New Blog, Restoring my 1942- 6719

[Jeff Maltby 4194]

Hey Gary. You should of bought one in the crate like your 1976 Honda Gold Wing LTD :<)

My 2 cents ~:<)

[gary griffin]

I am having a hard time getting a parts car shipped from Pennsylvania to Washington state. I need a few of the parts to complete my restoration. If I could get it anywhere in the Northwest or I-5 corridor I could pick it up. Any good ideas.

Gary Griffin
garygriffin@Q.com
206 276 0398

[Scott Anderson CLC#26068]

Gary, you have a PM

Scott

[gary griffin]

Update, progress is being made.  Found another cylinder sleeve needed in the engine and it is on order expected tomorrow so hopefully engine will be complete soon. I bought a parts car for some of the 42 only parts including the 42 only radio and the 42 only foot rests and some interior trim pieces. Hopefully the heater parts will help me get my heaters working correctly. My instruments are in pretty bad shape and maybe the ones in the parts car are better? The parts car is enroute and will be here early next week.

I will be scrapping the parts car out but I am willing to sell any parts not needed to help defray purchase and shipping costs of the car. 

garygriffin@Q.com

[gary griffin]

Well it has finally happened, I got my engine back from the machine shop yesterday. Back to work on the car and pictures to follow soon. I cant believe the machine shop accepted my job and then put it behind a lot of new orders for race car engines they also do a lot of. 5 1/2 months they cost me. They have a great reputation but timeliness is not their long suite. My summer cruises are out now and again I have a Christmas completion date. Maybe early fall??

[Gene Beaird]

Heh, _only_ 5 months?  I'm still waiting after three YEARS for the engine for our race car!!  I made the mistake of telling the builder 'we're in no hurry'. 

The build looks fun, so far.  It was cool how quickly it went from rusty, dusty car to bare metal and then painted car! 

[gary griffin]

Finally the engine is back from the machinist. We are almost finished reassembly. Ran into a new glitch, my radiator was cleaned and tested and then I found out that it was a 1941 radiator so I traded it for a 42 to 48 radiator.  Apparently 38 to 41 radiators were temperature controlled by automatic shutters and in 42 they went to thermostatic temperature controls. Another small delay. Getting an education on the way to completion.
   I hope the engine is back in the car and the front fenders and entire front end is on in the next 3 or 4 weeks.
   Hopefully the car will be back in my garage by mid July. I am estimating a month to install the glass and trim. (Being semi retired helps here) . I hope that is not too optomistic.
   The upholsterer says she needs about 3 to 4 weeks. I will take the seats and door panels to her ahead of time hopefully early July. I will give her a deposit late this week for materials.
   I will probably paint the dashboard from my parts car and install it with my old gages while the radio and other set of gages are restored. Possibly it will make aninitial drive in September??  More pictures when I remember how to reduce them properly.

[gary griffin]

Motor pictures,  By now it is fully assembled and awaiting the rebuilt fuel pump and water pump. We will go ahead and install the engine and add the accessories as they come in from the rebuilders.

My original plan was to be driving the car by Christmas, 2011.  Hopefully I will make Christmas 2012.  Looks feasable right now to be finished in late August but the way things have been going Christmas may be more feasible.

Thanks for checking out my Blog

[gary griffin]

Back on NEW schedule, engine is back in the car with the transmisison, now to get the radiator installed and get the hood and front fenders painted and back on the car.

Next I need to install the accessories such as electrical system, carbuerator, fuel system and so forth. Hope to bring the car home in the next three or four weeks to make it easier to install the electrical system, rubber seals, glass.

Target is to start upholstery in mid August. My schedule has been modified so many times I make it in pencil.  I did make a deposit to order the upholstery material so hopefully that won't be a hold up. Upholsterer says  I should bring the seats and door panels in early and they only want the car there about a week due to limited storage.

The last picture is my parts car.

Hopefully I will be making regular posts soon as the conclusion seems to be in sight?? I finally wrote down the steps for reducing pictures and posting them.

[gary griffin]

    I would also like to comment on the pleasure of restorations. It is a long and tedious task but good therapy and also a continual learning experience.
    I chose this particular car because I like rarity. With only  a couple hundred made it dosen't get much rarer than that, at least in my budget range. I have always wanted an early Cadillac also but was thinking of even earlier before I found this one.
    When I started the restoration I contacted every memberof the club owning a 1942 Cadillac. Most were easy to talk to and gave me some good ideas. Among them was Jeff Hansen who has been a beacon of light in the past year and a half. His knowledge and help has kept me interested in doing an authentic restoration instead of a cheaper paint and polish job.
     I could quote many of the learning experiences for example, my car came with an earlier engine but I did not know that. From 1938 to 1941 Cadillacs had shutters in front of the radiator and 42 was the first year with a flow control thermostat. My car had the earlier radiator but no shutters but I did not know the difference so I had the radiator flow and pressure tested and it was O K until I discovered that it was incorrect.
   Thats where another great guy "Eddie Jones" of Minneapolis stepped in and sent me a correct radiator in good shape in exchange for the incorrect one at no cost except shipping. Thanks Eddie. Eddie has been a great deal of help supplying parts at very reaonable prices and I would recommend him anytime. There are so many good vendors and suppliers I could not mention them all.
     The support and advice from other club members here and in other places has been invaluable and I cant imagine attempting a restoration with out such support.
      I want to thank the readers of this blog for the encouragement and advice also. It is easier to go forth with a rooting section andI have found it here on this blog.
     I hope I can intertain you all at a faster rate in the next few months as it should go at a faster rate when I get the painted car back in my own garage and start assembly. I used to think paint was the completion of a restoration but it is just a milestone as now I need to wire the car, install all of the chromed parts, install all of the glass, install all of the door and wiindow mechanisms, install accessories, get the fuel system working and test the engine, install the upholstery, test the electrical system, and finally install all 32 pieces of wood grained metal trim in the cab.

   Thanks for stopping by and hopefully you will enjoy the next few months of checking my progress and giving me advice and encouragement.

[TMoore - NTCLC]

Gary -

It looks like it is full-steam ahead from this point.  I cannot thank you enough for all of the pictures and documentation - I know that they will come in handy when I start moving forward with my own restoration.

Tod

[gary griffin]

Big day today,  After sitting in the back of the shop for 7 months we took it out and cleaned it up so we could start bolting on the front fenders, right rear fender, hood and front end and radiator and all of the other body parts.

In a couple of weeks I hope to bring it home for trim, wireing and so forth.  The end is not near but at least it is becoming feasable and forseable. The long periond of waiting for the engine to be rebuilt kind of put a damper on the restoration but at least now I can visualize it happening.

[Martin Michaels]

Hi Gary, I've been following your blog since you started it,wonderful job.I posted pictures of my engine rebuild about the same time you did, those engines look great brand new. I saw that you had your antenna rebuilt i need mine done and I was wondering who did yours? Thank you and I hope you are able to do some motoring this year. Marty Michaels

[gary griffin]

Marty,

  My antenna was restored by Klaus Wojak 828  898 9338, but he said he only had material to do a couple more of them and that was last year. At about $400 each it would seem like some young mechanically inclined entrapenaur would pick up the idea and go with it. Vacuum antennas are simple things with few parts. Only one section actually is controlled by the vacuum and the other is manual. Klaus was in his 80's and did it for many years.

[Martin Michaels]

Thanks Gary, Knowing that I think I will try to open it up,see what makes it tick and try to restore it my self. One more thing I drove my 47 for the first time today they still have to dial in the shifting points and some other misc. things then I will get her back next week. Marty M 

[gary griffin]

Status report, Body looking good and last rear fender going on this week but fronts staying off until engine is started.

Boo Boo report, the doors wont close all of the way because the new rubber seals are too hard and possibly too thick. I bought them from a supplier who was a authorized vendor for a company sounding like Steal (Can not use actual names as it is against Forum policy to do so) and I am having trouble getting help form the manufacturer.

I think I will just buy a better set from a different company and try to get  a refund later.

More posts and pictures coming soon.

I am using a small shop to do my body and mechanical work and it is owned by the son of an old friend of mine who passed away a few years ago. Mark (the owner) grew up in the shop and can do anything that a car needs and can do it very well at a very fair price but unfortunately my job ran into trouble and the final part has been pushed into his busy time. When he is done I will take the car home and reassemble it including installing wiring, all chrome parts, and so forth then taking it to an upholsterer for soft goods installation and then bring it home for final installation of the window trim and so forth.

An interesting side effect of the blog is that I can see my actual schedule by reviewing the dates on the posts. This one is sure taking longer than I had estimated but I guess that is typical.

[gary griffin]

  Too many things getting in the way of my restoration.  My mechanic working on the car has a helper who broke a collar bone, his shop is busy now and he does my work on a fill in basis. Good pricing for me on that basis but scheduling can go to hell quickly. Currently it is on the hoist getting a brake job. Next step is to install the new rubber seals on the doors (First seals were too hard and too big) install wiring and get it running. The front fenders and hood will go on after that. When it is running I will bring it home and trim it out with all of the chrome and so forth, then a trip to the upholsterers. Sounds fast and easy but probably going to stretch out in time.
 
 My work picked up at the same time requiring me to work longer hours than usual for a couple of months also.

   Christmas completion is doubtful but I am closing down my business and retiring at the end of the year so will have lots of time to proceed.

   More pictures soon I hope

[TMoore - NTCLC]

Hi Gary -

A couple of question about the door seals - how did the vendor treat you on the return of the seals, and which vendor ended up providing the better product?

Thanks,
Tod

[52Cadillac]

Beautiful work Gary.
Who rebuilt your vacuum antenna? I need one rebuilt as well.
Thanks, Mike

[gary griffin]

Klaus Wojack rebuilt mine a while ago and told me he only had parts to do a couple more and he was planning on retiring.

His number was 828 898 9338.