Projects The Best 1955 Cadillac build

ahahaha the enging ahahaha.. Damn i always get that from you.. The damn thing is built already but eventually i want to change it out to either a 400 sbc or a big block.. And yeah eventually i want to go fully custom on it after shcool old style 50s paint job and everything.. But one day hopefully itll get done ahahah.. Its just so expensive and hard to find work to save cash for it..

 

I knew that you had a plan and I love the idea. Krack the whip and get after it this
weekend I want to see more progress pics!! If I lived closer I would help ya guys....

Happy Trails,

Mick

 

Thanx Mick, I'll be cracking the whip...but it won't be on my Caddy this weekend...Dan's newly rebuilt 331" engine and newly rebuilt tranny is back...we'll be painting it and setting it back into his '54 Caddy engine compartment...Moab and the SK 500 are approaching all too fast...hope we make it.

If anything gets done to mine this weekend, it'll be to weld the shrouds on for the Lakes Pipes...

R-

 

Didn't want you guys just sitting around.....ha, ha,ha,..

Don't ask to see my list of what I hadn't done to the Merc yet.

Happy Trails,

Mick

 

Well, that's one thing that doesn't happen around here very often...we've always got one project or the other to work on...and besides, I still have that '48 Caddy Sedanet sitting in my shed just waiting for the '55 to get done.

R-

 

Roger your caddy is coming along great . Hopefully my engine will be done soon so that I can drive it again. Its giving me some great Ideas. GET BACK TO WORK. Keep the pictures coming.

Todd B.

 

Nice work!

 

the car is comin along nicely, good work man!

 

kicks ass.!!!!!

 

Inspirational....Lookin' forward to the Moab show

Tim

 

Wow! Thats a pretty extensive build. Impressive!

 

Awesome!

 

This is the way you document a build. Great job!!!

-Saint

 

Roger,

You're build has inspired to do a picture build of my own with my 62. which will start tomorrow when i get the small block for it... I'll have to think of a name for it but, it should be fun

 

Really nice work and nice job documenting your efforts

 

I had missed this thread until this morning, but what a way to spend my Sunday coffee time!!

What an awesome build...real nice!!

 

Thanx for all the compliments guys, I sure appreciate you checking out my build...

Owning an old car...$$$$
Documenting it via pictures...$$$$

Looking back on it (and patting yourself on the back) = PRICELESS


Hooray for you VB...

I've documented every one of my builds from way back in the early '70's...I have albums full of pictures (and now CD's full)..and some times, after I drive the car for a while, and some thing breaks, wears out, can be done better or needs to be removed to add/change something else, I tend to forget: "Now how'd I do that?" So, I get out the album, REFRESH my memory and understand HOW I did it...and if you're building a car like this Caddy, it sure is important.

One nice thing about electronic photos (and putting them on a CD)...I can pass the pics on to the new owner saying this is how it was done...here's where all the bondo is, here's how we painted it, here's how the brake booster mounts, here's how I built the tranny mount, etc...no guesswork at all for the new owner if and when I decide to sell it...

With all the digital cameras out there these days, you have no excuse NOT to document, it just takes a bit of time to stop working and say: "Gotta take a pic."

R-

 

im subscribing to this thread, its a great read, with tons of pictures, and a really slick ride.

 

it already has a name dummy, joe named that ol bitch years ago.. "cruella"

you cant/shouldnt change it

 

Since Brandonwillis kicked this back to the top, I thot I'd do an update.

I told Von Burke a while back that I work on the Caddy every weekend...but I don't post progress pix every weekend...I save 'em up and then post them, with explanation...!!! I hate pictures without captions or explanation of what's going on...

So...here's the first of the "fun stuff"...there was a shot of it on a HAMB thread some time ago, but maybe a lot of you didn't know what you were looking at...



What you are looking at is two "thinking-out-of-the-box" scoops...on the roof of the Caddy...and you'd prolly never guess what these are off of. No, they are NOT '58 Impala. I decided since this car was a sled, we'd just as well add a few more "sled" items. I formed the scoops themselves from plain ol' sheetmetal, then welded that to the roof...in the above shot you can see where I've added some bondo to cover the edges. The tape around the chromed part is to keep bondo off the chrome.

In the shots below you can see it's all bondoed up and the sealer is shot on it.





And here is the finished "project," with the chromed scoops screwed in...



More updates tomorrow...stay tuned...

R-

 

Finally got around to finishing the fender skirt...and while I have been working on the passenger's side I decided to get one whole side of the car done...so, took the skirt off and built a "block-off" inside the scoop, about two inches back from the leading edge. This is so you cannot see the tire/wheel/hubcap while the skirt is on.



Also note I removed the round rod that was against the body...



Determined to finish one side of the car, I went ahead and started working on the Lakes Pipes shrouds. I started with 2 1/2" exhaust pipe, bent 90 degrees...my Lakes Pipes are 2" diameter, so that leaves a quarter inch all around to center the pipe in the shroud.



No rocket science here...it's called the "KISS principle" (Keep it simple stupid...!!!), no sense trying to reinvent an age old method. That said, I tacked the exhaust pipe to the lower fender...and then built a filler to bridge the gap. While I was at it, I added a little "flair" to the pipe by welding on the same round rod I used on the hood --3/16" rod. I also welded a plug in the end of the pipe, under the car, left a "tab" on it and bolted it to the side of the frame...the whole thing is quite low, and I'm sure I'm going to banging it off something out on the highway...so to keep it from moving when that happens, it's bolted to the frame.



Please note that I did not weld the shroud to the rocker panel...I wanted to be able to remove the fender (if necessary) and didn't want to have to cut the weld off the rocker (gotta think ahead, ya know...!!!), thereby screwing up the paint (when that happens) and having to redo the body work. Speaking of...I had a dent in the fender, so I hammered it out a bit and then bondoed it (Rage Gold is my friend, could be yours too)...and while I was at it, I did the shroud too.



When it was sanded smooth and sealed, I primered it and the whole front fender...



AND, that side is completely done...all I have to do now is seal and primer the rocker. WOW, one whole side of the car is done...well, at least most of it is in primer...lots of block sanding coming up...



Now all I have to do is turn the car around again and get after the driver's side door, front fender and hood...and the hood is what I'm worried about. The hinge system on a Caddy is the strangest set-up I've ever seen...and my hood does not fit the cowl, for some strange reason I've not figured out yet...I've played with it til I was blue in the face and cannot get it any closer to fitting than 3/4's of an inch away from the back edge. Anyone got any suggestions...???

Well, that's it for this update...stay tuned, there IS more to come...

R-

 

Awesome work and a awesome thread....(for a "old guy")!!!...hahaha....being an "old guy" myself, it's great to see that it's still being done!.....I'v been on a 30 "plus" year hiattis....busy work'n and raising a family......and now it's "my turn" to make up for some "lost time".....My 18yr. old son and I are working on his "first" hot rod build, a 51' Ford F-1 p/u....plans are for a 460/C-6, 9in. rear, Jag IFS and a "bunch" of other custom touches and upgrades.....we got it down to the bare frame, so now we can start working in the "other" direction!.....Were moving back to the ColoRODo (I like that!!) Springs area, the first of July, so hope to be able to see your Caddy in person, at one of the events sometime........keep at it brother, I can even see some light at the end of the tunnel!!...........
Later, Doug

 

i wanna see some profile shots of those side skirts they are looking great man. The lake pipe shroud is pretty bitchen itself. Keep up the good work and the detailed posts!

 

all i can say is wow

 

Wow...Your cad is very, very nice. Can't wait to see it done.

As for the scoops, I'm going to take a guess and say they came off either
A. Some odd car (not sure what yet)
B. Big truck of some sort?(My '57 F750 had a neat scoop, maybe others did too)
C. Tractor? (some old tractors like Minneapolis Molines had cool trim)
D. Some sort of household appliance...(ya never know)

 

Wow! very cool, nice work! Can't wait to see it finished.

 

Just seen this, man that cad is great!

 

Brandonwillis...give me some time, will have to roll it outside...it's still cold and snowy here...!!!

Silent Orchestra...NO to all of them...keep guessing...!!!

Thanx to the rest of you for the compliments...

R-

 

Roger your car is coming along great. Like everyone else I cant wait to see it finished. Keep the pics coming. Thanks for the thread.

Todd

 

WOW that is frigin Awesome.