My Tripple Black 81 Fleetwood Brougham Coupe Delegance... Since i had it i have been on the fence on what to do with it. Not whether im going to keep it or not, because i am, but whether to keep the 80-89 look, or update it to the 90-92.
I need to replace the fender, header and bumper anyways. due to exsiting damage. And i have 2 whole 90-92 parts cars, and a bay chock full of more parts from past cars. I have a few noses to chose from. I already have the lower body side mouldings moulded to the 2 door. Rear bumper, lights. I have ANYTHING i would need.

along with the nose, it would need a whole reapaint anyways. Top is original and great. One of my parts cars has a moonroof, and i would LOVE to add that, but dont want to disrupt the factory vinyl top.

I also need to do something with my front seats. They show some wear. Im thinking about dying a dark blue set out of my 90 wiht 77k on it.

Im going to have to rebuild the tranny also. The motor is a 368 "4-6-8" and seems to run good, when it was shifting.

I have the time, space and facility to do it all. Its just whether or not i want to. I LOVE the 90-92. Much more then the 80's But i love them the most in white, thats why i got my 90 brougham. Black, idk... i was never that fond of black 90's. Im having a tough time here though.

To top it off... my white 90 Brougham may not be my daily driver anymore. I bought a 2000 DTS. It was a unplanned buy, but at $4000, i couldnt say no. thats less then trade in. Its got 91k, and its a nice car. So i may be selling the Snow white brougham i searched for as a teenager.

Let me know what you think, here are some pics i have found, mostly on the lowrider forum. I also found a parts car for sale locally, thats a exact replica,though in rusty shape. Mine is rust free, sitting in a dry garage for 10 years.

Here is what im working with..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/towncar097/81%20Fleetwood%20Brougham%20Coupe/BlkFWB2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/towncar097/81%20Fleetwood%20Brougham%20Coupe/2outside.jpg


Im really not sure. But i have to deceide soon. I After the tranny is done its mechanically hopefully, sound. I already did a full tune up.

here are pics of other "90'ed coupes" Mine would obviously be an ORIGINAL one, not a lowrider. The first 3 are orignal. Not cut up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/towncar097/Other%20Lacs/111.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/towncar097/Other%20Lacs/1111.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/towncar097/Other%20Lacs/1112.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/towncar097/Other%20Lacs/wow.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/towncar097/Other%20Lacs/yu.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/towncar097/Other%20Lacs/71ec489b.jpg

oh so you were the one that boaught that Fleetwood Coupe I saw on Craigslist a while back in the garage, Well let me know what your gonna sell and the price, I would like to see pics of your parts, i would like to look at them , but i am in NH right now in College and I will not be back in Tewksbury until Christmas. I of coarse still look for cadillacs. I am actually interested maybe in a Brougham. As far as the look i like them stock, so if its 90-92 keep it, if its the 80-89 look keep that, but of coarse if its a must. Don't do anything stupid like make it a donk or whatever they call em'

oh so you were the one that boaught that Fleetwood Coupe I saw on Craigslist a while back in the garage, Well let me know what your gonna sell and the price, I would like to see pics of your parts, i would like to look at them , but i am in NH right now in College and I will not be back in Tewksbury until Christmas. I of coarse still look for cadillacs. I am actually interested maybe in a Brougham. As far as the look i like them stock, so if its 90-92 keep it, if its the 80-89 look keep that, but of coarse if its a must. Don't do anything stupid like make it a donk or whatever they call em'

haha... so you saw it too? he did say someone else was looking at it after i tired to get it for free.. lol. I said to myself... Who else in the state of MA other then me would want this? lol.

I looked at it... he was asking like 600.. Told him it was worthless and got him to i think 4. I wanted it for 2-3. Lost the number and contact info... and a month or so goes by, drove back to the house, asked the tennant renting it what his landlords # was, got it, called him back, and he told me just to take it, or he would junk it by the end of the week. So i did. :D

Clean car. Surprisingly very rust free.
Ill PM you on the parts.. I got PLENTY!!!! Got a few leads on parts Coupes... but i have no use, and dont want to pay $500 for a parts car. Lol

Your heart must have been racing when he said "just take it"

I know I've said it before, and there's a million and one people against me, but LEAVE IT IN THE 80's!

I'll never really understand how people like the 90s look over the 80s look. The body of the car is 80s style, and it looks so weird with 90s trim pieces. Plus, the Fleetwood Coupes are rare, it would be a shame to sully it like that. I REALLY say to leave it original.

Of course, you're going to do whatever you want in the end, so not that it matters. I think you're just asking us to tease us.

You got more cars that I have. Dang it.

Nice cars, man.

Keep it stock~ish. I'm not too big on the 90s coupes. I like the way it looks now. Coupes just should be black, too.

I'd keep it stock . However if possible I would upgrade the interior to '90-92's .What I would do for sure just change the engine to a real powerful LT1 or LSX ones despite the cost

Another "Stock" vote here.

and great find!

Cash in on the bargain DTS at your earliest opportunity. They're nice cars, but in comparison to the '77-92 RWD models, they're fragile, and lack the "presence."

Keep it stock and ship it to me in the UK. Seriously a buddy of mine is after a 77-79 coupe but is looking at that '85 Fleetwood coupe on ebay. For the right price, not $8900 of course!

Do you want to sell?

regards, Nick

No i dont want to sell it....


Progress of the weekend though..
The tranny is officailly out. I took it out myself. Its a used tranny... that is marked and dated about the time it went into storage... So i assume the originaly tranny let go, tehy bought a used one, sucnk so much into a used one, got it in and it wouldnt work And they didnt want to put anymore $$ into it. Let it sit in storage for 10 years. That explains why the tranny was disconected, and it was last towed into the garage.

Wheels of progress are rolling

i think you should cut it up:thumbsup:

keep it in the 80's... I agree.... never liked the '90 style on the Coupes.

Keep it stock. The '90s front end on a Coupe doesn't look right IMO. I mean it's aesthetically nice, but just doesn't fit. Plus, I always loved the fine eggcrate pattern on the '81s.

Plus, I always loved the fine eggcrate pattern on the '81s.


You must of forgot....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/towncar097/81%20Fleetwood%20Brougham%20Coupe/1outside.jpg

Yeah, but what about in that first picture?

That would be prior to me extracting it via foot... to unbolt the hood latch, to open the hood.. :)

It would have came off anyways. i dont like it.If i keep it 1980's stylin, it would get a 90 grille and rear bumper with tail lights.

Another photo i found for thought......

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/towncar097/81%20Fleetwood%20Brougham%20Coupe/untitled.jpg

Thats HOT :cool2:

I must admit, that does look nice. How do they make the lower moulding fit a coupe, though? I guess I could understand slicing and splicing plastic, but there's metal, too.

Also, if you do this, would you convert the interior, too? (burlwood, digi dash, bigger radio, center armrest) If you're gonna do it, you'd better go all out.

Like this one......
He's owner here on the forums. Anyone know him?

http://www.cadillacforums.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=5674&size=1

http://www.cadillacforums.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=5673&size=1

http://www.cadillacforums.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=5672&size=1

http://www.cadillacforums.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=5671&size=1

http://www.cadillacforums.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=5670&size=1

http://www.cadillacforums.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=5669&size=1

http://www.cadillacforums.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=5668&size=1

http://www.cadillacforums.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=5667&size=1

http://www.cadillacforums.com/photopost/watermark.php?file=5666&size=1

Also, another reason I'd say keep your Fleet 80's is because of the engine. A BB engine in a 90'd car just doesn't really sound right. I say wait till you get a an HT4100 Fleet and convert it and put the Chevy 350 in it. Then it really would be "all the way." Save the big block for its era - it's comfortable there. ;)

Oh, and how would you register it? As an '81 or as a '92? (that somehow lost 2 doors...lol) Does the conversion require the replacement of the vin plates? Becuase then you may have to register it as a "custom" built car w/ no year or model!

WOW, LOOK AT THAT CRAFTSMANSHIP... He went ALL out...

Full frame swap, 5.7, Factory CD WITH DOOR SPEAKERS, Seat Belts...

Whats with the 80's Caps???

I wouldnt do a frame/motor swap. Not if the motor runs good, and the tranny is getting re-built.

The interior is a toss up. The wood doesnt bother me much. I like the 90's better.... but to change the dash.... ewww.....

I do need to figure out how to be able to put seats from a 90-92 sedan in the coupe... my black pillow tops are a bit torn/worn in the front. I have a nice set in a blue 90, with 77k. I can dye them... But im not sure how to make them fold forward.... or recline?

Lets get it running first... well. Moving that is. Today it saw its first snow fall in the last 10 years.... its outside at my work, in the cold. Lol...

I think what you would do is just unzip the leather that encases the foam of the seat. Then go put them over the frames of the '81. But since the d'Elegences of the 80's had dual center armrests and were technically wider, I'm not sure if it would work, but it probably would. If not, just grab some coupe deville frames for cheap. That way you keep all the '81 functions like recline and fold forward.

At this point it appears that the people overwhelmingly want you to leave her alone.

i would suggest you look in the lowrider forums, ALOT of good info on 90ing out coupes. heres a link on how to do the mouldings.
http://www.layitlow.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=235989

im on that site all the time.

I already have the mouldings made, ready for paint.
I still have the tranny out, so theres still time to find one, but i havent found a good 80-89 parts car for the nose im lookin for. If i can find one soon ill keep it a 81.
The trannys still getting rebuilt so i got time.

I'm in the same situation. I have a set of mint 92 seats to go in my 81. The seats are perfect in the 81, but they are velour. I like leather. So I am going to swap them. Apparently, there is a pin to take out of the sedan seats to make them fold. I haven't looked yet. There is also a wiring difference, so I will swap the later seats onto the early tracks.

do you plan on switching the 90s dash too with the digi cluster?