Tear Down...

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November 1, 2007 - Just before the tear-down

Radio and Dash Grill

Some missing parts on the glove box door: a lock and handle needed. Radio sent out to be "tuned" up in July 2008.

Raindow Instrument Cluster

Only used in the one year (1948), the "Rainbow" dash was changed back to a more traditional Cadillac style in 1949. Many people either love it or hate it. I have mixed feelings about it...but I certainly appreciate the large speedometer numbers and easy to read gages.

Cadillac 346 ci Engine

The flat head 356 ci V8 was used by Cadillac starting in their 1936 models. The 1948 was the last to receive these quiet and smooth running engine. In 1949 Cadillac would introduce the first short stroke, high-compression OHV engine..the 331 ci.

 

The Cadillac Flathead V8

Lots of work here. Where to begin? This engine runs quit and smooth despite the badly needed carburetor rebuild, leaking water pump and rotted exhaust. Allegedly this engine was rebuilt about 10 years ago and has not seen too much mileage since.

Interior

Far from the original factory colors, the dash and steering wheel had been painted green to match the outside of the car. This will all be changed back to the stock black dash as is correct for all 1948 Cadillac Convertibles.

 

Interior - Seats

Although maintained in the original black color, the seats were reupholstered in vinyl. This will be changed to the correct leather interior. Colors will be primarily tan with ivory door panels and bolsters. Dash, steering and metal door uppers will be returned to the factory black.

November 13, 2007 - The mess begins...Taking the interior and top out

Dismantling the Interior

With the carpet and door panels taken out, the Cadillac's interior appearance start to go down hill quickly

Passenger Door

With the inner door panel gone, the passenger hydraulic window lift is exposed.

 

Convertible Top Base

With the rear quarter panel trim removed, it is easy to see why the heavy convertible top struggled to lift. The rusty compoenents and leaky hydraulic lifts (shown here) were huge contributing factors.

 

Convertible Top Mechanism

Need these pictures to put the convertible top back together again later!

 

Convertible Top Mechanism

Rust and corroded parts of the mechanism make it difficult to lower and raise the top.

 

Trunk Floor

The floor pan of the trunk had to be scraped clean of the sound deadening material. After it was sandblasted, the trunk floor showed some pin-holes from moisture that had collected between the floor and the gas tank itself.

 

ConvertibleTop Mechanism

Although rusty and corroded, the convertible top still manages to go up and down...although slowly and painfully.

 

Dash Disassembly

A laborious and back-braking job. After this stage the front seat was removed to make the job a little easier.

 

Rear Seat Floor

The rear set floor is stripped of tar and material exposing a perfectly solid floor. The wiring and hydraulic lines are original. Although all the wiring was replaced, the hydraulic lines were cleaned and re-used as they were is perfect condition.

 

Inside Firewall

With the firewall pad removed, it was fairly easy to scrape off the tar that covered the inside.

 

Driver Side Convertible Mechanism

The l hydraulic lift cylinders of the convertible accumulate grime around the area where they were leaking.

 

What I found so far..

There is very little rust/rot damage in the car. This truly was Southern Car...not that bad for a 60 year old car. Only real "rust" damage was found at the leading edge of the rear wheels wells. The wheel skirt lip had a few small holes that need to be repaired. (Lets hope that's worst of it).

 

November 15, 2007 - Getting naked...

Cadillac still with Trim

Lots of chrome trim to be removed from the body.

Back Seat Back Board

 

 

Rear Seat Floor

Hours and hours were spent removing the sound deadening pad material before we could send the Cadillac off to the sandblaster. Note the original hydraulic lines for the power windows and convertible top.

 

Passenger Side Head and Fog Light

All trim and bright work was removed to be re-chromed.

Passenger Side Door Lock Pillar

Note the mess on the floor in the back.

Convertible Top

The convertible top was removed as a complete unit. It will be disassembled and the individual pieces either chromed or painted as needed.

 

Front Clip

Bumpers and grill removed.

Back Seat

With the back seat and convertible top removed, you can see the wood back board and the layers of sound proofing material on the floor and sides.

 

Rear Tail Fin

With the rear bumper off, access to the tail fin and fener spear is a lot easier.

Passenger Door

The window hydraulic left is seen through the inside door opening once the door panel trim is removed. the hydraulic lifts need to be taken out and cleaned. The hydraulic cylinders themselves need to all be replaced.

 

Left Tail Fin

The tail light housing on the left fin flips up and exposes the fuel filler neck. Pushing the red button directly below the left tail light releases the latch and allows the tail light to be lifted up.

 

 

Passenger Side Rear Quarter

In this picture, much of the sound padding has been scraped off the floor. A tedious and pain stacking job.

 

Fenders Away

The front fenders are removed and stored while the engine is removed and the body and frame are separated for blasting and painting.

 

Front Passenger Side Floor

The entire floor is covered with layers of thick, tar coated material used for sound deadening. This all has to be scraped off before teh car floor can be sandblasted.

 

Passenger Side Door Hinge Pillar

Hinges stick and squeak. They will need to be removed, stripped an painted as well.

 

Fenders Away

The rear fenders are removed and stored until all the basic work is done. They will be re-installed before the Cadillac goes to teh body shop.

    

November 15, 2007 - The Good, the bad and the ugly...mostly the bad and the ugly

Rust Damage

The only rust damage in the car was found ahead of the rear wheels where the wheel skirts lock into position. Body shop will rebuild these commonly rotted areas. Convertibles are notorious for rotting out in this spot.

Rear Stone Guard

This damaged Stone Guard molding will need to be repaired before it is re-chromed.

Under Carriage

Heavy layers of undercoating have protected the underside and frame of the convertible. Once removed, it showed a solid rust free floor, inner rockers and sub-frame.

Hood Springs

Need to be removed, sandblasted and painted.

Inner Rocker Panel

Looks bad but in fact the undercoating protected this Cadillac from the elements. Under the tar and the grime is solid metal. No repairs (what so ever) where required on the floor, sub frame or the frame itself.

 

Rear Axle and Gas Tank

Gas tanks has no leaks or weak spots bit will re-sealed anyway. The fuel line was removed, cleaned and re-used as it is in perfect condition.

Battery Box

Dirty and somewhat rusty, the battery box will need some work. But as it turns out, it is solid and only needed blasted and painted.

 

   November 29, 2007 - the Underbelly...

Rear Axle

Heavy layers of tar and mud cover the axle and rear wheel assembly. Notice the badly worn rear stabilizer bushing...one factor contributing to the car's poor handling.

 

Rear Spring

60 years of road grime are caked on and will need some serious sandblasting to be removed.

Rear Axle

Universal Joints will need to be replaced. Definitely a new pinion seal will be required. Notice the wet bottom of the differential pod..tell tale sign of a leaky pinion seal.

 

Rear End

Amazingly enough, the rear brake lines were line new once the grime was removed. In fact they were so good that they were not even replaced...just cleaned inside and out.

November 29, 2007 - The dash away...

Dash Disassembly

Glove box removed.

Radio Removed

Radio was removed and tested. It worked fine once during a bench test. But age weakens the tubes and inevitable seizes the mechanical vibrator used to raise the 6 VDC to the required amplifier voltage. Radio was sent out to be refurbished.

Dash Away

With the dash out, some heavy duty cleaning will be required.

Misplaced Dash

The dash rests comfortably where the back seat used to be. The dash will refinished in the original black color.

 

Radiator Cradle

The rad cradle sits inside the car wating it's turn to go to the sandblaster.

 

  

December 1, 2007. - more tear-down

Junk in the Trunk

Even the massive trunk becomes crowded with tools, parts and spary cans.

Messy Engine

This will be a bit of challenge to work on. For such a simple and basic car, it sure has a busy engine compartment.

Engine Passenger Side

Lots of work ahead of me here. The exhaust manifold is coated with a porcelain finish to allow better heat dissipation. The three major pieces will need to be re-finished with a special finishing process to restore the bright finish.

Engine: Driver Side

Notice the heavy build up of varnish at the base of the carb. This is from build up of fuel caused by aged and leaking gaskets.

Bare Engine

Here the engine has been almost stripped to just the block. It will be removed once the starter and transmission get disconnected.

Radiator Cradle

The rad cradle is griminy but in good shape.

Cooling Fan

Clearly the belts need to be replaced. Also notice the aged radiator. this multi-core rad will have to be re-cored. This is a critical component of the 346 engine. They are notorious for running hot and a properly function cooling system is essential for reliable operation.

Starter Motor

The heavy starter motor shown with old wiring still in place.

Two Barrel Carburetor

A heavy build up of gum on the base of the carburetor indicates that it is well overdue for a re-build.

Water Pump

A pool of anti-freeze on the shaft of the water pump shaft indicates a serious issue. Water pumps are critical on the 346 and may be it's weakest link. The water pump was rebuilt and was fitted with a newer type grease-less bearing and seal. This will eliminates the need for external lubrication and minimizes engine cooling problems.

 

Hrdro-Electric Pump

This hydraulic pump operates the power windows, power seat and convertible top. It is filled with brake fluid but will be converted to use transmission fluid. Trans fluid is less corrosive and does not absorb moisture to cause the mess that you see here. (All flex hoses must be updated in-order to run tranny fluid in the lines).

Hydraulic Pump

A leaking hydraulic pump not only makes a mess, but causes improper window, seat and top operation as well.

Fuel Pump

Fuel pumps looks and works like brand new. Obviously this was recently replaced. Very little (if any) work is need on the fuel pump.

Firewall Harness

Notice the broken ground strap and exposed wires in the electrical harnes.

Front Door Hinge Pillar

With the front left fender removed, it is easy to see the build up of mud and dirt that has built up over the years.

 

Exhaust

Notice the make-shift wiring hold the heat insulation on the front part of the exhaust pipe. The correct method of mounting this is to use three wide metal straps.

 

Engine Exposed

With the rad cradle and the front fender removed it will be a lot easier to extract the engine from it’s bay.

Exhaust Manifold

This picture shows the badly cracked porcelain of the left side exhaust manifold.

 

Front Shocks

"Knee-Action" shock absorbers were standard on the 1948 Cadillac. These grimy suspension parts will soon be sand-blasted and painted.

 

Engine: Passenger side

A grimy and grease covered frame makes for a messy job when working on removing the engine, Here we are preparing the engine to be extracted from the Cadillac.

 

 

March 31, 2008. - Rear Axle and Brakes

Rear Wheel Axle

Badly worm rear wheel bearings need to be replaced...but not before complete disassembly of the brake and backing plate.

Rear Axle Spline

Ready to pull out the rear axle and replace the bearing and seal.

Rear Axle Spline

Removing the key-way that positions the brake drum was a difficult job. The press at the machine shop was not able to remove the bearing or the keyway. They had to be removed with a die grinder and a flat cutting wheel.

 

 

July 3, 2008 - Getting Ready for the Paint Shop

Passenger Side

Ready to go to the body shop.

Driver side Rear Fender

Some work is needed on the fender. Moisture accumulates between the stone guard and the fender and inevitably cause some corrosion.

 

Door Handles

Door handles an lock openings had dents surrounding them from improperly removing the door handles.

Passenger Side Door Locks

The old paint seems to be "cracking" in many spots. The car was originally El Paso Beige and then painted green. This green was an available color in 1948. The car will ultimately be repainted in Madeira Maroon. (I'm not a big fan of Beige or Green.)

 

Front View

With all the chrome removed, the Cadillac will be chemically to bare metal before repairing any of the dents on the body.

 

Suspension

With the suspension, frame and under belly already done the Cadillac is ready to go to the body shop.

Windshield Base

The windshield will be removed in order to properly clean and paint it's frame.

Front Fender

The last paint job that this Cadillac had was a "quick and dirty" one. None of the bright work was removed. You can see the original El Paso beige color that still remains behind the (now removed) chrome work.

 

Driver Side Front Fender

Driver Side Fender

Will need some repairs on lower fender. You can see where the rust has eaten right through. Again, this is behind a piece of trim where water accumulates and rots the sheet metal.

Passenger Side Rear Fender

Head and Fog Light Openings

Left Tail Fin

Some dents need to be repaired behind the end of the trim spear.

Door Lock

Note the square above the latch opening. This is for a rubber stopper that was used only on convertibles.

Trunk and Fender

Note sure why the old paint has cracked an peeled like this.

Door Lock Pillar

Driver Side Rear Fender

Note the biege color behind the area where the stone guard trim used to be.

Right Tail Fin

Note the beige color behind the chevrons. This trim pattern is on all convertibles and all 1948 Cadillac Series Sixty-Two models.

 

Windshield Pillar

The rust will be removed by sandblasting the window opening at the body shop.

 

Driver Side Fog and Headlight Openings

The front fenders and hood are re-installed before sending the Cadillac off to the body shop. Once painted, they will once again be removed to facilitate easier access to the engine bay.

 

August 21, 2008 - Front Grill

1948 Cadillac Front Grill

The front grill is disassembled into basic components to facilitate re-chroming.