Topic: 1989 Cadillac Brougham d'Elegance - Dent buys something completely different

[ArticSteve]

In the trunk you can lock the license plate in place so that it does not fold down. The gas filler is behind so it prevents gas theft or someone putting sugar in the tank.

That's really inventive.

[rrocket]

In the trunk you can lock the license plate in place so that it does not fold down. The gas filler is behind so it prevents gas theft or someone putting sugar in the tank.

That's really inventive.

My dad was a gas pump jockey in the late 50s at Beaver..and said the trick back then was even finding the gas fill holes as many of them were well hidden on the cars of the time.

[sailor723]

In the trunk you can lock the license plate in place so that it does not fold down. The gas filler is behind so it prevents gas theft or someone putting sugar in the tank.

That's really inventive.

My dad was a gas pump jockey in the late 50s at Beaver..and said the trick back then was even finding the gas fill holes as many of them were well hidden on the cars of the time.

I can't remember the model but wasn't there a car where the gas fill was behind a hinged tail light assembly?

[sailor723]

My grandfather drove a long series of Cadillac Coup De Ville's from the 1960's until his last car in 1979 (convertibles until they stopped making them in 1970 and then coupe's). My first ever driving experience starting at about age 12 was in one of these on the private 1/2 mile dirt road into his hobby farm/cottage. Very fond memories. 

[Seafoam]

In the trunk you can lock the license plate in place so that it does not fold down. The gas filler is behind so it prevents gas theft or someone putting sugar in the tank.

That's really inventive.

My dad was a gas pump jockey in the late 50s at Beaver..and said the trick back then was even finding the gas fill holes as many of them were well hidden on the cars of the time.

I can't remember the model but wasn't there a car where the gas fill was behind a hinged tail light assembly?

mid fifties Chevy?

[KD]

In the trunk you can lock the license plate in place so that it does not fold down. The gas filler is behind so it prevents gas theft or someone putting sugar in the tank.

That's really inventive.

My dad was a gas pump jockey in the late 50s at Beaver..and said the trick back then was even finding the gas fill holes as many of them were well hidden on the cars of the time.

I can't remember the model but wasn't there a car where the gas fill was behind a hinged tail light assembly?

mid fifties Chevy?

That's what I remember from my weeks as a gas attendant.    

[TheHire]

As the wise 50 Cent said...

I don't know what you heard about me
But a b*tch can't get a dollar out of me
No Cadillac, no perms, you can't see
That I'm a motherf***in' P.I.M.P...


While this was in fact, the theme song for my former black 560 SEL, it's way more suited to this...

[Bubba]

In the trunk you can lock the license plate in place so that it does not fold down. The gas filler is behind so it prevents gas theft or someone putting sugar in the tank.

That's really inventive.

My dad was a gas pump jockey in the late 50s at Beaver..and said the trick back then was even finding the gas fill holes as many of them were well hidden on the cars of the time.

I can't remember the model but wasn't there a car where the gas fill was behind a hinged tail light assembly?

Late 40s, early 50s Cadillac.

[PJungnitsch]

How'd it drive? The full Uncle Buck, or not too bad?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XolGQlIkO9Q

[Arthur Dent]

So I managed to get a flat when bringing it home. One tire won't hold air for more than five minutes. Can't blame that on a previous owner. It was already wearing a spare so I need new tires. D'oh. I did not plan for that in the budget as the size with a white wall is hard to get these days. Doubly so in Canada.



The heater core was bypassed (I knew this but the part is super cheap). It was accessible from under the hood so I assumed it would be easy. Not horrible but not super easy either. There is a giant one piece cover that has a ton of bolts (some well hidden!) and is glued with sealer to the firewall. It would have been much easier to take the hood off but I did not do that. The really long hood hurts here as well it does not open at a generous angle. Oddly this is not well documented online.



Cover off ... eventually.



The new one is significantly lighter not that it will make a difference on the 4000+lb Cadillac.



New heater core in. Since the photo I've re-routed the hoses and added coolant but untested because I can't drive it on the three tires that hold wind.



This arrived (on a Saturday!) literally minutes after I buttoned up the repair. Flicking through it I have to say its on the poor side for a Haynes manual unfortunately.

[ktm525]

Covers 23 model years. 

[Firm]

Covers 23 model years. 

Lol. That's probably why it's not up to par...

Nice work on the heater core AD, looks like an unpleasant spot to be working in, but at least you didn't have to take the dash apart.

[ArticSteve]

Heater cores are the sh*ts.  I have found that the EURO cores are near lifetime.  The "Detroit" cores and that probably includes American assembled Japanese units will fail.  I suspect the newer stuff to fail more.

As seen in Arthur's pic you can't really judge a leaking core by it's appearance.  Similar with rads.

[Blueprint]

So I managed to get a flat when bringing it home. One tire won't hold air for more than five minutes. Can't blame that on a previous owner. It was already wearing a spare so I need new tires. D'oh. I did not plan for that in the budget as the size with a white wall is hard to get these days. Doubly so in Canada.

The answer always is...

[revalations]

Yep, finding whitewalls is a real bear. My 64 Galaxie needed a set of 14” (unbelievably small for such a boat) and the options were very limited and expensive. Managed to score a set on Facebook marketplace for $100. The ugly beige coupe Deville (which I’ll get a pic of) has a lovely set as well, about the best thing about that car.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rrocket]

Yep, finding whitewalls is a real bear. My 64 Galaxie needed a set of 14” (unbelievably small for such a boat) and the options were very limited and expensive. Managed to score a set on Facebook marketplace for $100. The ugly beige coupe Deville (which I’ll get a pic of) has a lovely set as well, about the best thing about that car.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For white walls you can go either Phoney Baloneys or paint kits these days it seems since they are hard to find

[Blueprint]

Yep, finding whitewalls is a real bear. My 64 Galaxie needed a set of 14” (unbelievably small for such a boat) and the options were very limited and expensive. Managed to score a set on Facebook marketplace for $100. The ugly beige coupe Deville (which I’ll get a pic of) has a lovely set as well, about the best thing about that car.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For white walls you can go either Phoney Baloneys or paint kits these days it seems since they are hard to find

Tire Rack has a whitewall option at 112.99 USD:

[Arthur Dent]

There is a 35 page thread on ww tires on Cadillac forum. That Kinergy seems to be the current choice. I just need to find a local supplier. Or drive to the border. Currency conversion is poor right now.

https://www.cadillacforums.com/threads/the-official-whitewall-thread.181612/

[Blueprint]

There is a 35 page thread on ww tires on Cadillac forum. That Kinergy seems to be the current choice. I just need to find a local supplier. Or drive to the border. Currency conversion is poor right now.

https://www.cadillacforums.com/threads/the-official-whitewall-thread.181612/

Yup, 1.35, meaning 153 CDN per tire, plus shipping

[Bubba]

So I managed to get a flat when bringing it home. One tire won't hold air for more than five minutes. Can't blame that on a previous owner. It was already wearing a spare so I need new tires. D'oh. I did not plan for that in the budget as the size with a white wall is hard to get these days. Doubly so in Canada.

The answer always is...