The best worst example of the '80s that I just inherited

 Came here hoping (?) for a Cimarron, am only slightly disappointed. Let's find out how bad the bad really was.

Colin Wood said:

Hey, J.A.'s Caddy has a friend now.

I think you're right 🤣. Love the leather interior on this one.

Filler panels on these Caddies are awful. Mine are basically all gone. I'll be looking for some new aftermarket ones eventually. Just got to wait for warmer weather. 

Does that have the starter under he intake manifold?  Nice to ride around on a comfy couch once in a while isn't it?

Hello fellow Burqueño. This reminds me of Gone in Sixty Seconds.. the newer one. Cool car, it is nice when they are able to stay in the family. 

DarkMonohue said:

 Came here hoping (?) for a Cimarron, am only slightly disappointed. Let's find out how bad the bad really was.

OMG, I had forgotten about that and my grandpa's 3rd gen Seville.  I think that one was pretty unceremoniously junked when he passed in '91.

J.A. Ackley said:

Colin Wood said:

Hey, J.A.'s Caddy has a friend now.

I think you're right 🤣. Love the leather interior on this one.

Filler panels on these Caddies are awful. Mine are basically all gone. I'll be looking for some new aftermarket ones eventually. Just got to wait for warmer weather. 

I'm going to get mine from "Antique Cadillac Parts dot net", but I think that all the ABS replacements are basically the same.

Fortunately, it's basically never too cold to paint here in Albuquerque, so I'm going to do them and the trunk lid as soon as I get over to the paint store.

My wife's great uncle had an extremely similar Eldo. Not a convertible, and it was champagne or almond with a medium brown leather interior.

Thanks to the people that posted the phrase "road sofa" upthread. Perfect description.

DarkMonohue said:

 Came here hoping (?) for a Cimarron, am only slightly disappointed. Let's find out how bad the bad really was.

Same but I was pleasantly surprised and kinda like it myself.

Kinda cool to see one in decent, at least cosmetic, shape

When I spent a winter working in the paper mills of the great north woods in northern Minnesota, my boss had one just like that - but not convertible.  He would drive it all winter without the radiator cap.  "Wait, you can't do that", I protested at first.  I had a lot to learn about the northland.  

Who has two thumbs and a Cadillac with functional power steering and questionable air conditioning?

This guy!

My son and my dad pitched in to get it together (they were removing a mouse house from the intake manifold here):

We replaced the AC compressor, I ran out of time to put it back together and try and vacuum it down, but that's just as well, because I should probably flush the thing with acetone before I replace the dryer, orifice tube, and O-rings.

But the compressor belt is the rear-most one, and I think GM designed the belt drive to prevent people bypassing the various emissions controls.  The smog pump belt, for example, is the only thing connecting the crank and water pump.  The AC belt is driven from the back row of the crank, and drives both the AC and power steering (indirectly).  The alternator has its own row on the water pump.  So, clever, but annoying.  Also, it's all metric, a bunch of 13mm, 15mm, and 19mm.  I'm told that the later 4.1L FWD transverse motors have a serpentine system, but to hell with figuring out how to adapt that nightmare.

But at any rate, the belt drive is back together.  We started it, and the steering is once again feather-light.

I refilled the radiator and poured a can of seafoam into the gas tank.

Jehannum said:

Who has two thumbs and a Cadillac with functional power steering and questionable air conditioning?

This guy!

My son and my dad pitched in to get it together (they were removing a mouse house from the intake manifold here):

We replaced the AC compressor, I ran out of time to but it back together and try and vacuum it down, but that's just as well, because I should probably flush the thing with acetone before I replace the dryer, orifice tube, and O-rings.

But the compressor belt is the rear-most one, and I think GM designed the belt drive to prevent people bypassing the various emissions controls.  The smog pump belt, for example, is the only thing connecting the crank and water pump.  The AC belt is driven from the back row of the crank, and drives both the AC and power steering (indirectly).  The alternator has its own row on the water pump.  So, clever, but annoying.  Also, it's all metric, a bunch of 13mm, 15mm, and 19mm.  I'm told that the later 4.1L FWD transverse motors have a serpentine system, but to hell with figuring out how to adapt that nightmare.

But at any rate, the belt drive is back together.  We started it, and the steering is once again feather-light.

I refilled the radiator and poured a can of seafoam into the gas tank.

Sounds like a successful time in the garage! Glad to see all the generations getting involved!

In reply to J.A. Ackley :

They mostly laughed as I continually knocked the hood propulator 3070ti out of place and dropped the 93.8 ton hood on my own head.  I am bruised both in ego and noggin as a result.

I have to put "gas struts for the hood" higher on the list of things to address.  It was one of the earliest implementations of that on GM's part, and they didn't do a phenomenal job.

My dad dropped a 13mm and an extension down behind the idler pulley for the power steering while he was changing the thermostat without me, so I had to run up and retrieve it for him today, and we elected to start it and drive it around the neighborhood.

OMG it is slow.  Smooth, though.  Majestic, that's the correct word.

I'm thinking straight up "Born to Mack" direction - Too Short style. 

BTW - I grew up in the 'Berque'. Was just there a few weeks ago to visit my parents 

Jehannum said:

In reply to J.A. Ackley :

They mostly laughed as I continually knocked the hood propulator 3070ti out of place and dropped the 93.8 ton hood on my own head.  I am bruised both in ego and noggin as a result.

I have to put "gas struts for the hood" higher on the list of things to address.  It was one of the earliest implementations of that on GM's part, and they didn't do a phenomenal job.

I have the spring-loaded ones on my '74, which make me nervous. The hood isn't that heavy, considering how big it is, but it's a lot of hood. That hood propulator 3070ti is a good deal. 

Drove it down a major cruising avenue here in Albuquerque with the top down, and got many thumbs up from guys with very dark tinted, small wheeled vehicles.

It shakes like a paint mixer when above about 43MPH, so that's fine, couldn't possibly have anything to do with the tires holding about 13PSI after a couple days and being 35 years old.

I also washed out the engine compartment with some degreaser and it promptly set a TPS code, so I ordered a new one of those.

I love the Carson City Cat House red upholstery. I could just see that having a starring role in that Casino movie.

I love it :)

I could see cruising the Sunset strip  in that ,  much cooler than the 1956 bug I had , 

Jehannum said:

Drove it down a major cruising avenue here in Albuquerque with the top down, and got many thumbs up from guys with very dark tinted, small wheeled vehicles.

It shakes like a paint mixer when above about 43MPH, so that's fine, couldn't possibly have anything to do with the tires holding about 13PSI after a couple days and being 35 years old.

I also washed out the engine compartment with some degreaser and it promptly set a TPS code, so I ordered a new one of those.

Awesome! Making progress. But does it shake smooth? Cadillacs drive so smoothly even when things might be amiss. 

In reply to J.A. Ackley :

Best I can say about it is that it wasn't pleasant, but it also wasn't a noisy shake.  It was enough that I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and ducked off the 50MPH road to a 35MPH road instead.