Lol okay, so i decided that i'll post my progress on getting my 1997 Cadillac Catera from OK shape both mechanicaly and visually, to maybe not perfect, but into something that will look and run nice and strong.
Here are the problems:
*Dead battery
*A few stains in the interior
*Scratches, chips, small rock dings on the body
*One of the fog lights needs to be re-attached
*Valve cover is leaking
*Ripped air filter
*Dirty freakin' engine compartment
*Radio 'Bass, Balance, and Fade' knobs are broken, Treble is in good shape, lol
*No registration or licence plates or insurance, haha (cant be driven)
Here is what I did today:
*Jump started the car, battery still needs to be replaced
*Vacuumed entire car, applied carpet shampoo and leather conditioner
*Wiped off most plastic and other hard surfaces with Armor All
Here is what I plan on doing in part two:
*Wash cars exterior off, clean engine compartment
*Wax/polish/use bug and tar remover on exterior
*Clean wheels and tires completly
*Replace battery
And for part three:
*Register and insure the Cadillac
*Do something about those missing radio knobs
*Replace air filter
*Change oil, run some fuel injector cleaner through
*Add some compression booster just to get it running real good
*Do one hell of a burnout and get it on video for you guys, LOL
Here are some before/after pics from today
Some more pics and a little contest for ya guys....
What car is hiding underneath the cover?
First correct guess gets...umm....i dunno what....but guess anyway. lol
To that car guess... something thats not a Catera?
Sounds like an OK plan to me. Nice job on cleaning the interior.
The interior on mine/ours? Lol... Has some bits and pieces of various dirt and crap like that from everyday use that needs to be vacuumed sometime; already washed her once but pollen attacked everything on the outside! (it was windy out) .
Oh and an odd problem now happening, it decides to hiccup and stall sometimes while sitting long periods at stop lights/ in traffic... yet it only does it once and restarts right away and you never have the problem again after its been driven.
__________________ Feels kinda blistery in here, anyone else feel that? Oh waits its me.
nope, not a CTS....in the same class as the CTS but not a CTS
Hiccups? stalls? after sitting for a period of time?
Hey, sounds like something that happend to me before! Dont worry, a fairly easy fix
Well today I sprayed some engine de-greaser on the engine and washed that off, dried the big areas of water with a towell, then took the wet-dry vac and sucked the rest of the water up....Oh man, what a difference it made!
I was in awe that the engine looked so clean and shiney!
I also took the floor mats out from one of the garage cabanits where they've been for a while (while the cars been off the road) and shampood them....three of them turned out real nice (comparitvly), but the drivers floor mat has a little burn on it (dont know how it got there) and some oil stains that I was able to make a little better, but theyre still there....maybe i'll shampoo them again before I start driving it.
I also took some of this generic car washing formula that i found in the garage, mixed it with water, took a new Colgate toothbrush (compliments of my dentist, lol...coulda used a spinbrush i found but decided against that. haha) and cleaned the dirty but hard to get to places of the inside of the car, including A/C vents. I've added another item to the TO DO list. This ones pretty much going to be for fun. I've decided that after I do the tuneup that the car needs this spring, I'm gonna get a new muffler for the car. Dont worry, no rice here. I just want something that will give the Catera a somewhat sporty sound. Not necisarily louder, but more a more 'refined' tone. I'll probably just end up getting something cheap off eBay. We'll see, thats why i call it a 'project' catera.
Here are before/after pics:
Re: Project Catera-Stage one pics 
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