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38 caddy V-16 limo, whats it worth??

Started by harvey b, September 16, 2007, 09:31:30 PM

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harvey b

Hello All, have recently heard of a 38 caddy V-16 limo,not sure what model it is,has a divider window and the intercom?,car is supposedly 100% complete,needs complete resto,engine turns over,has not run in a few years.been stored inside for last 25 years.car can be bought,owner is getting old and wants to sell the car.i have not seen it yet and am wondering roughly what everyone thinks it might be worth?owner stated he wants book value for #5 car,car is supposedly in good solid condition,he has 4 other caddys too,40's and 50's, will keep everyone posted as to what they are and if for sale.cars are in eastern canada.  thanks Harvey Bowness
Harvey Bowness

Terry Wenger CLC #1800

Harvey:

According to my 10/06 Old Cars Price guide, a '38 Cadillac 9033 Limo in #5 condition is worth $9720.This will give you a starting place.

Terry Wenger

Doug Houston

There are always questions that arise from statements of the seller? Wonder how's come the engine was rebuilt, turns over, but not run. The V16 engines from '38-40 have inherent problems that aren't easy to solve. The worst one is casting problms. There are very few of them that haven't been cracked, either in the water jacket or in the valve seats. The prospective buyer should scrutinize the engine very carefully.

The bright side is, that those cars are so wonderful to drive, that you'll find them to be just plain incredible. The feeling of almost scary power is something gotten only from an engine like these.

Let's hope that this is one of the good ones. It sounds like it's a 38-9033.

Rusty Shepherd CLC 6397

Quote from: Doug Houston on September 18, 2007, 02:44:24 PM
There are always questions that arise from statements of the seller? Wonder how's come the engine was rebuilt, turns over, but not run. The V16 engines from '38-40 have inherent problems that aren't easy to solve. The worst one is casting problms. There are very few of them that haven't been cracked, either in the water jacket or in the valve seats. The prospective buyer should scrutinize the engine very carefully.

The bright side is, that those cars are so wonderful to drive, that you'll find them to be just plain incredible. The feeling of almost scary power is something gotten only from an engine like these.

Let's hope that this is one of the good ones. It sounds like it's a 38-9033.

Doug,
Based our your decades-long of ownership of two those cars, what are the other inherent problems with the 135% Sixteen engines. The only other one I'm familiar with is leaking water pumps. Also, did the characteristic  block cracking occur under normal opearating conditions or just when the engines overheated or didn't have adequate antifreeze protection in cold weather?  I agree that they are "just plain incredible" and they are the Cadillac I'd most like to own.

Doug Houston

The leaking water pumps are one of the problems, but I understand that, if you run the car enough, the seals will stay sealed longer. That's true of a lot of water pumps. Now, the seal kit for those pumps, if there are any available, is a Pontiac kit, part number 509121. There is one carbon seal in it that you don't use on the Cadillac, but all the other parts are exactly what the V16 uses. I believe that the kit is for the Pontiac 6 or 8, from 1933 through 1954.

On cracked blocks. After all the years that the engines have been around, it's hard to say what causes the cracking. The engines were thin shell castings, and sought to cash in on Ford's foundry success. Stories do tell that Cadillac hired some foundry guys from Ford, and that's a possibility, but totally unconfirmed. I sort of feel that Cadiullac would have been better off if they would have had a chance to do more endurance testing on those engines before launching nthe 38-90 cars. There were certainly freezing damages on some, and possibly cracking from thermal stresses. I have a V16 block that some idiot let freeze, and it's a disaster. But, you don't scrap anything like that.....no how, as with today's techniques, I'm sure it could be resurrected.