Newbie questions: 76 Eldorado convertible.

[kevymach]

Hi,

I am new to the club and to vintage Cadillacs.  I have always loved the look of the 76 Eldorado and so this summer I finally bought one from the US and had it shipped up to Canada.  Its triple black and a solid driver quality car.  Paint is shiny and the roof is new, original interior in decent shape but some stuff not working (AC, cruise, radio). I just love driving this car around.  It gets a lot of attention for sure with the top down, but its just nice to drive something unique that screams of another era.

I am not mechanically inclined, so I am sure my local mechanic and I will soon become good friends.  I also live in a hi-rise condo so at least the car will have heated underground storage all year and throughout the entire winter. 

My first question is about storage.  It is always in a heated garage, on the bottom floor of a multi floor underground garage.  I have been told to disconnect the battery, get fuel stabilizer and to run the car for about 10 minutes every month to keep things running. Is that ok?  Is there anything else I should be doing?

My second question is about rust.  There is a good amount of surface rust underneath so I was wondering what my best option would be to address this.  I don't intend to drive the car in the rain ever nor in winter so I am wondering if I should be doing just to ensure that it doesn't get worse. 

My third question is about the radio.  Can anyone recommend someone who restores those old 8-track players?  I would really love to get the radio working but I don't even know the first thing about diagnosing the problem.  I went into a car audio place and asked and they only said they would have to send it away.  I can turn the radio on, it lights up and I hear a bump in the speakers but no sound.  I was also wanting to get a new radio installed in the glove box so that I could play music from my iPhone...I assume via bluetooth is the easiest and most convenient way?

My fourth question is about the front bumper.  I have noticed it is a common problem on the 76s that the bumpers "sag" where the vertical chrome bits on the outside don't match up well to the plastic fillers.  I notice that on mine the driver's side sags a bit and sticks out about 3/4" and less on the passenger side.  I am wondering if this is a common issue and if it is relatively simple to solve.  I figure I would do that in the near future as I need to replace the front bumper fillers soon anyways.

That is all for now but I am sure I will have plenty more questions in the future.  I really appreciate everyone's expertise in the forum and I hope you don't mind my newbie questions.

Thanks!
Kevin

[TJ Hopland]

I have never been a fan of starting an engine for just 10 mins.  I have had much better luck just letting engines sit.  In 10 minutes and not driven you dont get things warm enough to cook out any moisture in the oil and exhaust that has built up from the last running cycle.  One reason they used to tell you to do that was to keep up the seals in the AC compressor.   I believe this was mostly for the R4 compressor which was used primarily 80-95.   I think the A6 compressor had a ceramic seal so they did not tend to have the issue with the seal drying out.  Since yours does not work at the moment any way its even easier.

Gas stabilizer usually does not hurt.  Add it in as per the instructions on the bottle usually the last fill up before storage.     

Since yours is inside presumably you would have access to power so you could get one of those battery maintainers?  That would likely extend the life of the battery.  Just being in a stable climate will help that anyway even without a maintainer.   I would still consider disconnecting it only because you have a 30+ year old car with 30+ year old wiring so might as well not risk a problem if you are not going to be using it for a while.   

A tip few tips on the convert:

Make sure there is noting on the upper deck in the trunk.  Too much stuff up there can break the back window when the top goes down.   To see how much space it takes up just look and feel around there when the top is down.  There is some room there but not much. 

Don't flip the latches back closed after you un latch them.   This is usually not a problem for you but make sure if you have a passenger helping you they dont do it.  If you flip them back closed they will bind up the top as it goes down and bend or break them.

When my top and rubber was in better shape I used to leave the latches un latches but still hooked.  This seemed to not compress the rubber so it seemed to seal better when I needed it. 

Find a copy of the write up from Self Starter that was done on these tops maybe 10? years ago.  Among the tips what the procedure to manually operate it if needed.   Would be good to have a copy of that in the glove box in case you ever need it.

WHen my top was in good shape I used to leave   

[robpp]

"My third question is about the radio.  Can anyone recommend someone who restores those old 8-track players?  I would really love to get the radio working but I don't even know the first thing about diagnosing the problem.  I went into a car audio place and asked and they only said they would have to send it away.  I can turn the radio on, it lights up and I hear a bump in the speakers but no sound.  I was also wanting to get a new radio installed in the glove box so that I could play music from my iPhone...I assume via bluetooth is the easiest and most convenient way?" 



it may just be the speakers and not the radio.
downside is we need very specific speakers ( 8-10 ohm ).
up is that you can buy all you need here http://www.turnswitch.com/speakers.htm

my fronts were completely disintegrated.....and a pain to remove as they have this weird spring clip underneath the dash.
rear is easy as you just remove rear seat back and VIOLA there they are. 



i bought a used 8-track on eBay for a hundo. these speakers can handle all the volume. if I move the balance to the front I can hear the radio with the top down.

there are places that restore the radios ...its about 400-500 bux.