My New Project: 1956 Cadillac Sedan Deville Resurrection Thread

[James Landi]

Great to aee you behind the wheel ... shot from the back seat and view from the windshield was a trip back in time for me.  I owned a 56 short deck model "62" with roof vent a/c from 1966 through 1977-- toward the end of my time with it, I drove 18000 miles a year commuting from the Jersey shore to Princeton.... only let me down once, when the steel rims fractured on the edges from flex.  Had the engine rebuilt once, but tranny was always perfect... (water pumps, generators, and radiator, and heat cores on the kick panels were major repairs)--- Great road cars!!!

[chstitans42]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz5rhSlAQZw

[chstitans42]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxb-u9laxN8

[chstitans42]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-xz1y4pFao

[Glen]

Ben, If I heard you correctly you are thinking the whine is caused by the planetary gears.  I don’t believe the gears are the cause of the whine.  I think the clutch plates are slipping.  The fact that there is a lot of black dust in the bottom of the pan backs that up.  For some reason one of the clutches is not engaging fully or not disengaging properly. 
Have you talked to the people at FATSCO?   http://www.fatsco.com/index.htm

If it was me I would start by pulling the valve body and check the valves to be sure they are installed correctly and are all free in the bores.  Also check for the check balls and that the valve body gasket is good.  No breaks that can make cross connections in the passage ways or block passages. 
Call FATSCO first if you have not already. 

[chstitans42]

Glen,
This is why I think it is the planetary gears:
http://forums.cadillaclasalleclub.org/index.php?topic=138480.0

Let me know what you think.

[Glen]

Ben,
Yes I have followed that thread, but I still don’t think it is a gear problem.  If I am not mistaken (it has been a long time since I had my tranny open) those gears have diagonal cut teeth which makes them very quiet.  If they are worn so much that they make noise, why did they not make noise before the overhaul?  Did the shop wear them out or put worn out gears in there?  I don’t think those are real possibilities. 

Why would worn gears produce so much black stuff in the pan?  That black stuff came from a clutch or band which is rubbing; more like grinding on something.  Those are controlled by valves and oil pressure. 
If it is not the valves or oil pressure, then count the number of clutch plates and compare to the count needed for that tranny as stated in the shop manual.
 
Even if it is the gears you should look at the easy stuff to get to like the valve body first before pulling the tranny out. 

You obviously have good mechanical skills and you can overhaul that tranny yourself with the shop manual.  I reiterate, call FATSCO and talk to them. See what they say.

As a side note; back in the day both my parents 56 Coupe Devilles, my 61 Coupe Deville and a friend’s 58 Cadillac all had the same problem (not the same as yours) which was the front torus member failure.  The failure was caused by the spacers between the two halves wearing down and the fins collided destroying them.  I overhauled my tranny and it worked very well.  That is until I hit a rock in the road and wiped out the pan and valve body.  I bought another tranny from the junk yard and overhauled that (it also had the destroyed tours) and it worked well until the car was too rusted out to drive any more. 


 

[chstitans42]

The thing is, I have no idea if they made noise before the over haul seeing I never drove the car, just had it idling. Strange part about it all, is that sometimes (like yesterday) I will drive it and zero noise. The second I go uphill with it, the noise comes back

[chstitans42]

https://www.instagram.com/p/_kJ8fDvZt7/?taken-by=thecorvetteben

[chstitans42]

https://www.instagram.com/p/_nPytRvZtA/?taken-by=thecorvetteben

[Glen]

The thing is, I have no idea if they made noise before the over haul seeing I never drove the car, just had it idling. Strange part about it all, is that sometimes (like yesterday) I will drive it and zero noise. The second I go uphill with it, the noise comes back

I thought you had driven the car before you removed the tranny. 
My advice remains the same but I do have a question.  In your resto video 42 you said you have 3 or 4 miles on the car.  Was the pan clean before that?  If it was clean before, you are wearing out your clutch plates or maybe a band very fast.  Gears won’t make that much dust in the pan.  Gears would make metal flakes. 
My guess is that one of the clutches is not releasing all the way.  It releases just enough to allow it to slip but it still have enough pressure to cause the whine. 

[chstitans42]

New video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE9Y96ojFsw

[James Gray]

The fuel gauge in my 42 doesn't work either. Not sure if it's the same setup but this information will come in handy. I think a lot of people would simply search for a functioning gauge and replace it. I applaud you for taking the time to figure out the issue and repairing it.
I will be referencing this video when I arrive at repairing my gauge.

[goofyhb]

Thank You Ben,
I have the same problem on my 55. The sending unit works well. I did not yet checked the wiring between gauge and sender, but I assume I have the same grounding issue. I will check my spare gauge first to see if it has also this issue and then work on the one in the car.
As I am in the same process of getting my car on the roads here in Germany I followed closely all your posts on youtube. Great work!

[chstitans42]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubcYzwPvd3s

[chstitans42]

I need a power window switch for one of my rear doors. Anyone have one to sell?

[Andrew Trout]

Cadillac Tim sells reconditioned switches.

http://cadillactim.com

Have you determined if it's the motor or the switch?

[chstitans42]

Yep 110%. Switch melted and is floppy inside.

[chstitans42]

New video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exbnVUDT1_E

[stzomah]

Hey Ben, I watched the latest video on the radio vibrator and antenna.  I just found an antenna from a very kind forum member and had it put in my 56 last Friday. The 56 antenna is a "Hens Tooth".  It's up at a re-builder's now (3 hours away in NY) getting a full "SPA" treatment (Engine, SS exhaust, Suspension....).  I did a Vibrator back in 78 on mine.  I have had the car since 1975.  I was 16 then and drove it through high school and college.  I wrenched it every weekend and like you did a partial restoration in 81.  It sat in my garage while I raised 2 kids.  Now that I'm 56, I have a little money to have some things done for me.  It's been a lifelong passion for me and its part of my family.  I have been watching the videos since 2013, keep up the great work!  Wayne