Before and After

[Matt Harwood]

The previous owner of my car (actually his son) gave me a few slides of my 1929 Cadillac when they discovered it sometime back in the very early '70s (maybe even '60s based on the cars in the background). It was in a barn in southern Ohio, preserved by having every square inch of it painted with black house paint. The restoration was completed in 1980 or so, with a freshening with new chrome and a rebuilt engine in the early '90s.

Note that the car did not originally have sidemounts, but that the single Guide light up front, spotlight, and side-view mirror were there from early on. It seems to have some non-stock lights mounted on the fenders, too. I have the original rear-mount bumpers and hardware that were originally on it, but I definitely prefer it with sidemounts. That must have been quite a parts hunt, especially for that sixth disc wheel in the days before the Internet.

Would a sedan in this condition be restored to its current level today? Hard to say. Once again, I feel extremely fortunate that this great car came into my life when it did. I wish I could take credit for how awesome it is, but I have to give Wayne Darling all the credit for finding and saving it and turning it into the great-driving, reliable, handsome machine that it is today. All I'm doing is taking care of it for a while.

Too cool!

Edited February 11, 2012 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[Guest my3buicks]

Thansk for sharing Matt, enjoy seeing before and afters.

[Guest BJM]

Do you like it better with sidemounts or without?

[Matt Harwood]

I've always wanted a Full Classic with 8 cylinders, wide whites, and sidemounts. Much better with them, although it looks sleeker with the rear spare and no sidemounts, I have to admit.

[MikeC5]

Very nice. It appears to have been pretty solid when found.

[Guest bofusmosby]

Great post! I love the before and after photos. As with any antique, we never own them, we are just caretakers for them during our life, with the hopes that when we are gone, the next caretaker will show the care and respect it so deserves. I agree, I have always liked the look of the side-mounts.

[Dandy Dave]

Sweet Car. Yes, It is cool when old photos of the auto in your garage show up. :cool: When the side mounts were added, did they put the wells in the original fenders? Or did they swap the fenders for ones with the wells already in them? Yes, It was quite an undertaking to do the change. Dandy Dave!

[Matt Harwood]

They actually found welled fenders, plus all the mounting hardware, although it appears that the mounting hardware is for a car with wire wheels (it has provisions for leather straps, which I obviously can't use). I don't have the original fenders, but the owner's son, from whom I bought the car, said that they found a parts car at Hershey and used it for the conversion, plus many of the other parts, including the trunk rack and gas tank cover, which are different when a rear-mounted spare is used.

[TexRiv_63]

Would a sedan in this condition be restored to its current level today? Hard to say. Once again, I feel extremely fortunate that this great car came into my life when it did. I wish I could take credit for how awesome it is, but I have to give Wayne Darling all the credit for finding and saving it and turning it into the great-driving, reliable, handsome machine that it is today. All I'm doing is taking care of it for a while.

Matt, nice pics and very true sentiment. Where would we all be if no one before us cared about these cars? The least we can do is not break the chain.