C Carl

Back in the Fall of 1965 I drove across the country to deliver a Jaguar XK120 I had worked on. From Seattle , Washington to Washington D.C. Took the opportunity to see New York City on the trip. I was just a 21 year old kid , first time to “The City”. Had to detour , sightseeing North a bit, up U.S. 1. After crossing into Connecticut, I spotted a fascinating old car yard on my left. So of course, I turned around to see. Turned out to be your father, and I had the pleasure of a wonderful visit with him. He was extremely nice to me, and I remember a Type 51 Bugatti sitting there. Of course he was into Brass, primarily, and he is the only pioneer early collector I ever got to meet in person. That was a very special day for me, and I am double lucky that the weather was calm and dry, so I could spend quality time with your dad and some of his cars. Welcome, Tunick ! I hope you will be able to spend time here with us, and further enrich our lives ! - Carl

Yeah, I’m getting a little curious myself................ - CC

😂👎

Dad never had a Cadillac. I made up for that. - CC.

Hi Dave ! Was any decision made ? In general , if someone paid you $10,000 to take his/her 2004 E55 with 150,000+ miles on it, (off warranty for how long ?), it is still basically a “you lose” deal. This is a supercharged car, and maintenance is beyond most middle class folks means. And that doesn’t factor in “brake-by-wire” concerns for this era M-Bs. No 15 year old kid should have one of these for a toy. Here is a picture of a much more civilized high performance M-B the day I scored it out of auction. This was a U.S. Marshall service asset seizure deal. Always serviced under warranty, relatively low miles. Has been perhaps the most satisfying car I have ever bought. If I were forced to chose between every car I have owned in my life, to pick but one to drive forever, this would be it. I have owned plenty ‘Benz of this general period. I am here to tell you, you MUST be EXTREMELY disciplined to shop these cars. Enough said for now, - Bubba ‘Benz

Hi Roger. Tom’s contacts : Phone three six O, nine one O, 4362. Email : dessertt@hotmail.com Tom made a great set of wheels for me, his brother makes hub bolts with the correct dome shape. I spoke with Tom recently, and he should have an opening in a month or two. Where are you located ? - Carl

You are in luck, Roger. We in the NW are fortunate to have Tom Dessert in Battle Ground , WA, just a bit North of Vancouver. I spoke with him recently, and I believe he is only a month or two out for another appointment for work. Phone three six O, nine one O, 4362. Email dessertt@hotmail.com , and tell him Cadillac Carl recommend him. Where are you located ? - CC

Instrument panel is dead center. See the positional relationship with windshield center division and wiper switch. Old leather and wood interior looks so good I can almost smell it from the pictures. - Carl

Error code D-2026. - Carl

Yes, and if you read Donna’s posting of October 16 therin, she says nothing about looking to sell the car. In fact, my reading of it seems quite clear regarding the grieving widow’s sentiments. I believe the 5th word is “gift” which explains Donna’s proposal unambiguously. I am sure some energetic kind person could do justice to Bill’s well started dream. Exposure is the key to finding that person. My heart goes out to Bill’s family. - Carl

Being in love with this ol’ thing, I am thrilled to report that Michelle’s sister has made an astonishingly comprehensive proposal to me , which is an offer I can not refuse. Covers concerns and risk vulnerability on behalf of buyer and seller. I will report back here when I can, but am overloaded until at least the weekend. Further imposition on Michelle and her family regarding diagnostics will be limited to just a few more pictures, (high res of all 4 wheels, the top , -which has at least a rip in it-, and exhaust manifolds after being well cleaned off), and the hyper-simple timing chain test. HOWEVER, I need all the help possible to find a suitable shop/mechanic/AACA, or CLC member local to them. No shortcuts will be needed, and as I posted somewhere above, the real way to do things properly is to pull the heads. Cylinder wall condition, taper, may indicate thumbs up or down at this point. If indications are favorable , pull and check the radiator, remove , (and replace if necessary), the timing chain , thereby decoupling valve train for initial turning of the engine. The long dormant water pumps must be pulled also , all of which work will not be wasted for either best case or worst case scenario. If everything is “go” at this point, that is when to determine bearing condition. So I need as much local talent as I can find. ANY LEADS, PLEASE ? Thanks for the compliment, Joe. I think you do more for me than I for you every time we talk ! Have you made progress regarding overheating ? Ross Walkup in Florida has some water pump fixes you and other V63 owners should be aware of. If you would like, give me a call on the weekend when I may have a little spare time. To be continued. I will check back for comments and any possible leads for help, but might not be able to respond for a few days. Thank you all, - Carl

Say here interior was in great shape when parked. Ran good , too ! Tires had air when parked. Been needing a little bit of glass on the front passenger side door. Question is : Was there glass in that door when parked ? Oh, I give up ‘cause I don’t know when parked ..................................

Highly unusual wear pattern on the brake and clutch pedals. Overall does corroborate approx 80,000 shown on the odometer, though. Pretty hard to tell what the exhaust manifolds indicate. If they could be cleaned off and pics taken again, probably good evidence there. Next step is the super easy timing chain slack test. Just have to go for the low hanging fruit here. If one of these engines needs an overhaul on such a car, well, you know, that is basically a kiss of death. Too busy to write much now , but I think I will email Michelle the topic up in General regarding freeing stuck engines, (this one being subject only to speculation at this point), and give her a quick call. - Carl

Refreshing and hoping someone who can help see this. Thank you, - Carl

Hello Donna Lynn, Wondering how you are getting on, and hoping the new year brings you a solution, and peace. - Carl

Good morning Michelle, I have been wondering how you found us ? - Carl

Whew !!!! I am back after reaching some resolution regarding a new device on a new operating system. I could not access exactly the pictures I needed, but these will suffice for now. Michelle is fortunate in that she has a nephew who is near the car, (she is not), and can perform certain preliminary tests. Michelle does not want for this to drag on forever, becoming an imposition on her family. So I propose the following initial simple diagnostics. While the penetrants and lubricants are soaking , a certain degree of insight as to the all important engine condition can be ascertained to make the “guess” a more “educated” one. Given that one’s expectations will be quite different for a 20,000 mile car which has had an easy life, versus a 150,000 miler , retired from a third life as a rural mail hauler. So let’s compare hard evidence with what may or may not be an erroneous odometer reading. Wear on the cast aluminum brake and clutch pedals is obvious, and naturally consistent with use. I have seen enough of them to ballpark mileage. Of course stop and go use will be different from open road mileage. Combine that with porcelain erosion on the exhaust manifolds, and we start to get an idea of how well-used the car was. I have asked for engine and pedal pictures which will make short easy work of this stage. The next test is so simple that I can, (and have), immediately talk anyone through it over the phone . There is no provision for timing chain adjustment, so this allows a quick check of accumulated timing chain stretch and wear. Circumferential free play at the circular surround of the chain driven fan is easy to measure. 1” of play before the fan clutch yields, signals replacement time. We may be able to figure out whether this is the original timing chain based on the pictures which are forthcoming. Is the mileage up there where rings and valves needed attention ? Had this been done ? The car has been sitting for 40 some years, so .......................... ? As noted, the appraiser was accurate given the givens and unknowns. Myself, I would like to put this old Rip Van Winklemobile back on the road. But in my opinion, there is a fairly solid basement value to this particular car. I would agree that $6000, even worse case, at a bare minimum , is fair. Even at this stage , I would pay a bit more. Yes, it would be quite sad if the engine is locked solid. Or if the block(s) are cracked, heads and water pumps likewise. At this point a closed car such as this becomes a parts car. If you can’t drive it, (and put some miles on it), clutch condition is a crap shoot. If you need to rebuild the clutch, time for new bearings in the transmission as long as it is out. Input bearing having lived in ancient lubricants for scores of thousands of miles, will show some wear. But this is normal operating procedure, and does not stop the show, as we all know. It is the engine which will determine whether this is a win or a loss. How much of a gamble do I want to take ? As little as reasonably possible. Therefore justifying being able to pay Michelle as much as possible. That being the case , here is my feeling regarding dropping the pan. That operation really should be done by an experienced wrench. You can damage the oil pickup if not very careful, and also you must properly clear the oil level float. If it is deemed advisable, I would be willing to pay the right guy to do this properly. This is a big deal for me. Now certainly while the sump is open for inspection and cleaning, I might as well pay for the bearing inspection. Examination and measuring or plastigaging takes a massive amount of guesswork out of the analysis. And it is so easy to do by someone who has been there before. Good chance Linus Tremaine here on the forums might know a good fork and blade V8 guy within a reasonable distance. Jim Willette down in Lodi might have a recommendation. Money well spent for a REAL diagnosis which is in the end necessary and non-invasive . At some point , pulling the heads will most likely have to be done, hopefully not during this stage. ASAP , the plugs should be pulled, and the soak started. State-of-the-art spray penetrant, (PB Blaster ? Kroil ? - what do you guys think ? ) , chase with an ounce or two of ATF, and a follow up a few days later with more spray penetrant. Keep it as simple and easy as possible. Easy for nephew, as will spraying and lubricating the valves. All we are trying to accomplish is a damage-free half a degree of rotation at this point. It may or may not take some time. Hopefully the crank is still in the tool box. If not I can send mine down. These first steps are simple, and not time consuming. If these were normal circumstances, I would just jump in the car and take a trip to Cal. Any excuse, (or none at all), used to justify a road trip South in the Winter for me. But I am not willing to risk a horrible torturous death for hobby pursuits. So , yes, even at this stage the car is worth more than $6,000 to me. Hopefully it is not “moused” beyond an enzyme cleaning. I see sign , but have no idea whether, or to what degree nesting has taken place. A little poking around should answer that. Yes, I would love to deep clean and appreciate the cars originality over some very slow roads. In an ideal world, I would put the $10-20,000 needed to make this car roadworthy in California, while waiting for safe passage , post crown virus. Then drive the old thing back home, taking scenic backroads all the way. In the wide open spaces out West here, that route can be done. These V63 Cadillacs, (1924 and 1925), are not freeway flyers, and should stay off the Interstates. There are no heroes who can justify restoring closed cars like this. But the open cars, particularly the roadsters, phaetons too, are being restored. Here is the V63 Cadillac roadster under restoration by Harry Nicks in Redlands, CA. It debuted at the 2016 San Marino Classic. The donor parts Car is shown. V63 parts cars are not particularly in demand, but of you need them , they are getting scarce. Mike Barnes up in Vancouver B.C. was interested in possibly purchasing the picked over carcass after Harry had his way with the thing. It was no sale by the owner. They did kindly give Barnes a consolation present of the footrest , identical to the one missing from his touring, but not needed for the roadster. I would REALLY hate to see Michelle’s car end up as a dead donor. It all depends on the engine. Yes, I would pay $6,000 for the car even if the engine is beyond feasible repair. But it would absolutely break my heart. We welcome any and all help and suggestions from you guys. Thanks very much on behalf of Michelle and myself. Thumb tapped out at this point, - Carl

Tied up at the moment, back in a bit. - Carl

Yes, properly pre-lubing the engine is a great idea, but even that should be done properly. And this includes valve lubrication. There is a sequence of lubricants which should be used in certain quantities. Not too difficult. As far as washing, even THAT has its preferences. NO FLOWING WATER ! Damp rags ONLY in the case of this car. All the wood and upholstery is very dry, and possibly free of rot and mold. Please try to keep it that way. Once a good crop of mold is generated, the smell and perhaps allergenic toxins, will rob a car of a great deal of its charm and value. Yes, I am interested in this car. I do not participate in buying at the “bay” anymore. No matter how I bid, someone just jumps in at the last moment and disappoints me. I am old, and have already exceeded my disappointment quota. I have sent a private message, and hope comments continue here. - Carl

Hi Michelle. I am interested. There are some simple “field tests “ which almost anyone can do to refine value. The very first one is to determine whether the engine is stuck from sitting for a long time. I usually don’t buy cars that I can not drive, and stop. But I am very familiar with these cars, so I believe I can make it run if the engine still turns over. Whether it could run reliably , though, depends on the condition of the bearings, and whether there are any cracks in the heads, blocks , or water pumps. Verifying any of that, would be a field test most likely too far for you. As far as being able to stop, the good news is that the brakes, not being hydraulic, “hibernate” for long periods of time quite well . A “given” , in the case of such a long dormant vehicle such as this, is that the fuel system will need a fair amount of attention. But that is just routine with any such acquisition , so no surprises there . Yes, I would be willing to take a certain amount of a gamble on it, with the degree of gamble being dependent upon whether the engine will turn a fraction of a degree of rotation. Also upon location, and distance from me. I am in Washington state. I will send a private message with my contacts. Thank you very much, - Carl

Hey Cadillac : Take a look at this. 1929 McLaughlin Buick, model 51. Owned by Derek Thille, a.k.a. Thriller here on the forum. If you scroll down to Buick - Pre War, you will see a topic “1929 Came Home Today”. There are even 2 videos of it running, and an explanation of those REAL 20” tires which Derek discovered. I have brought the topic back up, so you will not have to search far to find it. - Cadillac

Hoping all is well with you and your family this holiday season, Derek ! I see that you have not been around here for a while. I think and wonder about your 1929 sedan frequently, plus those amazing tires are on my mind from time to time. Any progress ? - Carl

AYE !!!! HH. A most hearty and robust “AYE”............. - Cadillac, (now that’s a car, now), Carl

Please ! And MAACAFORUMSGA. - CC

Went out visiting this afternoon and dropped in on my Buick cousins. Our wreath wasn’t quite wright , lacking something, until you all showed us the way. Thank you ! Not too much wrong with it now. Happy Holiday Season, Ben and all ! Ladies and gentlemen, dogs and cats ! From your Cadillac cousins, - Sandy and Carl