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Restoration of 1942 series 6719

Started by gary griffin, September 14, 2011, 06:17:48 PM

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gary griffin

Hi, I am not sure of the interest but I am in the process of restoring a 6719 which is a huge machine. It is in the paint shop getting repainted Antionnette Blue as I write this. I bought the car last fall and have been doing minor work and collecting parts since then. It was advertised as complete less a hood trim and interior door panels but the previous owners had lost a lot more than that.
        The parts hunt was a challenge as 1942 was a low production year and many parts are 1942 only and quite hard to find. Only need one part now, a short foot rest which can go on later.I am excited about having such an unusual car .
        The 29 pieces of interior trim are in California getting painted wood grain, the flat glass is on order as is are rubber body components from Steele rubber.
        It runs well and seems quite tight so I am not messing with the mechanical portions right now.
         Stone guards and sill plate rubber are on order from Allcads and I have a new wiring harness from R I Electric of Rhode Island and most of the chrome was re plated by the previous owner.
        I plan on bringing it home from the paint shop in a couple of weeks and installing the rubber, glass, wiring, chrome parts. There are a few more parts to chrome plate but I will do that while the car  is at the upholstery shop.
        I have added a picture of the Cadillac as it was when I started.
        The second picture is a picture of my recently completed "Little Red Truck" a 79 Dodge factory made to get around 1978 government regulation limiting Horse Power in cars. Billed as "The Last American Hot Rod" it was the fastest vehicle produced in the USA in 1978 and 1979.
          The last picture is showing the Cadillac body stripped for primer
Gary Griffin

1940 LaSalle 5029 4 door convertible sedan
1942 Cadillac 6719 restoration almost complete?
1957 Cadillac 60-special (Needs a little TLC)
2013 Cadillac XTS daily driver

Paul Tesone

Gary - if your painter has somehow managed to come up with the correct formula for Antoinette Blue paint in a modern equivilent of the original formula , there are two CLC members ( Jeff Hansen & Steve Passmore ) who are looking for the formula . If you go to the Technical/Authenticity section of the Forum and scroll down about 19 posts to the post titled " Antoinette Blue " on 9/12/11 , you can read the discussion and post a "reply " with the formula your painter is using . I'm certain those members will see it and be grateful for the information .  Good luck with your restoration and don't forget to post pictures of your progress ... Paul Tesone CLC #6876.

Bill Hedge CLC 14424

Gary:

Your project sounds great. If you have any pictures it would be both helpful and interesting if you can post them.  You know the old saying:  "A picture is worth a thousand words."

gary griffin

#3
    I will post the paint formula next as soon as I get back to the paint shop.
    This picture was taken on the sunniest day of this year and the Blue looks a little light but it matches the blue found in the trunk and cowl very closely and looks almost black on the shady side of the car.
    I hope it is very close to Antionnette Blue but I also know there are questions about how to duplicate this color in modern paint.
    The white material is residue from the wet sanding that was occurring when I took the pictures. I have not seen the car for a few days but I was told that the other body parts are being painted this week.
     One of the problems seems to be that between electronic transmissions and faded paints and faded chips and antiquated paint codes what is really authentic in any color?
Gary Griffin

1940 LaSalle 5029 4 door convertible sedan
1942 Cadillac 6719 restoration almost complete?
1957 Cadillac 60-special (Needs a little TLC)
2013 Cadillac XTS daily driver

gary griffin

#4
The finishing parts are starting to arrive.

The flat glass came in yesterday.     The stone guards and running  board (Sills?) treads came in the day before (Thanks ALL CADS).

I am expecting the rubber later in the week.

The trim painted wood grain is a few weeks away.

The painting is progressing and I will post pictures when I can get to the paint shop.
Most of the large pieces of chrome plating were done by the previous owner but a lot of small pieces still to chrome plate.

Negotiating on the upholstery and not too sure who will be doing it yet.

I am still searching for a foot rest. These cars had 2 foot rests in the rear and they were unique. They were about 22 inches long and had a single center mounted hinge and chrome end caps on the oblong wooden 22 inch upholstered bar. The hinge is symetrical although it looks skewed in the picture due to camera angle. If anybody knows where I can find one I would certainly appreciate a lead.
Gary Griffin

1940 LaSalle 5029 4 door convertible sedan
1942 Cadillac 6719 restoration almost complete?
1957 Cadillac 60-special (Needs a little TLC)
2013 Cadillac XTS daily driver

Chris Conklin

Wow! Only 200 of these cars produced right before the war effort... how many could possibly still exist?
Chris Conklin

gary griffin

#6
I figure very few as the club register shows 2 of 6719 ( and a third one is listed but is a 6719F meaning it has the division window) (and 3 of 6733 which have jump seats also) and there are a couple more I have heard of. I suppose a few more hiding in barns and garages? Possibly a dozen total of all series 67 ??
Gary Griffin

1940 LaSalle 5029 4 door convertible sedan
1942 Cadillac 6719 restoration almost complete?
1957 Cadillac 60-special (Needs a little TLC)
2013 Cadillac XTS daily driver

gary griffin

#7
  Paint code for "My Antionette Blue" paint. I cant guarantee its complete authenticity but inside the shop everyone thinks it is black under artificial light and they are surprised when we roll it out and the Blue comes to life. The above pictures were taken on one of the sunniest days of the year in Seattle and the white residue is from wet sanding. I am very pleased with the color but I am not planning on entering it in a concours show.

  I will put more photos on next week after the body is wet sanded and clear coat is on.

PPG paint code taken directly from the can.

Shopline (JB) PRIME
GM (N AMERICA) DK BLUE
1 US Gallon , Price Code A
Density 922 g/l
VOC Reg. 5.4 lbs/gal (654 g/l )
VOC Act.  .46 lbs/gal (654 g/l)

Revision Date 12/9/2005
Main Layer 14659

SKU    DESC                     Cum(perf)  Inc. (part)
J44     MED. BLUE              1041.2       1041.2
J86     JET BLACK               1319.1       277.9
J83     TINTING WHITE       1331.5       12.4
J57     VIOLET                    1968.0       636.5
J95     BASEMAKER             3935.2       196.2
Comments Lead-Free Formula

I am not sure what all of those mean but I love the results. I hope this helps someone but please understand I had only pictures and samples from the cowl, and trunk to compare to and can not guarantee the outcome of someone elses paint job.
Gary Griffin

1940 LaSalle 5029 4 door convertible sedan
1942 Cadillac 6719 restoration almost complete?
1957 Cadillac 60-special (Needs a little TLC)
2013 Cadillac XTS daily driver

P W Allen CLC# 20193

Here's another one that was in the shop when I was having my car done. Sadly, the owner passed away during the restoration. The executor of the estate took the car back unfinished. Don't know what ever happened to it. The painting was almost done and it had a brand new interior installed. I sat in the back seat. It was like sitting in your living room. The only photo I have is this long distance one.

Paul
53 Coupe
Twin Turbine

gary griffin

#9
Quote from: gary griffin on September 21, 2011, 09:13:16 AM
The finishing parts are starting to arrive.

The flat glass came in yesterday and the stone guards and running  board (Sills?) treads came in the day before.

I am expecting the rubber later in the week.

The trim painted wood grain is a few weeks away.

The painting is progressing and I will post pictures when I can get to the paint shop.
Most of the large pieces of chrome plating were done by the previous owner but a lot of small pieces still to chrome plate.

Negotiating on the upholstery and not too sure who will be doing it yet.

I am still searching for a foot rest. These cars had 2 foot rests in the rear and they were unique. They were about 22 inches long and had a single center mounted hinge and chrome end caps on the oblong wooden 22 inch upholstered bar. The hinge is symetrical although it looks skewed in the picture due to camera angle. If anybody knows where I can find one I would certainly appreciate a lead.

Well the 10 month saga of the foot rest seems to be over. John Gatley of Boston was junking out the shell of a 1942 series 67 and by coincidence I had sent him a picture from a manual showing the foot rest, and he had a pair needing work but worth salvaging I beleive. Thank You John and as you said,you gave me a good deal because who else would ever need them. John is in Hershey this week but will ship the following week. I am so pleased as this is the last 1942 specific item I need and the rest is coasting as far as I can tell.
Gary Griffin

1940 LaSalle 5029 4 door convertible sedan
1942 Cadillac 6719 restoration almost complete?
1957 Cadillac 60-special (Needs a little TLC)
2013 Cadillac XTS daily driver

gary griffin

Well last week I took 44 small parts to the chrome plater and will have them in a couple of weeks. I am glad the previous owner was a chrome plater because he had plated most of the big parts. Still about $2100 and a few more to go. Car is coming home next week and I can start installing the new wiring and putting it back together. I am still hoping for Christmas completion but we will have to see how it goes from here on. Being semi retired I can work on it a lot of hours but when it gets cold probably not so much.
Gary Griffin

1940 LaSalle 5029 4 door convertible sedan
1942 Cadillac 6719 restoration almost complete?
1957 Cadillac 60-special (Needs a little TLC)
2013 Cadillac XTS daily driver

gary griffin

#11
Attached is a picture of the fire wall which I am adding to show the Antionette Blue paint color when not in the sun light.

   The above pictures were take on a very sunny day in Seattle and they look lighter than this picture taken in the shop, and I beleive my flash went off also in this picture.

   I suspect something in the sunlight brings out the blue in the paint. I dont know if that is true with the older paints with this color but apparently it is true with this new paint.

   The white streaks are residue from the wet sanding. I have elected to use a two stage paint system basically because it makes maintenance so much easier.
Gary Griffin

1940 LaSalle 5029 4 door convertible sedan
1942 Cadillac 6719 restoration almost complete?
1957 Cadillac 60-special (Needs a little TLC)
2013 Cadillac XTS daily driver

kkarrer

Auto Color Library (www.autocolorlibrary.com) has always been able to help me out with whatever body color I've needed for any antique car.  They can supply the color for you in pints, quarts, or gallons and in lacquer, enamel, or base/clear. The Ditzler Code for Antoinette Blue is DAL10072.  Getting colors for things like wheels (I'm still looking for help on Vincennes Red) is more of a problem because all they have are the original color chips for body panels and the associated paint formulas.
Ken Karrer 41  6227D coupe

Tom Hall 7485

Yes, the cowl area looks about right for Antoinette Blue.
Tom Hall, CLC Member 7485, Lifetime member since the mid-1990s.

gary griffin

#14
As always we ran into a snag. As I said the engine runs well but we have it out to paint the engine and the engine compartment. While trying to remove an old after market oil filter we ended up with 2 broken head bolts. Since the car runs well and has pretty even compression we were not going to open it up at this time.

What size, grade, and thread count are the bolts along with how long are they? We are thinking of coring them out to the diameter of the inside of the thread and chasing them with a tap. Does anybody have a better idea??

We also got a significant amount of oil leaking through the rear main seal when the engine was at about a 30 degree angle. I have been told this is normal and others say we should put in a new main seal??

Anybody have any good ideas??

I am wondering if I should bite the bullet and rebuild the engine while it is out of the car. It runs so well and will only get a few thousand miles a year so I was not planning on doing anything to it at this time. I guess plans can change?

CAN ANYBODY RECOMEND A GOOD REBUILDER IN THE NORTHWEST?
Gary Griffin

1940 LaSalle 5029 4 door convertible sedan
1942 Cadillac 6719 restoration almost complete?
1957 Cadillac 60-special (Needs a little TLC)
2013 Cadillac XTS daily driver

gary griffin

#15
I finally received the foot rests and they leave a lot to be desired. I have taken them apart and they are in the dip tank trying to get some of the rust off. I will have to build the hinge up with weld and machine it back down to get one that will work. I will keep looking fr a better one as they go in very late in the restoration process and I have plenty of time. I will keep my ears to the ground for a better one but will use these (Part of one and part of the other) if I can't find another one.

The problem is in the metal hinge part. The wood is actually probably still sound enogh to re use.
Gary Griffin

1940 LaSalle 5029 4 door convertible sedan
1942 Cadillac 6719 restoration almost complete?
1957 Cadillac 60-special (Needs a little TLC)
2013 Cadillac XTS daily driver

gary griffin

#16
Here is a more recent picture and if you compare it to one taken earlier and posted above you can see how Antionette Blue looks in the bright sunlight and in less light
Gary Griffin

1940 LaSalle 5029 4 door convertible sedan
1942 Cadillac 6719 restoration almost complete?
1957 Cadillac 60-special (Needs a little TLC)
2013 Cadillac XTS daily driver