Russell, Sorry I am just now getting back to you but I have been out of the loop for the past several months. My mom became ill and passed away the week before Christimas.
Thank you for the nice comments on my 63'. I have owned the car for over 20 years and have done some work to it about every year since then. I did have it repainted back in 1993? by a local body shop. I don't remember what type of paint they used, but I remember him commenting that they had to paint the car in sections as the paint would start to dry to fast. It still looks great nearly 20 years later. The interior I had redone about the same time by a local auto upholsterer. We were able to obtain original fabric from SMS auto fabrics. He did a fantastic job in replicating the exact original design down to the correct stitching and piping. The only thing I changed was I used vinyl instead of leather for the white part as I did not want it to yellow like the original did, and also it was less expensive at the time and I was on a tight budget. It still looks brand new also. The engine I had rebuilt in 2005 and detailed the engine bay at the time. Satin black is correct for this area and not gloss black. I bought the correct Cadillac blue engine paint for the areas where it would be blue. Fortunately since the car was all original when I purchased it, I was able to know what areas were painted what color, etc... I had the chrome bumpers re-chromed when I had the car painted, and this year had the door window switch chrome plates re-chromed as they were slightly pitted. They came out looking like new. I want to have the steering wheel redone next as it has some cracking. I got an estimate to do it correctly and looking at about a grand for that so it is temporarily on the back burner.
Regarding the garage. I have a very understanding wife, but I usually keep one of the old Cadillacs at a self storage unit and one at home so that she can put her car (2012 SRX) in the garage. I switch the 63' and 71' our depending on which one I am driving or puttering around with. The 71' is a real cream puff and all original with only 36,000 miles on it so it is in showroom like condition. Have fun with you car, it is nice looking and they are real eye turners. I will never be able to part with the 63' as it is now a part of the family. Doug
Doug Meloan
Russell, Sorry I am just now getting back to you but I have been out of the loop for the past several months. My mom became ill and passed away the week before Christimas.
Thank you for the nice comments on my 63'. I have owned the car for over 20 years and have done some work to it about every year since then. I did have it repainted back in 1993? by a local body shop. I don't remember what type of paint they used, but I remember him commenting that they had to paint the car in sections as the paint would start to dry to fast. It still looks great nearly 20 years later. The interior I had redone about the same time by a local auto upholsterer. We were able to obtain original fabric from SMS auto fabrics. He did a fantastic job in replicating the exact original design down to the correct stitching and piping. The only thing I changed was I used vinyl instead of leather for the white part as I did not want it to yellow like the original did, and also it was less expensive at the time and I was on a tight budget. It still looks brand new also. The engine I had rebuilt in 2005 and detailed the engine bay at the time. Satin black is correct for this area and not gloss black. I bought the correct Cadillac blue engine paint for the areas where it would be blue. Fortunately since the car was all original when I purchased it, I was able to know what areas were painted what color, etc... I had the chrome bumpers re-chromed when I had the car painted, and this year had the door window switch chrome plates re-chromed as they were slightly pitted. They came out looking like new. I want to have the steering wheel redone next as it has some cracking. I got an estimate to do it correctly and looking at about a grand for that so it is temporarily on the back burner.
Regarding the garage. I have a very understanding wife, but I usually keep one of the old Cadillacs at a self storage unit and one at home so that she can put her car (2012 SRX) in the garage. I switch the 63' and 71' our depending on which one I am driving or puttering around with. The 71' is a real cream puff and all original with only 36,000 miles on it so it is in showroom like condition. Have fun with you car, it is nice looking and they are real eye turners. I will never be able to part with the 63' as it is now a part of the family. Doug
Jan 7, 2013