Barney Eaton Posted September 21, 2019 Share Posted September 21, 2019 (edited) Made a quick trip to the pick n pull looking for the trunk pull down on a Cadillac. Only found one and the switch was already gone. However looking in the trunks of several Cadillacs I found all these tools in one car..... plus a pair of needle nose fishing pliers. Nothing of real quality and they did have a little rust that cleaned off without much trouble. I know most of you don't care about the cheap tools I found. Neither do I but no one was posting anything. Edited September 22, 2019 by Barney Eaton (see edit history) 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpecialEducation Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 I pulled a lot of parts off this Roady a few months ago. It had some pretty good tools in it, including a nice tire repair kit, and a 12v impact kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Jake Moran Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 23 hours ago, Barney Eaton said: Made a quick trip to the pick n pull looking for the trunk pull down on a Cadillac. Only found one and the switch was already gone. However looking in the trunks of several Cadillacs I found all these tools in one car..... plus a pair of needle nose fishing pliers. Nothing of real quality and they did have a little rust that cleaned off without much trouble. I know most of you don't care about the cheap tools I found. Neither do I but no one was posting anything. Barney Thanks for the post. I check in every day, usually 2-3 times a day. I am curious about the trunk pull down comment. I owned a 2000 Cadillac Eldorado and recently sold it. It had the trunk pull down. I recently purchased a 1993 Allante (Cadillac, for those not in the know) which also has the trunk pull down. So - do you think the trunk pull down apparatus would work on a Reatta or not? Personally I like to dabble and if I had a "driver" Reatta I might try. But I can not add it to the 1988 as I am restoring it. Also, no real need to have a pull down on a small, light weight Reatta trunk lid, but what the heck! Would it work or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry yarnell Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 I don't see how. When you close the trunk on a Reatta, It's CLOSED. No pull down needed. Besides, you have to wire the latch in the lid, and I'm not so sure you can do that...easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 Jake: might mention the NorthStar in the cad. '93 was/is one fast car. Thought about an Allante at one time but next car will probably be an XLR. Thought some Reattas had a tonneau pull down, not a trunk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted September 23, 2019 Author Share Posted September 23, 2019 The Reatta was not involved with the trunk pull down exercise. I was trying to help a shop in Sarasota FL that was working on a 1977 Seville with a non-working pull down. Often saw the pull downs in the yard so I was looking for one to understand the operation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dship Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 My current 2000 Eldorado ESC has the trunk pull down...very convenient device. I had it in previously owned 1999 Eldorado ETC, 2-1992 Rivieras, 1996 and 1997 Rivieras. Puzzles me why it was not an option in my current 2014 Caddy ATS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dashmaster Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 I wonder if the pull downs used in the 80"s and maybe newer Camaro and Firebird Hatches would work? There should be lots of those around in junk yards and maybe in new form from parts vendors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted September 23, 2019 Author Share Posted September 23, 2019 My early research looks like the basic mechanism is the same but there are different mounts. If you do a Ebay search, the plastic main housing looks the same on the early black plastic units and the later clear plastic units. There is one design where the motor shaft is in line with the pull down but on most the motor is 90 degrees to the pull down and is a worm drive. It appears the main failure is the plastic housing cracking at the mounting screw holes. I think I am done with this exercise unless I find one in the junk yard that is pristine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Jake Moran Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 20 hours ago, harry yarnell said: I don't see how. When you close the trunk on a Reatta, It's CLOSED. No pull down needed. Besides, you have to wire the latch in the lid, and I'm not so sure you can do that...easily. Harry I agree. But Trunk pull down is seen as a gee whiz feature so thought it would be used on the Reattas and Rivieras. I can say this, as with DShip - on my 2000 Eldorado it is a much heavier cumbersome trunk combined with it having a long vertical section. Auto pull down is therefore a nice thing when your hands are full of groceries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handmedownreatta Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 9 hours ago, Dashmaster said: I wonder if the pull downs used in the 80"s and maybe newer Camaro and Firebird Hatches would work? There should be lots of those around in junk yards and maybe in new form from parts vendors. they broke often too.i had a broken one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonlabree Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 I have one on my 90. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted September 24, 2019 Author Share Posted September 24, 2019 Went thru the garage to get the newspaper this morning and had a visitor hanging out in the garage. He seems to be gone now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRJBUICK Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 Damn how do you guys survive in Texas, that thing looks like it could carry away small children. i get excited when the mosquitoes are to big. But i guess like the state everything is bigger in Texas. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorialynn2 Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 1 hour ago, MRJBUICK said: Damn how do you guys survive in Texas, that thing looks like it could carry away small children. i get excited when the mosquitoes are to big. But i guess like the state everything is bigger in Texas. lol It’s tarantula mating season in Texas until the end of October. They are not aggressive and eat scorpions. Unless you threaten them, you are ok. I’m headed to Hill Country for a long weekend. The house has been closed up for most of the past year. Generally find some bugs in the house when I get there. Usually dead because I have the house sprayed on the outside, and the inside when I’m there. The garage I don’t spray, the black widows prefer to guard the large roll up doors. Sometimes find snake skins in the bathroom and all kinds of other bugs in the shop. I used to freak out, now am like, oh, another scorpion, snake skin, lizard, huge beetle, etc. Luckily, I have not seen any actual snakes. They have some nasty, dangerous ones there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRJBUICK Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 OK thanks for the info now i know i am staying up north lol 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted September 24, 2019 Author Share Posted September 24, 2019 About a month ago......was at my daughters and she yelled at me "snake" it was in the garage by the car tire, looked to be a small 16 in rattler. I found a bucket and put him in it (I figured the bucket was about 18 in deep so he could not get out) see picture. The daughter call a co-worked that would pick up and release snakes..........he was on his way. When he got there we showed him the bucket and the snake was gone.......... Always keep your eyes open........I have been in Texas since 1970 and lived in 3 different houses........had a rattle snake at each house the first year .. then never seen another. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbenvie Posted October 20, 2019 Share Posted October 20, 2019 I have a number of Allantes and the trunk pull down and rear top pull down are always issues-both use the same motor/lull down but the upper mechanism is different. These same exact trunk pull downs were also used on Lincoln Town Cars and Mark VIIs. (They were stopped because people were not smart enough to pull their fingers out on time). The interesting thing is the Lincolns hardly ever have a problem, yet GMs are problematic-don't know why. I'm not sure a power tonneau on the Reatta is a great idea. I shattered the window on one once by pushing it down and the folds were not quite right-and as you know it then needed a complete top as the window could not be replaced by itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Not limited to Fords, the rear spoiler on the 69 GTO became a wing on the '70 because of some exec's fingers. Florida also has many bugs and snakes but the top of the food chain are cats. Mine bring me presents when something is invasive. re Texas: ever see a small cat chase a 1,000 lb heifer through a barb wire fence ? Biggest spiders I saw were the ones with the lemon colored stripe. Also would match a Florida yellow fly (like a horse fly on steroids) against any other bug. Their bite will stay with you for months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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