Here is my project car, a 1964 cadillac deville convertible that has sat under a tree for the past 10 years, it's rough as a cob, and a normal person would have sent it to the junkyard, but I just can't send a vintage cadillac convertible to the scrap heap.
here's a little history
this was the original car.I bought in 93 a 2 door coupe I found door high in weeds under a mulberry tree with a bad transmission and no title
"don't know if it runs or not, gimme a $150 and I'll tow it to your house for ya"
later that day at my house after a battery,set of points and gas it started, but wouldn't move
Best I could tell, last time it saw the road was 1971, judging by the tags, registration ,old check stubs and 54 K miles
I sat it aside till I found another one
then in 95 I ran across this in the penny saver "64 cadillac convertible, no motor make offer" it ran for a month so I gave him a call thinking it was probably overpriced
"if somebody don't buy it I'm junkin it"(pause).."I'll be right over"
next day and $350 I towed it home along with the interior and trunk full of parts,
long story short, old man had owned it, his buddy and his son had bought it in an estate sale, they fixed up old cars, his friends son died in a car crash, his friend lost intrest in fixin up old cars, his friend died, his friends wife died, it had sat on his property for years he wanted to get rid of it
I took all the parts out of it, scrubbed it, gave it a good solid coat of primer
since my community has a problem with "yard art" one had to go quick
the original Ht donated a trunk, motor, trans(after rebuild) and 2 very nice doors before going to the scrap yard. and drove the convertible beside the garage, behind the fence, under the tree, where nobody could see it,poured a qt of oil down the carb till it died out, and walked away
that was in 96 at times I forgot it was there
except for when I sold the steering column out of it
last year I got a wild hair and decided it was either time to fix it or junk it
pulled it out disturbing the Opossums that had build a really impressive burrow under it and decided (with the help of a ball peen hammer)that the frame was still solid, and since I just bought a nice sandblaster, why not
it was a challenge to get it into the garage without a steering column but I did it, and once again a set of points and it ran
so I satrted taking stuff off
it's about as stripped as you can get without taking it off of the frame. but whats there is good, and primed real good
I'm gonna have to take up welding , the floor and trunk pans didn't survive
unfortunatly my name isn't Jessie James, and I don't own "Monster Garage", so this is going to take a little longer
06 will be new brakes electrical and all the bells and whistles so it's drivable ( yes I have a column now, and the suspension was all new when I bought it)
07 will be paint and body
08 interior and top,
wish me luck, I'll update from time to time
anyone who wants to suggest a color let me know, I'm leaning towards "matador red" with a white/red interior myself
