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The Ark back into the shop(s) tomorrow

Started by Cape Cod Fleetwood, December 07, 2022, 11:39:17 AM

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Cape Cod Fleetwood

Quote from: jwwseville60 on January 08, 2023, 10:22:35 AMNext time Im in Osterville, Im going to steal The Ark for a weekend and then return it with everything fixed!

Everything will be fixed before you get here. PM me when you're coming to the 'hood.
There are 2 kinds of cars in the world, Cadillac and everything else....

The Present -1970 Fleetwood Brougham

The Past -
1996 Deville Concours
1987 Sedan De Ville "Commonwealth Edition"
1981 Coupe De Ville (8-6-4)
1976 Sedan De Ville
1975 Sedan De Ville

The Daily Driver and work slave -
2008 GMC Acadia SLT *options/all

cadillacmike68

Quote from: Cape Cod Fleetwood on January 06, 2023, 01:30:30 PMMike this a REAL shop, ALL they do is auto HVAC, antique to modern. They do all of Hyannis Vintage's work, Carini has sent cars to them.
They know to make it look 'stock', like the other mega show winners they've done.

I'm not worried.

OK, that's good. Original NOS ones are still available, but I will go to the big NAPA store here and see what they are passing off as a 1965-70 Climate control heater control valve. Do you have a NAPA part # that you can share? If it looks right and is prices as you mentioned, I'll get one just to sit next to my spare here on my desk.

And, Happy New Year!
Regards,
"Cadillac" Mike

2manycars

Just at the end of a long project on my 64 CdV that started out as non-functional HVAC. Led to rebuild engine and trans, and repaint everything under the hood after scraping out at least quarter inch of packed oily crud from everyplace.

I did my own. Original Air in Tampa rebuilt all of the refrigeration parts, and made new hoses for me. Took two A6 compressors to make one. New evaporator, a little smaller than original but that's all there are to be had. My original filter-dryer was recored. Radiator and heater core recored. New water valve. It had been gotten into by someone completely unqualified, not to mention the huge empty mouse nest in the cowl, where the evap sits. Everything was butchered, o-rings missing, electronics misadjusted, you name it. A ton of work, but it's ready to be recharged. The shop wants to wait about a month so that ambient temperatures will be higher when he recharges it.

Wasn't your car already repainted recently??
1964 Coupe de Ville
My Current Projects:
1957 Ford Thunderbird
1967 Chevrolet Camaro RS Convertible
My Special One:
2001 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible (bought it new)

Cape Cod Fleetwood

Quote from: 2manycars on January 21, 2023, 01:42:42 AMJust at the end of a long project on my 64 CdV that started out as non-functional HVAC. Led to rebuild engine and trans, and repaint everything under the hood after scraping out at least quarter inch of packed oily crud from everyplace.

I did my own. Original Air in Tampa rebuilt all of the refrigeration parts, and made new hoses for me. Took two A6 compressors to make one. New evaporator, a little smaller than original but that's all there are to be had. My original filter-dryer was recored. Radiator and heater core recored. New water valve. It had been gotten into by someone completely unqualified, not to mention the huge empty mouse nest in the cowl, where the evap sits. Everything was butchered, o-rings missing, electronics misadjusted, you name it. A ton of work, but it's ready to be recharged. The shop wants to wait about a month so that ambient temperatures will be higher when he recharges it.

Wasn't your car already repainted recently??

Paint and body done last winter, it will get painted again (I don't like the job) and the chrome done next winter.
Engine was completely rebuilt and ALL pumps replaced the year of The Flu when they cancelled all the car shows for The Flu in '20. Transmission was rebuilt the summer of '21 and fluid switched to Ford, driveshaft was reconditioned along with the rear end at the same time.
There are 2 kinds of cars in the world, Cadillac and everything else....

The Present -1970 Fleetwood Brougham

The Past -
1996 Deville Concours
1987 Sedan De Ville "Commonwealth Edition"
1981 Coupe De Ville (8-6-4)
1976 Sedan De Ville
1975 Sedan De Ville

The Daily Driver and work slave -
2008 GMC Acadia SLT *options/all

Cape Cod Fleetwood

YAY! The Ark has heat and air conditioning again! The plan is to meet at Tirrell tomorrow morning with crew chief Michael Amster and go over it. The Ark will get a proper bath then be driven to Area 51 for storage. Michael can't take The Ark into the WORLD FAMOUS Hyannis Vintage Auto yet as that '41 Caddy is still taking up a double digit percentage of floor space, so The Ark will get back there when there's room. Long range weather on the Cape shows no snow at all. And the MINUTE I park him back in The Lair, we'll get a blizzard. All the credit to Michael, he said he'd come over and clear the roof if that happened and I really appreciate it. I'd rather avoid the stroke completely if I can. Psyched! HEAT and AIR CONDITIONING! This car was a blast to drive without either, it will be insane to have both functioning. YES!
There are 2 kinds of cars in the world, Cadillac and everything else....

The Present -1970 Fleetwood Brougham

The Past -
1996 Deville Concours
1987 Sedan De Ville "Commonwealth Edition"
1981 Coupe De Ville (8-6-4)
1976 Sedan De Ville
1975 Sedan De Ville

The Daily Driver and work slave -
2008 GMC Acadia SLT *options/all

69Deville

Beautiful!

Love the license plate!!!
1969 Cadillac Deville Convertible
1966 Cadillac Series 60 Fleetwood
1996 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham-sold :(

Cape Cod Fleetwood

There are 2 kinds of cars in the world, Cadillac and everything else....

The Present -1970 Fleetwood Brougham

The Past -
1996 Deville Concours
1987 Sedan De Ville "Commonwealth Edition"
1981 Coupe De Ville (8-6-4)
1976 Sedan De Ville
1975 Sedan De Ville

The Daily Driver and work slave -
2008 GMC Acadia SLT *options/all

Cape Cod Fleetwood

#27
Quote from: cadillacmike68 on January 19, 2023, 02:38:14 AMOK, that's good. Original NOS ones are still available, but I will go to the big NAPA store here and see what they are passing off as a 1965-70 Climate control heater control valve. Do you have a NAPA part # that you can share? If it looks right and is prices as you mentioned, I'll get one just to sit next to my spare here on my desk.

And, Happy New Year!


NAPA is now out, here's the same one from Autozone, same price. These work fine. The shop modded the bracket to hold the valve, this is what
I pay for. If you need NOS John Abend has one for $120, I didn't want to use a part with an old diaphragm. Happy New Year too!
https://www.autozone.com/cooling-heating-and-climate-control/heater-control-valve?filterByKeyWord=heater+control+valve&fromString=search&isIgnoreVehicle=false&searchText=heater+control+valve
There are 2 kinds of cars in the world, Cadillac and everything else....

The Present -1970 Fleetwood Brougham

The Past -
1996 Deville Concours
1987 Sedan De Ville "Commonwealth Edition"
1981 Coupe De Ville (8-6-4)
1976 Sedan De Ville
1975 Sedan De Ville

The Daily Driver and work slave -
2008 GMC Acadia SLT *options/all

Cape Cod Fleetwood

Remember me making a 'new' vacuum manifold from the debris Gar Tompkins sent me? Jeez I worked hard on
that... Anyway, The Ark's fairy God Father Mike Josephic found the ONLY NOS vacuum manifold on Planet
Earth - and sent it to us, its been installed. Thank you Mike!  :-*

There are 2 kinds of cars in the world, Cadillac and everything else....

The Present -1970 Fleetwood Brougham

The Past -
1996 Deville Concours
1987 Sedan De Ville "Commonwealth Edition"
1981 Coupe De Ville (8-6-4)
1976 Sedan De Ville
1975 Sedan De Ville

The Daily Driver and work slave -
2008 GMC Acadia SLT *options/all

James Landi

My parents owned two '70's Cadillacs, and I vividly recall that the a/c is impressive... those large vents push out an amazing amount of cold a/c-- nothing lacking in climate comfort control on those models--- it's as if someone at the Cadillac division said, "No compromises on comfort"  Bring your electronic thermometer and get a reading...  (aside:absolutely no snow up here in Maine UNTIL last week!)   Happy day,  James

Cape Cod Fleetwood

Quote from: James Landi on January 28, 2023, 07:07:34 AMMy parents owned two '70's Cadillacs, and I vividly recall that the a/c is impressive... those large vents push out an amazing amount of cold a/c-- nothing lacking in climate comfort control on those models--- it's as if someone at the Cadillac division said, "No compromises on comfort"  Bring your electronic thermometer and get a reading...  (aside:absolutely no snow up here in Maine UNTIL last week!)   Happy day,  James

James about 3/4" so far this year on the mid-Cape, we're going to get slammed at some point.
There are 2 kinds of cars in the world, Cadillac and everything else....

The Present -1970 Fleetwood Brougham

The Past -
1996 Deville Concours
1987 Sedan De Ville "Commonwealth Edition"
1981 Coupe De Ville (8-6-4)
1976 Sedan De Ville
1975 Sedan De Ville

The Daily Driver and work slave -
2008 GMC Acadia SLT *options/all

Cape Cod Fleetwood

cut/paste from my fbook page post 10 hours ago -

Argh, its so nice to be sitting still hoping for the *NURSE* and the *BARTENDER* to kick in simultaneously. The
pain in my back and shoulder, is epic. BUT - I'm Blessed, I can still move, and there's a lot of folks in beds
and wheel chairs who will never be separated from either and being in my amount of pain but able to amble would
be a blessing for them. So -

Got The Ark from HVAC shop today, there are still "issues" but the system is working. Shane and Michael had a
phone chat, Michael knows what's going on, whatever. Sudden battery issue, I'm freaking out, Michael be like
"don't worry about it, here's a jump box, I'll fix it." Whatever.

Drove The Ark a staggering 30 yards to the WORLD FAMOUS Hyannis Vintage Auto for a needed bath, just covered in
dust. Adams car shampoo, used the Adams huge drying off towel for the first time (dried off the entire car and
never needed to be wrung out) after a good spray of Adams instant detailer all over the wet car, car looked it
just came out of the paint bay. Cleaned the glass in and out and dusted the interior as much as I could.

Then after a change into dry clothes, drove The Ark a mile to Area 51, and what a blast with blasting heat, oh
boy! The Ark is on a charger, jammies on, Michael, me, we, will get back to him. Right now he's safe, I just couldn't take the chance of a blizzard here, needing to get the snow off the roof of The Lair, physically being unable to do that now with my back and shoulder issue, having to call Michael again to rescue me... The car is better off there, I avoid the stroke, Michael avoids a 3am phone call which he would have gladly taken and responded to. There's a limit to how far you can push your friends when you can create your own solutions. Michael met me at Area 51, helped me get the car docked, and drove me back to HVA where my SUV was, so grateful. And grateful to Area 51 for holding a spot for me, not knowing "when" we'd be arriving and supplying power for the charger, so grateful.

Hot shower and into fresh soft sweats, car laundry done, cornish hen defrosting for dinner, to be stuffed with cornbread stuffing and glazed with strawberry preserves/honey. Later, much later. Right now, I need a nap. And pain relief.
 
Hope you all are having a Blessed Saturday, I sure am, I drove The Ark. So there. 🥰 Photos of The Ark after a bath then all tucked in attached....
There are 2 kinds of cars in the world, Cadillac and everything else....

The Present -1970 Fleetwood Brougham

The Past -
1996 Deville Concours
1987 Sedan De Ville "Commonwealth Edition"
1981 Coupe De Ville (8-6-4)
1976 Sedan De Ville
1975 Sedan De Ville

The Daily Driver and work slave -
2008 GMC Acadia SLT *options/all

James Landi

Thank you for the update. You've a terrifically engaging writing style--in spite of your painful condition--( sharing your serious physical pain with such grace and optimism ).  When you're feeling rested and better, tell us what the electrical problem seems to be, and whether it's related to the hvac work you're having done.   Hoping you're feeling better very soon,  James

Cape Cod Fleetwood

Quote from: James Landi on January 30, 2023, 07:06:11 AMThank you for the update. You've a terrifically engaging writing style--in spite of your painful condition--( sharing your serious physical pain with such grace and optimism ).  When you're feeling rested and better, tell us what the electrical problem seems to be, and whether it's related to the hvac work you're having done.   Hoping you're feeling better very soon,  James

Hi James, appreciate the comments, thank you.
Michael won't know what the issue is until he gets the car back on his lift, that's a ways off.
Speculation is always fun... They didn't have the car on the battery tender at the shop, they were
always in and out of the car, keeping the doors open, etc. Could have just drained down the battery.
One of the outstanding gripes is a resistor or something in the system, the HVAC shop does plumbing,
Michael and HVA do electrical, heck that could be the drain on the battery, who knows, that's their job
to figure it out. A couple of the judging mandatory tower clamps failed, instilling a lot of confidence
in me taking this car for long trips this year and next year to PA, Michael said don't worry about it.
All I know is I felt real heat when asked for heat, the AC blew ice cold, front and rear defrosters work
like jet engines. I'm happy. Michael will get it 100%, he always does.
There are 2 kinds of cars in the world, Cadillac and everything else....

The Present -1970 Fleetwood Brougham

The Past -
1996 Deville Concours
1987 Sedan De Ville "Commonwealth Edition"
1981 Coupe De Ville (8-6-4)
1976 Sedan De Ville
1975 Sedan De Ville

The Daily Driver and work slave -
2008 GMC Acadia SLT *options/all

bcroe

There is a system of battery maintainers here,
all IC engine start batterys are equipped with
a plug in.  If something is not in quite regular
use, it gets plugged in. 

Had another problem with doors open on the 79.
Some of the extra "luxury" overhead lights were
unable to survive operation for long.  On both
sides, the incandescent bulb melted the fixture
and shorted it out. 

I saw those tower clamps as service unfriendly,
single use.  None survive here.  Bruce Roe

35-709

"A couple of the judging mandatory tower clamps failed"

Been there, done that with those tower clamps on my '73.  They are now long gone, not worth the risk for a regularly driven car.
1935 Cadillac Sedan resto-mod "Big Red"
1973 Cadillac Caribou - Sold - but still in the family
1950 Jaguar Mark V Saloon resto-mod - Sold
1942 Cadillac 6269 - Sold
1968 Pontiac Bonneville Convertible - Sold
1950 Packard 2dr. Club Sedan
1935 Glenn Pray - Auburn Boattail Speedster, Gen. 2

2011DTS

Laurie, Here is what we do down our way to work around the Tower Clamp issue. Have Michael loosen all the Tower Clamps and slid them down the radiator/heater hoses, install Worm Clams, tighten the Worm Clamps, then wrap the Worm Clams with black electric tape, then slide the loose Tower Clamp over the elecric tape that is hiding the Worm Clamp and tighten it just enought to stay in place. This is a work around to prevent you from loosing a point for each incorrect clamp during Grand National Judging. This has worked for all of us who drive our 1970's Cadillacs to the Grand Nationals and do not want to take a chance that the Tower Clamp will fail and I do not know of anyone who has lost authenticity points using this method to hide the Worm Clamps. Necessity is the mother of invention..... :)  :)  :)

Highwayman68

Those whitewalls look so awesome.
1968 Fleetwood Purchased in 1981

Cape Cod Fleetwood

Quote from: 2011DTS on January 30, 2023, 08:21:06 PMLaurie, Here is what we do down our way to work around the Tower Clamp issue. Have Michael loosen all the Tower Clamps and slid them down the radiator/heater hoses, install Worm Clams, tighten the Worm Clamps, then wrap the Worm Clams with black electric tape, then slide the loose Tower Clamp over the elecric tape that is hiding the Worm Clamp and tighten it just enought to stay in place. This is a work around to prevent you from loosing a point for each incorrect clamp during Grand National Judging. This has worked for all of us who drive our 1970's Cadillacs to the Grand Nationals and do not want to take a chance that the Tower Clamp will fail and I do not know of anyone who has lost authenticity points using this method to hide the Worm Clamps. Necessity is the mother of invention..... :)  :)  :)

Lynn I'm going to run that by the Judging Department. If they say good, I owe you a beer. Now, how many cars 'won' with this set up?
There are 2 kinds of cars in the world, Cadillac and everything else....

The Present -1970 Fleetwood Brougham

The Past -
1996 Deville Concours
1987 Sedan De Ville "Commonwealth Edition"
1981 Coupe De Ville (8-6-4)
1976 Sedan De Ville
1975 Sedan De Ville

The Daily Driver and work slave -
2008 GMC Acadia SLT *options/all

Cape Cod Fleetwood

Quote from: Highwayman68 on January 31, 2023, 08:30:50 AMThose whitewalls look so awesome.

Thank you Mark. I'm ridiculously happy with them.
There are 2 kinds of cars in the world, Cadillac and everything else....

The Present -1970 Fleetwood Brougham

The Past -
1996 Deville Concours
1987 Sedan De Ville "Commonwealth Edition"
1981 Coupe De Ville (8-6-4)
1976 Sedan De Ville
1975 Sedan De Ville

The Daily Driver and work slave -
2008 GMC Acadia SLT *options/all