81 eldo vert h&e questions

[Steven Hebden]

did an intro recently when i purchased an 81 eldo vert a few months ago. car just turned 60k. drove it for a couple of weeks and was very pleased how it ran and drove. just pulled it into the shop for some needed freshening up this winter. i own a small shop that caters to hp builds and custom paint ect.  after some tear down i'm torn. fighting with myself to do a full frame off resto.  car really doesn't need it and i'd like to get a few years driving it first lol.  needs a new roof. bought a new original material one with glass. decided to pull the skeleton off and bast/repaint before replacing the roof.
interior needs seat repair and carpet. not bad.
floors are JUNK! the rest of the undercarriage is great and rust free. will get new floors and undercoarted.
here's my second problem. the car has been repainted in certain area's. no rust repair but small dents ect. the paint is passable but as it's been repainted anyway i'm going to give it a full repaint. can't hurt the value as it's not original anymore. 
thinking of repainting the original white or a later model caddy white/silver pearl.  thought the later would look outstanding with the red interior. would it kill the value even more? it IS  caddy color and not original anyway. yet most would argue keep it the original color. 

need help as i can not find any REAL production #'s on the 81 h&e eldo's.  from what i can tell, many prefer H&E conversions as they feel the lines of the car were better preserved? also an eldo before the 4100 of coarse.  anyone give me an idea how many were made? in existence?
also... any help on where to find repo floor pans would be great too lol.. seems like this year caddy is a black hole for parts. not old enough for repo parts. getting to old for used parts    here's a pic of what i started with. i'll post some of sheep under wolves clothing later.

               thanks, steven
               midlifecrisis custom auto's

[Otto Skorzeny]

Click on the link below my signature to find a long list of vendors specializing in Cadillac parts. There is a company listed that specializes in making new floor pans but I don't know if they make any for your car.

[76eldo]

Congratulations on your find.  I have a 1980 Hess and Eisenhardt Eldorado convertible. (See photos below) I have owned a few 84 and 85 convertibles over the years also.  The advantage to the 80 and 81 cars is the drivetrain.  The 368 engine is certainly not a performer, but it's in the same engine family as the 425, 472, and 500.  I have been told by the experts over at the Modified Cadillac message board that these engines are all basically the same, and interchangeable.

I have had some HT4100 cars, and I have had some great ones, and some that blew up, and don't want to get into the 4100 discussion, but I was thrilled to find a black and red 80 Eldorado convertible and had to buy it.  I am not comparing my car to a "Classic" in any way, but taking a brand new top of the line luxury car, and having a custom coachbuilder create a convertible out of it makes it a pretty special car to me, and really one of the last custom coach-built cars by any luxury auto maker.

The fit and finish on the ASC converted cars in 1984 and 1985 is better, the tops are completely different, and they were all Biarritz's, whereas the Hess and Eisenhardt conversions were base Eldorados.

I was told that they only made about 50 Eldorados in 1980, and about the same number in 81.  Some later ones turn up on Ebay, and to the trained eye, you can immediately spot the difference in the rear quarter panel treatment, and the rear side window.

I would be very interested in corresponding with other H and E owners.

Regarding your paint question, to me, the pearl colors (and I have owned a few) would not look correct on an 80's car.  Just my opinion, but you did ask.

Good Luck,

Brian

[EldoradoRedd1]

GOD!! I luv this car!!

[Steven Hebden]

thanks guys.
forest, i contacted honest john and he has a complete floor for the eldo. many thanks. i could section it and hide the seams under the cross braces but might replace the entire floor if needed to hide the seams.
brian, nice vert you have there i also am leaning towards going factory white.  i was contemplating the caddy white/silver pearl as it didn't seem to overwhelming taking away from the beautiful lines of the car.  but with the low, low production #'s of this car and the fact that some potential buyers might shy away from the later ht4100 models makes this car all the more valuable. i am a car enthusiast first but can't help but feel this is one of those cars that will soon be very collectible.  hence i'm fighting with myself  this car isn't very far from being an exceptionally clean driver. i would have it finished in time for spring no problem. then again, i'm very tempted to do a frame off resto and bring this baby back to new.
thanks again for the responses

[Otto Skorzeny]

That's excellent. I'm glad you were able to find a floor pan for it.

Of the color schemes you mentioned, I think the bright factory white would look the best. I don't think that pearl coat paint would look good on this car. The crisp, clean whiter-than-white would look fabulous and really knock you out, especially with a pinstripe accent.

[jeff1956]

also with pearl colors its hard to blend if it is ever in an accident.  sometimes you have to paint the whole car to get it even again. 

jeff

[Steven Hebden]

sort of not sure about the e/g grille either.  on one hand it looks great. give it even more class. when i purchased the car, it was the first thing i noticed pulling up to the house.  then again, there's something it takes away.. sort of steals from the 80's gm boxy look , giving it more of a 70's flair . imo.

[Steven Hebden]

wanted to update this some.  decided to put a little more work into this car than originally planned. with the low, low, production numbers i felt it would only be right to save this car. tearing it down now.  after looking it over. it has been repainted. quite poorly too. well, the paint itself was decent but prep time was another thing.   i've now got the car pretty well stripped. i'll post some pics soon.   on a good note. it has all the original body panels & as far as i can tell has never been hit. stripping down to bare metal and going to get her nice and straight.  car will be driven. not daily but a weekend cruiser sort of thing. i'd like to ask your opinion on paint and originality. with it's low production numbers and favorable body style it seems reasonable it will climb in value. with this said, i'm not in it for the cash, but rather a labor of love (or stupidity some say) lol.
anyway,the exterior is now white. i have a brand new roof of original material in white as well. the interior is red. i've seen h&e cars in either blue, red, white or black. with a white roof and red interior, thinking keeping it the original white or maybe in red (original offered of that year )  wondering if it would hurt it's originality to be painted red  as the car has already been repainted anyway.  would enjoy your thoughts on this. don't want someone 20 years from now thinking what a shame that this car is soooo beautiful..... to bad some a$$$ painted it the wrong color 
on a side note....my daughter is now 8 and has seen me with quite a few cars/trucks and bikes. her favorite is the caddy! while stripping the car i found an airline luggage ticket from airCanada with a last name listed and address. it was Bowie and Scotland was the destination. thinking WOW... what if this was david bowie!! doing some internet research on this. told my daughter and said "imagine if he wanted to buy it back for like $100,000)! she said "nope... it's not for sale!" u promised you would restore it and give it to me for a graduation present.... kids these days thanks for listening.

[Otto Skorzeny]

I vote for white. It's a lot classier than red.

[Davidinhartford]

I vote for white.      Not everybody likes a red car.   But a white Eldo with a red interior is a classic, and statistically the most popular combo when offered.