GERALD´S CADILLACS - NEWSNew pictures of my Mark III online
You can find them in the 1971 Continental Mark III image gallery. Enjoy! Below you can see two sample images out of the gallery...
in the garage
long time exposure at night
Austrian Mopar Nationals Trailer
My wife Afra during the video shooting - filming out of the back of the pace car...
Austrian Mopar Nationals 2011 - DVD Trailer from Mr Cadillac on Vimeo.
or watch on Vimeo
The cars are in winter storage :-(
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...
The 58 Eldorado is in winter storage in an awesome garage
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...
A Photoshooting with my Cars
Seen from the roof top of the garage
Most of my American cars in front of the garage...
Mark III Photoshooting
My wife Afra with her good old analog Hasselblad camera
Little Elliot with his mom
The Mark III
Rear view
What a nice interior!
Cadillac BIG Meet 2011
My wife and I are part of the organization team together with some good friends. At this years addition we had the theme “Cadillac meets Lincoln“ and so we invited Lincolns to the show field. My own Continental Mark III just got ready for the show a couple of days before the show, so I drove it there along with my 1958 Eldorado Seville which was piloted by my friend Tayfun.
On Saturday there is always a cruising tour limited to 40 preregistered cars. When we arrived at the host hotel lots of people were surprised seeing me arrive in a Lincoln ;-)
30 minutes before the tour started, suddenly the 58 cut out and did not want to start again. I once again suspected a clogged fuel line and we blew the line through. Unfortunately it did not help at all - the line was free. With the help of Lucky (a fellow 1958 Biarritz owner) we disassembled the fuel pump and found out that the valve inside came loose and was no longer in its seat. Lucky put it back and the car ran beautifully again. It all was fixed in 15 minutes and the 58 was ready for the cruising tour.
At the show on sunday 133 Cadillacs and 11 Lincolns participated. There were many awesome cars on the show field, like one of the worlds best 1953 Eldorados, a spectacular 1958 Eldorado Brougham, lots of 59 Eldorados and everything else ranging from 1921 to 2011. The show was once again spectacular.
You can find all the pictures of the show here:
http://www.cadillac-meeting.com/english/pictures/pictures.html
My 1971 Continental Mark III just before the start of the cruising tour.
The cars are gathering for the cruising tour
Lucky repaired the fuel pump of my 58 Seville 30 minutes before the start of the cruising tour - Thank you Lucky!!!!
My friends Claudia and Tayfun drove my 58 Eldorado Seville
one of the many awesome cars at the show - 1958 Eldorado Brougham # 535 - my dream car
a small overview of a part of the show field at the Kremsegg castle
You can find all the pictures of the show here:
http://www.cadillac-meeting.com/english/pictures/pictures.html
Preparing the Mark III for the Cadillac BIG Meet
Luckily my buddy Tayfun volunteered to come to my garage for 2 full days to help me getting the car show worthy. Without his help I would not have been able to get the car ready in time. Thanks Tayfun!!!!
As I ran out of garage space my other great friend Richard helped me out and lets me store my 1967 Eldorado at his cool garage for a while - thanks Rick!!
My 67 Eldorado is temporarily stored at my friend Richards garage until I find a solution for my storage problems - thanks Rick!
The Mark III needed the full treatment as it was very dirty from its long journey from the United States to Europe. It needed a complete interior treatment along with lots of paint detailing to look great again. So we worked until 1am in the morning each day. During these few days we had the highest August temperatures ever recorded, so a lot of sweat was produced...
My friend Tayfun in the garage polishing the paint - around midnight...
In the middle of the night - we set up some film light...
Tayfun wet - cleaning the interior
Tayfun cleaning the interior
wet-cleaning the interior
the hubcaps were cleaned in the dish washer - my wife was not very happy about this...
The Mark III now has an Austrian license
I had to install 4 new shock absorbers, all new brake hoses, 2 upper ball joints and 2 outer tie rod ends before it could pass the inspection.
The car then passed the test without a problem and I´m now having all the paper work in hands to have the car registered here in Austria.
TV - Promotion Shooting for the Cadillac BIG Meet - 58 breaks down
My friends Christl, Christian and Willi and I made it there with our cars, on what must have been the hottest day this summer, and we could do the shooting for a 2 Minute piece at the Kremsegg castle.
We had Cary Grants former 1960 Eldorado Biarritz there, which now belongs to my friend Christian, which was the star of the report. The report aired 2 days before our show on national television.
I drove my 58 to the shooting and while sitting in heavy traffic it suddenly cut out while I was in the left lane. Eventually I made it to the right shoulder and I tried to make it run again without any success. Unfortunately I had no tools with me - so I had to call the automobile service club to help me out. They arrived about 20 minutes later. I asked the guy who helped me out to unscrew the fuel line and blow some compressed air into it, as I suspected a clogged fuel line. We reconnected everything and it ran beautifully again. So I safely made it home again. I wrongfully assumed that everything must have been fixed now and that I should clean the tank soon... (see the report about the Cadillac BIG Meet 2011to see what happened)
Stranded on the Autobahn
Cary Grants former 1960 Eldorado Biarritz was the star of the show
The TV team with the show host Simona Pindeus and Willi Hofmann on the steering wheel
Cadillac meets Lincoln - The Cadillac BIG Meet 2011
The date for 2011 is August the 28th 2011. I´m part of the organization team together with my Cadillac friends.
This year we would also like to invite Lincoln Owners to the Cadillac BIG Meet. We would like to do a special presentation on the venue with these fine cars. This years theme is “Cadillac Meets Lincoln“.
Of course we will hand out a special award to the most beautiful Lincoln as well. To be able to organize this special presentation we would like to welcome as many Lincoln Owners as possible. If you want to participate with your Lincoln, please let us know in advance - so that we can arrange things on the venue.
Oberösterreicher des Tages - a newspaper article
I just wanted to promote the Cadillac BIG Meet and sent them a press release when I got a call and was asked to do an interview with the editor.
The article below is what came out - click on the image for a larger view. You can also read the online version here.
The Mark III arrived today!
It arrived today - very unexpectedly when I got a call from a lady I know who is the manager of local gas station. She called me and asked if I would expect a Continental. She explained that a truck just stopped at her gas station to ask for directions to my home. Luckily I was still at home and so I jumped into the car to get to the truck driver and show him where I live, as he did not speak our language at all.
I then guided him through town and we started to unload the car close to my home.
When the car rolled of the truck I was shocked! The once perfect vinyl roof was badly damaged. It was immediately clear that it was damaged on the truck of the long journeys last leg.
Problem was that I could not really talk to the driver and write something down. I took lots of pictures immediately though. So I called the trucking company and they said that I should send them the pictures. The next day they called and asked why nothing about the damage was written down on the papers when I received the car and that they probably would not pay because of this!!!
Looks like I will need a good lawyer now to fight with the insurance company.
I got a raw estimate from a good upholstery shop here for the repair which is for 60 hours of work + material.
You have to remove almost the entire interior of the Mark III, including the rear window mechanism with the glass and most of the weatherstripping to get access to the fasteners which hold the moldings in place. Most of the plastic fasteners also are no longer available - so you will have to be very careful when you remove them.
The original top material of the Mark III was called “Cavalry Twill Vinyl“ and the only company which can offer a correct replacement top seems to be SMS Auto Fabrics http://www.smsautofabrics.com/products/vinyl-tops.php
The material alone costs 475.- + shipping. (price from August 2011)
Besides the damage to the roof during shipment- the car is really nice. It drives beautifully and everything works as it should.
I already delivered the Mark III to my restoration shop to prepare it for the inspection for the Austrian license. We will have to convert the lighting system to go with Austrian law.
The first inspection showed that I will also have to install 3 new brake hoses, 2 upper ball joints and both outer tie rods. Got most of the parts already from rockauto.com - only the front brake hoses seem to be difficult to get and very expensive. Luckily I found a shop on ebay where they are available for half of the price of what most Lincoln specialists are asking.
Here are some pictures of when the car arrived - it got extremely dirty from the transport unfortunately.
As you can see it was squeezed in pretty closely into the truck - watch the beam just above the vinyl top...
The damaged “Cavalry Twill Vinyl“ roof
My first ride in the Lincoln.
At home - saying “Hello“ to the Cadillacs
in front of the garage
In my old garage - together with our Roadmaster
First sunset in Austria
Dressed for the first night...
At the restoration shop - awaiting inspection
Mostkost Kustom Show 2011 and Sepp's Garage
We took the 67 Eldorado to the show.
My wife and I shot lots of great images which are available in this gallery.
Sepp during a burn out with one of his Hotrods
We took the 67 Eldorado to the show
Replacing the rear shocks on the 67 DeVille
The right shock came out pretty easily and as planned - it was great to work with Richards awesome collection of tools he has in his workshop. I could not help my friends as much as I would have liked as I had snapped one of my ribs two days ago while changing tires and so I cant even hold a wrench properly at the moment... So my great friends did most of the work for me.
As it turned out the new Monroe shocks I had bought were delivered with one wrong bolt - the other 3 bolts were correct though. Fortunately I had a correct bolt as a spare from another set I had bought. When we wanted to take out the left shock we ran into a problem with the top bolt which would not want to loosen up. Its also pretty difficult to get access to it - as it is hiding behind the curve of the exhaust pipe. After 1,5 hours of sweating and bad cursing it finally gave up due to the help of a heavy duty metal saw. The new left shock went in pretty quickly afterwards but then it was already 1 am.... Thank you my friends for your great help and support!
At work in Richards garage around midnight... In the background Richards 65 Impala and Alex´s 63 Riviera in the front...
Unpacking the new shocks
Richard and me at work
Unscrewing the old shocks
Figuring out how to mount the new Monroe shocks...
the left shock just did not want to come out...
Backing out of Richards garage...
A new toy - my new AMC Pacer
The Pacer - out of 8 years of storage - it still ran when it was parked - but it no longer does now...
rear view
on the tow truck
70s interior at its best...
The 67 Eldorados new POA valve and recharge of the AC
I got a new remanufactured POA valve (suction throttling valve) from Classic Auto Air to make sure that the system can cope with the much higher pressures of R134. Classic Auto Air was very helpful with providing the factory correct parts. Classic Auto Air says that the re-calibrated valve can make a 15-20º F / 6º C difference.
Yesterday I got the Eldo back from the shop and so far it seems to cool the car down properly. The air discharged out of the vents is 10º C / 50º F cold - not bad for R134.
This is what Classic Auto Air is recommending for a change from R12 to R134:
Minimum Requirements
- Change or restore the filter-drier.
- Drain the compressor oil and recharge with 134a compatible oil. (PAG or Ester Oil)
- Insure that the system is clean and free of contaminants (Depending on component condition, this may be a simple matter of blowing out with compressed air or liquid flushing with an air-conditioning flushing agent)
- Replace or restore all rubber hoses with barrier hose.
- Install 134a charge port adapters
- Send POA valve in to be calibrated
- Charge with 134a between 70-80% of the original R12 charge amount.
- Replace any o-rings with 134a compatible
Recommended:
- Install hi/lo pressure switch
HELPFUL HINTS
- Ignore the sight-glass. A properly charged 134a system will likely show bubbles in the sight-glass.
- Typical 134a charge rate will be approximately 70-80% of the factory R12 charge amount.
The new factory correct POA valve. Internally it was calibrated for the use of R134 instead of R12. The expansion valve was also replaced together with the evaporator, condenser, compressor, O-rings, filter-dryer. I did not install a hi/lo pressure switch which would cycle the compressor on and off to keep the car original.
US-CAR-SHOW Dornbirn 2011 - Austrias best show! Image gallery online
Mr. John D‘Agostino - the world famous customizer - signed autographs at the show, so I had to take a picture of him with my little son Elliot. Elliot was very exited and as it seemed he liked Mr. D’Agostino very much. I guess he already is a big fan of his work ;-) The autographed card will get framed and displayed in Elliot’s room.
Mr. John D‘Agostino, Elliot and my wife Afra
Click here for an 300+ image gallery of the best pictures we took
A sailing date for the Mark III
It will sail on board of the “Hanjin Palermo“ Voyage 008E
Cut off at harbor NY: 24-JUN
Sailing: 28-JUN
ETA in Rotterdam: 14-JUL
So it will be around August before I can see the car for the first time... Its still a long wait.
The Mark III will sail across the ocean on this ship - the Hanjin Palermo
Klassikwelt Bodensee 2011 - a great classic car fair
When was the last time you saw a Stanley steamer race while classic airplanes were doing an air-show above your head? Only at the Klassikwelt Bodensee in Friedrichshafen / Germany!
My wife Afra and I took lots of great pictures while we were there. Click on the picture below to go to the gallery!
Stanley Steamers during a race...
Changing the Roadmasters Oil
The Mark III is on it's way to Austria
Sitting regally atop the trailer, the Mark III begins its journey to Austria, to begin a new chapter in its existence. It will be quite a sight as it travels to the harbor of New Jersey from where it will cross the ocean in a container. I cant thank Brian enough for all the things he did to get the car to perfect condition - I have never meet such a great gentleman-seller before!
Thank you Brian!
New speakers, new alternator, new trunk lining material and a new windlace for the Mark III.
He got a new set of replacement speakers for the car The right one had a tear in the cone. The left wasn't that bad, but the mounting part was starting to crumble. Brian removed the wiring harness from the old speakers and soldered them onto the new, so they would plug in correctly. He is a professional philharmonic musician and he said that they sound much better, no distortion and better frequency response. Brian got the speakers from the same source where I got the ones for my Cadillacs before - from Greg Thompson from Turnswitch.
Skip, the upholstery guy, installed the new trunk carpet - and as you can see on the pictures below - it turned out beautifully. He also installed a new windlace on the drivers side - which turned out perfectly as well. As you can imagine I´m really looking forward to finally get the car ;-)
When Brian thought that everything was fixed the alternator went out - so he replaced it as well and even installed a new battery! AWESOME! The speed control was also fixed and works perfectly too!
The windlace before
and after it was replaced...
The old connectors were soldered to the new replacement speakers
The old speakers
The new speaker installed on the drivers side...
...and the passenger side
The new trunk carpet - perfectly installed by Skip
The new trunk carpet - perfectly installed by Skip
The new trunk carpet - perfectly installed by Skip
The Mark III got new seat padding
The padding underneath the drivers seat became very dry and crumbled. So he took the car to his upholstery guy to have some new foam installed. While the car was there, they also installed a new trunk carpet set, a windlace and repaired the front window mechanisms to work perfectly.
I cant thank Brian enough for having all these little things done before the car is leaving. He will also install a new set of original front speakers, fix a heater valve and repair the acceleration function of the speed control. He also already installed a new inside rear view mirror as the old one was “blind“.
Thank you Brian!
The foam underneath the drivers side was crumbling
pretty big hole
not much left
the new seat padding under construction
the finished new seat padding
THE 1967 CADILLAC AUTOMATIC CLIMATE CONTROL SYSTEM - MORE ISSUES - AND A FINAL FIX? RESTORING THE POWER SERVO VALVE!
The 67 Eldorado lost its complete charge of refrigerant over the winter - so it will have to go back to the shop to see where it is leaking. All components were replaced with new ones last year and so I have no idea where it could have leaked out. A tracer was put in before the last recharge so we should be able to find the leak. I guess that it will be one of the original hoses are a bad fitting.
Another thing that bothered me was that the system basically worked most of the time, but sometimes I had to wait for a long time before the system came on, or I had to switch to “FOG“ or “ICE“ position before the blower would come on in the “Auto“ position. Then sometimes the blower would cut out again if the temperature dial was moved to a colder temperature. Sometimes the temperature would move to full heat regardless off the selected temperature in the 67 Eldorado.
I had the very same problems on my 67 Deville as well - but there also the “Vent“ and “Low“ position did not work at all...
So I started trying to find the issues and finally wanted to fix them. Sounded easy - but it took me 4 full days with long nights in the garage to fix it...
BTW - Cadillactim has an excellent trouble shooting guide for the ACC on his website - its for sale for $ 45.- and I can highly recommend it if you are troubleshooting your 1967 or 1968 Air Condition System.
A great troubleshooting guide for 1967 and 1968 Cadillac´s Automatic Climate Control Systems I got from Gary Sisk - owner of a 1968 Cadillac.
This is a very easy to follow explanation which will save you a lot of time and you do not even need any special tools.
It was written by Lynn Nicholls and can be found on Stampies Cadillac page - here is the direct link to it. I used some excerpts from his document in the explanation below:
I first suspected a vacuum leak to be responsible for most of the erratic behavior of the system. A clear indication was that the system would initially have to be switched to the “ICE“ position to make the blower come on.
Lynn Nicholls writes:
“Sometimes the dash control can be switched to the fog or ice positions to bring the blower motor on and then when it is switched back to auto the blower may stay on and the system seems to work fine until the car is shut off. If the vacuum leak is only moderate there may be enough vacuum to hold the master switch closed once it gets , but not enough to pull it closed in the first place. When the dash control is switched to fog or ice, it assumes the air temperature is cold and that the engine is not yet warmed up, but that the blower is needed immediately for defrosting the windshield. So it supplies vacuum to the master switch through another circuit, bypassing the temperature controlled vacuum switch on the heater core shutoff valve on the right fender well. This source of vacuum is enough to close the master switch.When the dash control is switched back to auto this vacuum source is shut off, but there may be just enough vacuum left from other circuits to hold the switch closed. This routine will work for a while but as the leak gets worse, there won’t be enough vacuum left to hold the master switch closed anymore and the blower will shut off again as soon as the system is switched back to auto.With these symptoms and behavior the problem is most likely the power servo. This is half the brains of the system; the other half is the control panel in the dash. The power servo is controlled by a varying vacuum signal from the transducer. This vacuum supply is a completely separate circuit from that which supplies vacuum to the master switch. High vacuum moves the servo to the maximum heater position, and with low vacuum, a return spring moves it to the maximum AC position. In between these two extremes, it regulates the air temperature door to blend warm air and cool air, and simultaneously regulates the blower speed. It also spins an internal rotary vacuum valve back and forth that makes various connections between the several small vacuum lines on the top. This rotary valve controls the various vacuum motors of the system that operate the AC, heater, and defrost functions. It is this rotary valve that goes bad. l have seen these things visibly warped, and very badly so. It must be caused by engine heat, because there is also one inside the car on the control panel that is moved back and forth by the dash control lever, but that one seldom seems to cause any trouble. A warped rotary valve leaks all kinds of vacuum and the first part of the system to be affected by low vacuum is the master switch; there’s not enough vacuum there to close it and turn on the blower. To verify this is the problem, take some spare vacuum line, some scraps of 1/8 inch pressure line (like for air shocks), and a vacuum T and manually make the connections that the rotary valve should make in the maximum AC position. The connections that the rotary valve makes in various positions are shown in the factory shop manual. Disconnect the black connector with the striped vacuum lines from the power servo. Connect the yellow, red, and purple lines together with a T; also connect the tan and blue lines together and connect the orange and green lines together. If this rotary valve is the one and only culprit the AC will now work beautifully and the blower motor will come on every time, like magic. With the dash control on high the system should be recirculating air and there will be a lot of air noise coming from under the right side of the dash; when the dash control is moved to auto the air door should move to provide fresh air and the system will become much quieter. Of course with these manual connections the system is not fully automatic and the heater won’t work right at all, however this is enough to diagnose the problem.“
I did this test (see picture below) - and with the power servo bypassed everything worked as it should. This way I knew that the power servo was to blame for some of my problems.
So this rotary valve needed to be repaired...
I removed it from the power servo and disassembled everything.
The removed power servo
After opening the cover, you can see the rotary valve in the lower center.
Remove one screw and a clip and the rotary valve comes out.
The rotary valve consists of two halves which make the connections - as you can see it was very dirty and rough - and slightly warped.
I started to wet sand both halves with 800 grit sandpaper.
When everything was flat and shiny again I used some 2000 grit sandpaper for a perfect finish.
Looks shiny and flat again
Make sure that none of the ports are clogged - I used compressed air to clean everything.
When you put the two halves together lubricate with WD40 to make sure that when you put them back into the power servo that they are properly held together with the underlying spring.
After I reinstalled them into my cars - almost everything worked as it should. In the 67 Eldorado I still had the problem that in the “AUTO“ position the fan would always be slow - so I knew that the control head in the dash had a problem with the “LOW - AUTO“ switch as well.
In the 67 DeVille the “VENT“ and “LOW“ position still did not work at all...
So I switched the control panels between the two cars and suddenly everything in the 67 Eldorado worked perfectly. I never had such a perfectly working system before. Its like it just left the factory!
In the DeVille I still had no “VENT“ and “LOW“ settings working... So out came the control panels again... (its a pain in the a*** to remove and install them...)
As it turned out the “LOW-AUTO“ switch on one panel was stuck in the “LOW“ position. You can easily remove it and readjust it to work again - sorry I forgot to take pictures. Make sure that all switches on the control head are adjusted properly or they wont work as they should!
So I knew that both control heads were working correctly by installing it back to the 67 Eldorado and the other panel back to the 67 DeVille.
While the 67 Eldorado was perfectly fixed now with everything working as it should - the 67 DeVille was still giving me the problem with a non working “VENT“ position...
I studied the shop manual for hours and could not find what the problem could be. I knew that the power servo was working perfectly now and I knew that the control head was in perfectly working order as well. I verified this once again by switching these parts between the cars once again and everything worked as it should in the Eldorado but not in the DeVille.. I´m really good in switching these parts between my cars now ;-)
I started to look for electric connection problems and finally found out that no electricity was coming out of one of the three power servo connectors, but I did not know why...
After I removed the power servo once again to re-check it again it struck me - one of the pins was slightly bent and the wire connector did not make proper contact. This problem was not visible with the power servo installed in the car. It took me 2 long nights to find this little flaw... I just bent it straight and everything works as it should on both of my 67 Cadillacs. Now I have to recharge the systems and I should have perfectly working AC again... I will also install new dryers and a re-calibrated R134 POA valve before the recharge.
One the one hand the 1967 ACC is very complicated but once you know how it works its pretty easy to fix. The rotary valve in the power servo is pretty easy to refurbish, the dash servo valve is riveted together unfortunately, so its not such an easy fix, but NOS valves are still available at “Classic Auto Air“
*UPDATE 2022* - Check out this article and video as well as I had to repair my switch again in 2022 on my 66 DeVille!
Here is a video about the Master Switch that a gentleman posted on youtube
The 67 Eldorado in front of the garage after the AC system was fixed.
Good morning Cadillacs!
Before the season actually starts I started to prepare the cars. I checked all fluids, checked the tire pressure, reconnected the freshly charges batteries, pushed the cars out of the garage, pumped the pedal a couple of times and then cranked the engine. One after the other came back to life. Great! I took them for a quick drive around the house and checked all systems.
I´m now starting to clean each one and give them a thick coat of fresh Meguiars wax. The leather seats will also get another treatment with Gliptone leather conditioner. I thoroughly cleaned the cars before I put them into storage and also changed the oil before I tucked them away, so there is not that much to do at the beginning of the new season. I have two more weeks now before I can officially drive the cars again - this should be enough time to make them look absolutely pristine.
Good morning Cadillacs - welcome to the 2011 season.
I bought a Lincoln Continental Mark III
I then placed a “Wanted“ ad on the forum of the LCOC and Brian sent me a message that his car would be for sale. At first he was not sure if he really wanted to let it go, but after he saw that it would go to a good home he decided to let it go.
Today I sent the money. The owner will still generously fix some minor issues and at the beginning of May it will start its journey to Austria. It has been a pleasure to deal with Brian and I cant wait for the car to arrive.
It is a very nice Mark III and Brian took great care of it and fixed all mechanical issues and invested a lot of money into it.
Here are some very nice pictures of it which Brian sent me:
Thats how it looks today waiting for the pickup - still in Michigan
a very clean and perfectly detailed engine bay with all correct clamps and hoses with all mechanicals done properly
The Mark III at the Motor Muster car show at Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum in 2010
I love the cloth interior
The Mark III at the Motor Muster car show at Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum in 2010
The car was exhibited at the 100th anniversary of Ford at the Wixom Plant where it was born in 1971
The car was exhibited at the 100th anniversary of Ford at the Wixom Plant where it was born in 1971
In front of the Ford building in Detroit
1967 Eldorado with Sunroof from ASC
A 1967 Eldorado with sunroof?
A while ago I was contacted by fellow 67 Eldorado owner Mark Bristol. He owns a very rare 1967 Eldorado with a sunroof done by ASC (American Sunroof Company). He asked me if I knew anything about it.I had never heard anything about a sunroof in a 1967 Eldorado unfortunately, and so I could not help him out with any kind of information.
So Mark Bristol did a lot of great investigation work and found out the following:
“ I have found quite a bit out from my research. I spoke with Christian Prechter, President owner of ASC West on the phone. He was brought over from Germany when he was 19 in 1966 to help his brother Heinz Prechter do installs at the ASC West location and stayed there doing custom installs when ASC opened the Southgate Factory in Michigan. He told me that he did over 50 1967 Eldorados that year for various Stars and VIPS. He recalled doing mine for William Morris and even told me what color it was without me volunteering it to him. He said it was the only Marina Blue one he did! I quizzed him several times in a cross examination method to make sure he was not just telling me what he thought I wanted to hear. He said he is 100% certain he did it personally as he was actually doing the installs himself back then. The conversation went like this: „Hi I am Mark Bristol from Tomball, TX sorry to bother you at your home residence. I have a 1967 Eldorado with a sunroof.Did you ever install any sunroofs in 1967 in Eldorados?“. Prechter, " I installed over 50 for people like Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and William Morris.“ „Wow that many?“ Prechter "Yes it was very popular that year." „The car I have was William Morris' car do you recall doing it?“Prechter, "I sure do it was the only Blue one I did that year" „So you did a Marina Blue one for William Morris. That was a long time ago and you remember specifically doing this car, that is incredible are you sure?“ Prechter "I am 100% certain I did it" „So your division didn't get sold off to Inalfa.“ Prechter "Yes, I kept the custom install portion ASC West as it is the most profitable segment."„How involved are you with the actual operation of the company?“ Prechter "ASC West is still doing custom installs daily and I personally over see the operation." „Christian, Thank you for your time, you have been very helpful in understanding how these sunroof Eldorados came to be.“ It was a fairly short conversation I'd say 3-5 minutes with a very revealing content. I intend to mail him a packet with a photograph of "Elle" to autograph and several pictures to review and a certificate of authenticity for him to sign. Hopefully he will take the few minutes it will take and return it to me in the mail. A former President of the Cadillac Lasalle Club lives here in Tomball. He was president from 2004-2008. He stated he has seen 2 sunroof cars in person mine would make number 3. So they are floating around out there somewhere 50+ of them. My rule of thumb is 10% left in any condition after 40 years. That would mean there are 2 more out there some where!!!“ Mark Bristol
Mark Bristols - Ultra rare 67 Eldorado with sunroof.
Thank you Mark for providing all this information! Mark allowed me to post his info here, to help other 67 Eldorado fans with what he found out. Some more pics of his car can be found here:
The 67 Eldorado now has a working radio!
Up first was the radio. The Eldorado came with the original AM radio. When it was turned on nothing happened though... The power antenna worked flawlessly and the signal seeking feature worked as well, but it would not make any sound at all. So I assumed that the speakers were shot and got a new front and rear speaker from Greg Thompson from Turnswitch. They have exactly the same size as the original ones. Cadillac used 10 Ohm speakers for all their cars in 1967. I installed them today and the radio came back to life. As there are no AM stations around any longer I came across a great solution which would enable me to use an Ipod or Iphone to play over the original radio, without having to do any non original conversions to my car. Its a plug and play solution which can be undone in 2 minutes and does not involve any cutting or screwing. The product is called RediRad and it works perfectly. Just tune the radio to 1000 khz on the AM band and plug in the audio source and you can hear your favorite music on your original radio! It is simple and affordable and undetectable as its hidden under the dash.
I also tried to repair the broken stem on my clock and it took me a while to get the clock out only to find out that my replacement stem would not fit. So I had to reinstall it. But at least it seems that it has a better electrical connection to the printed circuit now and the clock works all the time now. Problem is that I can only set the time with long nose pliers at the moment. Looks like I will need an entire new clock or live with it the way it is now. At least it works...
It was great to spend some time with the car again after the long winter months!
The removed dash.
The RediRad system! Great stuff!
The replacement speaker on the left and the original one on the right.
The new speakers with the old one.
The Eldorado is coming close to the 28k mark... Still a low mileage car ;-)
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