Projects My New Project: 1956 Cadillac Sedan Deville Resurrection Thread

Running smokey how? Burning oil or running rich?

 

So you got the radiator in...I think I can assume you didn't pressure check it...it's holding pressure good...???

From the sounds of the video it seems the power steering pump bearings going bad...??? Generator bearings going bad...???

What kind of smoke...dark rich-smelling like the carbs are being overpowered...or white smoke like the rings are bad...???

Too bad you passed on the invitation to go to the Lone-Star with us...Friday was a great day...Saturday was a bit cold...but still lots of cars...got home yesterday afternoon...took two lane highways out of Denton over to near Lubbock and then went up to Palo Duro Canyon on the way...put on 1746 trouble free miles...again...!!!

R-

 

Took another video today.

I am thinking the smoke is from worn piston rings sadly...

 

Well, you could dump a can of "Restore" in it, run a heavier weight oil to see if that helps.. also, I might be wrong, but I think synthetic oil burns clear.. in other words still burning oil but you can't see it.

Or.. it's time to ring it. You pulled the motor on the 58 so you're experienced!

 

The only problem is of I put new rings in it, I might as well rebuild it all since it is out and I don't have the money for that sadly... The 58 just needed external seals. Not much inside. Tell me more about restore

 

Well, I don't know much about it, it's your basic mechanic-in-a-can solution. They have it at most auto parts stores. For that matter dump a bottle of Lucas oil treatment in it.. I've used that before.

Also, pull off the oil fill cap while it's running, if it's burning oil it probably has a lot of blow-by too. If it's blowing crankcase gases out the fill tube like a hair dryer you'll know. Adding another breather somewhere could help venting the block

 

While I was waiting on the compression tester to come in the mail (hopefully tomorrow), I decided not to waste any time and clean up the white paint on the caddy. The white roof and tops of the doors was about the only paint that could even be saved. Ill have to paint the rest of the car. Take a look at the before and after pics:
BEFORE:



AFTER

 

well....a south Dallas Caddy steal ??? yes - think you got a good one there and you guys (and maybe a girl) made it out alive....gotta luv it...!

what's that old plate that was in the trunk - maybe some history there of ownership.....

 

The plates in the trunk are both texas, the oldest one being from 1993 where the car was registered as an antique. Also there is a 2000 texas inspection sticker in the window. The only other ownership records we found were receipts from the 80s when the car was in Kansas

 

Don't get too far ahead of yourself worrying about tearing into the engine yet. Wait till you find out how the compression looks and see if it's got good strong, steady manifold vacuum. Did you mention how many miles this things got on it? It wouldn't be surprising if it had some rings, valves or lifters sticking in it. Try some Rislone or Seafoam or some kind of detergent additive in it, though it may take a bit of running for the stuff to do it's job.

 

some of his collection lately on CL....

 

that post should read - cool a Kansas connection...worth a search to find the previous owner maybe....and on my earlier post -



"he know's what he's got" thought you were looking at John's stuff over in Fort Worth - he's been listing his stuff on CL lately....

your sure making some progress on it - Pistons-N-Paint ?

 

I have no idea how I would begin a search for previous owners. There isnt much info to go on, but you never know!

As for John's stuff, this car came from a backyard in south dallas, from a guy named Glenn

 

Great build . I have a 52 caddy I'm trying to work on


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Here are the findings from today. I wanted to pull the valve covers to see what I was working with, and to also help me find TDC on each piston to do the leak down test... Looks like Ill be waiting to do tha test, seeing I have two valve that are stuck open, and some more issues to deal with.

Anyone know how to replace the spring retainers that are broken? Also how to determine he condition of the cam shaft and the lifters? I hope nothing down deeper is worn, but I wont hold my breath.

Number 8 cylinder



Number 2 cylinder

Number 3 cylinder

 

Unbolt the rockers, then use a valve spring compressor tool.

Where those pushrods like that when you took off the VC? They could be bent if the popped out from under the rocker like that.

 

yes these are pics of exactly how I found everything under the valve covers.

 

Ok, I thought it sounded like it was not hitting on all 8 in the video. Pull the pushrods (the ones that are already out) and see if they're bent. If the hydraulic lifters were stuck then it acted like a solid lifter cam putting much more force on the valves, which broke the retainers, that's one possibility. Also a stuck valve could cause the damage to the retainers.. hmmm... I'm thinking pulling the intake and inspecting the lifters might be necessary.. hopefully someone more versed will chime in.

 

Great project, I am interested in seeing how this turns out.

 

anyone have any idea where replacement parts for this are sold and how much they cost?

 

Try www.Kanter.com...they usually carry engine parts...

R-

 

I will be doing just that. Wonder what makes pushrods bend like this...

as am I!

Seems like they have everything but the valve spring retainers... Know of anyone who has a few?

 

Check egge.com they may have them. they claim to have any part back to 1909.

http://www.egge.com/

 

I didnt see them, BUT that does not mean they dont have them. Honestly their site is hard to navigate!

 

most likely stuck valves and lifters, you should take the heads to a shop and get them done right, pull the manifold and pull the lifters as well, they could be stuck or worse.

half-assing it back together without looking at other things might not work, you might have chunks of metal floating around too....

 

Try your local engine re-builder for push rods, valve spring retainers and keepers. Most usually have an assortment on hand that they could match to one of the good ones form the engine - if they don't then they have suppliers to source those pieces from.

Once replaced, you could rotate manually the engine to put the piston at the bottom of its stroke, use a hammer and gently tap on the offending valves to check to see it their stuck. If they bounce/move freely, re-assemble the valve train then manually rotate the engine while having someone watch the rockers cycle while paying close attention to the valve springs.

What you're looking for is valve spring bind - if the springs completely compress and the coils touch. This shouldn't happen on a stock engine if it's in good shape. I've seen valve train failures like you posted on old/tired engines that were abused/over revved - the valve springs no longer have the tension to keep the valves from "floating" and the valves literally come off of the rockers at high RPM (on an original engine of this era could be as low as 4600 RPM). If that's the case with your engine a simple inexpensive solution would be replacing the valve springs.

Watching your videos of the engine running I'd hazard a guess that the car was taken off the road for its poor running state - the engine has a dead miss at idle.

Bottom line - If it were me, I'd remove all eight spark plugs, remove the rockers (since you have the valve covers off anyway), perform the engine leak down test to give you an overall idea of the mechanical viability of the engine. If the numbers are o.k (usually 40% or less leak down for a driver engine is passable) replace the broken/damaged keepers/retainers, all 16 valve springs and bent pushrods then reassemble the rest of the engine.

Keep in mind the engines age and architecture, don't me too rough on the old gal and she ought to give you miles of smiles.

 

This is exactly the plan for tomorrow. Once I get the rocket arm shaft off, Ill have all the valves closed and will be able to do a leak down on all the pistons at one time. I have my fingers crossed that it is just problems in the valve train, BUT If I have a cracked or broken piston on 3, 2, or 8, I wont be too surprised either. Thanks for all the help and stay tuned!

 

good project,hope it all works out well.

 

You should yank the heads, it's super easy to replace the lifters on these engines. You can replace the retainers and springs with the heads in place but the push rod being out like that concerns me.

 

Bad news boys. I ran the cylinder leak down test this morning and these are the numbers.
#1 at 90 PSI is at 40%
#2 at 90 PSI is at 20%
#3 at 90 PSI is at 30%
#4 at 90 PSI is at 40%
#5 at 90 PSI is at 45%
#6 at 90 PSI is at 30%
#7 at 90 PSI is at 40%
#8 at 90 PSI is at 40%

All 8 cylinders have compressed air coming out of the intake manifold at the oil fill cap, meaning the main problem is piston rings and or cylinder walls.

I dont have the money to pay for an engine rebuild, so at this point I am undecided on the next course of action.