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Exhaust Running thru the 57 Eldorado Bumpers good / bad idea

Started by Bill Balkie 24172, August 05, 2015, 09:36:40 PM

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Bill Balkie 24172

Hello ,
   I have a 57 Eldorado with the Exhaust running thru the bumpers  as designed from the Factory . I am getting tired of constantly cleaning the exhaust ports and the jet like part inside the port . I noticed some people run the pipe right out of the bumper . I do not like that look at all . I am leaning towards rerouting  the exhaust to exit just under the bumpers and keeping the stock look of the bumper . I have to say I like the way the exhaust looks on a cold day , but I think rerouting the pipes is much easier on these very expensive bumpers . I would be very interested to hear from other people that have the 57 Eldorado .

Thanks,
     Bill
Bill Balkie
1970 Coupe DeVille
2009 CTS

INTMD8

My 57 Eldo is not currently running but I do plan to run them through the bumper. More work to clean and may be bad for the chrome but I think it's a neat feature so I will keep it.

Many have turned it down before the bumper for reasons you have stated. (and I believe the factory changed it to turned down before the bumper for the 58 Brougham).

Ralph Messina CLC 4937

Bill,

I agree the original set up with exhaust vapor wafting from the ports as the car glides by is a thing of beauty. But the chrome plating cost was breath taking. So, I took the cheater route on my Seville. I had the rear resonators next to the lower chrome quarters and had to have the end pipe custom bent. I then checked the fit and marked the pipe to cut the end parallel to the ground so it wasn't easily seen. I blocked the back side of the exhaust port with a piece of sheet metal and airbrushed the inside of the port with flat black. 

It was a pretty effective compromise.

HTH,

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

Roger Zimmermann

Quote from: INTMD8 on August 05, 2015, 10:52:05 PM
and I believe the factory changed it to turned down before the bumper for the 58 Brougham.
Are you sure Jim? It was the case for the regular models; I'm not aware that Brougham models were modified in that aspect.
Anyway, the exhaust pipes outlets are down on my Brougham, but go through the bumpers for my '56 de Ville and Biarritz.
1956 Sedan de Ville (sold)
1956 Eldorado Biarritz
1957 Eldorado Brougham (sold)
1972 Coupe de Ville
2011 DTS
CLCMRC benefactor #101

The Tassie Devil(le)

Thankfully the fad didn't last too long, as I am sure the manufacturers had more complaints than ever before about the parts rusting/corroding out.

Thankfully, Ford, or any other maker, didn't do it in Australia

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

Coupe Deville

Ive never owned an Eldorado, but I did own a 57' Cadillac. When I received the car the exhaust pipes had been turned down to exit under the bumper. But I loved the idea of the exhaust exiting through the bumpers. That was always one of the things I was going to do to that car, moving the pipes back to the holes in the bumper. I didn't worry about the problems it would create.. the car had so much rust, it wasn't gonna mater. I finally did conquer those hydrovac brakes too. Ahhh... Good memories.. 

-Gavin
-Gavin Myers CLC Member #27431
"The 59' Cadillac says more about America than a whole trunk full of history books, It was the American Dream"

Bill Balkie 24172

Quote from: Ralph Messina CLC 4937 on August 05, 2015, 11:43:38 PM
Bill,

I agree the original set up with exhaust vapor wafting from the ports as the car glides by is a thing of beauty. But the chrome plating cost was breath taking. So, I took the cheater route on my Seville. I had the rear resonators next to the lower chrome quarters and had to have the end pipe custom bent. I then checked the fit and marked the pipe to cut the end parallel to the ground so it wasn't easily seen. I blocked the back side of the exhaust port with a piece of sheet metal and airbrushed the inside of the port with flat black. 

It was a pretty effective compromise.

HTH,


Sounds like a good idea to me Ralph . Another thing  Ralph ,you mentioned Resonators  Do we really need them ?
Bill Balkie
1970 Coupe DeVille
2009 CTS

Walter Youshock

I dipped the pipes out of the bumper on the CDV.  Glad I did.  I made up dummy pipes--welded pipe to a piece of sheet metal and attached it inside the bumper.  With the exhaust port installed, it looks like the exhaust is through the bumper.

Do you need resonators?  No but you will lose points at judging.
CLC #11959 (Life)
1957 Coupe deVille
1991 Brougham

INTMD8

Quote from: Roger Zimmermann on August 06, 2015, 02:14:10 AM
Are you sure Jim? It was the case for the regular models; I'm not aware that Brougham models were modified in that aspect.
Anyway, the exhaust pipes outlets are down on my Brougham, but go through the bumpers for my '56 de Ville and Biarritz.

No I'm not sure because you are correct!  :D

David King mentioned there was a service bulletin to re-route the exhaust but originally all through the bumper on Broughams.

Walter Youshock

I think I read somewhere years ago that cadillac was replacing so many bumper ends on '52 and '53 cars that had been in service 4 or 5 years that they had to move the pipes out of the bumper. 

At least '57 and '58 ends are the same on the standard line. 
CLC #11959 (Life)
1957 Coupe deVille
1991 Brougham

Karkrazy

Bad for chrome, Good for look... If you want them as they were meant to show off that great rear end treatment,then?
Likely some of you own my former cars.. I had many, many Cads as well as other luxury makes over the years.
Currently have no collector cars right now, but looking..if you have something give me a try.

57 Eldo Seville

My exhaust runs through the bumpers.  I love the look and don't mind wiping down the bumper every time we drive the car, though twenty years from now I may have a different opinion.

I would think that the problems that occurred back in the day were related to cars that were more poorly maintained as far as bumper cleanliness.  Hopefully I can maintain the condition of the exhaust outlet area and eliminate the problem.

Thanks to the help of a good friend the carbs/chokes are finally working correctly and the car drives like a dream.

Our Seville is a wonderful car that draws considerable attention everywhere we go.

Dave
Dave Morris
CLC#28497
1957 Eldorado Seville
2020 CT5-V

Walter Youshock

Really what happened was all the road dirt would get kicked up into the bumper end and turn to concrete.  Add heat and water and you've got a bad situation.  Nobody took the time to clean out the bumper ends.

Oddly, rear center bars on '80 through '92 rear drive cars are almost as bad as the '50'S bumper ends. 
CLC #11959 (Life)
1957 Coupe deVille
1991 Brougham

57 Eldo Seville

Dave Morris
CLC#28497
1957 Eldorado Seville
2020 CT5-V

Bill Balkie 24172

#14
Hello,
   Thank You all for your responses .  They were all very interesting . As I get older I find I can not make a decision as fast as I could when I was younger .  I came to this conclusion  after thinking about this for awhile . I do not like the exhaust and soot that comes out of the bumpers .  But I do like Stock and I have to say it is one very attractive feature on the 57 Eldorado .  If I modify the exhaust to exit the  car straight down it will make a mess out of my Garage floor. If I keep it stock the only thing that gets dirty is the cement on the driveway  , it blows straight out onto  the driveway. Easier to hose  the driveway   then cleaning  the Garage floor.   So I have decided to keep the exhaust   stock for now . Reason being I do not drive the car that much to be really concerned about  contaminating or deteriorating   of  the Aluminum Bumpers. for now I will continue to clean  the inside of  the exhaust ports when putting the car away .Deep down inside I really love the look  .   but I will still think about .  Decisions Decisions .  should I put an aftermarket radio in the Gove Box ?  Maybe ,  but Maybe not .


   Bill
Bill Balkie
1970 Coupe DeVille
2009 CTS

TJ Hopland

We just went trough the same dilemma with a car I am working on.  In this case the decision to get em out of the bumper was a little easier since in our case it was not stock, it was a poorly executed conversion of some sort.

Have you looked at Retrosound radios?  I'm working on installing one right now.  Theirs is a pretty small package (and reasonable price I think) that can adapt to just about any configuration so you don't have to mod the car to make em fit.   For someone that knows what the stock radios should look like they are for sure not stock but they are in the style of the stock radios with chrome push buttons.   If they have an app for your car the knobs will match and the bezel will fit almost perfectly.   If they don't have an app for your model you just have to look at the knobs and bezels and pick what looks the closest.   I don't want to sound like an ad for them but so far I really like em.  I had looked at other options like having the original restored and then adding some sort of aux input or doing the internal am/fm conversion and found those options are not at all inexpensive plus the few shops that do that sort of work seem to have a pretty good backlog (several months in some cases).    Their basic classic radio has an aux input and is a little over $200 by the time you get the knobs and bezel.  A lot of the conversions and restorations seem to start around $500.   With this option its cheap and does not look too out of place so not a lot invested if later one decides to go another route.   Another cool touch they have is 'screen protectors' which are cleaer decals that look like a vintage radio.   When they are off they have the AM dial and possibly a logo, when you turn it on you then see the LCD display through the decal.   I thought that was a nice simple compromise between look and function.  If you want to they have fancier options with blue tooth and cd changers and such but then you are no longer talking about $200.
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

Ralph Messina CLC 4937

Bill,

You may want to investigate Precision Radio Repair (NY) 315-797-5219. You can leave it AM or convert to AM/FM. (The decal noted above is a great idea that I've not hear of before.) I had my '66 Radio converted to modern internals and iPod input. The radio face is factory stock with the iPod input as a pin jack cord dropping from under the dash. The cost was a little over $200. I also suggest  changing the speakers to match modern impedance requirements for the best sound. I bought them from Crutchfield. Their Retro Sound units come in all the size configurations so they'll fit in the factory locations.. I think they were about $150. The system sounds great.

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

TJ Hopland

The conversions are pretty interesting.   IF you look them up you will see that the current ones are a small circuit board so they don't have to completely 'gut' the old radio like some of the early ones did.   Early on I suspect people were more or less taking a modern radio and shoving it in a vintage one.   There must be enough demand now that someone actually makes these mini boards that make use of the original controls.   When its done all you are really missing is a display.    If you can get that done for $200 I would consider it.   When I was looking for my project I was getting prices starting at about $400 for the basic ones and it went up from there depending on options you added. 

I thought the Retrosound 'screen protector' was a neat idea too.  The basic radio comes with a couple universal ones but they also offer some upgraded ones including several official licensed GM ones.

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

Bill Balkie 24172

#18
To TJ and Ralph,
     I think I made a decision on the Radio .    You guys have really great ideas on getting good quality sound into our old cars and I really appreciate your input .  I was at a show last week and ran into a guy that had a really nice solution as well . He Had a JBL miniature I Phone speaker . ( BIG CLEAR SOUND )
this works with a wireless connection and plays from music stored on the I Phone  . You can also stream your favorite tunes or radio station from your I Phone . The speaker is compact with unbelievable sound quality . And the best thing it is hands free Bluetooth for taking calls . This way my radio and speaker's still stay stock and works perfectly .  Great sound , Clear Connection , Large choice of music , Bluetooth  And it keeps my car completely stock .  Several  audio brands and a wide variety of small speakers Shapes  and colors to choose from .  priced anywhere from 30.00 to 300.00 dollars . You can take this small speaker out of your car and use it anywhere you want .  I Like It as an alternative and it is not hard wired to the car .
   Bill
http://www.jbl.com/bluetooth-speakers/JBLCHARGEBLKAM.html?adpos=1o2&creative=61791281455&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CjwKEAjwjMauBRDH-bOCo56b13wSJABA2-HvfDxmXJRnJ0xemAcLRFHYICOEieVrTpc7uyaLMxem6RoCZgfw_wcB
Bill Balkie
1970 Coupe DeVille
2009 CTS