.

 

My 55 was very low with stock suspension but with shockwaves and bags. Nothing was below scrub line and rubbed / dragged

 

I miss threads like this on the HAMB. I dig your vision for the Caddy, I'll be following this one til the end. Keep up the nice work and thanks for sharing with us !

 

Great thread!

 

Nice build.

 

JUNIOR ! looking good … glad to see it off the shelf …...

 

Great thread/story!

My first car was a '57 Lincoln (see avatar) that I managed to "fix up" badly.

When I went into the Navy the car went away so I didn't get to see how bad it really was, I suppose someone else got that pleasure.

To be fair, letting it go likley prevented more screw ups.

I'm really glad to see how nice yours is coming along.

 

Back on it. Sorta.

I had around 2 months into the rebuild of this car when I moved from Monterey to Sonoma, CA. As far as moves go...it sucked like every other one.

The Cadillac lived on my buddy's trailer on his property while my wife and I got situated. The garage at my new house is a pint-sized, leaky vessel. It's functional and better than none but as far as garages go, it rates pretty low.

Today I finally had enough time to get out there to see if I could make it all fit. A completely disassembled 1956 Cadillac and limited space are two things you never want at the same time. Anyway, it's gonna work. TIGHT but workable.

 

Sorry to hear about your setbacks. It's coming together though, so don't give up on it. This thing is cool.

 

sweeet!! Get on it!...its not the field you play on, its how you play the game!!

 

Great work and the fin mod looks great. Been thinking about this on my -53 Pontiac, those small raised parts are as you say totally unlogical!

Hope it works out good in the new garage!

 

This Cad's gunna be Rad!