Chrome repro?

[Hankk17]

Hi All, brand new member as of today -

I've got two projects going on at the moment.. a '76 Coupe DeVille that has turned into the project from hell thanks to a disreputable bodyshop local to me.. and a '72 Convertible Eldorado that I inherited last month that someone has slapped together, repainted and actually has used wood screws in places to hold trim on lol.

my question concerns the '76 - does anyone know of a company that produces reproduction chrome trim?  I stupidly let my car be manhandled by a horrible bodyshop who not only felt it was OK to ransom my car monthly without doing a lick of work to it, and when they actually DID do work to it, they let some gorillas loose on my trim who have twisted and otherwise mangled it to the point of being next to useless.  I swear all that was used to remove it was a wide blade flathead screwdriver because that's what the bends and dings suggest. 

So about 80% of my trim is now junk and I'm left with the task of finding new stuff and I haven't the faintest idea where to start.  I've been looking around locally but late 70s Caddies are becoming quite scarce in my area (Boston).  I've found some guys out west who can help, but I'm old school and would pay extra to go somewhere and see what I'm buying before I actually let them charge my credit card. 

Anyone know where I could go?

[76eldo]

No one is reproducing the stainless trim for these cars, but there are a LOT of parts out there.

If you want nice stuff quickly, contact one of the many Arizona salvage yards out there.  If you go to http://www.hemmings.com, you can do a search on Cadillac parts and acquire a lots of names of people selling parts.

The good part is that most of what you need is stainless.  It just needs to be straight and can be polished up to look like new.

Another option is to look for a parts car, or a very cheap ebay car near you.  If you have the room to store stuff, a parts car will provide you with a ton of screws, clips, brackets, and mechanical, interior, and electrical parts.

Welcome to the club and you have two nice looking cars!

Brian

[Hankk17]

stainless?  jeez OK now I feel stupid.  I always assumed they were chrome and never looked closely.  Honestly, I've only had the car in my posession for about 2 months, although I've actually *owned* it for a year now.  I bought it in late september of 2010 and noticed the rust coming up through the hood and big chips of paint were flaking off the fender skirt.  I took it to the body shop who then kept it for the next 10 months only doing actual work to it whenever I would rattle their cage.  I was quoted $5k for the whole paint job, but was invoiced well over $10k.  we finally had to resort to legal means and got the car out of there as fast as it would drive.  but now I have no clue what stage they were in with the painting but I do know they were a bunch of hacks.  as mentioned, all the trim is bent.. they actually reversed the right and left window controls and botched a whole bunch of other things.  I'm still trying to put everything back together with a friend in NH who's a caddy collector - but he's in love with the 50s-60s stuff and only has limited supplies of 70s parts. 

Anyhow, I'll keep searching.  thanks for the response!

[m schantz]

Hank, Call Mike Gadeleto at Cadillac Parts Unlimited. They are in New Jersey not too ar from Philadelphia. He's knowledgeable, honest and has fair prices.
Take care.

[R Sotardi #11719]

Hank, have you spoke to any platers or metal repair people? Its amazing what they can do, especially if some parts are difficult to obtain. Bring a few pieces to Jerry Martin at Charger Metals ( formally Martins of Philadelphia). Get an idea what the options are. Phone 215-289-9227. Ron

[Hankk17]

Thanks Ron, that's actually something I hadn't considered.  Philly's a bit of a drive from Boston though.  I'll search around locally if I can't find good quality used stuff nearby

[Paul Tesone]

Hank - where in or near Boston are you located ? Call John Gately in Boston ( 617 - 445 - 3300 ) . He has a warehouse full of stainless trim . He might have what you're looking for . If you need a restorer that is honest and does good work , call me and I'll get you in touch with the guy who restored my 37 & 47 convertibles ( see my posts in the restoration section of the Forum ). Paul Tesone .... 781-593-1154....CLC #6876

[Hankk17]

Thanks Paul - I'll give John a call.  I'm in Woburn and the bodyshop I went to has drained me of funds so I'm trying to do as much as I can myself.  I've been working with another Cadillac source in southwestern NH to help me put everything back together as well but we're running out of good stuff to pick from.

However, that being said I'd love to get the name/number of your restorer.  Your convertibles look fantastic!

Thanks again!

-Hank

[RobW]

Just to add to what the others have already said, some of it could probably be repaired. But anyway just in case you don't already know, 71-76 door mouldings are the same. 74-76 rear quarter moldings are the same (71-73 1/4 mldgs are different due to the rear side marker light) and 71-73 & 75-76 front fender moldings are the same (74 is different) Lower rocker and fender door moldings are all the same 71-76 with the exception being that 71-73 have a lower rear 1/4 molding while the 74-76's don't. Fender skirts are all the same 71-76 but 71-73 has an extra piece of molding on the rear to mate with the rear lower 1/4 molding. So there is definately hope with the trim being interchangeable on so many years.

[Ed]

Try Arizona Vintage Parts, 1-800-433-9977. They have great used parts.

[EAM 17806]

HANK!  Make sure you get in touch with JOHN GATELY at 617-445-3300, he's the best and fairest guy you are going to do business with in your area (Dorchester).  EAM

[Hankk17]

went up to see my friend Bill G. who's helping me sort out my mess with this car and took a few pics.  as you can see we still have to attach the lower trim on the soft top as well as the strap going over the roof on the front half of the soft top.  Also, the bodyshop bondo'd right over the holes for the bottom trim on the front fender so we have to figure that out too.  The new plastic fillers they used are crap so I'll ultimately have to buy some new ones...  the ones the body shop used are way too long/deep.  I imagine they were supposed to be cut to the same depth as the original parts.. which I had - but the body shop never did.  lastly, they apparantly used a white primer under the burgundy color I chose and some spots need to be touched up because you can see the white bleeding through in the right light and lastly they left big paint dribbles in some spots and the trunk strap in between the trunk and the rear window is already peeling.  joy.

lesson learned.  research research RESEARCH a shop before using it... lol.