Claydus
Well-Known Member
@jelloslug did you work on the wood trim on the dash at all? was is faded or have any cracks?
trying to restore some wood trim in a car that has some significant UV damage over the years... almost impossible to find replacement parts for the type of wood that was used. One of my options is to sand down and re-apply a lacquer to the trim... know of anyone that has done this?
trying to restore some wood trim in a car that has some significant UV damage over the years... almost impossible to find replacement parts for the type of wood that was used. One of my options is to sand down and re-apply a lacquer to the trim... know of anyone that has done this?
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
It's all fake plastic wood. I have done some veneering before though on car trim. Send me a PM and I'll go into more detail and maybe that could help.
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
To go along with the 3D printed fillers for the headlight buckets, I also cleaned, painted and polished the bucket assemblies themselves as well as the fender caps.
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
Here is another reason I made my own fillers. All of the aftermarket fillers list the headlight filler as fitting '73 and '74 models. Here is a '74 filler on a '73 headlight bucket.
And here is the same part on a '74 headlight bucket.
And here is the same part on a '74 headlight bucket.
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
The exhaust was mostly stock but the resonator must have rusted out and was just replaced with a pipe.
I picked up a new resonator, cut off the old pipe and reused the end of the old pipe on the resonator.
I picked up a new resonator, cut off the old pipe and reused the end of the old pipe on the resonator.
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
The trunk was fairly untouched. It still had the rubber mat and all of the carboard trim with the carpet was still there.
I pulled out all the carpet and there was more of the carboard/asphalt sound deadener. It was musty and slightly damp like the stuff that was under the carpet in the cabin. I kept the carpet to make patterns with but I tossed the sound deadener.
The seam sealer was just as bad in the trunk as it was in the rest of the car. I basically just scooped it out and vacuumed up the smaller pieces. The trunk floor itself was in even better shape than the cabin floor pan.
Once I get a little further along with the top disassembly, I'll treat the trunk floor like I did the cabin floor and then recarpet it. I have not decided if I will use trunk carpet or real carpet. If I use real carpet, I could use the cabin color or a dark grey/black.
I pulled out all the carpet and there was more of the carboard/asphalt sound deadener. It was musty and slightly damp like the stuff that was under the carpet in the cabin. I kept the carpet to make patterns with but I tossed the sound deadener.
The seam sealer was just as bad in the trunk as it was in the rest of the car. I basically just scooped it out and vacuumed up the smaller pieces. The trunk floor itself was in even better shape than the cabin floor pan.
Once I get a little further along with the top disassembly, I'll treat the trunk floor like I did the cabin floor and then recarpet it. I have not decided if I will use trunk carpet or real carpet. If I use real carpet, I could use the cabin color or a dark grey/black.
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
To go along with the work I did in the trunk, I also cleaned up the tail light and license plate area at the rear of the car. I started with the license plate holder. This car has the fuel filler under the license plate and the whole assembly had surface rust on it.
I soaked the assembly in evaporust and it did a great job taking it down to bare metal.
I gave it a light scuff with some sandpaper and painted it black again.
The little grab handle is made out of the same material that the body fillers are made out of. I have a few good used ones and I took a serviceable handle and use it for now. I have actually already a 3D model and printed my first run of this part, I just have not painted they yet.
I soaked the assembly in evaporust and it did a great job taking it down to bare metal.
I gave it a light scuff with some sandpaper and painted it black again.
The little grab handle is made out of the same material that the body fillers are made out of. I have a few good used ones and I took a serviceable handle and use it for now. I have actually already a 3D model and printed my first run of this part, I just have not painted they yet.
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
The body seam sealer between the trunk floor and the trunk rear wall was just like all the other seam sealer. I was able to just sweep it out of the seam.
I cleaned out the seam, sealed it with POR-15 and then put new seam sealer in and gave it a quick coat of paint.
I cleaned out the seam, sealed it with POR-15 and then put new seam sealer in and gave it a quick coat of paint.
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
I cleaned up the back up light housing and polished the lenses. On the left is the hosing/lens as pulled from the car, on the right is after polishing.
I also pulled the tail light housings. Even after cleaning them up, they still look bad because the chrome is all flaking off. I'm going to sandblast them to bare metal and then powder coat them with a chrome powder coat. There are two different styles of tail lights for these models and I have a set of both. I just need to decide which one to use.
I also pulled the tail light housings. Even after cleaning them up, they still look bad because the chrome is all flaking off. I'm going to sandblast them to bare metal and then powder coat them with a chrome powder coat. There are two different styles of tail lights for these models and I have a set of both. I just need to decide which one to use.
Armin Tamzarian
Well-Known Member
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
I have a crappy ABS license plate filler that I got out of a junk yard for $5. I already knew that it was not going to fit very well but it was better than nothing. At that point in time, I had not even seen a real factory one, let alone gotten one to model. I have one now and I'm working on printing it. In the mean time though, I decided to "fix" the crappy ABS part so it could at least be mounted. Here is the part as it ships:
The way it is supposed to mount is that the recessed area on the edge fits into a slot in the bumper. The legs on the rear mount to holes on the inside of the bumper. There are also two metal "T" shaped pieces that sandwich the rear legs and fit through slots in the legs. The top of the "T" is pushed up against a bracket on the under side of the filler to keep the front lip in the slot. This is where the fitment issue is. There is no lip on the underside of the filler, the recessed area is too thin and the shape of the recess is wrong. Because of this, you can bolt the filler in but it will just pop out of the slot all the time and drop down into the bumper. Here are the "T" brackets and also how the filler should fit:
To make it actually mountable, I made ABS brackets and stiffeners and glued them to the back of the filler with ABS pipe glue.
Here you can see how the "T" bracket is supposed to be mounted.
And here it is bolted to the bumper.
The way it is supposed to mount is that the recessed area on the edge fits into a slot in the bumper. The legs on the rear mount to holes on the inside of the bumper. There are also two metal "T" shaped pieces that sandwich the rear legs and fit through slots in the legs. The top of the "T" is pushed up against a bracket on the under side of the filler to keep the front lip in the slot. This is where the fitment issue is. There is no lip on the underside of the filler, the recessed area is too thin and the shape of the recess is wrong. Because of this, you can bolt the filler in but it will just pop out of the slot all the time and drop down into the bumper. Here are the "T" brackets and also how the filler should fit:
To make it actually mountable, I made ABS brackets and stiffeners and glued them to the back of the filler with ABS pipe glue.
Here you can see how the "T" bracket is supposed to be mounted.
And here it is bolted to the bumper.
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
With the crappy filler mounted, I put the license plate retainer and back up lights back in.
I also found the factory option license plate frame in a box in the trunk.
It cleaned up nicely.
I thought that I was going to have to repaint the gray bumper trim but going over it with some compound brought it back to its original color.
I popped the tail lights back in and that wrapped up the back end for now.
I also found the factory option license plate frame in a box in the trunk.
It cleaned up nicely.
I thought that I was going to have to repaint the gray bumper trim but going over it with some compound brought it back to its original color.
I popped the tail lights back in and that wrapped up the back end for now.
thekinggovernor
President Joe Biden Vice President Kamala Harris
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
Since we are talking about the tail lights, lets look at the tail light filler bezel. I have only ever seen screen shots from a video of a real one in good condition. I did manage to get a pair of complete units but they are far from usable. The are, however, good enough to use to make models from so they can be printed. Here is the pair of fillers that I have:
They certainly are not much to look at but they are complete. Lets go over the major differences between the real fillers and the aftermarket ones. The aftermarket fillers are just a shell, they don't have any of the tabs that are on the rear of the filler. Those tabs are stiffeners and they also lock the bottom edge of the filler to the lip of the tail light housing. Next is the bottom lip on filler. This lip sits on top of the bumper and stiffens the edge filler where it sits parallel to the top of the bumper. Next is the inner wall of of the tail light opening. Some of the aftermarket fillers either don't have the inner wall or it's not complete. If it's missing, there will be a big gap between the face of the filler and the tail light lens. The filler is supposed to have a piece of chrome trim on the bottom edge that runs to the license plate opening and up the side to the trunk lid. The area on the side of the filler at the license plate opening has a lip that holds the trim. None of the aftermarket fillers have the lip. There is also working embossed in the filler that say "REMOVE THIS BEZEL TO SERVICE TAIL LIGHTS" that is not on the aftermarket pieces. This is how the factory bezel should fit:
And here is a prototype printed bezel that I'm working on:
It need just a tad bit more work and then I can print it out of ABS or nylon so it can be painted.
They certainly are not much to look at but they are complete. Lets go over the major differences between the real fillers and the aftermarket ones. The aftermarket fillers are just a shell, they don't have any of the tabs that are on the rear of the filler. Those tabs are stiffeners and they also lock the bottom edge of the filler to the lip of the tail light housing. Next is the bottom lip on filler. This lip sits on top of the bumper and stiffens the edge filler where it sits parallel to the top of the bumper. Next is the inner wall of of the tail light opening. Some of the aftermarket fillers either don't have the inner wall or it's not complete. If it's missing, there will be a big gap between the face of the filler and the tail light lens. The filler is supposed to have a piece of chrome trim on the bottom edge that runs to the license plate opening and up the side to the trunk lid. The area on the side of the filler at the license plate opening has a lip that holds the trim. None of the aftermarket fillers have the lip. There is also working embossed in the filler that say "REMOVE THIS BEZEL TO SERVICE TAIL LIGHTS" that is not on the aftermarket pieces. This is how the factory bezel should fit:
And here is a prototype printed bezel that I'm working on:
It need just a tad bit more work and then I can print it out of ABS or nylon so it can be painted.
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
One little thing I forgot on the carpet install was the threshold sill plates. They are stamp aluminum and they were in decent shape but a bit dull. I ran them though a buffer and they turned out OK.
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
The back end was a bit saggy. All convertibles from this era came with rear air shocks and it's not the most reliable system. I had already replaced the failed air shocks with conventional shock and that helped a bit but it was still sagging in the rear and one side was noticeably lower than the other. I decided to change the springs and see if that would help. The rear suspension is very similar to the RWD Cadillacs with a triangulated four link rear axle, coil springs, and shocks. The difference is that it's just a beam rather than a live axle. Swapping the springs is straight forward: compress the spring, lower the axle, remove the old spring, compress the new spring, install the new spring, raise the axle and remove the spring compressor.
Here are the old springs. You can see that one of them is about 1-1/2" longer than the other.
Here are the old springs. You can see that one of them is about 1-1/2" longer than the other.
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
When I did the exhaust resonator, I replaced the muffler also. The muffler that was on it was the stock muffler and it was rusted out. I was able to just peel the shell off of it.
New muffler and resonator. I cut a notch in the inlet for alignment lug on the exhaust pipe.
Side note: I hate this muffler; it sounds like a crappy old pickup truck. I think I'm going to just replace the entire exhaust system.
New muffler and resonator. I cut a notch in the inlet for alignment lug on the exhaust pipe.
Side note: I hate this muffler; it sounds like a crappy old pickup truck. I think I'm going to just replace the entire exhaust system.
Menger
OT Supporter
- Nov 23, 2011
- 23,784
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
There were three radio options (plus a radio delete) for the Eldorado in '74: AM/FM radio, AM/FM stereo with auto signal seeking radio and finally, AM/FM stereo with (8-track) tape player. My car came with the AM/FM stereo with auto signal seeking radio. The radio itself is rather cool, it was the pinnacle of analog mechanical radio tech. When you push the signal seek button, a motorized tuner turns the tuning dial up and down the band until it hits a station that it can tune in. Also, when you switch from AM to FM, the indicator display flips over to show the proper frequencies for that band.
BUT... This is a car from the '70s. It MUST have an 8-Track player in it. Long ago, I had a '74 Coupe deVille and in that Coupe deVille, there was an 8-Track player. I took that 8-Track player out, stuck it in a box and put that box in the attic of my parents house where it sat until just recently.
While I'm sure the this old 8-Track player "ran when parked", it certainly did not work now. It's common for the mode switch to get corroded and make the entire unit not work. It's the white plunger just under the belts in the middle of the pic below.
On top of that, the belts for the 8-Track were shot, the capstan had old tape wrapped around it, the head position actuator was stuck, the volume pots were scratchy, and the radio preset buttons were frozen. Repairing this was just a "one thing at a time" kind of thing. First up were the belts. Just order new belts and that was it. They are cheap and easy to fine.
Next up was the capstan. It's the post in the middle of the big flywheel and it's supposed to be clean and slightly rough. It presses against the rubber wheel in the 8-Track tape and it's what pulls the tape over the tape head during playback. It was neither clean or slightly rough anymore. I pulled off the old tape, masked it off, and sandblasted the area where it should be gripping the tape.
Next up was the head position actuator. For those who don't know much about 8-Track tapes, the tape has 8 individual tracks (duh) on a 1/4" wide tape. They are divided into pairs for left and right stereo so you have four pairs of track on a tape. The tape itself is about 12 minutes long and you have 4 of these 12 minute long tracks per tape. To switch tracks, you push a button and the tape head moves down two tracks to the next pair. Keep pushing the button and it will cycle all the way to the bottom and then back up to the first pair. The tape will also automatically switch tracks at the end of the 12 minute recording. This is possible because 8-Tracks are a continuous loop. When you play the tape, the tape is pulled from the center of the spool, over the tape head, and then wound back on the outside of the spool. The splice between the beginning and the end of the tape loop has a conductive tab and that tab bridges a circuit during playback which switches the track selector. As a side note: it's impossible to rewind an 8-Track tape. Some machines could fast forward but it was really hard on the tapes themselves. Here is the actuator. It's a cam system and the problem was the old grease had hardened and was gumming up everything.
Now for the volume pots. I just used Deoxit spray on the pots and that cleaned them up.
I cleaned the mode selector switch the same way.
BUT... This is a car from the '70s. It MUST have an 8-Track player in it. Long ago, I had a '74 Coupe deVille and in that Coupe deVille, there was an 8-Track player. I took that 8-Track player out, stuck it in a box and put that box in the attic of my parents house where it sat until just recently.
While I'm sure the this old 8-Track player "ran when parked", it certainly did not work now. It's common for the mode switch to get corroded and make the entire unit not work. It's the white plunger just under the belts in the middle of the pic below.
On top of that, the belts for the 8-Track were shot, the capstan had old tape wrapped around it, the head position actuator was stuck, the volume pots were scratchy, and the radio preset buttons were frozen. Repairing this was just a "one thing at a time" kind of thing. First up were the belts. Just order new belts and that was it. They are cheap and easy to fine.
Next up was the capstan. It's the post in the middle of the big flywheel and it's supposed to be clean and slightly rough. It presses against the rubber wheel in the 8-Track tape and it's what pulls the tape over the tape head during playback. It was neither clean or slightly rough anymore. I pulled off the old tape, masked it off, and sandblasted the area where it should be gripping the tape.
Next up was the head position actuator. For those who don't know much about 8-Track tapes, the tape has 8 individual tracks (duh) on a 1/4" wide tape. They are divided into pairs for left and right stereo so you have four pairs of track on a tape. The tape itself is about 12 minutes long and you have 4 of these 12 minute long tracks per tape. To switch tracks, you push a button and the tape head moves down two tracks to the next pair. Keep pushing the button and it will cycle all the way to the bottom and then back up to the first pair. The tape will also automatically switch tracks at the end of the 12 minute recording. This is possible because 8-Tracks are a continuous loop. When you play the tape, the tape is pulled from the center of the spool, over the tape head, and then wound back on the outside of the spool. The splice between the beginning and the end of the tape loop has a conductive tab and that tab bridges a circuit during playback which switches the track selector. As a side note: it's impossible to rewind an 8-Track tape. Some machines could fast forward but it was really hard on the tapes themselves. Here is the actuator. It's a cam system and the problem was the old grease had hardened and was gumming up everything.
Now for the volume pots. I just used Deoxit spray on the pots and that cleaned them up.
I cleaned the mode selector switch the same way.
headrec
OT Supporter
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
Now for the fun part. The radio presets are all mechanical and they are gummed up with the same old grease that was gumming up the track selector. I had to take this out to get to the mechanism.
Layer after layer of mechanical parts had to be removed to get it apart enough to clean it out. This radio is by far the most complex part in the entire car.
Layer after layer of mechanical parts had to be removed to get it apart enough to clean it out. This radio is by far the most complex part in the entire car.
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
Still more layers of parts:
Finally, the bottom. I cleaned everything and greased it all thoroughly.
Finally, the bottom. I cleaned everything and greased it all thoroughly.
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jelloslug
OT Supporter
I refinished the face plate and used the chrome pen again.
The moment of truth:
And the final assembly:
The moment of truth:
And the final assembly: