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75 Eldorado Convertible Arrives & Needs????

Started by Jeff Wilk, July 17, 2010, 09:15:05 AM

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Jeff Wilk

OK, it finally arrived yesterday.  Two weeks coast to coast.  NEVER use a transportation broker!

Good news is that this 70k mile beauty from Calif is looking great and the underside and sheetmetal is as clean as the day it came off the assembly line.

Need some initial help on a few items:

1.  Any idea what the clips/buckles are on the front seats are for?  Small size and part of upholstery

2.  How do you tell if the conv top motors are OK or if the top needs adjusting?  It operates freely, but comes back up crooked and does not realign at the windshield by itself

3.  Is it possible to repair a cracked parade boot?  The two small tabs that hold the hold down chrome latches are broken off.  I have the pieces, just not sure if this is repairable, and who could even do the work?

4.  Door Panel armrest is cracked.  Any ideas on replacements?

5.  Any recommendations on seat recovering?  The leather is OK but starting to crack.

Next stop is my local mechanic for the mechanical inspection.....

Thanks All.

Jeff
"Impossible Only Describes The Degree Of Difficulty" 

Southern New Jersey

1959 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special
1975 Eldorado Convertible (#12 made)
1933 Phaeton Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"
1933 Master Sedan Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"

SOLD
1976 Cadillac Mirage (factory authorized Pick-Up)
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sedan
1958 Cadillac Coupe Deville

TJ Hopland

All the siscors tops I have seen you need to first pull down the drivers side and hook it (but not latched) then same on the pass side then go back and latch the drivers and then pass side.   I think the manual says to do the drivers side first but I dont remember if they recommend the 2 stage process or if thats just how people seem to do it. 

As for mechanical things to have checked:
-Boots on the cv joints.   if they are cracked they wont last long.
-Timing chain / sprocket.  The cam sprocket was covered in plastic, they were bad enough when they were new at this age you are on borrowed time even with low miles.  Good part is by pulling out the distributor you can usually get enough of a look at it to at least tell if its been replaced or if its holding together so far.  You can get a real good look if your mechanic has a bore scope but without one a flashlight will give you a slight peek.

Be sure they have correct parts in hand before you drop the car off for work.  Way too many times I have heard 'we can get that' and it turns off that the computer count was off or the wrong part was on the shelf at the supplier.  Most common things for 'no problem' that ends up sometimes taking days is transmission service kit, valve stems, and wheel weights.   The wheel weights have a slight extension between the clamp and the weight to allow the hubcap to fit.  The valve stems are unique to the 66-78 eldo/toro.  I ordered a set of stems and keep em in the glove box just in case I need to do some emergency tire work. Another thing to point out to anyone that works on them is that the stems when properly bent only clear the front brakes by about 3/16 of an inch.  Worst case the stems can be broken off by the caliper.  More common they just nick as they come around and eventually wear through and leak.   A hunk of wood and a hammer its all it takes to make sure they clear and its only the fronts that have the issue so it could come up the first time to rotate the tires.

Nothing else comes to mind that is unique to that era or model.  the rest should be typical old car inspection stuff like brake hoses and suspension.

I have seen someone on ebay selling reproduction door panels.  I dont remember if they were the earlier vintage or later ones or sort of a universal in between.   The came in white and had to be dyed and I dont think they came with the carpet.  Never talked to anyone that has used them so I dont know about quality or fit.
StPaul/Mpls, MN USA

73 Eldo convert w/FiTech EFI
80 Eldo Diesel
90 CDV
And other assorted stuff I keep buying for some reason

RobW

For the door panel you should seriously consider www.justdashes.com or a similar service. Those reproduction panels on ebay are made from abs plastic and look OK from 15 feet away but look a bit cheap up close. I saw a a nice eldo conv at a car show. It was a cream color with tan top and interior. The whole car was redone. Paint, chrome, new leather in the correct pattern and these plastic door panels! At first I thought he was using them until he could get the originals done but that wasn't the case.
Now maybe if he had the abs panels coverd in original vinyl it might look better. But they already have the grain molded in so I'm not sure if covering them would make them too big and create door closing issues or squeks and rubbing issues.
Rob Wirsing

RobW

How bad are the cracks in the seats? Sometimes its only the color that is cracked and not the leather itself. You might be able to have them re-dyed.
Rob Wirsing

Otto Skorzeny

Yes. Good leather "dye" can be bought from auto supply places and upholstery shops. It's really paint specially made for leather. If it's just the paint cracking like Rob said you can probably redo it without removing the seats.

I've had panels made by Just Dashes and by SMS and both do excellent work.

By the way Rob, better add your last name to your signature or they're going to delete your posts.
fward

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

HUGE VENDOR LIST CLICK HERE

Ted in Olympia WA

I think we need some pictures.  What color interior do you have?  The lower door panels are the same from 1971-1978 but there are many combos  on color.  The hardest to find is white and also the white panels have lots of carpet colors.

Not sure what buckels you are talking about on the front seats?  Would like to see picture of this.

TED
Selling used Eldorado Parts from 1971-1978.  Member Number 25659.

Glen

Some cars had two seat belt buckles.  The larger one is fro the lap belt and the small one is for the shoulder belt. 

Glen
Glen Houlton CLC #727 
CLCMRC benefactor #104

Otto Skorzeny

My '72 Monte Carlo had two belts but one buckle. The shoulder belt had a stud which fit in a slot on the the lap belt. You could wear the lap belt alone or the lap and shoulder together.

fward

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

HUGE VENDOR LIST CLICK HERE

The Tassie Devil(le)

Congratulations on your successful new arrival.

The Convertible uses one single motor for the raising and lowering, and the "operation is supplied by two cables to the gear mechanisms on the arms.

You really do need a Workshop Manual, and the Fisher Body Manual to answer all your questions.

The Parade Boot is repairable, as it is Fibreglass, and fibreglass is easy to use.

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

Bryan Thompson

Good morning,
The two little clips are for the arm rest pillow. I'm pretty sure your car has no folding arm rest. In 75 and thank God in 75 only a few of these had goofey pliiows. The end of which attaches to the little clips to hold it in place.
Enjoy your new foldy top car:)
I would rather push an old Cadillac, than drive a new anything:-)

Jeff Wilk

Awesome information.  Thank you everyone.  I love the description as well.....a Goofey Pillow......now at least we know what was done without the armrest.  Never owned a conv before and never thought about the difficulties an armrest would have caused.  Suprised there is none in the back though.  Thanks again.  Now where do I find one of those goofey pillow.....8-)

Quote from: Bryanstryan on July 18, 2010, 06:11:05 AM
Good morning,
The two little clips are for the arm rest pillow. I'm pretty sure your car has no folding arm rest. In 75 and thank God in 75 only a few of these had goofey pliiows. The end of which attaches to the little clips to hold it in place.
Enjoy your new foldy top car:)
"Impossible Only Describes The Degree Of Difficulty" 

Southern New Jersey

1959 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special
1975 Eldorado Convertible (#12 made)
1933 Phaeton Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"
1933 Master Sedan Chevrolet - "Baby Cadillac"

SOLD
1976 Cadillac Mirage (factory authorized Pick-Up)
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sixty-Special
1958 Cadillac Sedan
1958 Cadillac Coupe Deville

Bryan Thompson

Good morning again,
In the learn some thing everyday category.... http://automotivemileposts.com/autobrevity/eldo1974tubulararmrest.html I guess they started in 74. But at least you can see what they look like. Yours would be leather to match your seats.
Bryan
I would rather push an old Cadillac, than drive a new anything:-)

Otto Skorzeny

That would be really easy for any seamstress to make. Take measurements from an original if you can find one.
fward

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

HUGE VENDOR LIST CLICK HERE

Derek

A working man's guide to the scissor top:

http://www.remaker.com/caddy/scissortop.html

Note, the body manual does not give very much useful information on the operation of the top.  I bought one and found it mostly covered replacement of the top, but not troubleshooting.  The shop manual is fairly silent on the issue, because of course the top is considered to be within the purview of the "body mechanical/electrical" world.

Good luck.  Email if you need anything.

Ted in Olympia WA

I have never seen that pillow before, it is a bit goofy.  The one in the picture is a 1975 since the orange is a 1975 only color.

TED
Selling used Eldorado Parts from 1971-1978.  Member Number 25659.

jagbuxx #12944

Not necessarily correct. The door pull strap is a '74 style not the hinged type that came in '75.
As the article describes this most likely was a mid-year update.
Some others may weigh in on this.
Frank Burns #12944
76 Coupe d'Elegance EFI Galloway Green Firemist
70 deVille Convert San Mateo Red
61 Coupe Deville Bristol Blue
41 Series 61 Deluxe Coupe 6127D Black
08 STS 3.6 1SC  Thunder Gray
16 GTI Gray
03 T-Bird Black
16 Grand Cherokee Summit, Granite
19 Tiffin Phaeton 40AH
07 Corvette Blue
20 MB S450 White

"Whatever the occasion, there
is no better way to arrive than in a Cadillac.

Ted in Olympia WA

You are correct on the straps, I could be wrong.  But I thought the Orange only came in 1975 and the lime green was the 1974 only color.  Learn something new everyday.

IMO the orange Plaid is pretty ugly.  I did see a 1975 once that was triple orange with orange leather and top; this I thought was very cool.

I sure like how you could custom order your Cadillac any way you wanted it back in the 60/70's.  One guy even told me that in 1967 they did not have a color his wife wanted so they made him one in primer and he had it painted local.  Try to do this nowadays.

I was looking at the new Mustangs the other day.  If you get the manual you can have the larger brakes and lower gears, but with the auto no options are available.  And you cannot order it without AC, PW or PDL.  The factory decides what is best for you and your only choice is to buy the car or not.

TED
Selling used Eldorado Parts from 1971-1978.  Member Number 25659.

jagbuxx #12944

I started working at the Cadillac dealer in Ventura Calif during June 1976 and the GM who was the owners nephew had special ordered himself a '75 Eldo Coupe painted 1969 Camaro Hugger Orange with white leather. Definitely a fun time to have been able to S/O what you wanted.
Frank Burns #12944
76 Coupe d'Elegance EFI Galloway Green Firemist
70 deVille Convert San Mateo Red
61 Coupe Deville Bristol Blue
41 Series 61 Deluxe Coupe 6127D Black
08 STS 3.6 1SC  Thunder Gray
16 GTI Gray
03 T-Bird Black
16 Grand Cherokee Summit, Granite
19 Tiffin Phaeton 40AH
07 Corvette Blue
20 MB S450 White

"Whatever the occasion, there
is no better way to arrive than in a Cadillac.