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1981 Brougham Project

29K views 185 replies 29 participants last post by  Angry Matt 
#1 ·
A few weeks ago I bought another '81 Brougham. It's nowhere near as nice as my other one, but I got it for $800 and it's black. I've been wanting a triple black for a while, but this has the wine interior and the roof to match, now I'm over black interior, much happier with this. It's hasn't been on the road since '08 and needed brake lines, fuel lines, headliner and a windshield. I'm done the lines and have already done the front suspension and am waiting on rear shocks. I pulled the rear out today to swap it with the limited slip I've been holding on to. I'm sticking with the stock 2.41, the 3.23 I have is too snappy. I want to be able to cruise and drive the highway without topping out at 75 like the coupe was. I'm never going to race this car, but my mind changes like the wind. Either way, it should be on the ground by this weekend and ready to hit the road. The guy that owned it last painted something silver next to it and didn't bother covering the car, so it's covered in overspray. The fillers are busted of course and the tires are dryrotted. Where I'm confused is the route to go cosmetically. I've always wanted to do '90 exterior and make it look stock with the red center hubcaps, just lowered. Or, I've got a little collection of aftermarket accessories that I'm looking at. I've got a huge castle grill, 30 spoke Cragars, a sixth wheel and bumperettes. I'm leaning toward the '90 look because that's been a much longer desire of mine and I don't fit the style of the latter. Plus who needs the extra weight. I'll get pics up as soon as I can and keep updating. This is going to be a long project since I have limited time to work on it and a lot of work to do, I've only scratched the surface with what needs to get done. Any suggestions are appreciated.
 
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#81 ·
Yes, thats what i take of it. Looking at the FSM, one side is powered by a fuse(I think body), and the other side is powered by the alternator. They both supply power to a "switch" that grounds the charge Light when it loses power from one side. So that would make me believe that testing each side would lead you in the right direction.
 
#82 ·
One of the internal diodes in your alternator died.
I'm not ruling this out yet, but I think it's under the dash related. Both of the wires have power as they should and the problem started immediately after the wiring corrections that I did to the fuse box. The fuse has power going through it and when you pop it out the light goes out (which I would just leave) but it also cuts the power to the ECC. Did something occur from me removing the A/C compressor? I can't see how, but these computers are goofy. I need to figure out where it's supposed to lose the power to run the bulb, or what interrupts it.
 
#84 ·
Today I got around to messing with the alternator light, not by choice, after the tow truck brought us home. I got sick of looking at the light so I took the bulb out :nono:. That broke the circuit so there was no more charging and the car died, unfortunately my wife was along for the ride. So I got a great idea to shove tinfoil in the socket :histeric:, that melted the plastic that contains the connections for the socket. I ended up at the local auto electric shop and got a diode to bypass the socket with the proper resistance. It shows just over 13v at the battery at idle for about 15 minutes and doesn't seem to budge. That'll do, right? Just no dummy light.

Now for the next story. I took it to a car show a few weeks ago. I drove the grey one and my buddy drove the black one. He was behind my other buddy in his '90. Pulling into the show, unbeknownst to me, the vacuum line that I used to patch the tranny line burst. It dumped 2 gallons of fluid in the entrance of the show (which was on a hill), that was funny. Everyone was spinning their tires, it was a mess. I got a $40 fine and spent a few minutes fixing it semi-proper until getting into the show. Then, before I got pics of them lined up, it starts pouring. Fun night. The car is now referred to as the Valdez.
 
#86 ·
Thanks for sharing your tale of woe. I had a good laugh, because it just sounded so typical "old car blues" to me! I love the nickname too. There was a therad in lounge about naming your car, I haven't come up with it yet because I always feel the car should tell You what it's name should be. I think yours just did. Maybe Val for short!:histeric:
 
#87 ·
I can't win with this car! I took it out on sunday to the flea market and a coolant line burst, no big deal I was close to home, but still.. Went to the junk yard on monday and got a few things the car needed, including a really cool voltmeter that came from a 60's firetruck. I found a car with no cruise option so I had the panel to mount the gauge in then I test drive it to work today and it does great. Start it to drive home and smoke comes pouring from the glove box. Now the check engine light is on as well as the engine temp and it's giving me a code 25, (engine mechanical). It was idling terrible until I unplugged the valve cover plugs and I think something in the computer burned up. That seems to be where the smoke came from. I am buying a new computer, but before I do, is there any specific one that is an upgrade? Like a later model or something?
 
#90 ·
And the A/C and the cruise control. I would verify that the computer is toast before doing anything. And don't forget the modulated displacement feature. He needs an 81 specific computer if it needs to be replaced. AC Delco dealers used to sell reman computers for about $125 or so. But that was about 7 years ago.

Cheers and good luck Matt, you need a bit of luck............R.
 
#93 ·
The 472 is not TBI, but I was going to try to use this setup on it. That's the only reason I want the computer to work. The coupe (that had the 472) had this computer and I trashed it. The climate control still worked without it. The 468 mod doesn't work and is unplugged anyway, I just want the car to run and the basic features to work. I have no A/C, just heat.
 
#94 ·


Here's a shot of the ECM opened up in case anyone was wondering what they look like. I had a closer pic, but I don't know where it got to.. there is a burnt chip in the center towards the bottom, so at least I know that a new computer isn't a waste of money. I went back to the yard today and got the alternator and the plastic/wiring for all the dash lights (since mine burned up) and put everything back to the way it should be, including removing the light bypass diode. I'm ordering a computer tonight and I guess I'll try to start it when that comes.
 
#95 ·
One of the internal diodes in your alternator died. Same thing happened with the alt on my 307. Still charged fine and everything, just the light stayed on
I should have took this advice all along. Got the new ECM in and new plugs and wires and it starts right up. The alternator light now works as it should and after re-timing it, it seems to run really nice. I think the next step is the exhaust, mainly because one of the manifolds is cracked and it sounds terrible. Amazing how such a small crack can give off the sense that the car is a clunker. I'm going to use my leftovers from the coupe which was straight 2 1/2 pipe to Flowmaster 40's and 2 1/4 over the rear and out the tail. Would it be more efficient to add resonators or just get quieter mufflers? I hate the way these sound, they are way too loud.
 
#96 ·
Check the manifold bolts. There is likely a broken one. My 81 is the same. Goes away when it gets warm. It's on the never ending to do list. Flow 40s are loud for a Caddy, but if that's the sound you like... personally, the loudest I would go is turbos with resonators. Nice tone, without the Flow "bark". Summit turbos are DIRT cheap.
 
#102 ·
hey angry matt

I'm looking to put the eibachs on my coupe deville as well but worried about bottoming out and potentially not getting into my driveway as its on a bit of an incline...do you find your car too low?
how high is your car off the ground? can you measure how much clearance the car has off the ground? I'm trying to gauge if I will make it up my driveway or if my bumper will just smack the pavement as I'm driving in. sorry if I'm asking for a lot but your help is appreciated.
 
#105 ·
I haven't been on in a while, this was becoming one of those cars that makes me not like cars and I had to take a break for a while. I put a new fuel pump in the tank and got it running again. The battery must have been bad, I thought there was a drain but it was just the battery, so far.. But the crazy check engine light and no codes were driving me nuts. The temp light comes on right at start up. Turn the key off and it doesn't come back on. No codes just goofy signals. I replaced the ECC head because the buttons hardly worked and it just didn't act right (half the time it got stuck in code mode) and I couldn't help but think this was an issue since it talks directly to the computer. It runs good now, but says I'm getting 788 mpg! Sometimes I even get 6L8 mpg. My mileage is so good they ran out of numbers to use! It's a later year ECC head, funny though.
 
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