I knew that the battery tray in my 74 did not look exactly very pretty. I finally found the time to remove the battery and to tackle this little project. Most battery trays have some form of rust due to acid-leaking batteries, and the one in my 74 was no exception.
I striped all the rust and paint and removed the headlights to get better access. I also de-rusted all the bolts, nuts and washers with rust removing liquid and removed the old paint with a wire brush.
After everything was completely rust free and down to clean bare metal, I primed the tray and afterwards painted it with 2 coats of Eastwood Chassis Black Extreme, which has an OEM sheen.
Now it is looking very nice again - almost OEM - and the new paint should protect it for a long time.

With the battery and headlights removed
Luckily the rust was not too bad
Luckily the rust was not too bad
Rust remover liquid in action
After removing the rust
I also cleaned the battery hold down
Almost rust free tray after the first treatment with rust remover. I got it much cleaner after this picture was taken.

Ready for paint - no more rust. Everything was also wire brushed and and sanded.

Ready for paint

The restored tray.
The restored tray - you can see where the rust was, as it left some marks in the metal. But it is now well protected and rust should be stopped.

Tags:1974 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, 1974 Cadillac Repair Tip, 1974, Restoration, Battery, Battery Tray, Rust removal

Today the power vent window switch I won on Ebay arrived from Canada. It came from a 58 Sixty Special that was equipped with power vent windows as well.
When I opened the box I immediately had the feeling that it would not work. The buttons felt sluggish and two prongs were missing on the backing plate. So somebody must have had it open at some point in its history.



So down I went into the garage to check it. As suspected it did not work... Only one button worked in one direction. I cant even blame the seller, as he stated in his ad description that he does not know if it works or not.
As I spent quite an amount of money for it and could not find another switch anywhere, I did not want to give up yet and so I disassembled it. Of course the 2 rusty prongs broke apart when I bent them open... A really good start! Eventually I made a good working switch from most of my old switches parts and the help of the plastic backing plate of the new switch. So I could also reuse the perfect chrome bezel of my old switch. :-)
Now everything works again - it´s not a concourse winning repair, but a solid one I can be proud of, and nobody can notice until he takes the car apart... ;-)
Now the clock is the only non working gadget on my 58 - my next project.

The new Battery

I also had to install a new battery today as my old one died after only 3 years in service. I bought an Exide Maxxima 900 - hope it will do a better job - I´ve heard lots of good things about it.

The new Exide battery - the green knob is a battery shut off switch

Tags:Restoration, Battery, Power Vent Windows, Vent Window Switch, 1958, 1958 Cadillac Repair Tip