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57 eldorado seville vinyltop color

Started by Dave R., February 22, 2010, 03:18:42 PM

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Dave R.

I just bought a 1957 eldorado seville that has never been out of California with 36,620 original miles and and not a spot of rust on it. The cowl plate says 98/8 for paint code. 98 is the copper color but I can't find anywhere to find the original top color. It is now painted yellow with a white top and it looks like Earl Scheibe did one of his $29.95 jobs on it. It's such a nice car it makes you want to cry when you see someone do such a terrible paint job on a car like this. Other than the paint job it's in excellent shape. If you know someone looking for one I'm going to sell it as soon as I get the few little things that don't work like the auto antenna and a couple of other minor things. The wonderbar radio works perfect which really amazes me. It's been sitting for about 8 years so I've changed the oil and I'm going to change the trans fluid and filter today. It starts so easy and runs so smooth it's unreal. Oh, it has dual carbs and AC that blows real cold also. It handles like a dream.    thanks  

Ralph Messina CLC 4937

Dave,

Roof trim code 8 is "Copper Vicodec" fabric, which is diamond point convertible top material.

Ralph
1966 Fleetwood Brougham-with a new caretaker http://bit.ly/1GCn8I4
1966 Eldorado-with a new caretaker  http://bit.ly/1OrxLoY
2018 GMC Yukon

Chris Conklin

Quote from: Dave R. on February 22, 2010, 03:18:42 PM
I just bought a 1957 eldorado seville that has never been out of California with 36,620 original miles and and not a spot of rust on it...

Is it still in California? Any photos? Just nosey... and since it may be for sale soon...  8)
Chris Conklin

Dave R

That sounds like a material that would be hard to get and expensive. Know where to get it? Yes, the car is in California in Redding.

Mike Josephic CLC #3877

The original "Vicodec" fabric is long one.  However, I judged a car at the Las Vegas Grand
National that had the best reproduction I've ever seen.  I even discussed with the owner the
authenticity of the material, since I was myself curious if it was original or not.

So -- there is repro material out there that is very good.  If I remember correctly, this was
a 1957 Eldo Seville.  Check the meet results, as I believe he won a second place in Primary.

Mike 
1955 Cadillac Eldorado
1973 Cadillac Eldorado
1995 Cadillac Seville
2004 Escalade
1997 GMC Suburban 4X4, 454 engine, 3/4 ton
custom built by Santa Fe in Evansville, IN
2011 Buick Lucerne CX
-------------------------------------
CLCMRC Museum Benefactor #38
Past: VP International Affiliates, Museum Board Director, President / Director Pittsburgh Region

Otto Skorzeny

fward

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

HUGE VENDOR LIST CLICK HERE

Ralph Messina CLC 4937

Dave,

The above posts are correct that it’s unlikely you’ll find NOS material, and it’s questionable that it would be usable if you did. Vicodec fabric is nothing more than standard convertible top fabric……Upholsterers I know refer to it as “Diamond point” pattern. I don’t know if that’s a descriptive or official or brand name. That said, the appearance/texture of the convertible top materials is the same from 1956 through 1976. As recently as 5 years ago, shops could purchase convertible top material as roll stock in any of the standard colors offered at the time. The shop could then fabricate the padded top for you. In the case of your ’57, the Vicodec material fits under the rubber gasket that holds the front and rear windows…….Ain’t a cheap job.
The more difficult problem will be getting the proper, or close approximation of the “Copper” color. The color looks like a light brown, not beige,  similar to dry coco powder. I’ve checked the Cadillac Color and Upholstery Selectors  and that color is unique to ’57-58. All other years use a beige or dark brown color convertible top. That leaves two possibilities: dye (paint)  white roof material; or search convertible top selections for other makes at a local upholstery shops……Wish I had better news.

Ralph

1966 Fleetwood Brougham-with a new caretaker http://bit.ly/1GCn8I4
1966 Eldorado-with a new caretaker  http://bit.ly/1OrxLoY
2018 GMC Yukon

Mike Josephic CLC #3877

Quote from: Otto Skorzeny on February 22, 2010, 10:51:24 PM
Where did he buy the material?

Forrest:  Sorry I didn't ask him -- should have.
1955 Cadillac Eldorado
1973 Cadillac Eldorado
1995 Cadillac Seville
2004 Escalade
1997 GMC Suburban 4X4, 454 engine, 3/4 ton
custom built by Santa Fe in Evansville, IN
2011 Buick Lucerne CX
-------------------------------------
CLCMRC Museum Benefactor #38
Past: VP International Affiliates, Museum Board Director, President / Director Pittsburgh Region

Dave R

I have another question, the vin # is 5762060727. Where can I go to find out what the car came with from the factory.

Otto Skorzeny

#9
Hi Dave,

Go to the CLC main page. The link is at the top of this screen.

A random hodge-podge of links in no discernable order appears on the left hand side of the main page.

Somewhere among those links is one entitled Authenticate Your Car.

Click on that link and follow the instructions.  Cadillac will send you a copy of the original Cars Built sheet. This will tell you everything about your car when it left the factory.
fward

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

HUGE VENDOR LIST CLICK HERE

Dave R.

On my data (cowl) plate is the following info:

No    57-6237SD
Body  No FW 1562
Trim   SO 1562
Paint   98/8
Top       8
Acc        EHK

I know the paint code. Can someone tell me what the rest of it means.  thanks

Otto Skorzeny

The SO means your car was a Special Order with regard to the interior trim. The Cars built sheet I mentioned earlier may or may not shed more light on that.

060727 is the build sequence number.

E = tinted glass
H = heater
K = air conditioning

fward

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

HUGE VENDOR LIST CLICK HERE

Chris Conklin

As Forrest said, you will need the "cars built" sheet to determine the interior trim that was installed in your car. You can order that from a company called Allied Vaughan for $50. They administer the program for the GM Heritage Center. I've attached a copy of mine, they aren't infallible. They put the wrong info for my trim code, she sent a corrected copy via e-mail. They also offer some other items for an additional $50; the owner's manual, data book, AMA specs, other things that I don't recall. Other than the AMA specs, not really worth it, they're all just B/W Xerox copies clipped together.

Can you describe the current interior or post pics? An Eldorado would have been all leather, anything different in materials would be SO'd, though it would have been more common to see leather SO'd on a non-leather model. It could have just been a color that was not normally matched with that model and exterior color. Cadillac had pre-matched color combinations available for the interior and exteriors of all cars but you could SO something different... within reason. I believe there were combinations they just wouldn't put together in the name of taste. But ya never know, money talks. Again, the cars built data will tell you.

A couple other cowl tag related items; as Forrest said, the car was number 60,727 built in the total production order, it was number 1,562 (body number on the tag) in the Eldorado production order. There should be another number above above the 57-6237SD. It will be an alpha-numeric and it tells you when the car was built. The number is the month, the letter is the week of the month, A = 1st week, D = 4th, there are a few models with an "E" for the 5th week. On my cowl tag (attached) you'll see an 11B. It was built the second week of November in 1965. You'll see on the cars built data sheet the date of 11/30/65. That's the day it shipped to Leoti, Kansas. Judging by the production numbers on your car, it was most likely built and delivered in '57 and not the prior year.
Chris Conklin