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1957 Eldorado Seville in Norway - Rolling Restoration

Started by 57eldoking, March 14, 2014, 07:01:21 PM

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Roger Zimmermann

That's the reason why I did the most floor work when the body was on the frame: too much rust to lift the body. Even with connecting bars you may have surprises if the floor is too weak.
Of course, my method does not means that it's the best one...
1956 Sedan de Ville (sold)
1956 Eldorado Biarritz
1957 Eldorado Brougham (sold)
1972 Coupe de Ville
2011 DTS
CLCMRC benefactor #101

Ralph Messina CLC 4937

Roger,

You made an astute observation about bracing that I never thought about. Every picture of a body drop shows overhead arms carrying the body at four points under the passenger compartment. If you locate the front (cowl) and rear  (back seat) locations that balance the lifting load, there would be no bending moment in the door opening.  If the floor was structurally sound it would not bend when lifted at those points. I wonder whether the  four outermost body mounting points are those balanced locations?. It seems reasonable as they would tend to reduce NHV due to body flex.

Ralph
1966 Fleetwood Brougham-with a new caretaker http://bit.ly/1GCn8I4
1966 Eldorado-with a new caretaker  http://bit.ly/1OrxLoY
2018 GMC Yukon

Roger Zimmermann

Well, Ralph, I did not think that much. However, when I restored my first car, the Sedan de Ville, I noticed that, when the body is supported under the rocker panels, there was such a substantial deflection from the rear of the body that I supported the rear too. On some pictures I have in my mind, during the body drop, the body is supported at the front of the rocker panels and at the rear wheel opening.
One is sure: those bodies are very flexible!
1956 Sedan de Ville (sold)
1956 Eldorado Biarritz
1957 Eldorado Brougham (sold)
1972 Coupe de Ville
2011 DTS
CLCMRC benefactor #101

57eldoking

#43
Well we're almost halfway thru car show season and I've finally finished the transmission job on the Seville. I have been heavily involved in another Cadillac project which have taken lots of my time. I will post another thread on that project soon.

Going into this project I was pretty sure I had a problem with the front unit coupling since I was missing second and fourth gear. Upon opening the front unit coupling I discovered that the seals were flexible and probably had been replaced not too long ago. The unt coupling cover also didn't have any cracks. I did find a pretty heavily worn bronze thrust washer inside the coupling. I took the unit coupling to a shop that specializes in these transmissions and they were pretty sure this could not explain the problem.

I opened the valve body assemblies and cleaned out some crud but it wasn't bad enough to explain my problem. During this process I also discovered a broken O-ring on the rear pump intake. I think this could explain a strange hissing sound I heard at times. Pulling off the rear tail housing something dropped to the ground. Turns out the weight attached to the G1 plunger on the governor had separated and was in the bottom of the tail housing. Bingo problem discovered! What threw me off checking the governor first was that the transmission shifted into third gear. This did however require quite a bit hard acceleration in first gear to achieve. I got the trans installed today and took it for a test drive. The trans shifts better than ever and the occasional hissing sound I had is also gone. Very happy to have it working again, just in time for three big car events this weekend!


Pulling apart the front unit coupling.




Front oil pump cover oil ring, the old one on the right and new on the left. Some people have experienced problems with an undersized oil ring causing 4th gear to slip out when the trans gets warm.


Valve body crud


Worn thrust washer and broken rear pump intake o-ring.


Main culprit, the threads had completely stripped in the weight. I had a good governor from a spare trans which I used instead.


Transmission back in the car, my wood blocks didn't kill me either!  ;D

Big thanks to Roger Zimmerman who has answered many of my questions and provided me with measurements for some of the special tools I had to make.





1957 Eldorado Biarritz #906
1957 Eldorado Biarritz #1020 http://bit.ly/1kTvFlM
1957 Eldorado Seville  #1777 http://bit.ly/1T3Uo1c
1995 Fleetwood Brougham  http://bit.ly/20YwJV4
2010 SRX Performance

1946 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup
1957 Buick Caballero Estate Wagon (x2)
1960 Chevy Apache 10 Stepside
1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer (x2)
1992 Pontiac Trans Sport GT

Rob Troxel

Well done!  Thanks for the thorough update! Pictures are really appreciated.

Karkrazy

As I recall all 57 Eldos had 2x4s.. The original copper color ( forgot the real name ) with black top and matching interior is a pretty car. Must be hard to find the deep plush carpets used then on that car.  I think those fin backs on the front fenders where original gold but the rest all chrome..yours looks like a gold grill, likely wheels too?  Anyway good luck with it . I had a 4 Dr 57 Seville in that color ( out and in) made for Motorama years ago..I think one of 4 made.
Likely some of you own my former cars.. I had many, many Cads as well as other luxury makes over the years.
Currently have no collector cars right now, but looking..if you have something give me a try.

STS05lg

Henning,

You should check into the Eldorado for sale by Michell on the For Sale tab. It would look good next to your convertable.

Really enjoy following your progress from the states. Mike at USA Parts told me you were a regular customer...

Just one question, I have friends from school who now live in Oslo and they had to give up on owning a car because of the outlandish taxes. I see you have an F350 dually... the taxes on that must be the same as a small house...  ;D ;D

Best,

Lynn

57eldoking

Quote from: Karkrazy on July 21, 2015, 02:52:50 PM
As I recall all 57 Eldos had 2x4s.. The original copper color ( forgot the real name ) with black top and matching interior is a pretty car. Must be hard to find the deep plush carpets used then on that car.  I think those fin backs on the front fenders where original gold but the rest all chrome..yours looks like a gold grill, likely wheels too?  Anyway good luck with it . I had a 4 Dr 57 Seville in that color ( out and in) made for Motorama years ago..I think one of 4 made.

In 1957 the 2x4s were a no cost option on the Seville and Biarritz. The gold grille was a no cost option as well, the fender spears were chrome as were the sabre wheels. Sabre wheels stopped being offered in gold after 1956.

Interesting that you once owned the copper Sedan Seville, how long ago was that? I have a dream of owning one of them some day completing our collection with Eldorado convertible, coupe and sedan.


Quote from: STS05lg on July 29, 2015, 08:41:33 PM
Henning,

You should check into the Eldorado for sale by Michell on the For Sale tab. It would look good next to your convertable.

Really enjoy following your progress from the states. Mike at USA Parts told me you were a regular customer...

Just one question, I have friends from school who now live in Oslo and they had to give up on owning a car because of the outlandish taxes. I see you have an F350 dually... the taxes on that must be the same as a small house...  ;D ;D

Best,

Lynn

The black 58 Biarritz looks nice and would no doubt look good next to our 57. I however don't like the 58 Eldorados as much as the 57s, the re-design got too cluttered in my opinion. I would rather add a 57 Sedan Seville to my collection than a 58 Biarritz.

Your friend is correct that taxes are ridiculous in this country. Annual registration fees on the F350 is about $500 and we probably spend three to four times that in tolls. Diesel and gasoline is at about $7.50 a gallon so that adds up too.
1957 Eldorado Biarritz #906
1957 Eldorado Biarritz #1020 http://bit.ly/1kTvFlM
1957 Eldorado Seville  #1777 http://bit.ly/1T3Uo1c
1995 Fleetwood Brougham  http://bit.ly/20YwJV4
2010 SRX Performance

1946 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup
1957 Buick Caballero Estate Wagon (x2)
1960 Chevy Apache 10 Stepside
1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer (x2)
1992 Pontiac Trans Sport GT