Carb is sent!

I finally sent off the carb to be rebuilt. AND I got verification from my Cadillac club, that the bezel I ordered will fit my Eldorado! So I will have a decent-looking interior when I get to the show(assuming I actually recieve the parts - so far it's been over a month since I ordered them).

I think all I have left to find is a radio, but I was thinking that I could take the one out of my deVille, just to fill up the hole, if I don't find one in time.

Crap...

I forgot to bring the carb to work.

So little time left

I really hope all this work I'm having done makes the car well enough to get to LA and back. I will have two very short weeks (if I get the car back on time) to finish off anything that is still not working properly (which includes the new rebuilt carb).

I will need to replace the muffler and possibly the exhaust pipes, and the carburetor. The cosmetic stuff will have to wait. I'll look for a dash bezel and a radio (if only for show)for the Eldorado.

I still have not sent the carb to the rebuilder yet. I do finally have it off the intake (which I brought to A&A this weekend) and in its own box, it just needs to be tightly packaged and shipped.

Adding some work

I called to ask the guys at A&A to replace the freeze plugs while they have the engine out of the car. also, to replace the intake manifold (which I will bring to them) and the thermostat.

Authorizing work

I authorized A&A to do the seals on the engine(all of them), the rear shocks, and the heater but not the air conditioning. I'll get the air conditioning system done when I return from the show in June.

Photos

It has come to my attention that there are no photos in my blog.

For the time being, you can view some photos of my car here: http://photos.yahoo.com/cadillacrazy

Oh- Yesterday I called A&A and got some info, but not all. They fixed the power seat. Apparently, it was just a ground wire that was not connected.

The window switch was a relay, so that is fixed and the gas leak was a hose, so that is fixed.

They are pricing out the climate control system, but guess it to be $1000+ to repair. They also let me know that my oil leak is actually many, many small oil leaks. Estimated to cost $800 if I want them all fixed, and $400 if I want some (that do not require the engine to be pulled) fixed.

I'm waiting for a more specific cost on the air/heat. etc, and a verdict on what is banging around in the back ( possibly a worn bushing?)

silence...

Well, here it is the end of the day on Monday and still no word from A&A. I will call tomorrow if I don't hear from them. I still have not sent the carb off to be rebuilt. I just keep walking right over the box in my living room doing nothing with it.

I hate waiting

I know I'm not going to hear from A&A until at least Monday, but I want to know what's wrong with my car now! I'm so impatient...

In the mean time, I still have not sent the carb off to be rebuilt. I will package it up tonight and bring it to work to ship tomorrow.

I also need to follow up with the guy I bought some dash parts from through Ebay. he was supposed to ship them last week but I haven't seen anything yet.

a long drive

Last night Jim drove me down to Fremont to pick up my car from the Fremont Air and Electric place, where the mechanic was kind enough to let me pay over the phone and leave the keys for me in an undisclosed location(i really need to have a spare set made).

Then we drove to Brentwood (we stopped at Red Robin in Pleasanton for dinner, and stopped again, because I remembered I wasn't in the Porsche and I needed gas) to drop my car off at A&A Auto, the Cadillac wrecking yard which apparently also does repairs.

The drive from Pleasanton to Brentwood was so nice, and I'm so glad the car did not break down while on this journey. I have not renewed my AAA roadside service yet.

Then we drove back to Berkeley. It took us about 4 hours (including eating time) and 135 miles.

A&A?

Well, the air guy called and said that my car was pretty rigged up by the previous owner. He pretty much doesn't want to touch it. He suggested that I bring it to A&A(the cadillac junkyard in Brentwood) to have the work done, since they know how it is supposed to be and supposedly know what they are doing.

I feel like there is no way this car is going to be road-worthy in time for the show in June. I thought it would be better to bring the car to specialists for the different problems, but now it's looking like it would have been better to bring it to a cadillac-only shop.

I'm really annoyed that I can't just work on the thing myself, I hate apartment life!

Coolant leak

Well, I decided not to bring the car up with me to Sacramento which was probably a good thing, because when I brought it down to the mechanic yesterday, it sprang a coolant leak as I was talking with Rich about what needed to be done. It was only a hose, but that would have been a pain to fix on the side of the freeway.

So, Rich either works at or owns Fremont Air and Electric. He has a ton of Polaroid’s on the walls of all the old cars he's worked on, I hope he takes one of my car! He seemed to really know what he was doing. I'm hoping I finally found a good shop.

I need to send the Carb to the Carbsonly place tomorrow; I'll send it from work where I get a discount on UPS ground rates.

To do

I'm trying to figure out what to do this weekend. I originally wanted to swap the intake and carb but I need to send the carb off to be rebuilt, so at least half of that needs to wait. And my brother said the garage is pretty non-functional at the moment, because his jeep is torn apart, so realistically, replacing the intake manifold is not really feasible.

I was also going to try to have the muffler replaced and any exhaust pipes replaced that needed to be. I don't know if it's worth it to bring it up to Sacramento to do that though, there are plenty of places near me I can have that done during the week. Since it's not running right, and I run the risk of blowing another carb gasket out, I'm leaning toward not driving it up. Maybe I will just bring the Carb up and package it up to send to the CarbsOnly rebuilders.

Compliments

I have gotten a lot of compliments on my car. Funny because I think it looks like crap, and I just keep seeing all the work that needs to be done on it. But I guess it still is a unique car even in its partially done condition. One guy said "It's in great shape and is all original" and I was thinking "Did you actually look at it?"

air...etc

I scheduled time on Moday to bring my Eldo to Fremont Air and Electric so they can check out what's wrong with my car's climate control. I may ask them to look at the electric in the seats and doors too. It will probably be there forever.

Today I showed a couple of my coworkers my car, since I've been talking about it so much they wanted to see it. After she saw it, Jeannie said she didn't think I was quite so crazy anymore. I'll take that as a compliment.

Yay! I have real seats!

I picked my car up from the upholsterer tonight, it's so nice to have a car with no holes in the seats, and that doesn't make me want to puke from the smell of death...

I should have listened to myself about calling Napoleon about the direction of the fabric. He ended up putting in it wrong. It doesn't look bad, but it would have been better for it to go the correct direction. Oh well, It's my own fault for not making sure I was clear.

I only had one small section of vinyl repaired and the insets replaced. I'll have to have the interior re-done again at some point as the vinyl doesn't have that much life in it...it's not bad but it's not perfect.

sooo sloooooooww

Why won't this day go by faster! I want my car back.

Since they didn't already have that one I needed in stock, I got a quote from the CarbsOnly guys to rebuild the carb I got from Arizona Vintage. It's not as expensive as I would have thought. I may just send it there.

Interior is done!

I got a call, the seats in the Eldo are finished a whole day early! I go pick it up tonight. I feel so bad though, they found the dead rodent under the back seat. I'm hoping that's why the car smelled so bad.

Climate control

So, I have a confirmed meeting at the end of this week (for when I get my car back) with the air resto guy Rich. I think I'm going to wait to order parts, until he looks it over. I'd like to talk to him about switching to a hydrocarbon refrigerant, and there may be different parts I need for that.

Actual Progress!

I brought the Eldo to Napoleon, he has been working on it this weekend, and is aiming to have it completed by Wednesday. I'm so happy it's going to be done, but when I left it, some of that paranoia about leaving my cars in the hands of other came in...

And as we were driving away, I started thinking about the potential for the car to get a huge scratch down the side if he tried to navigate my giant boat of a car in and out of his little garage very often. Then I started wondering if the smell was really going to be gone when I got it back. and then I started feeling bad about the potential mess inside the seat that he would have to deal with.

I woke up Saturday morning paranoid that I wasn't clear on the fact that the grain in the new material was supposed to go horizontally instead of how the current material goes vertically, and I wanted to call right then to be sure, but it was kind of early, and I thought since his English is not so great, and my Spanish is non-existent, that I didn't want to risk a conversation over the phone that might confuse him more than anything.

Yes, I know, I'm insane, this is why I like to do things myself… it’s so much less stressful.

feels like progress

So, I ordered an intake manifold and a non-rebuilt but correct carburetor from Arizona Vintage Parts they should be here next week. And I've confirmed my appointment and gotten directions to Napoleon's house to drop the car off for upholstery tonight.

I'm working on finding parts for the air conditioning/heating system. I am supposed to take the car in during the week next week for inspection by Fremont Air & Electric. Rich, the guy there seems to do a lot of older cars, so I have high hopes that this will go well.