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

Popular Mechanics 1956 Cadillac owners report card

Started by J. Gomez, December 17, 2009, 09:09:24 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

J. Gomez

FYI..!

http://books.google.com/books?id=SeEDAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Interesting note in Page 105 describing the rear tires was wider than the front..! I’ve always thought both were the same size, either the 8.00 for black wall or 8.20 for WW?   ???

Also reports shows of tranny problems, and poor assembly and workmanship with a few other key notes.

Enjoy it..!
J. Gomez
CLC #23082

Otto Skorzeny

#1
Pretty cool.

Too bad it's set up so you can't print out the pages.

That statement about the tires makes no sense. 3.16" wider tread? Did he mean track? I haven't looked but I don't think the rear track is 3 inches wider than the front. Weird.
fward

Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for YOURSELF

HUGE VENDOR LIST CLICK HERE

J. Gomez

Quote from: Otto Skorzeny on December 17, 2009, 09:24:55 AM
Pretty cool.

Too bad it's set up so you can't print out the pages.

That statement about the tires makes no sense. 3.16" wider tread? Did he mean track? I haven't looked but I don't think the rear track is 3 inches wider than the front. Weird.

Otto,

Art Gardner (@ CADILL_IKES) indicated this would be the track of the tires, and it makes sense..! I’ll check mine later today, and get back..!
J. Gomez
CLC #23082

Otto Skorzeny

That's something I've never noticed or looked into before.
fward

Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for YOURSELF

HUGE VENDOR LIST CLICK HERE

anthony20485

Also noted was the sloppy workmanship, even then.
1966 DeVille
1968 Eldorado
1969 Eldorado

Otto Skorzeny

Yes. Contrary to what many people like to think, American cars have pretty much always been slapped together.

Some blame goes to the union workers who had/have no sense of loyalty to, or pride for, the company they work for. It's the union they care about most.

Some blame goes to the manufacturers. They were riding on easy street when the public would buy whatever the Big Three put in front of them and had no other alternative if they weren't happy. Tough beans John Q Public! Buy our crap or walk to work!

We see today where the attitudes of the union goons and their bosses got them.

It's only within the last 10 years or so that American car makers and their employees have figured out that they actually have to build quality products if they want to survive.

Cars today are the best built in history - albeit about the least exciting from a design standpoint.

fward

Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for YOURSELF

HUGE VENDOR LIST CLICK HERE

J. Gomez

Quote from: Otto Skorzeny on December 17, 2009, 11:46:43 AM
That's something I've never noticed or looked into before.

Well that checks out, about 58 ½” front and 63” back, plus or minus ¼” due to low temps tape shrinkage..!  :D
J. Gomez
CLC #23082

Alan Harris CLC#1513

Quote from: anthony20485 on December 17, 2009, 12:21:48 PM
Also noted was the sloppy workmanship, even then.

Tom McCahill wrote back in the fifties that the prewar cars were more honestly built than the newer ones considering the technology that existed at the time. I can also remember him having a very low opinion of the paint quality of the 1951 Buick.


Otto Skorzeny

5  inches? The book said 3 inches.  5 inches seems way too big a difference.
fward

Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for YOURSELF

HUGE VENDOR LIST CLICK HERE

CEC #20099

CEC  #20099
He didn`t even mention the cracked cylinder heads that plagued 56 engines.
Clarence Chleboun

J. Gomez

Quote from: Otto Skorzeny on December 18, 2009, 11:00:10 PM
5  inches? The book said 3 inches.  5 inches seems way too big a difference.

Otto,

I just lay the tape across the ramps and I did not take the time to properly set it at the mid-center, it was a bit chilly at that time.  8) With age body tends to prefer a nice warmer ambient temperature.  ;D

It could well had been closer to 61" @ the rear, at least we have confirmed larger track on the rear per the article.
J. Gomez
CLC #23082

dan reed

I don't know if the cracked cylinder head issues would have appeared that early in the model run - maybe after a couple years but not in April of '56 (hence, no mention of it).   My '56 is original and the original owner is still alive and well. In our conversations he has only had great things to say about his 36 years of ownership. I've only had to do typical age related maintenance to keep it running well in the last 12 years I've owned it.  Maybe Popular Mechanics should interview a dozen or so '56 Cadillac owners today and get an updated drive report 54 years later! That would be a fun article. It would be curious to see how present owners rank the '56 Caddy compared to the initial PM report. I know the only negative thing I would report is a rattle in my driver's door interior trim. Considering the number of transmission troubles reported for the '56 model I better be thankful all I have is a door rattle ;D 

Doug 22747

I traded up to a 56 60S (had a 52) when in high school, and had many years of trouble free service except for a leaky rear end (which I found was a unique unit for 56); the car had 56,000 miles on it and I drove it about another 40,000 miles.  Wish I had it now.   
Doug Browne
Atlanta, GA

jeff1956

I have this exact report guys.....if I can get it scanned I'll post up the scans of it and then you should be able to print yourselves off a copy.  I love the owners responses of "People turn and look at it all the time", "I bought Cadillac because I didn't want to step down in class".  I really like the one from the Nebraska rancher's wife "It drives so easily", because my car belonged to a Nebraska ranchers wife....maybe she was speaking of my car that drove so easily? haha, one will never know. 

jeff1956

Lou,

I know you weren't asking me, but my car was built June 5, 1956 and it has the trans issue described.  Even after the rebuild in 98 the trans issue is still there.  I am not the one who had the tranny rebuilt back then, but I do know it is still present to this day.

Jeff

Roger Zimmermann

Quote from: South_paw on December 20, 2009, 07:06:01 PM

Over on the Cadill-Ikes site we have a confidential 1956 service document from Cadillac to it's Dealers in regard to defective transmissions.
Lou, one of the changes was certainly the driven front unit coupling and the race in the oil pump. The parts were replaced with a splined shaft.
During Summer, I overhauled a '56 transmission which still had the tanged ends which broke. Anyway, the transmission held more than 50 years with this bad design.
1956 Sedan de Ville (sold)
1956 Eldorado Biarritz
1957 Eldorado Brougham (sold)
1972 Coupe de Ville
2011 DTS
CLCMRC benefactor #101

dan reed

Thanks Lou.  I'm curious now to know when my car was built. I have the original invoice showing it was purchased October 10th 1956 from Glennon Buick-Cadillac in Southampton, NY. Am I able to decode the serial number or engine number to know when the car was actually built?

Dan

Roger Zimmermann

Quote from: dan reed on December 21, 2009, 09:39:25 PM
Am I able to decode the serial number or engine number to know when the car was actually built?


No, Dan. But you may deduct approximatively when it was built: my '56 Sedan de Ville, VIN 5662067655 was built February 29. My '56 Biarritz, VIN 5662089578 was built April 13.

Roger
1956 Sedan de Ville (sold)
1956 Eldorado Biarritz
1957 Eldorado Brougham (sold)
1972 Coupe de Ville
2011 DTS
CLCMRC benefactor #101

dan reed

Thanks Roger - My serial number is 5662147388. the last six digits are higher than your Eldo built in April, so I can only guess my sedan was built probably summer of '56.

On a side note - I'm looking at the original invoice for my '56 and I see that the original owner traded up from a 1950 Cadillac sedan serial number 5062-56905. So, if if any CLC member out there has that '50 Cadillac I can tell you that, at least of last year, the owner of your car is still alive and well living in Pittsburgh, PA.

Dan

jeff1956

Dan,

My 56 was built on June 5, 1956 VIN 5660112318 and was delivered June 30, 1956 to the original owners at Forrest Motor Company, Scottsbluff, Nebraska.  So it was built roughly 3 weeks prior to delivery, but my car was ordered, so if your car was purchased off the lot already built, then the timeline could be different.  My build sheet through GM Historical shows the build date, order number, etc.  You can find the info on how to order a copy of your cars build sheet through GM from the main page "authenticate your car" link.

Jeff