I have an opportunity to buy a 49 Cadillac sedanette in pretty good shape with minimal rust. It does appear to have one weak body mount on the front p***enger side. Any of you Cadillac fellows want to school me on any particular items I should be looking at besides the normal rust issues. This car is complete but are parts difficult to find if you need them? Thanks for any help. Larry
It's like anything else L....parts are available where they are...you just need to get to know like-minded individuals and put out feelers...FWIW, '48 and '49 Sedanets share the same body parts, with the exception of the park lites, dash and hood and grille (I think the grille is slighty different anyway.) Anyway, there are a ton of new cosmetic parts available...and somewhere here on the HAMB, there is a complete list of Cadillac suppliers (body, mechanical and etc.) but I don't have a link...try to do a search... The sedanet is a desirable car... R-
I would inventory what trim pieces (both inside and out) are missing and get a line on them. Some of that stuff can be nearly impossible to find.
The rear quarter moldings being near impossible to find and VERY pricey if you do. I have a '49 Sedanette, fortunately complete and nice condition. It was one of Cadillacs best designs.
I built a 49 Sedanette 20 years ago and back then the 1/4 mouldings were hard to find and high $$$ when we did find them, can't imagine how hard today! The were made out of chrome plated steel instead of stainless and most are rusted beyond repair. Rest of the trim didn't seem to be a problem, the window trim and other hardware is the same on an Olds 98 and some Buicks too so that helps. A lot depends on if your planning a custom or stock resto on how complete it needs to be.
Back in the mid 70's when I had a 1955, series 62, convertible a family friend bought a 1949 Sedanette that was owned by a retired Cadillac mechanic. The mechanic bought it new and drove it for a couple of years then stored it. When my friend got it the odometer showed aroung 5000 miles as I recalled. Car was absolutely beautiful. Price paid at the time $1000.00 My friend owned the car for about 4 months and turned around and sold it to a Cadillac dealer that wanted to put it in his show room. Most likely tripled his money. A big deal at the time. If the price is right , buy it. If I could find one and had the money. I would.
Thanks for the help guys. I hope to go look at it next week sometime. We are having a winter storm and 11" of snow has fallen since 7am and it is snowing again and predictions are another 2-3" so I won't be traveling for a few days. I'll for sure check out the quarter moldings.
Thanx for the compliment L...FWIW, I have a '48 Sedanet sitting in my shed right now waiting until I get the '60 Chevy wagon done...ehr...well, drivable anyway...I'm itching to get started on it again...I've stripped everything off the body and had it sand blasted, then put some epoxy on it...I have some "unique" kustomizing plans for it... R-
Working on a'48 conv.. As everyone knows rear qter mouldings our out of sight. A few years ago there was a guy in hemmings reproducing them for a $1000 a side, also rear fenders are off the hook too. There are parts guys around selling just about everything ( McVeys, Honest John's etc),but stay away from allcads in Vegas,his prices are so HIGH I get a nose bleed every time I get a price from them. good luck with the project. What great lines on'48 and '49's
Honestly, a '49 Cadillac is one of my dream cars. We had 2 of them when I was a kid and I've owned one since then.
On the topic i'm using 49 caddy side trims on my 49 buick, I plan on making the rear spears out of four door items its the only way around it for me. I agree that they are the best GM styled bodys but ****** me its hard to find good useable parts. Good luck Cheers Darren
I've had a 49 Buick sedanette for about 15 years working on it in between other projects. It shares many of the same parts as the Cad, but a lot of Cad stuff is unique. It took me 6 years to find all the trim parts I needed and I didn't need a whole lot. Center piece for the windshield is almost impossible to find. As stated above, be sure to inventory trim and see what is missing. Then do a quick search to see if there is any chance you can locate stuff at a doable price.
here is pic of diffrence of moldings from a 4-door and 2-dorr. last pic is what i planned to do is a set of pontiac 1953 moldings and adjust them to a 2-door cadillac 1949 quarterpanel
If you plan on upgrading the '49, a '77 Seville front clip, rear end and engine/trans combo work great....at least they do on my '49 sedanette. As some have said, some of the trim is a little hard to find and not all is the same between 48 & 49...and surely not the fordor stuff. Post pics if you score the Cad.
Thanks for that... I think that it will be my only option to make it work with a bit of cut and shut..... One of my pieces for the rear is a bit rusty do you have any that you are willing to sell? cheers Darren
As guys have already stated, trim is an important aspect. Is it all there and what condition? Along with the condition of the car, rust & dents? My main suggestion would be for you to have a solid plan of what you what, your vision of your finish Cadillac. Do you want an original, stock looking Cadillac? Or a custom, mild or radical? I looked at a couple of 48's before I purchased my 47. Mine came in pieces, as the pervious owner had already dis***embled it. I knew I wanted to make a custom. So I didn't care if it didn't have the original motor & trans, nor the condition of the suspensions, interior, gas tank, gauges, and other mechanical parts. I was mainly concern with condition on the body and the trim. If you want a stock looking car, then save up and buy the most complete and best condition car you can afford. You'll save so much time and money than rather buying a basket case and trying to bring it back to stock. In most cases it's cheaper to send extra on a good car, do your personal touches to it, than to do a complete restoration on one. These Cadillacs can be money pits. As for what to look for... (Based on my Cad) Some Cadillacs had trim on the rocker panels and rock guards on the rear fenders, places where rust would generate behind them. Same with the chrome trim on the floor of the door sills. My floors were in good shape, however the floor braces underneath had a lot of rot. My floors had more pitting on the inside than on the outside, I guess from wet carpet. There is a lip were the rear fenders bolt to the body, moisture trapped between this area would rust them out. Post some pics here if you get the Cadillac, and do a build thread if you do some extended work on it. Love seeing Cadillacs being built.
hard to find moldings and i dont sell any of mine i have.the are rusty and i dont have any extra to sell
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