Have been busy but its time to get back on track!
I still haven't washed it yet, but want to drive it first.
Picture is where it was when I had to roll it out.
Brakes locked up, but a hammer helped free it up after loading
After it was loaded I had the time to assess the underbody which is quite solid
One of the bucket seat brackets was broke so it was hard to drive into my garage leaning back!
I cant wait to remove the bumper hitch, cant see what you need to tow!
Great find Nicholas.
Mike
Wow! That's a nice car! Has it been restored before?
It was only painted in the 70s from Argent to Red. Very little rust, original interior. I think it must have been garage stored all it life to be this clean.
I will be doing the Air suspension rebuild as well, but that will wait till spring before its completely functional.
Started replacing bulbs and it looks great when they illuminate
Welded bracket so I can relax when I lean back! Power seat doesn't move yet, top only goes down half way
Very nice! Would love to hear the back story of where it came from and how you found it.
Very nice! I'd like to hear the back story as well.
Do you plan on returning it to Argent Silver? I would. But I prefer any color other than red, black, or white (hard to tell though, all of my cars are black!).
Car was owned by a man who was born in 1911. He bought it in 1979, lived in Missouri. I made a color copy of the title since it was interesting.
Not sure on the color or really the restoration. My current plan is to do nothing with the interior or exterior. I do however plan to get Everything to work the way it was supposed to, Tri power/ Air conditioning, Cruise control, Air suspension, trunk pull down, Autronic Eye, etc. I received the build sheet and this car had received every option.
My feeling is there are plenty of restored '59s not to many original ones which aren't in too bad of shape.
They painted the door jambs but didn't do the firewall and didn't remove any of the Eldorado trim from what I can see. You can see the fender skirt brace is peeling and the silver is there.
All the Eldorado fender letters are still on, It must have been a good painter since its hard to see the silver behind the letters.
what a car! its just beautiful
amazing how many car like that are still crawling out of hiding today
Great find, best of luck.
Wonderful find !! Keep us all posted with pics on your progress !
Nicholas,
When I saw the picture of your dusty find, I could not believe your great fortune to find such a diamond in disguise.
You have a future of many hours of puttering ahead - enjoy them all.
Have fun,
Steve B.
Will you sell it for 50k ?
Did some floor work, its a solid car and so I painted all of the exposed metal areas to keep it lasting longer. This is going to be a driver car, not a restored one, so if Im able to maintain what is present I plan to do so.
Only minimal rust through, except for pass side rear pan which has a no parking sign from long ago covering it.
You can also see the gas pedal has red, since when they painted the outside, they sprayed parts of the front floor pans. They didn't remove the kick panels either which have a bit of overspray.
I left the holes were the seat belts were located, Im planning to just cover for now in case I want to add them back later.
One note, it looks like the pass side bucket seat brackets are about 1.5" farther forward. Also the power for drivers seat motor is on the pass side.
I am also in the process of rewiring the convertible bow dome light, the switch and light Have to work!
One thing I noticed, is the bow bezel and cover used from an older model ?
A 59 convertible has a dome light factory? My 59 convertible doesn't have one.
Only the bucket seat cars have the special light and switch.
As Nicholas points out, only the convertible cars with bucket seats - Eldorado Biarritz - had a light in the rear convertible bow and switch on the rear driver's side armrest area.
Even the Eldorado Biarritz with a bench seat did not have the rear bow light.
The bench seat cars had a center arm rest in the front seat, and on the back side toward the rear seat was a light which was not present with a car with bucket seats - no armrest assembly.
See the photos.
Have fun,
Steve B.
The original pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55406755@N07/sets/72157634452965338/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/55406755@N07/sets/72157634452965338/)
And how did you find it? I am also surprised you can still come across an Eldorado unrestored when you have to really beat the bush to get even a Series 62.
Is it for sale ?
What a find!
Finally, after many blown fuses, got the wiring replaced and installed correctly to have the top bow light and switch work. Added another inline fuse in the arm rest for extra insurance.
On and off, works great, switch is rebuilt too.
This is one of those things I really needed to get correct!
Small point - but a tricky one, and you may have already worked this out.
Wiring the bow light can be a B Kitty.
The bow light comes on when the doors are opened or by turning the headlight switch to turn on the interior lights, when the doors are closed - like during driving.
It is not just turned on or off by the arm rest switch, unless the doors are closed and the headlight switch is not turned to light the interior lights.
Have fun,
Steve B.
That was the hard part. it is wired that way to only illuminate when the door is open, and the switch is on. it wont go on just with the switch.
I couldn't find the correct way to wire it anywhere so it was trial and error until it works like it should now.
Finally got the car out for a drive. many years since it was last on the road
Nicholas,
Did you have you do any work on the engine and/or the transmission and how many original miles were on it? Are you going to keep it red or change it back to original?
I have to tune up and change the water pump. Still need to rebuild the tripower. I plan to leave it for now not sure on if I had to repaint what color. it would look nice as Silver/Black/Black
Yeah, I'd go back to silver -- it's probably one of the best colors anyway. How long was it sitting? Did you run compression tests on the cylinders?
Hello Nicholas
Gratulantur on your rare find.
Tibor's suggestion of a compression check is point on. In the meantime drive that chariot until you return it to its original colors. Please post chronological pictures so we can see your joy.
New friends
Decisions,decisions,,,,do I drive my 59 Biarritz or my 60 Biarritz ??? 8) Ken Perry
I have scale models of each.
Looks like you found the Hoppy Clark Car from Nevada Mo. Saw it when he had his auction- Actually I went there to bid on it but there were a couple guys that went nuts when bidding started. The 3X2 set was with the car but the engine had a single carb on it. ALSO, Some LOW LIFE stole the plastic lube tag from the door jamb that day. I I had looked at the number on the frame to see if it matched, so I KNOW it was there early in the day-- GONE when they surrounded the car for bidding to begin.
Well I hope the car gets a proper restoration now!
Here is a video of some of the Cadillacs and other cars from the Toppy Clark auction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnVJGJHxDcw
Interesting video. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was a wood bodied Hispano Suiza and Boss Hog's Cadillac was a Cotillion White 1970 DeVille Convertible. They say ignorance is bliss , She must be exuberant .The most annoying commentator I can remember.
Quote from: cad59 on August 21, 2013, 04:23:57 PM
Car was owned by a man who was born in 1911. He bought it in 1979, lived in Missouri. I made a color copy of the title since it was interesting.
Not sure on the color or really the restoration. My current plan is to do nothing with the interior or exterior. I do however plan to get Everything to work the way it was supposed to, Tri power/ Air conditioning, Cruise control, Air suspension, trunk pull down, Autronic Eye, etc. I received the build sheet and this car had received every option.
My feeling is there are plenty of restored '59s not to many original ones which aren't in too bad of shape.
They painted the door jambs but didn't do the firewall and didn't remove any of the Eldorado trim from what I can see. You can see the fender skirt brace is peeling and the silver is there.
All the Eldorado fender letters are still on, It must have been a good painter since its hard to see the silver behind the letters.
Don't mean to burst your bubble (impossible, you own a 59 Eldo :)) but if it has been repainted, its not original. Color change? Even more. Regardless, beautiful car.
Quote from: 66 Eldo on October 10, 2015, 06:42:53 PM
Don't mean to burst your bubble (impossible, you own a 59 Eldo :)) but if it has been repainted, its not original. Color change? Even more. Regardless, beautiful car.
To his defense, there is a slight difference between an 'original' and 'factory original' car. In his case he only used the word original which basically means most parts on the car are original except those that are replaced with continues use (such as spark plugs, break pads) and could even include a new paint job or a replaced windshield but in these cases generally a person also states these as he did in his original message. He would have erred if he said 'factory original' which MUST have the same paint job and all other parts that the car came out of the factory.
New black top as was supposed to be on it!
Whitewalls added that were purchased from fellow club member.
That color actually looks great. Do you know what the code is for it by chance?
lorenzo2013,
The paint code for Seminole Red is 50.
However if you don't know, that color was not an standard Eldorado color, although could have been a Special Order.
Or, as in my case, I just liked it and repainted an Olympic White original with red - 2 types of black leather inside, but a white top which was original.
Have fun,
Steve B.
Quote from: 59-in-pieces on August 04, 2017, 01:57:20 PM
lorenzo2013,
The paint code for Seminole Red is 50.
However if you don't know, that color was not an standard Eldorado color, although could have been a Special Order.
Or, as in my case, I just liked it and repainted an Olympic White original with red - 2 types of black leather inside, but a white top which was original.
Have fun,
Steve B.
Steve - thanks, the paint code for Seminole red i'm aware of, but it seems like a much darker, almost "cherry" red in the photos. I love the color.
lorenzo2013
The Nickolas car is not the correct color but close - more on the dark side.
And since it was on an Eldorado, it was likely a repaint and not even correct for the Eildo., see previous comment.
The real color code 50 Seminole Red is lighter and mush brighter.
See pic below.
Have fun,
Steve B.
This is a code 92 car, Argent which was silver. it was painted this shade of resell red in the 70s, you can still see the original color in some places
Thanks for bringing it to the GN.
Nicholas,
I meant no disrespect.
My comments in the past have been most complimentary, until this focused thread and my observation and not so artfully stated comment.
Sincere apologies - just consider me Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory - open mouth without any filter or censorship.
Have fun,
Steve B.