Projects '52 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe (High School Restoration Project)

tank, rear diff and leaf springs all in epoxy primer


everything in ceramic chassis satin black


hope the tank doesnt leak, didnt get a chance to test it since I wasnt planning on painting it yesterday, but I had a bunch of primer left in my gun and it seemed a shame to waste it. worst case scenario is Ill just have to touch it up later if I do have to do any patching.

with any luck, it will be a rolling chassis by the end of this week.

 

got the new engine & trans up to school over spring break with the help of a couple of students. Also started mocking up the brake system.

'98 LS1 & 4L60E transmission



new '96 Impala rear brakes, '96 1/2 ton front rotors, '02 Astro AWD calipers

 

This thing is sweet! I'm in an automotive collision repair class at my school and its a lot of fun. I'm working on my dad's 53 chevy right now,but i wish i could do a complete rebuild like this

 

Lookin' Good Captain...it's coming along nicely...

R-

 

thanks guys, hoping to get the brake system close to finished this week as well as getting the engine/trans mounts made up, then the body can go back on.

 

been a little while since an update. Unfortunately we have been busy with other jobs in the shop and the Caddy has been on the back burner for a couple weeks, but we will hopefully make some progress this week.

I ended up ordering some Scarebird brackets for the front last week, although I wasn't thrilled with the odd mis-match of parts recommended for use with the brackets. I have been doing a little research and picking up some parts here and there to test fit to make it more appealing to my taste. Today, I was finally able to bolt everything up and see if setup worked with the brackets or not.

Eureka! Everything worked! I was able to ditch the heavy, wide 11.61" 1/2 truck rotors (see previous pics) in favor of some taller, thinner 11.86" rotors, also with a 5x5 bolt pattern and the correct studs already pressed in. I will have to machine a thicker spacer for the inside of the spindle and Im using a different inner bearing and seal as well, but that's no big deal.

The 69-78 Eldorado calipers recommended in the kit and originally used on 12" rotors, were actually hard to obtain. None of my local auto parts stores had them in stock, 2 weren't sure if they would be able to get them and the other 2 could have gotten them, but would have been special order and if I didn't use them, I'd have to pay a restocking fee. Thankfully, I was able to find a more modern caliper, originally used on a 11.86" rotor that also bolts on perfectly to the Scarebird bracket.

From what I can see, there are 3 bonus's to my setup over the Scarebird setup.
1. ALL of the parts are easier to obtain
2. Since the entire setup uses more modern and matching parts, there are more performance brake part options available too (different compound pads, drilled & slotted rotors, ect.)
3. Although stock Caddy wheels still will not fit, they appear to have better chance of fitting than they would with the wider 1/2 ton truck rotor. A 1/2" bolt on spacer may solve the problem if it doesn't cause interference issues with the fenders.

My next tasks regarding the brakes are to machine the bigger spindle spacer and finally get the power brake booster mounted on the frame. Once that's done the body can be dropped back on the frame.

 

power brake booster and master cylinder mounted on the frame.

Hopefully there wont be any interference with the floor, but I'll wait to powder coat the bracket until we see if it does. It should be easily modified if it needs to be.

 

little update

 

Great build-up! I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I wish auto shop was like that at my high school when I went. Loads of great tech.

Have you thought about gauges yet?

 

wow, nice thread!!!

 

Another small update.

Got some small parts in, including some fuel system parts, will take pictures of those once the rest of the fuel system arrives. Going to try and get a couple of kids to come in on Saturday to get that stuff taken care of.

Also got the modified oil pan mocked up for test fitting. So far so good, need to do a little finish welding on it, but its come a long way.

 

Well, they make cable drive kits for the 4L60E, so if I decide to keep it in there for a while, I will most likely pick on of those up and retain the factory speedo. As for the rest of the gauges, I can hook up "idiot lights" for some of the non-critical things which I can get feeds from off the LS1 computer. The important things like Water Temp, Oil Press, Fuel Level, Voltage, I will either run off of some cheap autometers in a gauge pod or perhaps go with an all in one style gauge.

 

Holy shit. Im 15, curently enrolled in Advanced auto, we have the shittyest shop in existance. Your kids get to work with Amazing projects like that, have a nice clean shop, and have Snap-on tools? Lucky fuckers. Just bustin your chops, that a helluva good looking project you got there, keep going!

 

I really like the choice of color for the frame, it contrasts well with the rest of the suspension parts, looks sharp and clean.......
Keep it up people.

 

Thanks. I try to remind my students of that very thing nearly every day, but you would be surprised how many take it for granted.

Thank you. The chassis, rear axle, springs and gas tank are all Satin Black 2K Ceramic chassis paint, while the front suspension, rear spring plates and other assorted small parts have been powder coated gloss black.


...and a small weekend update while we're at it.

got the fuel system plumbing all put together (before someone comments, just disreguard the zipties, they are just there to keep things in place until the insulated clips are installed). Everything was done with -6 braided hose and AN fittings. Russel pre-pump fuel filter, Walbro inline pump, followed by an internally regulated post-pump Corvette style filter. Also installed a new stainless fuel level sender with some stainless button hex screws



Also got the important wiring sorted through and tied together to which allowed me access to the PCM so I could reflash it once I removed VATS, changed the fuel tank size, Ohm readings, tire size, gear ratio and disabled a few other things that will not be present on the Cadillac.



Also grabbed a pic of the ASP underdrive pulley which allowed me to drop the engine down into the frame farther than the OEM pulley would allow.



Last but not least, a shot of the driver side motor mount (version 1.0). Dont worry, all of the hardware will be replaced with stronger stuff eventually, just needed something to hold it in place for now.




Next week will consist of drivers header modifications, finishing touches on the oil pan along with oil and filter, fill the gas tank and check for leaks in the system, then with any luck, attempt to start it before the week is out.

 

Captain- nice project & excellent post!! I am an auto shop teacher at Kennedy High School in Bloomington,MN We are also building two project: a 1935 Ford Pickup ( thread is on Hamb) and a 1967 Chevy Caprice. Hope to see more -are you a member of the teacher social group on the Hamb? Hang in there -9 days left! Bill Johnson


P.S. Are you close to Freehold NJ ? I'm a huge Springsteen fan.

 

Hey Bill, nice to see someone doing similar projects out there. I'm hoping to find a 67-72 Chevy Pickup over the summer for next years project. I think it will be a little easier to work on and find parts for as compared to the Caddy, which will hopefully aid us in getting it finished before the school year is out too. Ill have to go check out your thread. I dont think Im a member of that social group but Ill go search it out after this reply.

Im about 40 mins south of Freehold (without traffic).

 

IT'S ALIVE!

20 second camera phone video taken by one of my students.

 

Great thread!!! You guys are going to town on that car.... Nice work.

 

thanks. the kids were super excited to see/hear it fire up today, and they will be tomorrow too since we didnt get the final checks finished until 4th period. 1st, 2nd and 3rd period classes have yet to hear it run, although talk spread throughout the halls pretty rapidly, I'm sure most know its alive at this point.

 

well, I ran out of space on the site I was uploading pics to before, so I setup a photobucket account but Im not sure if I like it or not, but for now Ill just toss up a few pics to update this thread and worry about the pics later

I've been able to get a couple of my former seniors to come in and give a hand when they could. My brother is also up from Florida this week helping me out with a lot of the body work, especially the passenger door. We've got nearly the whole body stripped and covered with phosphoric acid to help treat a bit of the surface rust where the emblems and trim used to be, as well as protect the clean metal until its time for primer.

 

The kids look like they are doing a great job. I am jealous

 

well hopefully the new thumbnails work. I revamped my old website over the weekend, so far it seems to be working, I just need to get all of the old pictures up and posted. In the meantime, here is the second set of pics from last week.

 

Well, I dusted off the breaks and slip roller and gave it a shot at making a couple patches for one of the quarter panels. This being the most complicated patch I've made in the past 10 years, I was a little worried, but it came out damn near perfect on my first try. Now my fear is if I will be able to do the same thing again for the other panel, lol.

 

Could you tell us a little more about your front brake setup? I have a fifty and was thinking of upgrading to discs.

 

yeah I can, I just sent the info to another member the other week and now I cant find it again, lol.

 

ok, here is what I did for my front breaks.

I started with the Scarebird kid for my car, then changed the rotor, caliper, inner bearing, wheel seal and I had to machine a new inner spacer.

Here is what I used compared to what is recommended

Rotor - 86258 - Replaced with 86152
Caliper, LH - 442-2010 - Replaced with 242-2028
Caliper, RH - 442-2011 - Replaced with 242-2029
Inner Bearing - BR5 - Replaced with BR13
Outer Bearing - BR3 - Same
Wheel Seal - 19753 - Replaced with 19784
Dust Cap - BK7302438 - Same

Haven't decided what rubber hoses Im going with yet. The calipers and rotors are equivalent to the 94-96 Impala SS / Caprice (not sure if earlier years are the same), and the 2WD Astro Van of the same vintage. The rotors are identical on those cars but have different part numbers because of the ABS reluctor ring thats pressed on the inside. I believe I went with the Impala SS rotor because that ring was slightly smaller, but they can also be knocked off fairly easily. The Astro and Impala also have different brake pad numbers, but I have absolutely no idea what the difference is, physically they are the same.

The spacer needed for the inside is the same I.D and O.D. as the one provided in the Scarebird kit, it just needs to be about twice as wide to work with the new rotor/bearing combo.

Is it worth all that trouble? I dont know, for me it was, although it increased the brake surface a bit and used a lighter, thinner rotor and caliper, some people might now want to be bothered with all the work.

 

Thanks alot

 

Ended up doing some work on the inside of the car today, http://www.trackandshow.com/?p=431

 

Got back to sheet metal work today. Decided to see how bad the inner portion of the quarter panel looked like. Little did I know, this was going to be yet another oddly shaped patch panel. Instead of keeping the same shape all the way through, the panel needs to flatten out as it gets toward the wheel well opening and the lower bend is also in a different location than it is in the front of the panel. After a little bending on the brake then a little hammer and dolly work, it nearly replicates what was once there. The inside of the panel was also cleaned of surface rust and treaded with a rust encapsulator. I had no way of making a new encapsulated nut like the one that was originally there but rusted out, so I just welded a 5/16" nut to the inside of the patch panel in the same location. It should work just as well as the remaining original nuts. I didn't weld the patch it today, as it was getting late and I wanted time for the rust encapsulator to fully dry. Ill most likely finish it up tomorrow or the begining of next week.