Caddy Hack..... Doc Brown builds a Cadillac one piece at a time......

meanwhile....

Whelp,  the car is finally being assembled.    With the aid of a friend, we managed to transfer the entire dash sub panel over to the white car.   This panel  appears to be made out of cast magnesium and has razer sharp edges.  I suspect  the manufacturer elected not to deburr this casting due to fire concerns.

When this project is done, I may throw the extra magnesium dash in the fire pit and see what happens.

Yes, that is a clutch pedal.....All cars should have clutch pedals.

The rear subframe on the white car had to be pulled to remove the fuel tank.  This frame has a minor surface rust but is otherwise in good condition.   The subframe from the silver caddy is in better condition, therefore  I must exchange it.  This stuff is heavy!

Stay tuned!

Epic rebuild,doc!

Might want to weigh that extra mag dash....I think Mg goes for like 6 bucks per lb at the scrapper. What foul demon from the depths of Hell specced Male torx head fasteners? Can anyone offer an engineering rationale for those?

Nice. Looks like fun. It is amazing just how much space is taken up by two disassembled cars. I managed to fill up a 3 car garage and a porch about as big as a 1 car garage when I merged two cars into one.

In reply to ShawneeCreek :

Keeping a mental inventory of all the parts is a daunting task.  I'll be glad to have my living room and dining room back soon.

In reply to Agent98 :

The 2003 engine is 90% torx but oddly enough the 2007 engine is a random mix. ...crazy stuff! 

Clutch day!

I have been putting off the clutch replacement for a number of days now... the reason is simple.  There is no simple way to work on the engine.   This is the only engine I have ever removed with floor jacks.  I have a perfectly good cherry picker, but unfortunately this engine does not have any lifting points.   Generally speaking, this engine is difficult to service outside of the car and probably a lot worse when it is in the car.  I feel GM did not do it's homework when they engineered this power unit.

Todays fact of the day.....The 2.8 liter V6 is a genuine Cadillac engine that was co developed by Cadillac and Holden.   I guess it could be worse.... Northstar.

Hello, a box has arrived.

FRA-GEE-LEE.... must be Italian?

..... and finally the new clutch is in.   I'll spare you the gory details, but this took nearly all day to do.

Because Cadillac, some things were done in the interest of NVH.  Specifically, I am referring to the dual mass flywheel.   I'm not a big fan of this technology but it is what it is...

Meh.... the old clutch has seen better days, but I think it would have gone another 100K or more.

Stay tuned!

Dude!?!?!!! a dual mass on a 2.8 sheesh!!!!.....all I know is that when the 'V' needs this I'm looking at $1750+ for the whole shebang ....not including the flywheel....can they be turned/surfaced(if need be or just tossed)?

What the heck happened to Cadillac? This is the automotive equivalent of the "nice house with the manicured lawn" that had all the bodies in the basement...

In reply to 759NRNG :

I wasn't prepared to deal with the dual mass flywheel, so I just slipped in the new clutch and buttoned it up.  The Valeo kit I used was $202.00 without a flywheel.  Rock Auto also offers a LUK kit with a flywheel for $345.00.   I think I would E36 M3 myself if I had to pay over a grand for a clutch kit.

The dual mass adds a level of mediocrity to the otherwise thrill of having a manual transmission.  However at the end of the day it is a manual and I'm happy.

In reply to Agent98 :

Yeah, I have had my hands on nearly every part on this car and honestly it could just as well be a Chevy.   Back in the day I had a '64 coup de ville... that was a Cadillac!

Unscheduled repairs.....

The white car had minor surface rust on the undercarriage that needed some attention.  The majority of the rust was removed with a wire wheel on an angle grinder.  The surface was then treated, primed and painted.  For an extra level of protection, I went ahead and undercoated the chassis.  There are several different brands of undercoating available, however I really like the 3M brand of aerosol spray undercoating.  This particular brand goes is easy to apply and after 24 hrs it firms up like factory applied undercoating.   This stuff is expensive at $11.00 a can through Amazon but is well worth the cost.  It took five cans to undercoat the rear section of the car.

An area of concern was an open seam along the trailing edge of the floor pan.  I have to believe GM did not seal this seam for a reason but just fot giggles I went ahead and ordered up[ some seam sealer.

I used GM brand seam sealer that was $8.00 a tube to seal the open seam.

Once the seam sealer dried it was then sprayed with undercoating.  I have no idea if this is an effective repair but it makes me feel better.  

With the chassis nicely undercoated, it was time to install the fuel tank.  This tank is off the parts car and contains the necessary fuel pumps  that the engine controller is expecting.  I also had to install the updated evap system to go along with the tank.

Stay tuned!

Next....

 With the fuel tank installed, next on the list is the rear subframe and associated parts.  This stuff is heavy so I went ahead and got the old Ford fired up to help move the junk around.

Hmmm, this is interesting and I love interesting stuff.    The differential for  the automatic transmission is 3.42 and the six speed is 3.73.   Let's be honest, this Caddy is never going to be a fast car .... so maybe I'll put in the 3.42 diff for better fuel econonmy on the highway.    For now I'll keep the 3.73 but look forward to a diff swap soon.

And the wheels are back on the car... next up is the engine/trans and subframe!

So far I have replaced:

1. Underhood wire harness
2. Complete body wire harness
3. Complete HVAC system with the dashboard
4. BCM
5. Fuel tank
6. Fuel lines
7. Brake lines
8. rear subframe
9. rear springs
10. rear shocks
11. Evap system
12. fuel filter (new)

This list should double in the next few days....

Stay tuned!

Watch the inner frame on the drivers side just down from the engine bay - they like to rot there.  Side note the ls7 single mass clutch setup is the bees knees by comparison to the dual mass.  ~42lbs lighter than the other.  

For diff’s they can all be modified to accept the lad clutches from the V.  Unfortunately only the V got the LSD.

In reply to 84FSP :

Thanks for the heads up on the rust issues!

Shifter and power steering issues....

The soft rubber bushings used in the shifter linkages on these Cadillacs tend to perish over time.  The ruined bushings  will give a vague feel to the shifter and prevent the transmission from going into reverse.  GM does not offer replacement bushings, however they are happy to provide a complete shift linkage assembly for a few hundy.  The good news is the bushings are available through an aftermarket source.

A set of delrin bushings were sourced from Creative Steel for $25.00 + shipping.  These bushings fit snugly and eliminate all the slop in the shifter linkage.  

  Good as new!

The power steering pump and or the hoses on the 07 pars car were leaking.  Unfortunately I was not able to determine where the leak was coming from, but I feel confident that the problem is most likely in the pump.  Even though the pump is likely the source of the leak I'm also going to replace the hoses because they are extremely hard to replace with the engine in the car.

The photo above shows what appears to be a Toyoda pump,  I seem to recall that Toyota was originally Toyoda back in the day.  Anyway, I sort of figured a GM car would use a Saginaw pump, but whatever.    The thing that pisses me off is the pump cannot be removed from the engine without first pulling the pulley off.    Normally the holes in the pulley will line up with the bolts holding the pump .... but not in this case.   We will revisit this issue when the new pump arrives.

New power steering hoses in place.... just in case...

Stay tuned!

continued.....

Oh no.....one of the studs on the exhaust manifold broke during disassembly.    These studs are made of hardened steel and are extremely difficult to remove.  The only real solution is to drill out the stud, but keep in mind that the only thing that will cut through this mess is a cobalt drill bit.  Fortunately I was able to get some bits at the local home improvement store.  

Before doing anything the stud needed to be cut flush to the flange.

The cobalt bit cut through the broken stud like it was butter.   A little bit of lube was used to keep the bit happy.     All of the studs were drilled out to avoid future headaches.  

I had a friend modify the power steering pulley in his mill.  The modified pulley will allow the pump to be removed without first removing the pulley.  Nice!

The gasket on the right is a dealer only item, however I have a better plan.  The gasket was cleaned and liberal amounts of Hondabond was applied.  If you are not familiar with hondabond, then all you need to know it this stuff is magic.  This E36 M3 is $8.00 at your local motorcycle shop.... you will thank me latter.

Whelp, this lump of random parts is ready to be put in the Caddy.  .... its about time!

This car has about a billion of those wacky OEM hose clamps.  Most of the clamps are nearly impossible to get to.  This clever tool worked on every clamp and saved me a tone of time.  This little gem was sourced from Amazon for $35.00.  Well worth every penny!

Tool in action!

The silly engine cover is silly......  Anyway, at this point I had jammed enough screws in place and it was time to see if the engine would start.

Yup,  it started right up.

This is the stuff of nightmares for the unsuspecting auto technician.   What we are looking at in this picture is the entire drivetrain and all the sub assembles from a 2007 Cadillac transplanted into a 2003 Cadillac.  Mechanically this is a 2007 Cadillac, but someone in the future will certainly ask... who would do such a thing? ......

Stay tuned!

Very inspiring Doc! Can't wait to read about the road test.....

In reply to Agent98 :

Thanks!

I'm 90% done with 90% left to go.     

Seriously,  my goal is to have the car street legal by Aug 02...  

Doc Brown said:

In reply to Agent98 :

Thanks!

I'm 90% done with 90% left to go.     

Seriously,  my goal is to have the car street legal by Aug 02...  

Street legal is soooo subjective.

RossD said:

Doc Brown said:

In reply to Agent98 :

Thanks!

I'm 90% done with 90% left to go.     

Seriously,  my goal is to have the car street legal by Aug 02...  

Street legal is soooo subjective.

Well, after all, this is Michigan....

Great project! Congrats on the first startup!

In reply to 2002maniac :

Thanks!  

The driveshaft...

The center support bearing on the driveshaft was looking a bit shabby....  Let's fix this.

A $42.00 bearing kit was sourced from Amazon.... You get what you pay for.  The problem is, I'm not sure the more expensive kits are any better.   Anyway, this will work for now.

Eventually, there comes a time when you have made enough visits to harbor freight that you have the necessary tools to do the job.

So satisfying!

This little nugget was carved out on the lathe while I listened to Rammstein  at maximum volume.  This is pretty much a throw away tool, but I went ahead and knurled it just for fun.

The purpose of this tool is so I could tap the new bearing  onto the driveshaft without damaging anything. 

Tap tap tap.........

I'm not sure if this is the right tool for the job but it worked like a charm.  Basically I'm using the cutters to cinch up the steel clamp around the boot.

Stay tuned!

Codes......

Whelp, there are bound to be codes after such a major overhaul.   Let's deal with one of the tricky ones.

For this job I borrowed a cool scanner because mine will not do the extended code set.  Anyway the scanner found a code in the airbag system that was puzzling.    The scanner indicated the passenger sensor was 'open'   or not connected.  WTF does that mean?...

As it turns out the 2007 Cadillac passenger seat has a sensor that the 2003 Cadillac was not equipped with.  The black cover on the left seat cushion is actually a passenger sensor.  Hmmm.

The seats weigh 75 lbs each and are difficult to  remove..... so I did the necessary surgery in place.   Its tight but it can be done...

Swapping in the enhanced cushion was easy, the tricky part was lacing this tiny harness into the existing seat harness.

This is the fruit of my labor.....

Stay tuned!

Looking good - heated seats seem to be in the near future.  

I have a perfect set of oem seat skins to replace the crispy leather in my V.  I haven’t made time to deal with it but it sounds simple enough.

Amazing