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48K views 271 replies 37 participants last post by  jayoldschool 
#1 ·
Well, the time has come for me to FINALLY start a project thread for my coupe. I bought it almost two years ago, and it sat in storage for a full year before I moved to my new house. It's time to get to work!

I thought about what I like when I read other's project threads. Details on what they are working on, and PICTURES! I have been motivated by the other project threads, so here we go...

Here is where the coupe has been hibernating since last October (that light spot on the top is just where I gave it a clean to see how it would come out):



A couple of the other toys that see a little more use than the Cadillac:



Started right up, so I snapped a before pic. This thing hasn't been washed since I bought it.



Hmmm. Dirty hubcaps. That can be improved on.



Let's get that beast up in the air and get the wheels off. Some different wheels will make it look a little nicer.

 
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#2 ·
On to the interior...

DIRTY!



Cracked wheel:



Time for a new wheel:



Typical cracked dash, too!



Stripped down, ready for nicer parts:



What could be in that box?;)



A crack free dash, of course!



One last piece of wrap to pull off:



Uh oh. The dash had flexed during shipping. I bent it back after the pic, and the crack is almost unnoticeable:



Day one complete. A nice dash, and a nice leather wheel:





Tomorrow brings cleaning, inside and out. Also, a functional power antenna.

Here's a little sneak preview of the wheels:

 
#3 ·
I want to give a big thanks to Anthony (1990CaddyBrougham) who has been my parts connection. I first met him when I bought parts off ebay from him, and we have stayed in touch since. I stopped by his house when I was on vacation, and picked up enough stuff to fill my wagon to the roof. The border guards just sighed and waved me through. More details as the project continues...

Hey, does anyone know where the other connection for the "aspirator" tube is??? It was just hanging behind my glovebox. I stuffed my head inside the dash, but couldn't find it. I checked the FSM, and it is supposed to connect to the interior temp sensor. I can't find that, and the FSM isn't specific...

 
#4 ·
Sweet looking coupe, it really helps me crack my "reasonable" side that prohibits me spending all my money on my project. Rent is important, but if worse came to worse, I could live in a Cadillac, right?

BTW, where did you get the dash from justdahses.com or is it an original? I am going to be ordering a new one for my phaeton this week.
 
#7 ·
Nice job. The car is gorgeous, of course.

By the look of that gigantic spring popping out of the steering wheel-backing in one of those pictures, you must have the telescopic wheel. Any advice on taking that all apart and putting it back together?

The telescopic lock on my '80 CDV won't engage, and the wheel telescopes in and out all the time. Very annoying and dangerous especially in hard stops or acceleration, where I find myself 3 inches closer or further away from the dash.

Any tips welcome. You're in Ontario, right? Keep up the good work fellow Cadillac-Canadian. :thumbsup:
 
#8 ·
Yes, it's a tele column. You have to remove the tele assembly to swap the wheel, so I know exactly how to fix your problem.

If it is telescoping all the time, then the part that locks it is loose. Take off the horn pad (two 7mm in the back), unplug the horn by pushing down and turning right on the black connector. See the metal ring that the tele lever is bolted to? Take out the three little bolts (also 7mm), then grab some channel locks. Tighten that metal disc until it can't turn any more. I believe the FSM spec is 30ft-lbs. Once you have done that, re-attach the lever in the RIGHT posistion. Then, when you slide it to the left, it will unlock. Done!

Yes, in Ontario. Just a bit east of Ottawa...
 
#9 ·
Very nice car! An '80-81 Brougham Coupe with the D'Elegance package is still one of my favorite Cadillacs of all time. The 82-85's are awesome too, but I'd like to avoid the 4100.
 
#10 ·
When you say you were motivated by other project threads, i hope this doesnt include mine. Im SLACKING. But that motors almost done... so ill be back on track yet again.


What did you do to that dash pad?????? I know it wasnt like that when it left the USA sir, but lucky for you i have another dark blue one here.
Leather wheel looks good, and those wheels....... Where are the wide whites??? Anychance you got that haze off?

Looking good for sure.

So Whos going to be the first with a moonroof????
 
#26 ·
When you say you were motivated by other project threads, i hope this doesnt include mine. Im SLACKING. But that motors almost done... so ill be back on track yet again.
Yeah.... I'm pretty embarassed at the terrifying lack of progress with my 76 Coupe. Sadly parts for mine aren't so easy to come by and when I do they're outrageously priced.....
 
#11 ·
What did you do to that dash pad?????? I know it wasnt like that when it left the USA sir, but lucky for you i have another dark blue one here.
Leather wheel looks good, and those wheels....... Where are the wide whites??? Anychance you got that haze off?

Looking good for sure.

So Whos going to be the first with a moonroof????
lol, I didn't do it, USPS did. Keep that blue one for me, I'll get it next summah! The wheel is really nice. The WWWs are on the rack (look right in front of the 65. I won't put them on until the car hits the road. I'll store it on the scrap tires (that leak like crazy around the beads!). I don't have plates on it right now. I haven't gone hardcore on the haze yet, but I'm positive that it will come off. It scrapes right off with a fingernail, so I'll give it a go with the stripper.

The great Astroroof race... well, I'm off to the yard tomorrow to cut one out, but you'll likely get yours in first. If you stop slacking with that POS 57:crybaby:
 
#12 ·
Back with another update. I'm tired! A full day out in the garage today...

First up, a new power antenna. The old one is unplugged, and when you plug it in, the motor runs non-stop. That means broken mast cable...

First up, off with that wheel that I just put on yesterday. Then, you have to remove the "wheelhouse extension". (Makes the job a lot easier than on the B body that has one piece steel inner fenders!):



Two 7mm bolts up here:



Unplug the power connector, and the coax antenna lead:



A hidden 10mm sheetmetal bolt down here...



This one makes me sad. My mast wouldn't go down, no matter how hard I pushed. This prevented me from getting the assembly out the bottom. So, on goes the mini tubing cutter...



And, a few turns later, we see the reason why this is getting replaced...



A couple of mounting differences with the new one that is out of a 93:



Since I was working by myself, it was really hard to hold the antenna in place to start the bolts. I came up with this:



After that, it was just a matter of pulling the wires up. I used an electrician's fish tape, but a coat hanger would work well, too.

Click HERE for the moment of truth.:highfive:

Next up, replacing a broken hood spring:



Here's the correct size that I put on (got it from an 81 parts car):



And here are the monsters that someone else installed:



Wait, what's that duct tape? The spring is so big, they had to grind a section out of the fan housing! The hole is closed with duct tape. :bigroll:



On to the interior...
 
#13 ·
Gave the interior a very thorough vaccuum, and wipe down clean/treatment. Came out very well. The floor mats are still drying:



Those pimp velour seats cleaned up nice! (but they just might be leaving for leather...)



Back seats look as good as the fronts! Do you know how long it takes to vaccuum out each one of those buttons???:suspect:



Someone loved this car enough to give it a personal touch. Check out the crests on the rear mats. They did the trunk mat, too. Looks OE...



What's this? Hello, it's a factor Cadillac three door garage door opener! Doubt I'll ever get it to open my doors, but it is cool anyways:thumbsup:



Clicks right in here:



Did a full wash, also. Boy, was it ever dirty. No pics of that yet, because I was going to take it out, and the battery was dead. I had reconnected it to test the antenna, and having the doors open on the interior detail killled it. I'll get some soon...

Tomorrow: let's just say I'm off to grab something of ASTROnomical proportions...:worship:
 
#14 ·
:eek: Gona be able to eat off that motor!!!!!


I cant wait to hear about the wheels. Get that other cap cleaned/fixed up?? Im on the hunt still, Let me know if you find any. Did the car-part wheels work out? When i got the car that had the wheels, it sat for a few years without movement. I looked at it the guy had the car moved and running, and i took it home that day.

I remember 2 going flat quickly, but they came right off the car after i cleaned them up. Probably from sitting so long flat, a little rust on the bead. Like alloy wheels when they oxidize.

IF you dont remember.....




Cleaned up nice huh?

So what else do you have planned? 90 kit????
How bout that egg crate grille? You know how i feel about those.



Ohhhh Look at that power Antenna go!!!!!!! :thumbsup:
 
#15 · (Edited)
Yeah, they cleaned up nice. Wait until you see it in the sun! They'll be even better when they are stripped!

No luck on the car-part.com stuff. I'll keep on the hunt.

I will sneak the car out to my buddy's shop and I will remount the tires with some bead sealer. That will fix them. Right now, the worst one is loosing 20lbs in four hours...:eek:

No, no 90 kit. When I started on the search for one of these, I was all about the 90'd coupe. After having this one, I have grown to appreciate it. I love the egg crate. It is very old-school Caddy, and I think the best grille of the 80-89 cars... I know you want to smash it, though..lol
 
#16 ·
Well, I'm back from the yard. No Astro for me. It wasn't complete - missing the headliner. Also it wasn't glass. The sliding part was metal covered with vinyl! Probably pretty rare, but not for me. The interior was the lighter blue, not the dark blue like my coupe. You can see the difference between the two colours by checking out the after pic of my wheel and dash. Both the wheel and dash are the lighter blue. Not very noticeable, but the flash really brings it out.

They also just got in a nice 87-89 Brougham that had the dark blue interior. Of course, the dash had a nice big crack down the middle. No Astro, either.

I did grab a nice OE crest floormat, and snagged a garage door opener that works on my openers.

I'll be back later tonight with some exterior shots. Car is starting to look good. Mechanicals are up next...
 
#17 ·
So no roof huh? The slide is sopose to be metal, but covered in the matichin headliner. It may have been messed with at one point, maby it was sagging, and somone put vinyl on instead.

You should still nag the switch assembly. Thats a key thing. But then again, you say it wasnt glass, it could have been aftermarket. Did it have a factroy switch??

I have the glass if you want to swap it out. THe car your seats came from had a roof, that leaked. But i cut it out anyways, for a spare. I have everything but the switch. The parts car that i have with the roof for my 81 is complete, and works great and seals tight. Both are factory, so if you need any parts off my other one let me know (maby if you find another with a missing part?)


The car your wheel and dash pad came from was the same car the seats came from, the 91 with 76?k miles. So it was the only blue for the 90-91. And its the dark blue.

I do remember having a fleetwood coupe parts car back in the day with a light blue, that looks unatractive IMO But that was pretty beat up inside. ITs clearly a lighter blue then the darker. you have, or say the 90-92 dark blue



What other colors are there? Maby the 90-92 dark blue is different then the 80's, especailly early 80s?

I do have a dark blue dash pad from a 88 Brougham. But to me looks no different then the dark blue one i have from a 91 Parts car. So i have 2 more to chose.


Hey, another thing, does your opera lights work??
 
#18 ·
You know, I have no idea if they work! I have never turned the lights on and checked...lol

Yes, the 81 dark blue is definitely darker than the pad and wheel. The 87-89 that I saw today had the darker blue. Mom's 84 has the slightly lighter blue that looks the same as the parts. I think hers is the same as that shot above. Her seats are the exact same as those. Non-d'elegance. Hard to tell with the flash, though...

The car in the yard did have the switch. It also was the lighter interior colour, so I didn't grab it. It had a crack-free leather wheel, so I might go back and do some more scrounging.

Anyone have a pic what my side molding is supposed to look like? The stuff on there is aftermarket, and looks like crap. A web link on where to get it would be fantastic...

Hmmm, I'll send you an email on the Astro stuff.

Ok, off to take some pics to keep everyone happy...
 
#19 ·
Back from the garage. New developments... that I will detail after some pics...

Back to the light blue/dark blue.

Here is the comparison between light mats and dark mats. You can also see the difference between the larger mat crests in the 81 and the later smaller ones from the mid 80s. Not sure when they switched over. I know mom's 84 has the smaller crests.:





Here are two shots of the dash. One with flash, on without. You can really see the difference here...





If you have some dirty mats, hit them up with the pressure washer. Mats come out looking brand new:



Soooo.... here is where all the nice exterior shots go. One small problem. The car won't start. When I got it out of storage, I had to do the tap tap tap on the starter to get it to go. It started a few days ago at my place fine, and I started it yesterday, too. I guess the starter is on the bad spot on the windings now. Melissa (my wife) is away right now, so I won't be able to start it until I can get underneath it and someone cranks. Not a big deal. These things happen with car projects. I'll probably throw a reman on it before I put it on the road.

Since I couldn't take it out and take nice pics, I got the "Benzilla" compound out and hit up some spots that needed attention. Came out pretty nice.

One shot from the stairs of a (finally) clean coupe. This thing is coming along. Would have been nice to have a big Astro in that white top!

 
#25 ·
Thanks, guys. I appreciate the comments. Keeps me motivated:cool2:

Wasn't me on the ebay deal. Mine was local: bought it from a 77 year old WWII bomber pilot. Still has the RCAF decal on the bumper.

Spent a couple more hours in the garage. I've got the starter unbolted, removed the rear support, removed the big terminal for the pos cable, but I can't get that other nut off the little terminal!!! What size is that nut? The closest I can get is 11/32nds, but it slips. Is there a size between 5/16ths and 11/32nds that I don't know about? Metric doesn't work, either. It's a bitch to get at, too. I can't pivot the starter down due to the exhaust crossover. I am taking a break, because I was going to strip that thing soon. I'll get back at it tomorrow. Please, if anyone has advice, LMK!

Oh, I am also thinking that the starting issue may not be only the starter. The end of the positve cable does not look good. A bunch of the copper strands are broken where they go into to the crimp. I'll see if I can get a replacement.

One last thing of interest. I found the wire coming from my trans that I believe activates the cylinder deactivation. It is cut, and one end is just twisted up out of the way. I'll add a switch inside the car, and connect it back up. Once I can start the car, of course.;)
 
#27 ·
Got the starter out. I used a small Vise Grip on that nut, turning about a 10th of a rotation at a time. Fun. The brass terminal finally broke off the soleniod (to my delight), and I could drop the starter out. I've also pulled the battery cables so I can change them as well. I think the starter may be ok, but at this point, I'm changing everything.
 
#28 ·
Funny story. Years ago I was at my summer job and went to go to lunch with the head of IT in my Caprice. The starter just clicked. Waited until the end of the day and called AAA to tow the car home. The tow truck guy actually poked at the starter with a broomstick but no dice. I picked up a starter, disconnected the negative cable and disconnected that A-frame brace that is bolted in on the pre-94 cars (94+ are welded), which is kind of a PITA. Broke the housing on the old starter getting that solenoid wire off.

Got the new starter in (friggen direct drive starter is a bear with one hand). Put all the cables back, and put the negative battery cable back. *click*

NO!!! Tried various things...checked my connections. Just a click. I ended up touching the positive cable at the battery for some reason and I noted it was just a tad loose. Yeah, it cranked fine. It was just the cable. Corrosion and what not. And since I broke the housing on the old starter I really couldn't reuse it and bought a $150 starter for no reason.

Doing plug wires on my 95 Camaro I had to take the starter out and I broke the housing on that one, too, but I think my father in law saved the day by piecing it back together for me, somehow.

I am now running a PG260M (?) gear reduction starter for an L31 (late 90s truck) in my Caprice, to accomodate the LT1 exhaust mod. I've also purchased two sets of Innovative Wiring's battery cable sets for both my Caprice and Camaro. I am thinking about getting a set for my Fleetwood. Great stuff and really lets the charging system breathe easier as well as deliver the proper voltage to high drain devices.
 
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