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1966 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham restore/refresh

Started by clarkent5477, December 04, 2017, 03:39:15 PM

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clarkent5477

I'm proud to finally join the club and own such a beautiful automobile. About a month ago, I purchased a 1966 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham from eBay. Below are some pics; more to come. I'm kind of shocked at what shape the car is in given it's age. It looks like it was a barn find that was sold at an auction. Many things seems to work (all lights, trunk pull down, AM/FM radio works, antenna goes up and down, all windows work, all door locks work, remote trunk works, power seat works in all directions except forward, upholstery/wood is in pretty amazing shape, etc.) It did run pretty awful when I went to go see it, but now that it's been delivered it won't start. Hopefully won't take too much effort. Sitting in this thing is so comfortable and while I'm not crazy about the color (I'd prefer triple black, TBH), I still find it beautiful  :)

Tips and things to watch out for are welcome. And many thanks in advance for your support!
Clark Dilley
Los Angeles, CA
'66 Fleetwood Brougham, '66 Fleetwood Eldorado

clarkent5477

#1
So when I saw it run, I thought that it was in bad need of a tune up. When it was delivered, I tried starting it but failed and pushed it into the driveway. After checking a lot of basic things (plugs, points, fuel pump, etc.), I ran a compression test and found several cylinders that were at 0 psi or near 0 psi. Yikes! I took the left valve cover off and found at least a partial culprit. Rocker arms and metal chunks abound! I suspect various parts of the engine were seized from not running for years, including some valves, resulting in broken rocker arm supports when it was started. Remarkably, I pulled out a few pushrods and they seemed okay. The shop manual for 1966 refers to the older rocker assembly, including the rocker arm shaft; I've found pics on the Internet of the later (?) shop manual that show more accurate depictions of what I found in my engine.

PS: If anyone has leads on rocker arm supports, feel free to let me know.
Clark Dilley
Los Angeles, CA
'66 Fleetwood Brougham, '66 Fleetwood Eldorado

James Landi

Often what happens is that the valve stems get rusted in place, then after years of inaction, the cam shaft, push rods and rockers take up the punishment when someone cranks the engine over without attempting to check  the valve train.  Sometimes you can work on breaking the valves stems free with "Blaster" and gentle persuasion (aka, light hammering)---

Ralph Messina CLC 4937

Clark,

Based on the pics of the valve train, I suspect the engine in your car is a '67 not '66. The "post" style rocker mount shown in your photo and shop manual pic began with the '67 model year. I'm not aware of any late '66 cars with this type engine. Check your engine number located in the rear valley of the block just above the trans bell housing. There's a ground flat on the block with the number stamped on it. If it is the original engine it will be the same as your VIN and read 6Pxxxxxx. It's important to determine which engine you have as the valve train uses different parts.
1966 Fleetwood Brougham-with a new caretaker http://bit.ly/1GCn8I4
1966 Eldorado-with a new caretaker  http://bit.ly/1OrxLoY
2018 GMC Yukon

clarkent5477

Thanks Ralph. Sorry for the late response, but it's been a busy several months. I found that number on the engine block you referred to and it starts with a 7 so it's a 67 engine and not the original as I suspected. Fortunately I found new rocker supports, installed them, lubed and tapped the valves as best I could, installed the supports and rockers and started the car right up. It clunked a little at first, but the fresh gas and lube dissolved the varnish that had formed from the old gas and the engine warming up helped. It runs great now :) That was back at the beginning of November and had her back on the road a few times until the brakes showed their age. That's next on the list! :)
Clark Dilley
Los Angeles, CA
'66 Fleetwood Brougham, '66 Fleetwood Eldorado