Although it is still freezing cold outside during this years winter months, I spent some days in the cold garage to start working on the Pimperado again.
The main problem which keeps me busy at the moment is another defective ECM. It quit working during a cruising tour last summer. Before that it worked like a charm.
ECM issues are plaguing me for a couple of years now. After a long search I found out that the last ECM was shot due to a defective solenoid on the EGR valve, which I replaced last spring. I still do not know what caused the most recent ECM to quit working.

With the help of Barni - an electrician- and the shop manuals wiring diagram we tried to find possible issues in the electrical system, but we could not find any problem. All solenoids seem to be o.k. this time.
Barni will try to repair the last ECM with parts from all the other ECMs which I have lying around in the parts shelves of the garage (see pictures below). I hope he can fix it. This electronic stuff really is a major pain to repair and to diagnose.

Also did some other minor repairs and adjustments on the Pimperado and some conservation work. Looking forward to the next stay in the garage.

old fashioned picture shot on B&W film


Barni helped diagnosing electrical issues


at work in the garage


some of the old ECM´s which we disassembled for diagnosing purposes


studying the cars wiring diagram to find problems

Tags:ECM

Facelift

I spent a couple of days in Geralds Garage, working on the Pimperado.
The facelift is now finished -- some parts were changed back from gold to chrome like the headlight bezel and some interior parts.

Seats work!

We also finally managed to get the power seats working. The leather seats came from an 1980 Eldorado and did not work when I installed them into my car.
Nobody managed to fix them. I had my car at 3 different Cadillac dealers and a couple of auto electricians but nobody could make them work. It took me 10 years now and finally they work as they should. Gerald and I made them work perfectly. I´m very proud that we managed to fix what the experts couldn´t. The reason they did not work, was that the switch design and some wiring was changed from 1980 to 1981. Studying the shop manual very closely, we replaced the wiring and the switch-- and voila, perfect smooth operation. The wiring and switch came from Arizona Vintage Parts - a great source for Cadillac Parts.

I spent a couple of days in Geralds garage to do some more restoration work on the Pimperado. I finished the restoration of the continental kit. All the parts were chrome and gold-plated and repainted. I put everything back together and mounted it on the rear bumper. Its in perfect condition now. Compare it to the “before” pictures further below on this page to see the difference.

I also started to reinstall the rear automatic leveling system. I already installed the correct original rear shocks and rebuilt and refurbished the height sensor to like new condition. The ALC compressor is at the chrome plater at the moment and will be another piece of art when finished. Now I waiting for a lot of parts to arrive from the States. When they will be here I will continue with the work.

the restored continental kit!

Tags:Continental Kit

My car won first place at the Cadillac BIG Meet - Europe's largest Cadillac Meeting - in the 1980s class.
It was a great show - you can see hundreds of pictures at the meeting´s Website.

the car at the show

after the award ceremony

with the first price award

receiving the trophy from Georg Pfeiffer

I got my driver seat back which got a completely new leather upholstery. It was perfectly done and looks and feels absolutely new. Maybe I will do the passenger side sometimes in the future as well. I also received the air management valve and a new ALC compressor. Both parts will now be overhauled and chrome- and gold-plated before I will install them.

I´m desperately looking for the 2 solenoids that are part of the air management valve for my 1981 Eldorado. One of them is causing the ECM to burn through, so there must be a short somewhere internally. Problem is that I just cant find it anywhere for sale. Any hints are highly appreciated!

Please send me a message if you have one for sale or if you know where to find one. Thanks!!!

The air management valve and the 2 solenoids - click for larger view!


The air management valve and the 2 solenoids - click for larger view!

I spent the last 3 days in Gmunden doing lots of car work with my friends. First we repaired a friends Buick Park Avenue which was in a crash and then the Pimperado kept us busy. I decided to completely restore my continental kit to show condition. I disassembled it and everything will be chrome- or gold-plated and get a new paint job. Some parts will have to be refabricated as they were too rusty to repair. Lots of work ahead for this season.
The other project was to convert the original head lights to BiXenon HID headlights. It was pretty easy to install and works perfectly now. We also installed the ballasts of the HID on a hidden place so everything still looks stock.

The new BiXenon headlights

the hidden HID ballasts under the frame of the radiator

working on the headlights

working on the headlights

the continental kit after I took it off the car - before the restoration

Tags:Xenon, Continental Kit, Gmunden, Restoration

My friend Manfred - a professional mechanic - helped me last weekend to get some more things fixed on my Pimperado.
We finally fixed the issue with the ISC-motor and the TPS. Now the car idles smoothly. We also replaced some transmission seals and fixed some other minor things.
Below are some pictures.

Manfred and me at work adjusting the ISC-motor and TPS

Manfred and me at work adjusting the ISC-motor and TPS


In Manfreds Corvette

My homeboy Gerald did some filming when I visited him last weekend for the season opening 2008.
He edited it into a short clip which is now online. You can see some repairs going on, and the first cruise 2008.

Tags:Video

As spring is finally in the air - I once again visited my buddy Gerald in Gmunden to wake up the Pimperado and to do some repairs.
Gerald and I started to work on our Cadillacs on tuesday. I´ve made a long "To Do" list of things that I want to improve this upcoming season.

Yesterday I removed the front driver seat to have some minor imperfections repaired at the upholstery shop. I also removed the gold plated head light bezels to have them re-plated in chrome. Also some other smaller parts of the interior, like the door handles will be re-plated. I´m doing this to change the appearance a little.
We also replaced the fuel pump on Gerald´s 1958 Eldorado. You can read more about it on his website.

Today the sun was shining and so we decided to take the cars out of the garage and do a little test-drive.

The Pimperado started right up. As there was no more front seat installed, temporarily I had to improvise a little - check the image below

The work will continue...

well - thats not really a Cadillac seat in there - but it was good enough for a spin around the block.


removing the headlight bezels

I will change them from gold- to chrome-plated


not the most comfortable seating position

spring cleaning in Gerald´s Garage

Tags:Spring 2008, Headlight bezel, Leather seats

This years Cadillac BIG Meet was the best show I ever attended. 120 Cadillacs from all ages made it to Kremsmünster. This is the biggest Cadillac meeting in Europe and its getting better every year. This year they had an Eldorado Special Show with over 30 Eldorados ranging from 1954 to 2002. Among them were 3 56 Eldorado Biarritz, a 57 Eldorado Brougham, 2 58 Sevilles, 3 59 Eldos, a perfect 67 and 68, a 63 and 64 and many many more.
There were great people and the mood was perfect. I also had to do an interview with TV and radio!
The icing on the cake was that my Eldorado won 1st place in the 80s and younger category! Im really proud about this. For me this is the most valuable price I ever won!
You can see hundreds of pictures from the show on the website of the Cadillac BIG Meet!
You should not miss next years edition - its the best Cadillac show in Europe!

during a TV interview with "TS1"


on display at the Cadillac BIG Meet


with the first place trophy of the 80s and younger category

I´m in Gmunden once again and I´m preparing my car for the big show this weekend.
In a cleaning break we cruised into the sunset and shot some great new pictures.
You can see them in the gallery!

Tags:Cadillac-BIG-Meet

I now have the video of the "Mostkost Kustom Meet" (see entry below) online which was shot by the local TV station BTV. It features a couple of cars and an interview with me.

Tags:Video

Today we visited a small local meeting near Gmunden in Atzbach. 30 Cars showed up and it was a nice evening. I was even interviewed for a local TV-station which did a report about the event.

during the interview

a nice 56 Eldorado Rat Rod

I spent another weekend at our friends Geralds and Afra´s house in Gmunden where my Eldorado is stored. Today we changed the belts and did some interior cleaning. It was amazing how much dirt we could extract from the carpet and floor mats. They look like new now.

installing new belts



wet cleaning the floor mats

Cruising night!

Later it was time for another great cruising evening with my friends from Gmunden. Again we had 4 cars cruising around the lake. Here are some impressions:

Geralds 67 Cadillac


Richards 65 Impala


Alex´s 63 Buick Riviera

Tags:Cruising