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1968 Cadillac Deville Ragtop Resurrection

9K views 52 replies 9 participants last post by  CADforce69 
#1 · (Edited)
Newbie here... I have posted one other thread about my car but I thought I'd start a build thread for it as well. I bought the car when I was 19 for $2K, drove it during college then parked over the past 18 years. It hasn't even been turned over in that time. It's got the original 472 in it and the usual options.

I know its going to be a truck load of cash but I am planning on a frame off restoration. I grew up in california so I have an affinity for low-riders. Being that I already have a 1963 Impala, I promised my wife I would not do that to this car. Instead I am going to go for a mean low-rod look with an air suspension and I promise no 13" wheels!

I am very limited with what I can do on the car myself as I do not have a usable garage at our house being that we live in downtown Portland, Oregon. Currently the car is stored in a small garage at an apartment building that my buddy owns. Its at a circa 1950's building so the garage is small. That coupled with the X-frame that I am storing equals very little room to work. There are a couple places in town that supposedly rent shop space for you to work on your car but they are full right now. I have also got a shop that has done some other work for me so the work will in all likelihood be split with me doing some in them doing some.

I am going to start on trying to get rid of as much of the rust I can so it does not get any worse. I am hoping it is not too bad once I get down to bare metal. I have attached some pics below that I took this weekend. I have also pasted the URL to all of the pictures in PhotoBucket.

http://s1083.photobucket.com/albums/j384/68DevilleRag/?start=0

No telling how long this will take so pack a lunch and enjoy...



















 
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#2 ·
nice!
looks like you've already got yourself a good starting point. The car looks pretty solid, some rust but doesn't look like too much rot.

Can't wait to follow your progress on this. post as many pics as possible and if you get stuck or have questions just ask, lots of experts here.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for that... I will definitely be asking many questions, my only other restoration was a 69 VW bug which I could put in the trunk of this one! It is a west coast car so besides the rust on the body, it's pretty clean. I will try and post some pics of the undercarriage soon.
 
#4 ·
It seems to be surface rust, that could be fixed just by sanding and priming, though it´s difficult to tell on rear left fender top. Interior seems to need just a good cleaning and some ornament missing. Engine compartment looks well for a 19 years stopped car. If there is no serious rust in lower fenders, maybe you have no serious problem to restore body, but check also passenger and trunk floor, as it´s a critical point in these cars.

Good luck and go for it! :thumbsup: (In Spain we say: Valor y al toro!) :)
 
#8 ·
So I had a question and was hoping I could get some opinions. Before I ask I want to share that, A) I never plan on selling my car and B) I would like to be able to hop in this thing and drive it across country if I wanted to.

So I was thinking about my plans for the engine and I have been toying with the idea of pulling the 472 (and storing it) and replacing it with an LS motor. I have not decided which one but I have no doubts that I could tweak an LS to get as much power as I want. As much as I'd like to blow up that 472, I just think long term with as much as I want to drive this, the LS would be a more reliable option.

Has anyone out there done this with any of their big block caddys? I would love any feedback, opinions or if you want to tell me to put the crack pipe down.
 
#9 ·
if possible I'd say keep the 472. they're pretty reliable once fixed up. plus they have gobs of torque to move your massive land barge. since you're going to be redoing the car, I'd have the motor rebuilt or at least refreshed. and make sure you have oil in it before you fire it up (looks like its been leaking alot).
the rust I saw in the pics isnt bad at all. I dont see that much rot either. I'd be worried about underside rot more than anything but since the rockers and quarter panels appear rust free, I wouldnt be that concerned (trunk rot might be an issue though) . the interior looks respectable but needs a through cleaning (I'm guessing those seats used to be white where they are currently gray?). tackle one thing at a time but get it running first.
 
#10 ·
There's no doubt that not many engines are going to give me the kind of power the 472 will on the low end of power band. Most of that oil you see on the floor was from me putting some penetrating oil into the carb and various other spots in an effort to lube things up prior to trying to start it. I was a little messy with it! Back in the day the car did not burn too much oil and did not leak much at all.

The interior was that color when I bought it. In looking at the codes the car was originally Kashmir Ivory with a black interior, so it had obviously been replaced.

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it!
 
#11 ·
Worked on stripping the hood yesterday. Due to my space limitations and no power in the garage, I stripped it still on the car by hand. The paint was in pretty bad shade so it came off fairly easy. Used some 50 grit on a block and a 36 grit 3M sponge for the corners on the hood.

As you can see, there are still some pretty sizable rust spots that will need to be sanded a bit more. There is some pitting in different areas but it does not look too bad. I was not able to get a picture of it but there are two large rust spots on the passenger side front fender that are bubble up to the size of a large grapefruit. That fender also has a decent size dent in it as well so I think I'm going to just get a new fender to save myself the patchwork and labor to repair it.

After I strip the chrome off, I am going to borrow a buddies generator and air compressor and go to work with my air sander on the rest of the body. I mainly want to focus on the areas where the rust is the bad so it does not get worse.

I would still love to hear an feedback on swapping the engine to a modern LS motor. Especially if there is anyone out there who's done it.















 
#13 ·
I agree with outsider. In addition this engine is the most reliable cadillac built ever. Since I bought my 69, with the same engine, I just cleaned carburetor replacing gaskets, changed plugs, plug wires, points, rotor distributor cap, belts and fan clutch, oil, air and gas filters and oil, to be sure it´s reliable. I´ve done near 1000 miles with no engine problem though car maintenance was not good in the past. You can upgrade this engine. If you check 500cid.com you will see the stuff you can find for this purpose and the car will go on to be valuable as her heart still will be cadillac. IMO, If your car has a modern engine it will loose value.

As for the hood, it seems to be in a fair condition. Just treat pitting with rust neutralizer, fill holes and prime it as soon as possible. Steel can be nude not even for a week.
 
#14 ·
Thanks for the opinions guys! I am leaning towards keeping the original engine but with as much as want to drive this, I want to make sure of its reliability. Now that I think about it, when I drove it during college, I beat the hell out of it and I never had any problems. I have spoken to the folks at MTS and Cad Company already about all the parts they have. If I end up going that route, I will most likely ship the motor to them and have them do all the work.

Probably going to continue to dismantle the car and work on the body more this week.
 
#15 ·
Worked on the Rag for a little bit today, I pulled the seats out. The rear bolts were a pain to get out because I could not move the seats at all. The power seats have never worked so I will be working on figuring that out. All of the metal on seats and tracks were in pretty bad shape. After I strip the rust I am hoping to get the metal all cleaned up and powder coated.

I didn't have time to pull it all out but I wanted to see what it looked like under the carpet and I wish I hadn't. There is a ton of rust and I am guessing the floor pan will have to be replaced. After seeing that and all of the rust on the underside of the seats, I am starting to think the car got fairly wet at the last place it was stored prior to where it's at now. :banghead:

I rented a storage space so I can start moving and storing parts over as I pull them. I bought a shop and body manual on CD rom and that thing is invaluable! After a lot of thought I have decided that I am going to stick with the big block Cadillac motor. I had toyed with the idea of dropping a modern LS engine in it but I all of you and other's I have spoken to said the 472 and 500's are bullet proof. When I have rebuilt I am going to switch to a 500 block. Some pics are below. Sorry for the crappy quality, I only had my phone with me today.











 
#16 ·
well, thats certainly not a great thing to find, but from the looks of it, alot of it is just moderate to heavy surface rust and some rot in the lowest parts of the floor. rot is what you don't want, but as long as you have solid metal you shouldnt need to do too much metal replacement. I'd start sanding it down and see what it turns out to be. the worse off metal will fall out as you sand (or will become paper thin) but if you can still stand in the interior of the car, you shouldnt need to do entire floorpan replacement.
 
#20 ·
As kevin said, you´ll have to sand the floor and see which part is superficial rust and which part is rotten. Maybe you have to cut and weld not a great part of floor as it provides enough reinforcement. Anyway, as you are going to do the body, this is the moment. I think you have taken the right decision to keep that 472 as a basis for upgrading. :thumbsup: These engines are solid and much simpler than today´s power plants, what means that you´ll be able to play yourself with it, changing and adding whatever you like. ;)
 
#22 ·
I'm feeling that either patchwork or replacement of the bad areas on the pan is the plan. The car is going to be completely stripped so I may as well do it right the first time! Yea, I am excited about the prospects of keeping the motor. I was taking to a guy I know here in town how builds hot rods and one of his clients was dropped a 500 Caddy into 32 Ford and it's a fiberglass body. That thing is going to fly!!
 
#23 ·
Pulled out the rest of the carpet today and pulled the rear panels from the back seat. As you can see, I have a nice size hole that was not there when it left the factory. When I puling the carpet from near the dash I repositioned my foot and felt it go through. I am curious, what everyone's experience is with using the reproduction floor pans versus OG parts.

One of the pics is a closer shot of some factory paint, I believe the color was called Cashmere Ivory. The shot of my bumper was the handy work of our 13 year old son who has been helping me.

I've got too run some of the parts to the storage space as I am running out of room in the garage.













 
#25 ·
I am guessing as I continue to clean up the floors and get them sanded, I will get an better idea of what needs to be replaced. They are still a mess!

Thanks for the color codes, that's a great thread. I kind of have my heart set on a burgundy exterior and a custom burgundy top to match. Below is a pic of a car with the color I'm thinking of.

 
#26 ·
IMO its not that bad for a 40+ year old car. the floorpan area with the hole (right rear?) will have to be replaced. the front area looks questionable, but might be salvageable.
until the rust gets sanded down, you'll never know whats there. make sure you seal the area after you remove the rust. I used duplicolor rust converter on the door bottoms of my '86 and the rust has not come back and the metal has not oxidized any more.
btw, make sure you cover over/ remove the interior panels before you start sanding. personally, I'd remove the door panels and rear side panels and cover over the dash really well.
and if possible, I'd move the car outside before sanding (its gonna be messy)
 
#29 ·
Yea, I'm not too bummed out. Like you said, it's an old car and stuff doesn't last forever! I actually pulled the front door panels tonight and will post the pictures. I am going to continue to gut the interior before I do anymore sanding. The dash is in awesome shape and I don't want to screw that up. Right now the car doesn't move so the sanding will have to be done all in the garage. I've got my shop vac ready!
 
#32 ·
Ok here's a stupid question so please hold the laughter till the end.... I have been using the Fisher Body Manual to help with dismantling so far. As I get into the more intricate stuff the guide is broken down by "body series type" and I am getting lost with all of the models. If there is someone out there that has used the manual, can you let me know what "body series" my ride is so I know what sections to look at. As a reminder it's a 1968 DeVille Convertible. Ok, begin laughing now...
 
#37 ·
I'm not sure what size compressor we use at my girlfriend's dad's house but it's small...little horizontal compressor...and it always does fine with the air sander/DA/any other air tools.

I'm not sure it's a matter of the holding capacity but the speed in which it refills the tank :)

Again, not an expert by any means but we've always made due with just the little compressor.
 
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