new car

This is the dog car I've been driving around. It's a 2001 GMC Jimmy 2-door five-speed. My dad purchased it in Florida, and since it's 2001, it's already CA smog approved. He is letting me drive it since none of my cars are fully operational. The dog loves it.

944 overheats and won't start

Got stuck at the nursery today when the 944 wouldn't start and then overheated.

Jackets made of Cadillac Seats

 

PLATINUM DIRT LEATHER VIN JACKETS™ 
BUILT WITH RECLAIMED LEATHER FROM VINTAGE AUTOS

http://platinumdirt.com/

Cadillacs at the SEMA show in Las Vegas, NV part 3

Cadillacs at the SEMA show in Las Vegas, NV pert 2

Saw this one leave the show it sounded NICE.


'59 at the ditzler booth


another '59 at the ditzler booth

Cadillacs at the SEMA show in Las Vegas, NV

1939 LaSalle with a Northstar engine

1939 LaSalle with a Northstar engine

1980's Limo

1954 Cadillac with Northstar Engine

CTS Sedan

Registration!

I finally got the 944 registered today went to the DMV with an appointment, and while it didn't take very long to register the 944, the woman behind the counter double-charged me for registering the 67 vert.



It was non-op last year, and I handed her the slip for the new year and said 'let's take care of this one too while I'm here'... and ran the credit card thing, and I looked at it and said why is it so much? and she said you have to push the button or it won't go through!, so I pushed the button to save her extra work.Then, she printed out the reciept for the 67 vert, and she charged me for the last week and a half of this non-op year! I asked her why and she said well I assumed you wanted to run it today, and I said why would I wait almost a year, and then pay for the whole thing a week before it was renewed. and she said "that's just assumed" and I said, no it's not, you should ASK.

And guess what that best part is, you have to MAIL in a request for a refund. Next time I'll be going to AAA to do my DMV work.

SF Cadillac mailing list group meet & oil change

We had our annual meet at the San Pablo Reservoir today, I arrived late because when I checked the oil in the '67 eldo before I left the house, it was really low and overdue for a change. So instead of wasting oil topping it off only to change it, I changed it before the meet.

Ironstone concourse

 

Smog check for the 944

Today the 944 gets a smog check. I'm hoping it passes. I'm also hoping the guy driving it into the stall is going to stop talking on his phone long enough to drive a manual transmission car with both hands.

Great Video of Al Capone's 1927 Cadillac

http://cadillaccountryclub.com/blog/restoring-al-capones-1927-cadillac/

Portal Park CLC Meet

Today was the annual meet for the NorCal CLC held at Portal Park in Cupertino, CA

Here's my car at the end of the Eldorado row... which is always the most colorful row!

This interior is custom but is pretty neat.


The '60 Cad that belongs with the interior.

a 30's cad.

SF Presidio Concours D'Elegance

I got to do some judging at the SF concours, I got to judge a 1924 Kissel, a '34 Lincoln, a 46 Chrysler T&C convertible, a '37 Hispano Suiza, a '25 Bently, and a '38 Talbo Lago.

My Other Vehicle

My Other Vehicle is a Marin mountain bike I bought from a guy in SF about 5 or 6 years ago for a little under $100. I like this bike a lot. It was clearly used for some hard core mountain biking in the past (and has the dings and dents to prove it). But I am a much more casual rider.  But I love the bull-nose handles, and it's all black paint job.

When I bought it I got the cushion seat with the springs, I haven't been riding it a whole lot over the last year or so, but last Christmas I got some new tires and tubes for it, and I just added the bike rack with the panniers last night. I can't wait to do a run to the grocery store!

More Will It Start?

Today I took the 944 on a longer series of errands. I drove it over to Mill Valley where I went to the post office, and let it sit for about 10 min, it had a bit of a pause before it turned over, then to Muir Woods and let it sit for an hour+ and it started OK, then to the gas station, where it had a bit of a pause before it started, then to Novato, where I let it sit for about 30 minutes+ and it started right up, then to some guys house to pick up a part for my bro's jeep, where it sat for 10 minutes or so, and started right up, then to a friends house, where it sat for a couple hours and started right up. Another pass, but I still don't trust it.

I brought a set of jumper cables, and tools to clean the battery terminals...

Will It Start?

Today we played a little game called "will it start?"  with the 944. I drove it around town on some errands mostly to see if it would start at every stop.  It passed.

944 issues

Today my dad came up to help me with all the cars, the '67 eldo wasn't starting, and in my rushing aorund yesterday, I failed to notice that it was because it wasn't in park (Duh - I've been shutting in down while it was still in drive to avoid the dieseling that it prone to do - I'm lucky the emergency brake held). So problem solved in that car.

Then we put new spark plugs in the 95 to see if that solved the misfiring issue - It didn't.

Then we tried testing the alternator in the 944, but in order to get to the alternator to test it, you have to take the air filter assembly off, and in doing so you somehow starve the engine if air, so it' pretty much impossible to do this, with out a lift to take the plate off the bottom of the car to access the alternator from below..

I thought there might be an alternator problem because it would run, but then wouldn't start when I shut it down.

We got it to run for a brief moment with the air cleaner off, but the intake sealed up and it looked like not much current was running through the alternator, but then Jim came home, and reminded me that we had to clean off the battery terminals to get it to run last time. So we hooked the air filter assembly back up and cleaned the battery terminals and it started right up, and the batt. light wasn't coming on any more. My dad suggested getting some Battery terminal sealer, which I happened to have from when the 67 was having battery issues.

I'll test it around town tomorrow...

Rooky move

I went to visit my friend Michelle today, and from her place went to  a picnic. On the way to her house, I went through the Caldacutt tunnel and turned the lights on in my car. I apparently failed to shut my lights off, since when Michelle and I returned to her place, My car would not turn over. I realized my mistake, and checked the trunk to see if I had jumper cables back there. Luckliy I did! So Michelle let me jumpstart my car from hers. I'm glad I didn't have to use my AAA card, I think I only have two calls left to last until the end of the year.

Dash Crack

So the Dash Board in my 67 eldo was already cracked around where hole were cut for speakers on the top part, but today one of those cracks made it's way all the way down the front of the dash board. Which looks 80% worse than it did. I'll have to add dah board to the list of things to get for this car.

New tires

The 1967 Eldo is getting four new tires today. White walls that match even! And we're switching back to the size tire that should be on there: 235 75 r15. What was on it before was a 255 70 r15, which is apparently a truck tire according to Scott at my local Americas tire co.



If you look closely, you can see the orangish-red of the Cadillac sticking out at the end...

I like the thinner whitewalls.