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414K views 3K replies 272 participants last post by  greencadillacmatt 
#1 ·
I thought it would be cool to have a thread where we show our cars as they sit right now...without being cleaned and prepped at all.

Here's mine as of this morning. It snowed last Friday night, and I hadn't washed it yet....so it's caked in salt. But I washed it this afternoon, so it's clean now.

 
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#195 ·
I much rather see classics getting driven and used as they were intended then trailered all over. I'd rather see an original survior with the scars over the years to prove it, then a fully restored car. In the past when I have been at classic car shows, I remember there were 2 '55 Coupe DeVille's next to each other (among my favorite years for Caddy) one was restored, one was original. The restored one looked..... well, restored. But the original one had the sun-cracked light lenses, slightly hazy chrome and some rock chips and a couple areas of lightly faded paint - and I just thought that was cool.

Kinda like those pictures of Gary's Impala (very nice, BTW) the little ding around the headlight trim, the faded black paint around the headlight grille etc...

Sorta like my BMW, while not a true classic (...yet ;-) ) shes got the battle scars from over the years. While there is more paint/body damage on her then would otherwise be acceptable for a car show, somehow it just really dosen't bother me, maybe because I bought her like that and just accepted that's the way it is, but I dunno. Seeing the various blemishes just adds to her character and is, overall what makes her *my* car. Maybe one day she'll get bodywork and a new paintjob done, but then I'd probably be worried about using her as a semi-daily driver.
 
#196 · (Edited)
I made some progress on Noelle after work today... decided to stop for a bit and get pictures for the overall project, just finished uploading. Several candid - it's now been almost about 6 weeks? since shes been driven, and washed.









Degreased the trans/underbody a bit. Both the selector shaft seal and output shaft seal are leaking, which in turn ate up the 2 trans mounts, so it'll all get replaced.



Almost ready to drop the rear subframe, just gotta disconnect the parking brake cables then remove a couple more nuts/bolts...





I thought this was interesting. Just realized it today as I disconnected the front calipers and disconnected the rear brake lines, thus drained the brake fluid out. This is a little float that also triggers the brake fluid light on the dash. It's neat, the canister first goes in the reservoir, then the cap w/float screws in. The canister has a small hole in the bottom to allow the fluid to enter/leave it, while at the same time preventing quick fluctuations due to bumps etc... I thought that was neat. This is also both the clutch, and brake fluid reservoir. There are 2 sub chambers tho, such as right now, the brake side is empty yet there is still fluid in the clutch side. Neat thing about this? As the clutch wears, fluid will generally go back into the reservoir. As the brakes wear, the fluid level in the reservoir will go down as the pistons now are pushed further out, thus more fluid is stored within the system, this setup helps to sort of even out the fluid exchange.





Parts storage:





(Mostly) E30 parts. 8'x8' shed is currently a dry place for parts storage. A real garage would be nice someday.



The other two were feeling left out of the love...







I'm getting an itch to drive the BMW again... the only cure for that is to get the work done faster. I still need to order another round of parts, this time ~$1.5k, if not more (painful to think about), but I've got enough stuff to hold me over for a while.

Crazy thing is.... I'm enjoying it. This car is just like a classic/toy/overall cool car to me. It's like in the new fast and furious, when the old Charger was halfway apart in the garage, and Dom's sister was saying how Letty would work on it just about every day. Yeah, it's just a movie, but it is still the same feeling. Like today, I didn't get a whole lot done, but it was progress, just something I can do to pass the time and if I get tired of it, then just step away. A garage would be nice as right now I'm limited to mostly daytime and overall nice weather.
 
#197 ·
Tints, 15% on the rear windows. It looks a little blotchy and uneven now but once it dries it should look much better. The car is also filthy because I went out to my grandma's farm and it rained just enough to pull the dirt out of the air and leave it all over my car.










 
#201 ·
Tints, 15% on the rear windows. It looks a little blotchy and uneven now but once it dries it should look much better. The car is also filthy because I went out to my grandma's farm and it rained just enough to pull the dirt out of the air and leave it all over my car.

My car is getting a rust bubble under the padded top in almost the exact same place, pass side c pillar, near the top of the rear window.

Tint really helps in the summer time, plus it makes the car just look nicer/more formal like a limo
 
#198 ·
I had Sabrina's windows tinted last week, but no pictures yet. I want with the lightest tint all the way around; I still want to be able to see out, especially at night. I can already tell a difference on the solar heat rejection since I have the sun on my side going to and from work. I also wanted to protect the top of the back seat since sloping roofline exposes the top of the seat, unlike the formal roofline on Cruella.

I think GM may have downgraded the glass on newer Cadillacs. Cruella has E-Z Kool glass (I think this was new for 1991), and I didn't feel the sun on my drive home like I did in Sabrina, so I never thought tint was needed. I always had my windows tinted when I lived in Arizona; it's an absolute necessity there.
 
#199 · (Edited)
Mine look a lot darker than they actually are. Apparently 15% is the factory tint on SUVs so that is what I went with. I tinted the windows to keep the car cooler since it is my summer car. I also had it done so I don't have to mess with the mirror at night and so people behind me can't see in.

This also happened to me the other day, it hit 70k. :(


 
#202 ·
It's getting close...
 
#203 ·
Got some pictures today of Sabrina's tint. I really like the look and can tell the difference with the heat rejection.







I also washed Sabrina and hosed the accumulated dust and bird poop off of Cruella. Got a few shots of the fleet:







 
#204 ·
Its amazing, even after all those miles and years Cruella still looks amazing. I would NEVER be able to find one like her around here, even with less than half the miles.
 
#205 ·
Thanks, John. She's got a lot of chips on the hood and the left rear quarter panel is faded, but she still shines up real nice. If my niece ends up getting the car and they both stay in Oregon, I'll be able to keep the car nice. I enjoy washing and detailing my cars; the end results are always a pleasure to see.
 
#207 ·
The tint looks great Gary! Not too dark, but enough so you know it's not stock.


My automotive present collides with my automotive future...
 
#211 ·
Gary, I take it you bought the Beamer. I haven't been reading your other thread.
 
#220 ·
^ You'll have to wash her again when you get here. You saw the pictures of what my Brougham looked like after only about 5 hours of being on the road. The bugs will flock to you.
 
#224 ·
I always do the wash/claybar/wax the week before and get another hand wash when I get to the city. STL to CHI is nothing like STL to New Orleans though. I killed so many full grown dragonflies on the bridge into NO my grill turned green. Dragonfly guts are acidic. :mad:
 
#225 ·
Years ago, I extended a business trip to Minneapolis to go see my sister's family in eastern North Dakota, about six hours away. I had a white Chevy Malibu as my rental car, and we took it to the International Peace Garden during my visit. By the time I got back to Minneapolis, the front of that poor Malibu was completely black. I told the attendant at the rental car return that they might have to sandblast it to get all the bug debris off.
 
#226 ·
I went to the peace gardens as well, many years ago when we went to visit the Air Force side of my family when they were in Minot, ND. It is a nice place.
 
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