Issues to expect with Potential 76 Seville Purchase

[Matt CLC#18621]

Issues to expect with Potential 76 Seville Purchase.

I'm in negotiations to purchase a 76 Seville from the original 95yo owner.
The 95yo Gentleman sent me a picture of the Seville's NYS title and his NYS driver's license.
Original brown paint (possibly Brentwood Brown Metallic) that has minor dings, spider webs, top surface cracking, and mild surface rust, but no cancer on the sheet metal.
The Gentleman advised me that the Seville has 42,713 original miles with supporting documentation from Valley Cadillac.
He advised me that the Seville was sitting idle in the garage since 2013, the year his spouse passed.
The Seville was towed to Valley Cadillac, fuel tank dropped and cleaned, fresh fuel, oil changed, radiator flushed, power steering, transmission fluids changed.
It also received a complete tune-up including changing all belts and both cylinder cover's gaskets were changed due to minor oil leaks.
The Gentleman also informed me that the previously converted/updated AC was serviced, charged, tested and blows cold.
The Gentleman performed all these services to ensure a mechanically safe and worry free daily driver as he was gifting the Seville to his great-great grandson.
Unbeknownst to this fine Gentlemen, the parents of his great-great grandson leased him a BMW as a graduation present.

As the Gentleman has stated to me, his loss will be my gain.
My current offer is FMV which is very generous and reflects the aforementioned services performed in order to ready the Seville.
The Seville is currently not advertised for sale.
I am going to inspect it on Saturday the 9th and I have until the 15th of January to consummate the acquisition of the Seville.

One issue that has been posted in the past is the 76 Seville’s electronic port fuel injection system.
The Gentleman told me it is the original EFI system and was not converted to a carburetor.
Other than the electronic port fuel injection system, are there any other issues I should be concerned about?
If so, please either post here or please send me a PM.

Thank you very much and have a great day!

matt 18621
i am 2nd

[Harley Earl]

Hello Matt, 

Sounds like a really nice Seville.  Awesome luck on the find as well.  As the PO of a triple black '77 low mileage, original owner Seville back in 1999, I can speak to one issue specifically.  Flushing the radiator is not enough.  Back-flush the entire cooling system including the heater core.  Change any original hoses and refill with 50/50 distilled h2o and GM specification coolant.  This was the only issue that "snuck up" on me,  I also addressed the same issues as your seller has documented proof of even though mine never "slept" as long as yours.  With the sitting, you may see some seal failures creep up after driving it a bit.  Check your front wheel bearings and replace the seals, also the front and rear flexible brake lines.  I'm sure I'm missing stuff!  Our fine fellow posters will address and add excellent feedback for you to follow.

These are great road cars.  Drive it & Enjoy it!

[TMoore - NTCLC]

Agree - this sounds like a decent find.

A few things to look at:

Check the door armrests on each door - they have a thin plastic frame that anchors them to the door and is subject to failure - there are some workarounds, but it is nice to find them in good shape.

Take a look at the cornering light bezel frames - there is a screw in the upper corner that causes the frame to be somewhat thin in that area, and can often break - replacements are getting harder to find.

Check the headlight mounting box - the plastic box can fail in multiple areas - if the headlights appear to misaligned, this is more often an indication of the failed box instead of the easy to replace headlight adjusting screw

Similar to other cars of this vintage, the power seat adjustment transmission is plastic, and subject to failure (or, did '76 still have the metal drive  - not sure on that)

Consider replacement of the Cat converter if it has not already been done - this would have been the pellet version that was subject to blockage

The Electronic Fuel Injection system can be a solid performer - most of these cars that are well maintained run much better than any of the carb cars - this is another subject, and there are many threads and resources on maintaining these systems.

Those are a couple of Seville specific things to look for.  Otherwise, take a look at the same things you would on any other 40 year-old car that has spent some idle time, and let us know what you find - good luck!

[35-709]

Confirm that the "tune-up" or fuel system going over included new o-rings for the injectors.  The o-rings become brittle and subject to leaking and are a known fire hazard.  This should be an on-going maintenance check item for these cars.

[bcroe]

Confirm that the "tune-up" or fuel system going over included new o-rings for the injectors.  The o-rings become brittle and subject to leaking and are a known fire hazard.  This should be an on-going maintenance check item for these cars.

Agreed, some of the 70s injector seals I have pulled were in really scary
condition.  The  EFI runs at 40 psi, so all the rubber, from inside the tank
(submersible link to pump), all the way forward to the injectors, should be
replaced.  Check the temp sensors (that often open circuit) and that the idle
air valve does not have the car running away in town.  If the engine does not
perform correctly, get the ECU checked. 

My 79 brakes have had all the calipers and hoses changed TWICE (yes it does
get driven), along with stainless or CuNickel non corroding lines; at least do
the front axle that does most of the braking.  A new set of soft seals installed
inside the trans will make it good as new, original hard parts should be fine. 

Replace tires and about every hose.  Any sealed bearing may have totally
dried up grease by now, soon to fail.  That includes bearings in the alternator,
AC compressor clutch, water pump, and others.  I have had them all fail with
less miles than that, at this age.  Sometimes the timing chain sprocket teeth
(plastic, cracks and fails) go, possibly damaging the engine, the permanent fix
is just install a true roller timing set. 

The car is loaded with frills that will quit, but most will not strand you.  I would
put in a new, bigger radiator.  The actual engine/trans is bulletproof.  good luck,
Bruce Roe

[Andrew Trout]

Are you comfortable not being able to drive it? It's currently 25º in Rochester. No snow on the ground, but we've had snow this year and there's salt on the roads. 

[79 Eldorado]

The Gentleman advised me that the Seville has 42,713 original miles with supporting documentation from Valley Cadillac.

He advised me that the Seville was sitting idle in the garage since 2013, the year his spouse passed.
The Seville was towed to Valley Cadillac, fuel tank dropped and cleaned, fresh fuel, oil changed, radiator flushed, power steering, transmission fluids changed.

It also received a complete tune-up including changing all belts and both cylinder cover's gaskets were changed due to minor oil leaks.
The Gentleman also informed me that the previously converted/updated AC was serviced, charged, tested and blows cold.
The Gentleman performed all these services to ensure a mechanically safe and worry free daily driver as he was gifting the Seville to his great-great grandson.....

matt 18621
i am 2nd

Matt,
I think others covered the key points pretty thoroughly. My conclusion is the owner did a lot of the things which should be done already but are generally left up to the new owner. It's more than I would expect from most when you consider what the dealer likely charged to drop and flush the fuel tank. It would be interesting to know if they replaced the submersible soft section of fuel hose inside the tank when they serviced the tank. It would have been the perfect time to do it.

Other than the EFI almost everything else mentioned would be the same list people would advise for any car sitting an extended period of time.

After I bought my Eldorado and started reading about the EFI I was nervous at first and I made mental notes of the items which I thought were difficult to find or could be an issue. The weak points were power for the fuel pumps running inside the ECU but Bruce Roe came-up with an external relay. ECU can develop issues but Bruce has been doing a great job in understanding/checking/servicing these. He can describe it better than I can but to over simplify it the ECU is a bit more "old school" than the system which came after so this system which is essentially the same from 1975 to 1979 (and through 1980 in CA) is less of a "black box" inside. The parts which were getting scarce and which I was primarily concerned about were the temperature sensors and the FIV. With help from the forum and a lot of research and testing I now have replacements for both of those items. It's my opinion now that I would rather have this vintage of EFI system than the system which followed. The injector seals are another item mentioned above but the kits are available. I also found Fluorosilicone o-rings for at least the seal which is a true o-ring. Those should be better over an extended temperature range and seem to be the best material considering the car could see 10% alcohol fuel... I've been using only alcohol free gas for the cars I store as it can be found relatively easily around here.

I'm between Rochester and Niagara Falls and I can confirm what Andrew wrote. I would not suggest driving on roads around here with anything you care about. You could start it in his garage or driveway. If I was serious about it I think I would have it loaded in his driveway in a closed transport and delivered. The issue with the salt on the road is it makes a fog of salt which penetrates EVERYTHING. It's really incredible what damage it can do. The culture has become "I should be able to drive exactly the same in the winter snow as I do in the summer" and it has resulted in more and more salt on the roads. Years ago you were pretty safe after a few strong rains around April but now it's more like May and in 2015 or 16 when I came back from Europe in July I could still see signs of salt residue in the cracks of the road on the shoulder.

Scott