Roger Zimmermann

I saw pictures from the models designed under Harley Earl in Collectible Automobile; they were awful. The 1959 cars at GM were indeed the result of a crash program. There was no time to do a lot of differences between the brands; each had to use the same body shell and the front doors were the same for all, as we could see in another post with a metal molding attached at the upper part of the front door.

Hi Gary It seems that I was well inspired to ask first and not buy directly! I was not aware of the difference...The link from your post is the one I found too; they do not deliver to Switzerland for whatever reason. If you agree, please order it and ship it to me. I'll gladly reimburse your costs; as I sold my '57 Brougham, I have some pocket change! I'm sure the postage will be more than $ 1.30; even if it's $ 20.00, the costs involved to build such a model are so negligible compared to the restoration's costs of a real car... I restored three, I know the difference! Anyway, thanks a lot for your involvement.

If the same part is share with the other GM brands, it has the same part number. I had several Master Parts List from Chevy, Olds, Buick and Cadillac to verify that.

Gary, you are really strong with your estimate: the inside diameter I did for the screen is 6.5mm which is giving more or less 3" in real life! The link you gave is suggesting a 200/inch (if I'm right) 12" x12". I'm sure it is what you are writing about. Unfortunately, that company does not export to Switzerland. By searching with google, I'm getting a bunch of Chinese offerings; buying there is not an option. There is another supplier (could be from the US) but I'm lost with his classification: the smaller the number, the finer the mesh: it is below and I could maybe order a sample from the desired mesh. That could be an alternative. Stainless Steel Mesh Screen (5, 15, 43, 74, 100, 149, 177, 300, 400, 500, 600, 800, 1000 Micron, 1/8", 1/4" Mesh) - Utah Biodiesel Supply From that site, I could order a sample 6" x 6" from the 74 Micron. If I'm right, that should be the equivalent of a 200 mesh screen. Could you please have a look and tell me if I'm right? Thanks, Gary! There are some companies in Europe which would gladly sell a complete roll...I could then stamp millions of screens!

Maybe, but there was not market for custom vehicles in Switzerland 40 years ago. The modification was well executed, it was certainly not cheap!

In the early eighties, two friends of mine saw a 1959 Cadillac Sixty Special in a lot. The car had a bad engine; an issue which can be easily solved. But the huge problem was the rear of the body: a previous owner did not like the fins and let modify the body. One of my friend needed a transmission; the other one let some space at disposal. I went to the party to help to remove as many parts as possible as it was clear that the car, even in a good condition, would never attract the 1959 Cad fans. On the first picture, both friends. The first person would later be the leading one to create the Swiss Cadillac Club and was the first president from that club. The younger guy in the background did the heavy work and still has a small garage near Bienne (Switzerland). I'm on the second picture; still thin and have all my hair but their color changed... At first, I was like the fifth wheel, just helping a bit. At the end, I sold almost all the parts, even the frame. I still have some, almost 40 years after...The body shell went to the crusher. It could have been sold to restore a rotten floor from a convertible, but we had not the space to store a body.

Under the rear seat from my '72 Cadillac coupe de Ville: one "Wrigley's chewing gum" wrapper; two almost complete "Topco" matches holders and one nail file made with cardboard. A small card was under an inside roof molding: this is a registration for a dealer when used with dealer plates. As this card expired on May 31, 1980, that dealer is certainly no more searching that card...

Because you don't have a picture from the original screen! I'm adding one, you will see the difference.

When the band for the generator was installed and the gen again on the engine, I realized that it was time to do the air intake duct. Therefore the generator was removed again, which requires the removal of the intake/exhaust manifolds and the water pump. As I still don't have water in the engine, there is no mess with the cooling fluid. The original set up has provision to remove the water pump actuating shaft; my reproduction shaft does not have it. That rather small part was not easy to do because nothing is flat to squeeze it in a vice; the fingers acted like a vice; some are still sore! The screen at the air intake is too coarse; I'm not sure if a finer mesh is available, I doubt it. To really finish the generator and accessories, I milled the exhaust tube to shape the hexagon at the small end.

Really nice picture!

Tie rod end boots and other rubber elements are available by www.steelerubber.com The rubber boots for the ball joints at the front suspension are usually not available separately; you have to buy the whole assemblies. As you have to make some work to replace the boots, new parts don't require much more work, especially the lower ball joints at the front suspension, they are under dimensioned.

Good luck with your search with parts. Really difficult if you have to use a translator system, they are usually full of fantasy! In your situation, I would buy a Master Parts List. They are reproduced; Faxon Literature is a good supplier: https://www.faxonautoliterature.com/1956-1961-Cadillac-Master-Parts-and-Accessories-Book-Reprint You will also see that this company is offering a shop manual (you need the base 1959 manual and the 1960 supplement). With those books, you will have the right names for the parts you are wanting to buy, it will facilitate your task.

When I don't know how to do a part or no envy about it, I do continue with something else until either I don't know with what to continue or the desire to have an element finished is haunting me! The brushes covering bands for the generator and starter motor is a perfect example. It seems easy to do, but indeed I pushed back their fabrication. It took me a while to do the first one because I was not at all motivated. Finally, the task was not so bad: a band of brass 0.01mm thick, with one rolled end, then a small attaching latch soft soldered at the right place and voilà! At first, I intended to rivet the latch like the original parts but opted for the soldering. Less chance for a disaster doing so! The second band came not so well as the first one, but still usable. Those parts will be chromed. By pulling at the latch, the band can be removed like the original one.

At the end of the year, I did both ignition coils and their support. Those rather easy parts were finished when I began to look at restored cars. Something catch my eye: the ignition coils are not behind the fan, they are located at the the radiator! The coils were wrongly installed on the fan support when the frame and engine came to the Netherland to be restored. As Johan did pictures from all the elements before he began the work, I was fooled by those pictures! Those coil's supports will be removed and, in due time, the coils added to the radiator.

Joe, thanks for the explanation which make sense!

On the fifth picture, it is obvious that the lever on which a handle is attached is bent. I would correct this before installation. Thos wiper motors can be overhauled in case the sealing material is worn. A vacuum test is mandatory before you are installing it.

Happy New Year to you and all the other people! Thanks for your comments...

The last tiny parts to the distributor were added yesterday, just at time for the year's end. It was however too late to make the update, but today is an appropriate day for that: it let time to evaporate the alcohol absorbed the evening before! The distributor cap is attached to the body with two strong springs. My rendering of that is rather crude from very near, but by looking at a distance the illusion is almost perfect. Like all distributor caps, the central plot is from the ignition coil's secondary circuit. On V-12 and V-16, there is a second plot for the other coil. Under the cap, there is a ring to conduct the voltage at the appropriate spark wire via a specific rotor. On the real distributor, there is an oiling provision on the side for the cam. This is also replicated on "my" distributor, as well as both contacts on the side going to the primary circuit of the coils.

The ignition system from those engines were a bit different than the ones from the fifties-seventies. The distributor houses indeed two ignition systems, one for each bank; two ignition coils are also used. Once the ground setting was done with the pointer at the flywheel, it was also possible to advance or retard the timing in degrees thanks to a scale attached to the distributor support. A pointer, integrated to the distributor itself allowed to get the desired setting as shown on the first picture. With 16 ignition wires, it was certainly easy to have a cable mess. To avoid it, an organizer was integrated at the base of the distributor. From there, the wires went into a tube and emerged from it at the desired location. The organizer and the lower plate locking the distributor were chromed and assembled with screws or rivets. To avoid the proliferation of small parts, those items on the model are soft soldered to the main body; this assembly will be chromed and what originally was not chromed will be painted.

If you still had old tires from the same dimension, you would notice that your new 6.70-15 tires have a larger diameter than the old ones!

Sometimes it's better to put something on side and continue with it later. It's now happening with the tires, I will resume this adventure later. As there are still plenty things to do, I'm not "jobless"! I'm continuing with the distributor. There will be plenty to do...I began with the support. I wondered first why this support was so long; after a while I understood that a shorter support would interfere with the fan support. Fortunately, my dimension estimates/calculated are not too far away, there is just enough space between both supports.

The main job of the brass tire is over. As I wrote earlier, the manufacturer's name will be on the white part of the tire. I'm happy with the Good Year tires I have on my models, negligible wear, not noisy, no cracks and still supple after all those years. I will however change the manufacturer by using the Firestone name. I had the foolish idea to make separate letters in brass; some would be easy (i, t, n); e, s would be more difficult. I began with the "F" just to see that the crisp angles are something I cannot do with the tools I have. An engraver could probably do them all, but it's a profession for itself with very specific tools I don't have. I will therefore come back to the old method I used with success: paint. I'll need now material to continue with the tires: silicone and some brass to do the mold for the white wall. I will not bother suppliers before the end of the year; I'll look next year for that missing material.

Said another way: everybody is cooking with water or each coin has two sides!

Finally, the tread is not too bad. As for most every bias-ply tires, there are ribs on the side. When looking at the Firestone picture, the side ribs are in phase with the zig-zag from the tread. I decided that it would be foolish to attempt it; I'm just doing about 160 indentations without trying to match the zig-zag; there are about 215 at the outer circumference.

This is a legitimate question. I discarded this method because not practical: it's not possible to glue the band(s) at once, only one inch or 1 1/2" Till the epoxy is cured, I should wait with the finger on the band to avoid unwanted movement. Then the next inch or more...The most important soldering is at both exterior bands: it must be done on all the outer circumference to fill up the possible void between band and main part. Would epoxy be strong enough to resist the final machining? Maybe, maybe not! @ Gary: Tire manufacturing is to me a black (pun intended!) science. I saw many pictures how this is done, but I should see it myself to really understand it. It could be the the mold is flat, maybe not. You had time to count all those zig-zags! In my opinion, there should be more, but I will not count them! You are right, all band were done the same, creating the issue I related. I did the same on the 3 previous master tires, but on those, the pitch was greater and the distortion not readily visible.