volvoclearinghouse
volvoclearinghouse Reader
8/23/10 11:54 a.m.

Not really, but I did just pick up a '69 Cadillac, garage-fresh after 31 years of storage. And this weekend, I fired it up for the first time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5qhj_T29h8&feature=player_embedded

Amazingly, everything works, the tires hold air, and I actually drove it around the neighborhood (gingerly, as befits the 34 year old bias ply tires). I did one nice smokey burnout, much to the delight of the neighbors.

472 cubic inches. Haws yes.

DaveEstey
DaveEstey Reader
8/23/10 1:24 p.m.

awww I was hoping to see vid of the burnout!

wcelliot
wcelliot Reader
8/23/10 2:16 p.m.

Sweet!!!

joey48442
joey48442 SuperDork
8/23/10 2:31 p.m.

Awesome! Thats the feel good movie of the summer! Its windows move faster than my miatas which is half its age!

Joey

Powar
Powar Dork
8/23/10 2:42 p.m.

That's excellent. Congrats on a great find and revival.

volvoclearinghouse
volvoclearinghouse Reader
8/23/10 2:44 p.m.
DaveEstey wrote: awww I was hoping to see vid of the burnout!

Sorry for getting your hopes up. It was only a one-wheel peel, anyway. I was actually kinda surprised the tires didn't fall apart.

volvoclearinghouse
volvoclearinghouse Reader
8/23/10 2:46 p.m.
joey48442 wrote: Awesome! Thats the feel good movie of the summer! Its windows move faster than my miatas which is half its age! Joey

I wonder if there isn't some sort of federal regulation over the speed of modern windows. I'm sure Cadillac, in 1969, figured faster = better. But those suckers could take your arm off!

Unreported in the video, I turned the automatic climate control on and the air compressor kicked on! Now I just need to go find me some R-12...

Lesley
Lesley SuperDork
8/23/10 3:48 p.m.

That was great! Congratulations

nervousdog
nervousdog Reader
8/23/10 4:06 p.m.

Nice score.

Stealthtercel
Stealthtercel Reader
8/23/10 4:20 p.m.

Repeat after me: Cadillac – Standard of the World!

cwh
cwh SuperDork
8/23/10 4:40 p.m.

Old Caddys rock. Cruise night? Hell yah. Interstate runs, ditto. Attention from the hotties, yup. Pass a gas station.... uh, no. My son has a '66 drop top- 8mpg max. A true blast to drive around in, though.

ZOO
ZOO GRM+ Memberand Dork
8/23/10 5:25 p.m.

I love that you are getting a boost of an Amazon . . .

Appleseed
Appleseed SuperDork
8/23/10 5:47 p.m.

"Its a fugazi. I'm not tryin' to hurt your fellings, but its a fugazi."

Keith
Keith GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
8/23/10 5:56 p.m.

Ah, my '66 will do 14 mpg on the highway and about 10 around town. I've heard the big 472 is a bit rougher on gas though.

stuart in mn
stuart in mn SuperDork
8/23/10 7:19 p.m.

Great car! One thing: Fords and Chevys may have big blocks, but a Cadillac is simply a Cadillac...they don't need any other adjectives. :)

914Driver
914Driver SuperDork
8/24/10 6:05 a.m.

That's a nice one! The fuel must be like molassass by now.

Dan

volvoclearinghouse
volvoclearinghouse Reader
8/24/10 6:16 a.m.
stuart in mn wrote: Great car! One thing: Fords and Chevys may have big blocks, but a Cadillac is simply a Cadillac...they don't need any other adjectives. :)

And even a normally non-Cadillac man such as myself can appreciate that. One thing I've heard, is that the Caddy big blocks actually weigh less than the Chevrolet, et al BBs. Is this true, and why?

volvoclearinghouse
volvoclearinghouse Reader
8/24/10 6:21 a.m.
914Driver wrote: That's a nice one! The fuel must be like molassass by now. Dan

The fuel tank smelled like furniture varnish, but there wasn't much in it, luckily. I disconnected the fuel line from the pump at the engine, poured 5 gallons of fresh gas into the tank, and used an electric pump to pull it through, cleaning the tank and the lines. Then I reconnected the fuel line to the mechanical pump on the engine, poured 5 more gallons of fresh gas + 2 bottles of dry gas into the tank, and, well, you see the result!

As for the fuel economy...a buddy at work told me a friend of his used to have one of these, and after doing the best tuneup he possibly could, he managed to get the fuel economy from 6mpg to 9. That's a 50% improvement!

This thing's a frickin' boat.

gamby
gamby SuperDork
8/24/10 7:53 a.m.

AWESOME.

Appleseed
Appleseed SuperDork
8/24/10 2:16 p.m.
volvoclearinghouse wrote:
stuart in mn wrote: Great car! One thing: Fords and Chevys may have big blocks, but a Cadillac is simply a Cadillac...they don't need any other adjectives. :)
And even a normally non-Cadillac man such as myself can appreciate that. One thing I've heard, is that the Caddy big blocks actually weigh less than the Chevrolet, et al BBs. Is this true, and why?

Big inch Caddies weigh about the same as a full iron SCB.

Appleseed
Appleseed SuperDork
8/24/10 2:16 p.m.
volvoclearinghouse wrote:
stuart in mn wrote: Great car! One thing: Fords and Chevys may have big blocks, but a Cadillac is simply a Cadillac...they don't need any other adjectives. :)
And even a normally non-Cadillac man such as myself can appreciate that. One thing I've heard, is that the Caddy big blocks actually weigh less than the Chevrolet, et al BBs. Is this true, and why?

Big inch Caddies weigh about the same as a full iron SBC.

Fit_Is_Slo
Fit_Is_Slo Reader
8/24/10 7:11 p.m.

You called it a sedan deville lol

Also needs more duramax

Nitroracer
Nitroracer Dork
8/24/10 11:35 p.m.

Have fun driving your living room around! I got to put a few miles on my 68' ford before heading back to school and it had me grinning from ear to ear.

Hoop
Hoop SuperDork
8/25/10 11:26 a.m.

Simply awesome. Also, thanks for making me watch ridiculous videos involving Cadillacs for the past half an hour. That side bar always gets me.

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
oVrwXBumf2e4elBnUou5uFviwRLMDUkZsFK5vJlQnnKJfP7lU7kX8AuBkvzRaGwq