News:

Due to a technical issue, some recently uploaded pictures have been lost. We are investigating why this happened but the issue has been resolved so that future uploads should be safe.  You can also Modify your post (MORE...) and re-upload the pictures in your post.

Main Menu

My New Project: 1956 Cadillac Sedan Deville Resurrection Thread

Started by chstitans42, September 27, 2013, 12:10:11 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

chstitans42

Im sure some of you saw my post, asking what this car was worth. I now have it home, and am ready to start bringing it back to life, hence the resurrection thread. Usually these threads are full of pictures, but I will be trying to make videos of all of the progress. With that said, Check out the first video:

http://youtu.be/m1jAdE6V7Ag

I wish the player would come up when the url is added, because it looks a little better. Let me know what you think!

Ben

jagbuxx #12944

Very cool!

hats off to you for saving that car. I think it could be brought back to a very decent driver condition without going overboard.
Frank Burns #12944
76 Coupe d'Elegance EFI Galloway Green Firemist
70 deVille Convert San Mateo Red
61 Coupe Deville Bristol Blue
41 Series 61 Deluxe Coupe 6127D Black
08 STS 3.6 1SC  Thunder Gray
16 GTI Gray
03 T-Bird Black
16 Grand Cherokee Summit, Granite
19 Tiffin Phaeton 40AH
07 Corvette Blue
20 MB S450 White

"Whatever the occasion, there
is no better way to arrive than in a Cadillac.

Glen

Ben,

That great!  The car is in good shape and I think it was well worth the money. 

The most important thing is to have fun.     
Glen Houlton CLC #727 
CLCMRC benefactor #104

okccadman

Great Video Ben.  Id love to discuss your car with you as I am a fan of 56s, especially unusual ones like yours.  Allante93jj@aol.com is my email address.  Here in OKC I have a Mandan Red / Alpine White Fleetwood Sixty Special with the Eldorado 2x4 BBL engine.
Jim Jordan CLC# 5374
Oklahoma City, OK

55 Series 62 Sedan
56 Series 62 Coupe
56 Fleetwood 75 Derham Limo
59 Fleetwood Sixty Special
66 Fleetwood Brougham
66 Superior Hearse/Ambulance
67 Fleetwood Sixty Special
68 Fleetwood Eldorado
76 Coupe de Ville d'Elegance
90 Brougham
92 Fleetwood Coupe
93 Allante
94 Fleetwood Brougham
02 Eldorado Commemorative Edition

N Kahn

Nice job getting her out, all the best, I think you got yourself a real gem here.

dadscad

Again, Congratulations on saving the 56 Caddy. You'll have fun getting her going again, at the very least she'll make a great driver. Thanks for posting the first video!
Enjoy The Ride,
David Thomas CLC #14765
1963 Coupe deVille

Davidinhartford

Congratulations Ben!     Great video!

You should start a restoration thread for us all to follow as you progress with the car.


chstitans42

Quote from: David Smith on September 27, 2013, 09:53:34 AM
Congratulations Ben!     Great video!

You should start a restoration thread for us all to follow as you progress with the car.

I was thinking this was my resto thread... Did I post in the wrong section of the forum? If so, how do I move it?

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

Enjoyed the video.

The body is surprisingly solid. Glad the motor was not seized.

Data Plate Accessory Codes. E - EZ Eye Glass; H - Heater. Was hoping to see a Q - perhaps others more familiar with 1956 will have more info. You can order a build sheet from Allied Vaughan which will contain more detailed information.

Power Windows were standard equipment on the Sedan deVille.

Keep us posted on the progress, and best of luck with it.
A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

Davidinhartford

Quote from: chstitans42 on September 27, 2013, 10:10:55 AM
I was thinking this was my resto thread... Did I post in the wrong section of the forum? If so, how do I move it?

The Admins moved it for you. So you are good now!

I am sooo pleased to see that you saved this car!

chstitans42

Quote from: ericdev on September 27, 2013, 11:08:18 AM
Enjoyed the video.

The body is surprisingly solid. Glad the motor was not seized.

Data Plate Accessory Codes. E - EZ Eye Glass; H - Heater. Was hoping to see a Q - perhaps others more familiar with 1956 will have more info. You can order a build sheet from Allied Vaughan which will contain more detailed information.

Power Windows were standard equipment on the Sedan deVille.

Keep us posted on the progress, and best of luck with it.

I am very glad it was not seized either! As for the Q on the trim tag, I have learned that the trim tag only holds body options, and engine options are on the build sheet, which I can get from Cadillac.

chstitans42

Quote from: David Smith on September 27, 2013, 11:44:41 AM
The Admins moved it for you. So you are good now!

I am sooo pleased to see that you saved this car!

I noticed that and thanks for putting it in the right section.

Also sorry about the video being so dark, I just wanted to get one up the first day of having the car. Hopefully the next ones will be better

J. Gomez

Quote from: chstitans42 on September 27, 2013, 11:57:31 AM
I am very glad it was not seized either! As for the Q on the trim tag, I have learned that the trim tag only holds body options, and engine options are on the build sheet, which I can get from Cadillac.

Ben,

Actually you can find more details on your car without having the built sheet on-hand. As I mention on your previous post you can download the data and specs from the GM Heritage Center and also order the built sheet as Eric stated.

You can find color, upholstery and accessories info at http://www.rrrclc.org/color_database.htm  (thanks to Ralph Messina).

You can check the engine serial aka VIN # stamped on the upper right hand corner of the cylinder block. The same # could be found on the frame right hand side bar just above the starter. It also can be found on the maintenance plate at the front driver pillar, if there.

Second would be the engine unit # this can be found stamped on the bell housing behind the left side cylinder block. If yours shows a “7_K” (7-letter-K) it is an Eldorado w/dual cabs no A/C, which could be in yours.

Last would be the transmission serial number, the plate is located behind the throttle and manual levers, a C56 would indicate a standard tranny, while a 56CE would be for Eldorado engines.

Good luck..!
J. Gomez
CLC #23082

chstitans42

I had a small amount of time to work on the Caddy today. I started to see how well the front bumper cleaned up, and even though it is not perfect I am happy with the results. I also went to the auto parts store and got everything I might need for a tune up.

I started with the factory fuel pump, and found out that one of the previous owners had added an electric fuel pump and had blocked off the original fuel pump mount with a cover. He also added a zip tie to the push rod to hold it up away from the cam shaft... Weird but we installed it correctly. All I need now is a fitting to go from the C curve fuel line to the glass filter.

I changed the oil and oil filter, and even though the oil was black, and had some sludge in it, there was no water in it what so ever, so that is good. I also added a quart of marvel mystery oil in with the oil in order to clean out what sludge is inside the motor, and Im sure there is a fair amount.

Since I had the battery in, and new oil I said what the heck, lets try to get the motor to at least start for a little bit. I got my dad to help spray carb cleaner down the carbs while I cranked the motor. The motor spun just fine, but it never did fire. We tried pulling a spark plug wire and grounding it on the exhaust manifold, and we did not get spark while the engine was turning over, so that will be the task for tomorrow, see why we have no spark.

Any ideas on the best way to trouble shoot the ignition system?

Thanks!
Ben Friend

J. Gomez

Ben,

The points ignition system is straight forward to troubleshoot.

While cranking the engine the starter solenoid provides a direct +12v to the coil via the “yellow” wire at the terminal on the ballast resistor on the firewall. The black wire from the coil should be connected to this terminal

When the engine starts, the ignition switch provides the +12v from the “pink” wire at the opposite side of the ballast resistor. This will drop the voltage down to approximately +9V.

Since the car sat idle for a long time the points could well be weld shoot, checked them making sure the gap is set properly or better yet replace them to be 100% sure.

If voltage and points checked out the possible cause would be a bad coil.

You can download a wiring diagram at these sites (the 1957 is the same for 1956).

http://www.auto-wiring-diagram.com/4252-wiring-diagram-for-1957-cadillac-60-62-75-86-series.html
http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/tOCMP/wiring/5765wiring%20diagrams/Cadillac/MWireCadi65_3WD-034.jpg


Good luck..!
J. Gomez
CLC #23082

chstitans42

Quote from: J. Gomez on September 28, 2013, 09:30:19 AM
Ben,

The points ignition system is straight forward to troubleshoot.

While cranking the engine the starter solenoid provides a direct +12v to the coil via the “yellow” wire at the terminal on the ballast resistor on the firewall. The black wire from the coil should be connected to this terminal

When the engine starts, the ignition switch provides the +12v from the “pink” wire at the opposite side of the ballast resistor. This will drop the voltage down to approximately +9V.

Since the car sat idle for a long time the points could well be weld shoot, checked them making sure the gap is set properly or better yet replace them to be 100% sure.

If voltage and points checked out the possible cause would be a bad coil.

You can download a wiring diagram at these sites (the 1957 is the same for 1956).

http://www.auto-wiring-diagram.com/4252-wiring-diagram-for-1957-cadillac-60-62-75-86-series.html
http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/tOCMP/wiring/5765wiring%20diagrams/Cadillac/MWireCadi65_3WD-034.jpg


Good luck..!

Great we will try this hopefully this weekend if not, next week. We also discovered that the previous owner had attached the red battery cable to ground and the black one to the starter. Seems like the last person who worked on this car didnt know what they were doing exactly.

J. Gomez

Ben,

Well he was actually half correct..!  :D

The negative side is the flat copper braided strap type while the positive is a black cable. If I recalled Cadillac switched to the red and black cables in the 1958. ???

Maybe he used a different battery and just grab a cable to get it going, but using red for the negative/ground side that is crazy. But anything and everything is possible.  :o 
J. Gomez
CLC #23082

chstitans42

I am still trying to get spark but am still having problems. I checked the wiring from the starter solenoid and there is a red (not yellow) wire that runs from here:

To here:


With the key off, each side has no voltage, when turned to accessory, each side gets 12v and when turned to run, each side drops to 9v. The coil, cap and rotor are new and were swapped by me. With all this said and done, I still am getting no spark to the plugs. The only thing I have not changed is the points, but the ones on the car look like they are newer and the little arm does move back and forth.

Any help would be appreciated. Maybe the ignition switch in the dash was wired wrong by the previous owner? He did mess around there before I got the car...

J. Gomez

Ben,

Assuming you have the original wiring the yellow would be the one going up to the solenoid “I” terminal, since it was hacked let’s take a different approach.

If you removed the two wires at the ballast resistor left side on the picture, the pink on the right should be coming from the ignition switch. If you turn the ignition switch “on” and you get +12v then all is ok.

Verify the red wire you removed from the ballast resistor goes to the solenoid. If that wire goes to the “I” terminal on the solenoid, when the solenoid is engaged (starter turning) you should get +12v on the “I” terminal at the solenoid and the same voltage should be present at the end of the red wire to the ballast.

Hope this will help in getting her started.
J. Gomez
CLC #23082

chstitans42

Quote from: J. Gomez on September 28, 2013, 10:28:00 PM
Ben,

Assuming you have the original wiring the yellow would be the one going up to the solenoid “I” terminal, since it was hacked let’s take a different approach.

If you removed the two wires at the ballast resistor left side on the picture, the pink on the right should be coming from the ignition switch. If you turn the ignition switch “on” and you get +12v then all is ok.
Yes the pink wire comes from the ignition, and has 12 volts when the key is  turned to run. When it is turned to start the voltage drops to 9V

Verify the red wire you removed from the ballast resistor goes to the solenoid. If that wire goes to the “I” terminal on the solenoid, when the solenoid is engaged (starter turning) you should get +12v on the “I” terminal at the solenoid and the same voltage should be present at the end of the red wire to the ballast.
We checked continuity from the red wire on the starter solenoid to that resistor and there is continuity. This side acts the same as the other, 12v when in run, 9v when in start
Hope this will help in getting her started.