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Message in a Bottle?

Started by Robert Haight, August 29, 2006, 10:16:39 PM

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Robert Haight

Sunday I pulled the instrument cluster from my 1957 Fleetwood.   As I turned it over, on the back along with the date stamp (March 14, 1957) I found written in red china marker the words "Nite Shift" and the name "Ben" written inside a neatly drawn scroll.  I thought it was neat, first time Bens handiwork has seen the light of day in over 50 years.  Anyone else find any personalizing from the assembly line crew on their cars besides the usual "inspected by no. 57" stuff?

Bob Haight
Kansas City
Custodian of the Great Grey Whale since 1971

John Binder

Not in any of my cars.... but as a former carpenter and roofer
we often found messages from those who had "Built Before"
The home owners would love these and often take pictures.

We always tried to preserve them and often added our own
message to future restorers before "closing up" a roof or wall.

Russ Hobden #1235

Yes, I found some handiwork inside the left rear door of my 1966 Pontiac Tempest.  It looked like the fellow that was supposed to be greasing the window tracks decided to empty the grease gun on the inside bottom ledge of the door and created a mountain of white lithium grease 4 inches high.  He then stuck a Spearmint Gum wrapper into the grease at its peak.

Also, on the same car, I found a brown plastic coffee cup nestled inside the right rear coil spring.  It could have only been put there while the car was traveling down the assembly line before the body was dropped onto the frame.  There were several other tell-tale signs on that car that indicated the workers were definately having fun that day.  But not a one of the workers was brave enough to sign his name.

I went to a Pontiac dealer in Kansas City in 1967 to see the new Tempests and was telling the salesman about the things I had found on my 1966 model.  He wasnt surprised at all and prooceeded to tell me about a neighbor he had that worked at the Ford factory in Kansas City.

One day this fellow came in to buy a new Pontiac.  The salesman said he would be glad to sell him a Pontiac but asked him why he didnt want to buy a new Ford since that is where he worked and knew how they were built.  The neighbor simply replied "Thats exactly why; I KNOW how they are built."

The salesman asked him "But dont you think they do the same things at the Pontiac plant?"

"Oh, Im sure they do, but at least I dont see it."

Russ Hobden #1235

Matt Mersereau

I found the headliner trimmings behing the right-rear quarter trim panel in my 68 CDV. I suppose the trash can was too far away.
Oh, and I also found about twelve inches of trunk weatherstriping behind the cardboard liner on the right side. It was still soft as a babys bottom too!

Steven Keylon

When I was taking the dash off of my 1941 Cadillac Convertible coupe, someone had written in grease pencil on the back of the speedometer...

It said:

"Fairmont Hotel Garage Thurs 8pm"

Its a San Francisco car, the radio push buttons are San Francisco call letters, and there was also a brass 1941 dog license tag behind the back seat.

I cant imagine why someone would have written that on the back of the speedometer?  Its not easily accessible, it must have been taken out for some sort of service or something??

Steven Keylon

FRED ZWICKER #23106

While not a Cadillac, I once bought a new 1964 Pontiac Station Wagon with much rattling inside the rear door. Dealer could not find the rattle. Finally one of my mechanics told me he was tired of hearing me complain about the rattle and he removed the inside door panel.  Inside it were about 40 or so chrome hooks that were used to hang garments. These hooks were mounted above the side windows of the back doors. Evidently either someone was playing games, or the quitting-time bell rang and they just dumped them inside the door.

Fred Zwicker
1939 LaSalle Convertible - Maroon

Art Woody

I have a good one for you. Almost a year to the day ago, at a small town car show, I struck up a conversation with a fellow participant displaying a loaded 1960 cadillac coupe. Not a DeVille mind you but a loaded series 62. Car was unrestored, but had been painted at least once its original white color. It sported a very nice original desert rose interior. He went on to explain this was the 2nd time around for his ownership, due to the forced sale while going through the big "D". (Dont mean Dallas). Anyway, in an adjoining state some years later he spotted his long lost love (the car) at a downtown type cruise in. He inquired about redeeming her, but the owner would hear nothing of it.
Exchanging info with the man hoping to get 1st shot at any future sale proved fateful. Low and behold one day, another trip through the big "D" turned the 60 back to my new friend. Some time during the deal my friend was ask if he ever saw what was inside the drivers door panel. He replied, no, he never had occasion to remove it. The seller didnt elaborate, so when eventual window trouble came along requiring removal, my friend produced pictures of what he found.
With a bright green grease pencil was the inscription: PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE INSTALLATION OF THE INTERIOR OF THIS CAR. TO BE DELIVERED TO L.B.J. - DALLAS TEXAS.
Who knows, might be worth researching. Might have been a grocery getter for Lady Bird.

Randall A. McGrew CLC # 17693

Art, that is a cool story!  I would love to know if it was true about the inscription.
It is not surprising considering the DeVille package was an option on the Series62.
My son had a 62 6 window sedan that was white with a black krinkle top roof, and all of the conveniences including the very plush deseert rose interior.  Fully loaded as they say.  The Lady who bought it wanted a car that was unique and chose the luxury items that made it special for her. About the only thing it did not have was cruise control, as she did not travel much.  That top was quite expensive for the time. I have fallen into the temptation of seeing the series 62 as the Cheap Cadillac when it was really a Cadillac. The sedans were often loaded as my blue one is.  Or taken as is with nothing but the radio and power antenna, as my white one is.  Both are everybit  a Cadillac. I recall a gentleman who was not shy of the odd buck. He did not trust gadgets so always bought his Cadillacs with roll up windows, and manual seat.  As that got harder to do, he simply kept his cars longer until he died in the 1970s.

Art Woody

Being a fully loaded series 62 makes one believe it definitely was a special order car, perhaps wanting to tone down the attention while wanting for nothing.
Talk about the odd buck, I worked for an essentric gentleman who never drove any worse than a two year old caddy in the mid 1980s. He had to special order his Fleetwood without tilt steering wheel because he disliked having to re-adjust each time one of his spoiled brat kids hopped in it. Never saw another non-tilt in that era on a Fleetwood.

JIM CLC # 15000

08-31-06
Fred, while this is just a story that I heard when much younger, I suppose it could happen. As the story goes, a man purchased a new car and it had a loud rattle-banging noise in one of the back-doors. The mantook it back to the dealerand the service man told the owner,when he came to get the car, that they had found a soda-bottle hanging in the door from a lenght of wire with a note that said, "so, you rich SOB, I see you found the sourse of the rattle".
It doesntake much to amuse some people.
Good Luck,JIM

FRED ZWICKER #23106

Thanks Jim..... I certainly was not rich and the Pontiac was a Catalina, not the Bonneville model.  Pontiac Catalinas get the handful of the chrome coat hanging hooks. They save the bottle on the wire for Cadillacs.

Bonus - At the time, I was in the dry cleaning business and always purchased a nice station wagon for hauling racks of clothes back and forth between our plant and branch store.  I used to purchase a clothes rack (long chrome pipe with catch on each end) to hang between the small chrome coat hanging hooks on each side of the door.  Due to the large amount of clothes, I needed 3 of these racks, so the extra hooks came in handy in that I could simply screw them above the side windows in back to support the racks. So I used 4 extra hooks for each car and as I traded cars, had an endless supply for the next station wagon!  Sometime things work out.

Fred Zwicker
1939 LaSalle Convertible - Maroon

Rhino 21150

I cant vouch for the bottle on a wire, but circa 1970 I found something similar under the dash of a Lincoln Mark whatever. I was installing a cassette player I had sold the owner while working in a Lafayette Radio store. There was a ball bearing hanging from a string with a similar note on it. It would tap on a brace in hard left turns.

Eric Maypother CLC #15104

Hi All,
What I do sometimes is when I take a panel or something apart I put Smiley Face stickers on inside before I put things back together, though most of my Cadillacs Im the last to have them before they go to Cadillac Heaven, I also draw Smiley faces with a yellow junk yard marker on the back of tail lights and stuff that I sell on eBay, so the buyer sees a smiley face and years later if someone has to change tail light or bulb they get to see a smiley face to :)
Eric :)

Jack

In 1966 I bought a used 1960 Pontiac Catalina 2-door (post) manual transmission sedan. The owner was an LAPD officer and we were talking about the car and he said it had been a great car and I asked him if there were any problems with the car. He had all the records and the car had about 55K miles of use.

He said the only reason he was selling the car is that his wife never got used to the stick shift - she couldnt co-ordinate well.

We took it for a spin and t ran beautifully but every time you stopped or turned a corner there was a noise coming from the right rear seat. I asked about this and he said that he complained about this when he first bought the car in 1960, but the dealer couldnt find any problem.

After about six months of driving the car I couldnt handle this strange noise - it got the best of me !

So, one weekend I removed the back seat and the side trim panel.

I found the problem !

Located down at the bottom of the side framework there was an empty Coke bottle and a paper lunch bag with a half eaten sandwich.

The Coke bottle lay in a position such that it could roll and that was the problem !

Thus ended the sx year search for a noise no one could find !

Jack

Joe G

On the topic of strange noises....When I was a teenager, my friend Jerrys old man had a 61 Buick that he was so proud of. He was always bragging how smooth and quiet and noise free that car was.
     One boring night, after drinking a few beers, we decided to start looking for mischief. We popped off one of the hubcaps,and removed one lug nut. I went home and brought back a LEFT hand thread lug nut from an old Nash that I had recently junked.We balanced it on the grease cap, and re-installed the wheelcover.
     Jerrys dad drove the car to work the next day. The noise drove him nuts! As we found out later, he spent about 2 hours trying to thread the nut back on! He eventually went to a parts house to get a new nut. The parts guy informed him that the sample he brought in couldnt possibly be for a Buick.Boy.... was he pissed!
     The funniest and most embarrassing part for Jerrys dad was that he was a tool and die maker....he should have spotted the wrong threads right away!!!