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1983 Fleetwood Brougham d'Elegance project

203K views 776 replies 73 participants last post by  Maximln 
#1 ·
Hi,
first of all i want to introduce myself. I am Felix from germany and i just bought an '83 FB d'Elegance Sedan, loaded and in beautiful "woodland haze" paint.
I want to say sorry to you if i make mistakes writing english. It is not perfect, but i will try as good as possible. :)

4 Years ago (when i was 18) i bought my first car: a rusty and worse custom '74 Continental Mark IV. You can see my Lincoln restoration here: Link
I restored it and now it is like new but as a daily driver (it was still my only car) it is too expensive on gas. (In germany it is something about 8$/gal)

I always loved 70s and 80s american cars. 80s Fleetwood Brougham always was one of my favourites.
So i looked for one. I had exact criteria:

- Year 80-83 (in germany there is a huge financial advantage for cars older then 30 Years, called historical license plate)
- Sedan (it is hard with these small parking spots and those huuuuge doors. I always have problems with the doors of my Lincoln.)
- Fleetwood Brougham, no Deville
- d'Elegance package with cloth seats (very important, i love these seats)
- paint shouldn't be silver or black (i don't like common colors.... today every car is silver or black)

It is hard to find a car that fits. I searched a lot worldwide but found almost nothing (and if, way too expensive)
In germany those cars are between 1.500 and 10.000€ Compared to the US-prices, they are expensive. Shipping from the US to germany is something about 2.000$.

One day i drove through a city 70 mls away and saw a '80s FB at the street side.
- Sedan :thumbsup:
- Fleetwood Brougham :thumbsup:
- d'Elegance :thumbsup:
- cloth seats :thumbsup:
- 80-83: yes, '83 :thumbsup:
- color :thumbsup:

Holy! A car like out of my dream.
Ok, it is needs TLC, but no problem.
I contact the owner, yes the car is for sale. It was inserted a while ago for 4.300€
I negotiate "a bit" and at the end i bought the car for 800€ (about 1.000$), which is a very good price here in germany for such a car.

And this is it:
(Cadillac next to my Mark IV)


rear:










Ok, and that is the condition:
- front bumper is bent, but chrome is ok
- rear bumper is straight, but chrome is worn
- broken bumper filler
- worn vinyl top
- worn tires
- missing emblems
- engine (HT4100) runs perfect
- transmission needs rebuilt. no movement in reverse
- brakes, suspension like new
- seats like new
- headliner hangs down locally
- some electrical things aren't working
- almost no rust (only surface. undercarriage is like new)
- car is 100% original (exept for stupid german conversions to the turn signals, parking lights, cornering lights, sidemarkers....)

I have a Carfax report and it seems that 30.000 Miles are original.

So far... in february i took the car with me. It drives like a cloud. Awesome!
It only is difficult to remember the missing reverse.... sometimes i had to push the car back on road.

Cadillac at arriving.




Ok. I only can put 15 images in one post so i will distribute the progress to the next posts.

Regards
Felix
 
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#60 ·
Thanks, I will find that and keep updated when replacing it.
I think then the last trouble code (33) should be deleted.
Maybe there is only a bad connector or whatever... I have screwed the sensor off when I checked the AC-programmer for its operating status.
I will look whats going on with it.

Anybody have ideas to the paint?

Regards
Felix
 
#63 ·
@ pompste
Thanks a lot. My knowledge? Well, this is all learning by doing. Had no idea how my transmission overhaul will end but I read a lot about it and it worked fine. :)

Ok, have done some progress on the Caddy again.

Put in a new blower motor and power module. Now it works great. But still don't know the AC. Have to test it while a test drive.



Got 2 new Sealed Beam and replaced the cracked one. Repaired the cornering lights (someone took out the bulbs, because it was forbidden in Germany some years ago).
Took also the grille and bumper off and straighten out the bumper. It was bent due to a crash.
Took off the front fillers and one rear filler. I will replace them soon.























That's it for now. I will register the car soon. I am waiting for some parts.

Bought new exhaust pipes too. I will install them soon.



Best Regards
Felix
 
#66 ·
Hehe. Better than before! But not 100% straight yet. It is heavy to bent. The metal is very strong and the rope almost teared off. I have done it with my Lincoln jack and jacked it up the full length (!) The bumper went back every time. Will install it soon and I hope it looks way better than this:



I will show pictures after installing. (as usual ;) )
Regards
Felix
 
#69 ·
Haha, thanks guys.

the result...


before clean


after... took some hours to get it that far. There was a lot of dust, oil, duct tape, rust.... and I needed a lot of different cleaner


well, not bad I think..




put it back together


heavy thing. Lincoln jack is helping again. :D


not a good pic but you can see, it is still bent. But better than before.


refreshed the bumper guards. I will redo the white stripe later.


That's it. Looks not bad, but I am not 100% happy with it. I think I will replace the bumper sometimes for a straight one.
But for now I think it is good.

Regards
Felix
 
#71 · (Edited)
@ Kevin,
I took some towels, distilled water and some metal and chrome polish. Was a lot of work and the duct tape was heavy to remove. Sticks like hell.... had a decal and tape remover. That was good.



High beam wasn't working the last time. So I went through the service manual and it seemed, that there is something with the dimming switch.
Where is it? On top of the steering column.. :rolleyes:

Here we go.


Wasn't able to reach the screws so I let down the column.


There it is.


uninstalled it, took the connector and.....


Ok, will replace it and it should work again.

Regards
Felix
 
#74 ·
Today I put in the grille. It was bent due to the collision. But now it looks great again. Still have to adjust the bumper.

before


now


cleaned up the car the first time.


look for all chips in the paint.


a lot of scratches on the top of the fender


a lot of worn paint at the front.




weird stone chips on the hood




something leaked out and flowed down the trunk lid




Lot of little things but I have no problem with it. Only all rust spots I will preserve.

Regards
Felix
 
#80 ·
Pm me your e-mail , I can gladly send it for you

Congrats on your cool Cadillac hitting the e-mail :D
 
#89 ·
Here we go again, there arrived packages of parts. A member of this forum "Robin Banks" helped me a lot with getting parts and the overall organisation. It is not easy to organize buying parts from Germany so I have to say a big thank you!

Christmas time! :D

At first I wanted to change the right rear door handle.




No one has ever uninstalled these trim since production in 1983.


no rust down there... great!!


looks very good.


installed the new handle and put everything toghether again.


this is it. I lubricated everything and now the door opens and closes smooth.



We are going to the front of the car. Didnt like the turn signal lenses.


There they are the new ones. The pair at the front is looking the best I think.


installed..


I like!


door handle molding of driver side door was cracked and scratched.


woodgrain switch panel was broken and worn too.


both installed
 
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