Projects Found this in an old moving trailer

Great build. Coming together nicely.

 

Your Caddy is coming along great, your almost there!

Questions on your dash.... Going to gut the radio on my Cad also, but I like to keep the knobs and face of the original radio. Does that separate from that massive box and still mount up to the dash? Or did you have to fab something (like a backing plate) to hold those elements together and mount to dash? I haven't tore down my dash yet to know...

I would have to agree, these styles of 47 dashes do leave a little to desire...

 

I think you'll ruin the car by painting it - seriously. Clean it and clearcoat it, especially if you're trying to flip it.

 

Thanks, it is close, should be out for its first test drive next week if all goes as planned, will still be a couple items left to do but will be on the road.
I will post some pics of the radio later tonight, the radio chassis comes out easily and I left the rear cover off as well to free up some space behind the dash. The 95 caprice harness I used as a donor has some pretty big connectors and even with the harness cut down needed a lot more room than the original fire hazard harness. I Kept the radio buttons, knobs, and the face unit, the knobs and buttons all still move they just dont do anything. Also redid the lights in the face so the radio lights up with the dash lights. I have more updates and pictures but need to get them off the camera.
I finished the dash and can deal with it for now, if I get used to it I may leave it alone depending on what I find. I did pick up a 56 ford dash which has a nice style to it, we will see.

 

No flipping here, I dont sell anything unless I have to or if a friend wants it, we always have first rights on buyback and try to keep the cars in the "family" . If I get bored with something I put it in the corner and throw a cover over it for another day. I am already ramping up for the next build which will be a 40s pickup and will start not too long after this one is done. Got some house stuff to do as well this summer so I will splitting time between projects.
No paint yet, I look it as rolling art. Some think it is rolling junk, but they are normally not true car guys. I had a lady ask me what year the buick was at the gas station, when I told her she said "That is amazing!" I thought that was pretty funny and cool from an obvious non car person.

 

Here are pictures of the gutted radio and the speakers I put in. Much lighter now and takes less space!





Finished dash. Added more gauges in case I remove the others, some are redundant but they all work. Clock changed to AA battery power.

 

Have you run that engine yet? I re-built one of those LT1's and used it in my daily driver '71 Chev pickup. Very torquey engine. If your's is in decent shape it should pull that Caddy around pretty well.
You're obviously a talented & experienced builder; thanx for taking the time to share your work.

Steve

 

Thanks steve, I wouldnt call myself too talented but I do the best I can. Engine is running, starts right up. I have done other LT1 swaps, I like them for a cheap FI engine in stock form, for mods I would go with the LS platform. This caddy came with 150HP originally so now it will have just about double the power and better gas mileage. Should cruise the highway nicely.

Front seat in. Used the cushions from my 41 buick parts car, the cad units were full of mouse crap and will be redone for future use.

 

Getting near the end of this story! One issue with the car, when I mocked up the steering column the measurements were made with a 15" steering wheel and the factory caddy wheel is 18". I screwed up and didnt put enough angle in the column to use the factory wheel so I decided to make a smaller copy. Still have to get used to the straight wheel without much angle but at least it works now.

Original wheel



Had this junk malibu wheel in stock, small enough to work.



Factory wheel taken apart



Malibu wheel cut up. To take care of two problems I took the center out of the malibu wheel to use since the caddy wheel had the wrong spline count as well as being too big to use.



Getting an idea of what the center will look like in the new wheel and cutting out the plastic where the spokes will attach.

 

Factory wheel getting gutted



spokes shortened and welded to the malibu center and outer ring. Saved the caddy trim pieces for the spokes



I didnt have any of the "correct" POR 15 putty that seems to be the favored stuff for steering wheels, but I did have some duraglass! What the hell might as well try it.



Looks like it is going to work ok.



still could use more sanding but ok for now



Installed and good to go. Little too "low rider" looking for me but for now it is ok. Car is a sled regardless so maybe the style fits.

 

Out and on the road, one quick picture that I have, will get some more. Drove it to the inspection station and took care of that, car rides nice and smooth like a caddy should, tracks straight, and has more than enough power. Still some interior work to do and also want to extend the brake pedal out a little more. Also need to mod the skirts I have and get them mounted or find the right set.

 

What a neat old girl

 

I love the look of this Cadillac.

 

Nice thanks for sharing! I seen on TV where they clear coated a Rusty car ,I think that would look Good on your Caddy!!

 

Very impressive! I like your gauges. It's a shame your clock doesn't match the gauges, but it works, regardless. The steering wheel came out looking pretty good, too. Nice driver.

I'm a fan of the "make it one color" thought. It needs paint eventually, even if it's just primer gray. "Patina" is just a two-dollar word for "needs a paint job", in my opinion.

I'm enjoying your build progress. You've got a hell of a lot more done on yours than I've done on my project, that's for certain!

 

She looks real fine & she's yours. I'll admire whatever you do with her, and especially your energy & enthusiasm. Great job on the steering wheel also.

Steve

 

so nice to see it out and driving! enjoy it!

 

Thanks for the kind words, some stuff is not perfect (like the clock not matching) and that bugs me too, but this may get a whole dash change in the future. Lately instead of spending thousands I do it low buck, drive the car, and then make changes as needed.
I do want to paint the car eventually, and that is no problem, the problem is locating decent chrome! Not easy to find and painting the car and leaving the rusty chrome would be a waste. May have to experiment and see if I can shoot a brushed aluminum look that will look ok if I cant find reasonable chrome pieces.
As far as low buck I have to double check my exel file but I believe I am right at $3000 cash total out of pocket cost to build the car. About $2000 more is there in parts that I already had but cost me $0, so figure $5000 to build the car and I could of done it cheaper. I still have material here to redo the door panels and some other stuff, that will be next. For now it is time to drive it and hit some car shows, have to split drive time between the Cad and the Buick.

 

very hip old Caddy cruzer, putta bunch o gals in that one!! ~sololobo~

 

On your grille...I've seen a rusted grille like that disassembled, soda-blasted, then painted a brushed-aluminum finish, clear-coated and reassembled; specifically, on a '46 Chevy Deluxe. The finished grille really looked great, and the guy had maybe a hundred bucks in the blasting. Paint costs were minimal, and he shot it himself, to boot. He went ahead and did the rest of the chrome, including the bumpers, the same way, as he was not worried about a "chrome" finish. An idea for the future?

 

Could be, the grille I have seen for sale but the seller would not ship, they are out there. The killer is the side spears, they are different for the different body styles, so finding the correct ones with good chrome is not easy. I will play with the brushed aluminum look before I spray the car. I can paint the car myself so no issue there, just dont want it with new paint and horrible trim. Is there a thread with pics of how it looked and what paint/technique he used?

 

That is excellent. Last time I saw this thread you were just pulling the car out of the trailer and now it´s a driver already. And for very little money.

I wonder how it would look with the chrome painted in the brushed ally finish, as suggested, and then the body painted very slightly matt, so it properly matches the slightly flat chrome look? Not total matt paint, but just with the shine knocked back a little. It might look rather like the effect you get in the morning, with that misting of dew on the car.
Just an idea.

 

Thanks, that sounds perfect, that is exactly what I am looking for as far as the look.

 

Nope, no thread, this was a local guy that is not on a computer, that did this to his Chevy a while back.

 

I'd love to know what the inspector said when you rolled in!

 

LOL they are car guys and have been inspecting my builds for many years, they know I dont cut corners and if it isnt safe it wont get driven. I think they look forward to seeing what is next, beats looking at daily drivers all day long.

 

very nice find it looks to be in pretty good shape ! very cool

 

Still looking for fender skirts for the car, anyone in the caddy world know of a set in any condition before I have to make a set? Have to be for a model 61 to fit correctly but I could cut down a fleetwood set if I had to.

 

Man, when you dragged that out of the trailer I thought...no way....never happen. I have really enjoyed this build thread and you proved me wrong. I learned a lot too. Nice job.

 

Man, what a neat project. I enjoyed reading this thread.