In other work, I also decided to fix the front left turn indicator. It's not reassuring to have oncoming traffic unaware of your intention to cut across traffic. I'd already swapped out the bulb, but it still wasn't working. Time for more investigation.
It turns out that the light uses the body of the housing as a ground, which is bolted to an aluminum "grille" and etc etc. Basically, there was enough oxidation on various things to prevent the bulb from lighting off, at least during the short duration of a turn flash. Lots of cleaning and sanding and thread chasing and we now have a functioning front turn. But no parking lights. Should it have a parking light? It’s a dual filament bulb, so it would seem so...
While we're doing lights, I'd noticed the cornering light on that side also wasn't working.
Cornering lights? Yes! These things have a light on the side that lights up when the headlights are on and the turn indicator is triggered. They're really nice, they do a good job of lighting up the inside of a turn for you. More cars should have them. Again, the fasteners for the housing are the ground so I made sure everything was nice and clean. Even put one of the brackets in the bead blaster so it would be nice and clean.
They run a weird 1195 bulb that's got a standard bayonet mount but runs 38W. You can use an 1156 bulb in their place but it's less than 30W. Also, we have become used to bulbs that are very easy to change. To get this puppy out, I had to remove both the fender liner and the lower headlight and surround so I could access it from both ends and then disassemble the housing. The front turn indicator bulb involves four nuts - and removing the battery on the right side.
With that done, I got distracted and decided to see if the paint would respond to a wax. I hit a bit of the hood with carnuba.
That's all been waxed. There's some sort of discoloration on the paint, and it's definitely more satin than gloss. Perhaps someone with a buffer could bring it up, but I'd have to bring in someone who's better than I am for that, as I do not have a good history with buffers. The car's a good 10 footer for now.
The keys were a little naked. I had a little fun on eBay.
The Roadside Service one is too new for this Cadillac, as 800 numbers didn't appear until 1967. Still, the logo is the correct era. On the backside, it has a serial number and a promise of free postage to a PO box in Lansing, MI. I'm not sure I want anyone to drop these keys into a mailbox. The 800 number was the roadside assistance number for Cadillac until just recently, now a Caddy dealership in California owns it. I suspect they would not come to help me.
The small one is obviously more ornate and makes no promises as to what will happen to lost keys. I amputated the quick-release keychain that was far too eager to release, and so I'll try it for a while. The bigger one is a better size, though. Oh, such decisions.
With the big car finally done with the brake job, I've moved it back into the parking space so I can get back to work on the MG. Remember the MG? It wants its engine back...