Customs 47 Cadillac Build Thread - Not your Daddy's Caddy

It's been a busy month, but not as much to update on the Cadillac. Made a trip to Chicago to help a buddy, 1959apache, haul home a 40 Plymouth parts car. Plus a weekend at NSRA Nationals. And football season for my oldest son has started... so my weekends have not been as productive as I had hope for this month.

As for the Cadillac, the frame is in the sandblasting booth. 90% of it is done, just need to rotate it over and hit the bottom areas of the frame rails. Should have that done tonight. Then pull it out of the booth and give it a good cleaning. Have 2 spots to re-weld, and a couple of holes to drill on top of the cross member (so I can compress the front springs when installing), then it will be ready for a little bodywork, primer and paint. Going to paint it outside because my make shift booth would take to much work at this time to get it clean and set up properly. So if the weather/wind permits, perhaps this weekend.

I have spent some $$$$ on some items for the car this month... new coilovers (4 - QA1 Adjustable Ultra Ride w/10˝ springs) for the rear suspension. And all of the paint supplies. Luckily, I'm able to save on these items with an employee discount! Although, I may have to paint the car NAPA blue & gold due to their sponsorship.

I also purchased some items at the NSRA Nats... New taillights - 38-39 Lincoln Zephyr (I know they have been used a lot on other cars, but I really like the look of them on a taildragger, and I not a fan of the originals). New body mounts from Steele Rubber Products (all 16 of them). And a new bead roller and other metal tools.

Hope to have some pics to post up in the next week! Thanks for the inquiry, wish there was more to post...

 

Check out the brother's Pontiac, it has the look you are going after. (chopped, etc.) I think you will find him under "Lowelife" on here.

 

Only pic he has is in his avatar... nice looking ride, not sure I'll go as low on the lid as he did.

 

Just food for thought, on the 47 Cad I keep running there was an 8" Midland booster put on as an add on, they located it in the left fender in that space between the toe board and inner fender, its seperate just like a Hydro Vac on a truck, the brake pedal and master cyl were left in the orginal spot.

 

I like it. I have a 48 sitting and waiting for me to do something with. How much different are the 48's from the 47's?

 

I was looking at some of the Hydraulic brake systems at NSRA Nationals (I think it was CPP)... They are very pricey. It's an option if I can't get the booster I have to fit under the car. Really don't want it on the firewall.

 

The 46 and 47 Cads where very close in the same style. They change in 48-5? to a new style. Hoods weren't as tall or peak/pointy. Also start of the fins... Don't know all of the difference between the 47 and 48, but you can tell them apart from each other where as the 46 and 47 you have to look for the trim and settle grill differences.

 

I had to send this booster out to have it rebuilt and it went to Power Brake sales in Sacramento Ca, its not that expensive of a unit,Sandy the gent that owns the co is very sharp on this stuff and so is his daughter Sandra, In fact on one of the threads here I saw their display at a show recently in northern Ca.

 

Bookmarked their website, thanks for the info!

 

Cool, thanks. Here's a crappy pic of mine. I still have to get it off the trailer. A buddy gave it to me and I didn't believe him so I didn't unload it right away in case I had to bring it back.

 

Well you can't beat a free Cadillac! Is the car complete? Or are you going to need to find a parts cars? I imagine parts for a 48 won't be much easier to find as they are for a 47.... What's your plans for it?

 

That's a '48 Sedanet on the trailer above...you can tell by the lower part of the hood that curves down alongside the grille...'49's shared the same body style except the hood was cut straight across...most '48 and '49 body parts interchange except the hood and grille.

The '48 had a really unique dash in them...and the '49 dash was changed quite a bit...'48 Sedanets are much more desirable than '49 sedanet.

I have a '48 which is going to be my next build...

R-

 

I knew there was a dash difference. I remember when the Nats was pre 48, a club member was picking out the 49's at the show by the differences in the dash.

I see what you mean with the hood from the pic of the 49 in your 60 Chevy build thread. Speaking of which, how it going?

Jason

 

I am not having the fun you promised me...

Where are the pictures Jason??

 

I unloaded it last night so you motivated me to do something. I don't have any plans yet to be honest. The chassis is a bit hacked up so that would be the first thing to address. It has all it's trim, dash and the rest of the body parts. I think I'll just build a custom out of it when the time comes to do something with it. For now it is going to be stored. Hopefully in the near future I can get it under cover to protect it.

 

Just got back on it Jason...took the front clip over to the blasters yesterday to have it made clean bare metal.

We stopped working on it around the last of June in order to get our Cadillacs ready for the two week trip to Canada...did you read my 'trip' report...??? If not, go here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=823789


R-

 

Ha, Fun? I think you have to drive them...

I enjoy building on them as much as I do driving them, but I haven't done much of either lately!

No pics until I get something accomplished!

 

Are you busy this weekend or working on the caddy? I could offer some assistance if you would like.

 

Man good score for nothin buddy!!!



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Well I got in some late nights this week and manage to get some work done...

Frame is finally out of the sandbox... clean all around!






Welded up 2 spots that I did not get as well as I should have. Easier now that it was on the auto rotisserie.

Had to use a 6" orbital sander with P40 paper for the underside of the cross member. Whatever primer Jaguar uses is tough as nails, sandblaster would take the paint layer off but wouldn't take the primer off in some areas!

Decided to use a little All-Metal filler on all of the welded seems on the front end. I know most of these areas will never be seen, but it cleans it up nice and hopefully help protect it a little better. Shaped it with 80 grit, then sanded with 220. Going to do the primer coat, then sand with 400 & 600. First time doing bodywork, so these "unseen areas" is a good place to get some practice / experience.








Little more sanding to do on the driver's side. Need to prep a few suspension parts. Make some sort of rack to hang parts from. And shoot some primer/paint/clear on Saturday & Sunday.

Side note: This will be my first time shooting paint! I've read a lot, so hopefully it goes well! Using Cross/Fire high hiding basecoat and CC5000 clear.

Hopefully have an update on Monday... Jason

 

The devil is in the details; you'd think that there are spots no one would think to look, but there is always that guy who does, and either busts your chops or appreciates the effort to do a clean job. I do the detail work to please myself, but when its noticed by others I appreciate their comments. Some people just get it.

 

Man that's clean work!

 

After a late start due to my son's football game, I started at noon sanding the frame and prepping the last of some suspension parts. I finally stopped sanding at 4:00 am on Sunday morning. The front of the frame I sanded down to 320 grit before deciding to call it quits. I could of taken it farther, but I wouldn't have gotten to the paint this weekend. It's far from perfect, but good enough for who's its for...




Back at it on Sunday morning! Frame and parts in prime...




Then three coats of black paint...




And the final results without clearcoat...








Going to clearcoat it tonight.

I tip my hat to both professionals and those who do their own bodywork/paint work. It's time consuming, a lot of hard work and takes talent/skill. I'm glad I tried it out and I'll continue to paint the smaller, not as important items; but I won't be painting this car. Up next is rebuilding the suspensions.

Typing from my cubical with paint under my finger nails, Jason

 

Nice work so far, looking good!!!

 

Thanks, farmer... I've been following your build for some time. It's looking awesome!

 

Looks great. Way to put in the work.

 

I have not posted in awhile, but it's not like I haven't been working on the car either...

Finishing up the suspension work. I won't go into much details of the rebuild as it is the non-traditional part of my build.
But, here's the finished results...

 

^^^^^^looks good^^^^^^

 

Made some progress on the front suspension. New bearings, seals, bushings, ball joints and paint. It is not completely finished… still have to install the springs, the power steering rack, the front sway bar, and the rubber brake lines to the frame.

With full fenders, a trail dragger/lower stance, and rear wheel skirts... much of it won't ever be seen anyways, but it has some detailing if anyone does stick their nose under it.

 

Nice build, only the body work left now