Newbie!! with a 73 coupe

[73coupe]

It took me a while to sit down and decide to get involved in a forum, but, this one seems to be a decent one. There seems to be a great deal of knowlege here. Hopefully I can learn from it and do my part to share some "knowlege" at the same time. Enough with the sucking up, and on to the important things at hand.

I had been looking for a 64' coupe for a while, when my Pop called me and told me about a green Caddy sitting on the side of the road with a for sale sign in the window about 20 miles from home. He wasn't sure of the year, but, he knew I was looking for a Caddy. Lo and behold, interested, I hopped on my bike and went for a put. What my Pop found was a 73' Coupe Deville in reasonably good condition. The guy was asking $2000 o.b.o. Well, I picked up the car for $1500 a few days later. The guy was just looking to get rid of the car, and I happend to be the sucker with cash in hand.

After doing some research, and having some fun with my new found toy, I decided that I would like to restore my Caddy. The body is in overall good condition. There is some rust at the rear window in the lower right hand corner, I believe that the quarter vinyl top that was on the car contributed to to this. The rest of the body is nice and straight, a few surface rust wounds but nothing I cant handle.

Living in Western New York, its rare to find a car as solid as this one from the 70's. (or any year for that mater) While I was making the deal, I was informed that the previous owner bought the car in Oklahoma 20+ years ago, and kept it in his barn when not driving it. Bonus! Thats what attracted me to the car to begin with. A solid body to work with.

At first, I liked the "wisco" treatment that the car had recieved from the dealer. Not overdone, but "pimped" just a little. (chrome hood gaurd, 41' goddess hood ornament, continetal trunk lid, and landue bars, and a quarter vinyl top) I don't know the name of the color green the car is, (kind of like a apple green, or a light money green?) but, I liked the color. White leater seats, and door panels, green carpet, dash, and deck cover.

Well, theres my introduction, I feel a bit long winded right now, and I know it sucks reading these long posts so, I'll get to the point. Seeing that in 1973 Cadillac produced more cars than any other year prior, where the heck are all of the parts for these cars? I'm looking for simple stuff, i.e. bumper fillers, rubber bumper inserts, interior door panels...etc.. The stuff that when looking at a car you say to yourself, "that should be easy enough to find".

I've decided that I am not going to keep the wisco treament on this car, I like the look of a long clean Caddy, and I'm going to stick with that for this one. (just incase anyone was wondering) The "pimp" cars had their day with "Super Fly", its time to remember these cars for what they were.

Other plans include, air ride suspension, (if anyone has done this with a 70's Caddy, I would love to pick your brain), new paint ofcourse, (factory green color, (If anyone knows the factory colors, that would help), can the vinyl top, go with a solid color for the whole car, Redo the interior, (white leater is expensive, I'm open to options), (Will later model seats bolt right in?), and I still haven't made up my mind on wheels yet. Oh ya, a few proformance mods aswell.

Hopefully I haven't made anyone crazy with the length of this post, Sorry if I did. But, being a classic Caddy man in a world of new SUV's, a guy has to vent!! Thanks

[90Brougham350]

Welcome to the site! Do you have any pictures?

[73coupe]

I do! How do I post pictures of the car on here?

[KaddyKat]

welcome , nice car, maybe something close to this?
Your steering wheel is probably on the other side

[73coupe]

Your absolutly on the money with that picture. Same color and all. (exept for the steering wheel). I'm having trouble uploading photos, I'll try later. (still on dial up, we have no cable service out this way, go figure??)

[77CDV]

Hey, 73coupe, welcome! Parts can be easily had, start by checking Hemmings as well as the classifieds on this site. Here in SoCal, we have lots of j-yard with lots of these cars, so parts are plentiful. As to the color, check the sticky at the top of this section. Otherwise, try to find a dealer data book for 1973, it will have all the info on options, colors, interiors, etc. A FSM wouldn't go awry, either. Sounds like you've got a really neat car. Looking forward to seeing the pics!

Craig

[David W. Bailey]

Hey 73 Coupe,

Welcome! Are you from Buffalo? If you are, is Tinney Cadillac still in existence?

[lochenjons]

welcome to the forums, i would have to say... go to a junkyard... more often than not, i find cars with pretty good interior/parts under the hood. like mentioned above, hemmings has excellent resources for restoring any caddy. A while ago, I ordered a free catalog from these guys http://www.usapartssupply.com/ and was pretty impressed with their products. pretty brand new... but also pretty pricey.

couldn't see your pictures. might I suggest getting a cardomain?

good luck with the cad!

[JRau]

Welcome aboard! Lots of helpful people here. You'll find what you need here, no doubt. Post pics as soon as you can.

JRau in central Iowa