I finally put the finishing touches on the brake rebuild of my 58 Eldorado. Today I bled the brakes after the full rebuild of the Bendix Master cylinder and brake booster I did recently.
The newly installed Speedbleeder valves made the job a lot easier and quicker. I bled the brakes two times and took the 58 Eldorado for a test drive. The brakes worked fine, but felt differently than before the rebuild. The car did stop perfectly, but pedal travel was too long for my taste, before any brake action took place.
I consulted the shop manual for this symptom and it first suggested to adjust the brake pads first.
As I had no brake adjusting tool, I use a flat screwdriver to adjust the star wheel like described in the shop manual and bled the brakes once again.
After this the brakes worked like before the rebuild again — great!
As I had the front brake drums off anyways, I decided to finally change the wheel bearings as well, as they were making a very slight noise, and I had the new bearings laying around in my garage for years now...
They are pretty easy to remove and replace — no big deal — no special tools necessary. Just make sure to tighten them back to specs (shop manual mentions 4 ft-pound of torque (around 5,5nm))

After this, I also changed the oil after I brought the engine to operating temperature and put in 5 quarts of fresh 10W40 oil and a new oil filter. I also lubed some other parts like the alternator.
I then parked the 58 in the new garage - along with my other cars - where it will spend the long, cold winter.
It will get a good coat of fresh wax on the outside and some good leather treatment soon, and I will also treat the rubber parts and weather stripping, so that everything stays soft during hibernation.

I only managed to drive the 58 Eldorado 86 miles this year - way too less!

Removed the old bearings

You just have to tap out the rear dust shield

The new bearings waiting for installation

Adjusted the star wheel and checked the front brakes

Changing the engine oil

In its winter home

In the winter home

Sleep well!

Tags:Wheel Bearings, Speed Bleeder Screws, 1958, Eldorado, Restoration, 1958 Cadillac Repair Tip, Bleeder Screws, Brake Booster, Brake Fluid, Brakes, oilchange, Winter

With winter approaching rapidly, today I returned the license plates of my cars and put them into winter hibernation. I did not drive my cars very much this summer due to a mostly very rainy summer. So I did not rack up too many miles on my cars this season. I just made about 200 - 400 miles on most of them...
The cars are now in their cosy garages and will all get a new wax-, lubrication- and thorough cleaning job during the next few weeks. I usually also disconnect all the batteries, give the weatherstripping and rubber a good coat of silicone spray and treat all leather areas with leather conditioner. I also clean the interior carefully and over-inflate the tires to make sure that they do not get any flat spots. I will also park the tires on styrofoam. I really hate winter and snow and I am already looking forward to next spring... Over the winter I will rebuild the starter motor of my 1967 Eldorado and detail the undercarriage. The Lincolns undercarriage will get a very good cleaning as well. The 67 DeVille will get some new front wheel bearings and probably a new wheel cylinder and power booster. The 58 Eldorado will also need new front wheel bearings. So there will be a lot of minor things that will keep me busy over the winter...

Below are some pictures of our very last cruising tour this week with the Mark III

Cruising through the scenic landscape of Austria looking down at a lake

The Mark III enjoying the last sun rays...

The whole family in the Lincoln - little Elliot is taking a nap as usual - nothing beats the soothing sound of the V8...

Tags:1971, Lincoln, 1967, 1958, 1996, Buick, Roadmaster, Eldorado, Seville, Deville, Continental Mark III, Winter, Storage

I put my 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville into winter storage today. As I ran out of garage space and have not found a solution for my storage problem yet, my friend Christian was so kind to offer me a cosy place in his AWESOME garage to store the 58 over the winter. So I drove my car to him today and enjoyed the 75 mile trip to his garage, as we had a warm and sunny autumn day.
When I reached Christians garage I refueled the car and put some fuel stabilizer in it. Amazingly the car needed only 18 mpg / 13l/100km. Thats pretty amazing - and I drove it pretty lead footed...

The car will spend this winter in a fantastic garage . The owner has an amazing collection of fine Cadillacs and some other classic cars. Among the Cadillacs are a 1956, 1957 and 1960 Eldorado Biarritz and a super low mileage 1976 Bicentennial. All cars are in amazing condition. The garage is second to none - it also features a full size bar and diner below the show room...

I´m glad that my 58 can spend the winter there, while my other cars are safely put away in my crowded garage. I really want to thank Christian for his generous offer!!!!

Below you can see some pictures I took on my last ride with the 58 in 2011. Good night my dear 58 - see you in May 2012.

On the way...


I had to stop at an oil pump along the road to snap a picture...


I had to stop at an oil pump along the road to snap a picture...


Christians “Eldorado Roadhouse“ - an awesome garage! The 1960 Biarritz once belonged to Cary Grant by the way... Next to my 58 is a super low mileage Bicentennial...


A part of Christians garage - the car under the cover is my 58... then there is a custom corvette and a #1 Mustang GT350...

Tags:Eldorado, 1958, Seville, Winter, Garage

With winter already throwing cold and damp weather against us, the cars are in winter hibernation now and are looking forward to the spring of 2011. They all got an oil change and the tank was filled with fresh fuel to the brim. I cleaned and waxed them, put a thick coat of Gliptone leather conditioner on the leather seats, overinflated the tires and put their soft and warm covers on them. There is not much to do during the winter months while they are stuffed into the cosy and dry garage.
I will eventually put some new rear shocks and front wheel bearings on the 67 DeVille, do some minor detailing work like putting on some new decals in the engine bay and try to safe as much money as I can, to hopefully be able to afford a new concourse grade paint job for the 1967 Eldorado next fall.
This season I did not drive my Cadillacs very much - all in all a tank of fuel on every car... We had a very wet summer, my job was very demanding and our baby son Elliot was born in May, so I did not have much time to enjoy my cars as much as I would have liked.

Miles driven in 2010:

• 1967 Eldorado: 275 miles
• 1967 DeVille: 189 miles
• 1958 Eldorado: 187 miles

Looking forward to the 2011 season with some great shows coming up. In June 2011 the US-CAR-SHOW Dornbirn will be held again and of course the Cadillac BIG Meet on August 28th 2011 will be my personal Cadillac highlight again.

The cars are in storage now - a picture before they were covered.

The cars are in storage now - a picture before they were covered. Sleep well!

Tags:Winter

There is already snow outside and my Cadillacs are in winter hibernation now, safely stored away in their warm garage. I´m still doing some work with my buddy Tayfun on his Pimperado though.

Here are two pictures of the cars sleeping under their cosy covers.

Tags:Winter