1959 Cadillac Seville restoration gone bad*Wild*

[A.Bin Sulayem]

So the story goes like this once upon a time the boss decided that it was time to bring in one of his Seville's for a routine check. Little did we know that car's flooring was rust infested and previous owner had a thing for body filler, so that meant sourcing new floor pans and wait till they arrived get the work done and that would be it. 2 weeks later floor pans arrived and we were ready to proceed with restoration and we realized the previous owner went through the trouble to conceal that the door sill's eaten away by rust and filled with body filler. The car owner then comes in later in the afternoon and saw the gruesome discovery and wasn't happy, after a coffee and thinking what to do with the car two clear choices was there. A) Restore it to its former glory B) Scrap it and use it for parts for his other Seville's. Neither choices was chosen and he says I always wanted a Classic *Sleeper* Cadillac with 850 Ponies.  You might call this sacrilege but choice C) was chosen a 1959 Cadillac Seville with a ZR1 LS9 mated with a GM 6L90. Here are a few pictures of the project

[A.Bin Sulayem]

As you see in the next pictures we weighed the chassis and we are aiming for a 300 Kg weight saving and installing a Mercedes W140 Rear end with a Limited Slip to keep those ponies stuck on the road.

[A.Bin Sulayem]

As you can see we are going for a monocoque chassis design. Hopefully more pictures and info while the project moves further 

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Using a Mercedes rear end is an interesting choice, and one I thought about when I was going to build my '35 Ford 3 Window Coupe many years ago.

What do you plan to use for the front end?

Bruce.

PS.   I know the nay-sayers will complain, but at least there will still be another Cadillac back on the roads.

[A.Bin Sulayem]

Well the W140 S600 rear is close to indestructible and we took it off a donor car that we stripped to transplant its mighty V12 on a S600 grosser , back to topic we are waiting for the LS9 and the 6L90 to start working on the front from there. The front end of the W140 funny enough use a steering box that's just in the place of the LS9 sump. So either order one or chop and modify what we have.

[Quentin Hall]

Wow. Nice Setup. Where in the world are you guys?. Couldn't help noticing the other cars in thebackground. If that a 812 Cord?  Brougham as well. Great.

[A.Bin Sulayem]

Yes sir that's a Cord 812 and the 57' Brougham #314, we are located in Dubai 

[Quentin Hall]

"These are a few of my favorite things" . Your boss has good taste. Looks like fun on that Seville. I've done a couple of full floor replacements on 59 Biarritzs. 59 chev repop floors are available that are better than those pans you have. Cad is the same but with a couple of flat extension pieces.
You have a bit more flexibility now that you are modifying.

[A.Bin Sulayem]

Those floors were going in if the the car was standard, since we are fabricating the rails from scratch we are going for flat aluminum sheets to make way for the rails at the back. Will lose a bit of space in the leg room but not as if someone will be in the back 

[A.Bin Sulayem]

This is how the rear of the chassis is going to look like. Enjoy

[INTMD8]

Neat project, why did you decide to build the chassis into the body rather than having it removable?

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

It wouldn't be a Monocoque body then.

Integrating the "frame" into the structure of the body, ultimately saves weight, and if done correctly, will create a solid struture.

Plus, simpler to mount the independent rear suspension as a unit.

Bruce.

[INTMD8]

It's not a monocoque body either way actually as it is basically a traditional frame welded into the body. The structure of the body is not carrying any more load than it originally did.

Could still have removable IRS with a traditional frame just as easily IMO and I'm not really seeing any weight savings here which is why I posed the question 

[Jeff Rosansky CLC #28373]

I think his budget is a little more than mine.

[A.Bin Sulayem]

Well to start of the X-frame or “cruciform” type of frame was good at standards back then but not a snowballs chance will it pass by today, the chassis twists to give the so called Cadillac ride. Regarding the the weight savings have no clue what your on but it shows clearly in the pictures attached the weight savings. Weighed the chassis minus 2 wheels and it was well over 322 Kg plus add all the floor which will be aluminum that's another 60 kg. The LS9 is an Aluminum block that's another saving. The second picture of the scale showing 75 kg is the material we needed for the chassis and we have an excess left so do the maths  . In the end going to have a more rigid handling sleeper Caddy.

[INTMD8]

Agreed on the X-frame, I switched to a traditional frame design on my Brougham as well.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Plus, by using the Mercedes rear end, the unsprung weight will be dramatically reduced, and this in itself will benefit handling and performance.

Bruce.

[A.Bin Sulayem]

This is the rear end up in the car and the coil-overs we are planning to use. Enjoy

[A.Bin Sulayem]

The rear portion of the chassis is taking shape nicely

[A.Bin Sulayem]

Middle taking shape now and still waiting for the engine and transmission. Decided that we will go for the Art Morrison front clip  Stay Tuned