More Bling and Another Upgrade for Dino.

[Jason Edge]

I decided to let the parts cars go today and pamper Dino with some new Cadmium plated goodies underneath and swap in an upgrade.

I replaced the left lower fender to frame brackets and bolts with freshly Cad plated hardware (had already done the right side), then swapped out the 64 Turbo HydraMatic transmission pan bolts with new Cadmium plated bolts.  Of course you need to remove the front cross-member to get to those very front 2 bolts and I had plans there, too.   

I upgraded to the reinforced convertible style crossmember with the welded on bottom plate to make car frame stronger (more on that in the next newsletter). 

It is a good feeling to get past that lifter issue I was dealing with and can now tackle some of the fun improvements … then just get in the car and drive it.

Here's a picture of Dino up on the ramps today, the new trans bolts and reinforced front cross-member installed and a picture from Sunday during one of my cruise outings!

NOTE: I stll need to swap out the transmission linkage with one that has been cad plated. I will do that the next time I have it up on the ramps. Need to get back to that convertible parts car for a couple of days!

[Chris Codd]

Looking good! Glad to see you out there enjoying driving your Cadillac once again. What's next on the to-do list?

[Jason Edge]

Here is my immediate todo's.. nothing major, just up on the ramp stuff.
- replace rear transmission crossmember with painted one and use new cad plated bolts/washers.
- replace transmission shift bracket and rods with new cad plated one 
- replace remaining front and rear transmission inspection pan fasteners with cad plated ones, document and of course put on my site for sale. I replaced the ones on the rear horizontal inspection pan when I removed the front trans crossmember and replaced the main transmission oil pan bolts, but didn't replace the others.
- replace starter bolts with cad plated bolts. 

Future projects:
- I looked at my oil pan and it is a bit nicked up from the repaint and install in 2012 when I rebuilt engine but looks pretty good and my rear drip leak is pretty minor, so I will at some point pull the oil pan and repaint and pop that rear bearing cap off and shave off the area per 1965 SMB spec and reinstall. I may or may not try to replace the rear seal. The rear seal still only has a few thousand miles on it and may just see what shaving that area on the bearing cap does.

- BIG PROJECT - COMFORT CONTROL SYSTEM! - This like the engine rebuild will probably be a 3 months + project as I work through and get everything ship-shape. I have a pretty good stash of AC/Heat stuff I have refused to sell over the years and will hopefully have what I need. When it is all said and done I will release the extra parts to the general public - for a a fair cost of course! LOL

- I will also continue to clean up and paint the underside of the car, of course replacing fasteners with Cad Plated stuff as I go. Right now I am just happy to drive it around with that annoying lifter tick GONE! 

[Chris Codd]

I keep waiting for you to do your AC project so I can watch EXACTLY what you do so I don't screw it up. I would like my original AC to work. Had it working for basically one month and then the freon leaked out and my compressor locked up shortly after, killing that dream. 

[Jason Edge]

Might be like watching a glacier slide down a mountain. You know how I speed along on these bigger projects!  I remember way back in early 2012 when I indicated I was starting the process to rebuild my engine and Tony was asking after about 1 week if I had completed it.. about 3 months later I fired it up! LOL   But, I think the lifter problem and the fact I took my time and evenually found the weird "short lifter" is proof in the pudding that taking your time and doing it right is the best way. 

[Chris Codd]

I really liked what Clovis did and might end up doing something similar down the road when parts become scarce, but I wanted to keep it factory if I can. 

[William R Conte]

Funny you should mention climate control. I'm just finishing up a big ordeal with my car that started out as rebuilding the climate control. In short, Both radiator and heater core were recored, and every refrigeration component was sent down to Tampa and rebuilt. My car will be using R12. They even repainted the compressor and put the inspection stamps on it. I had to ask for that. Beware that replacement evaporators are slightly smaller than the original. I had to seal the daylights out of the inside of the evaporator case with dum dum to compensate for the slight difference. I also replaced several of the resistors in the control head, since they were drifting way out of tolerance. Fortunately the power servo and transducer on the air handler were OK and not leaking vacuum. I will find out in the coming weeks how well it is going to work out. I expect everything to work as designed. Do yourself a big favor and buy that CC servicing book that's out there. You'll need it! Feel free to ask me questions if needed. I have photos of the system as I took it apart.

[Jason Edge]

I've had Tim Groves Comfort Control Troubleshooting book for a long time and have ready it end to end at least 3 times, but will need a refresher when I jump into this project.

[0bs08u1yjf40z]

Looking beautiful Jason!