Old Timer Garage

If you haven't read the fifth part of this restoration you can find it by clicking on this link: 1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 5

6. The project is back on track

On the morning of the next day, it is Saturday), I need to find how to get my car fixed, find the document that is missing and drive the car into Mexico within the next 2 days otherwise I will have to adapt this project again.

Last night I was pretty upset about all these problems and it woke me up several times during the night until a genius idea crossed my mind: maybe the missing document is simply in the glove box of the car and was not put together with the other documents in the folder I was given. It doesn’t really make sense and I wonder why they would have put only this document apart from the others but thinking about it now, I remember having gone through the glove box compartment and seen a registration paper in there. I can even remember thinking to myself that it must have been the registration document of the previous owner but thinking about it further now, this paper was white whereas all the others were kind of yellow like old paper burnt by the time so maybe this white paper is the one I am missing.
So this morning, this is the very first thing I do and I was right actually and find my missing document in the glove box of the car. That’s one more problem fixed and I can move on to the next one.

The next problem is a little more complicated. The first thing I have to do is to get under the car and try and see what is going on there. But I can’t see anything wrong which tends to confirm that the problem must be coming from the middle mount of the driveshaft that is not so easily accessible. After having spoken to my friend in Phoenix, he confirms that it sounds like my problem is coming from there and that it seems to be a recurrent problem on Cadillacs. The driveshaft on these cars is pretty long so it is supported by this middle mount which is a rubber support that tends to wear out over time. My problem now is that I don’t have any tool here so I am going to have to find someone to fix it for me. So here we are trying to find a mechanics that is open on a Saturday and after a few minutes, my brother and I are driving to ones of those to go and talk to them directly. There is no time to waste, in two days I am taking off again for the UK.

When we get there, the neighbourhood is full of car workshops and a lot of old cars are stored there. There is even an Imperial that catches my eye there among other Cadillacs from the end of the 60s.
I start chatting with the first people I see there and we are told to try our luck with the guy next door. We get into the open workshop and meet the owner who is working on the engine of a BMW. In the workshop, a few European cars (2 BMW, an Audi TT) but also a Navigator, a Dodge Ram and other cars waiting outside. I explain my problem quickly to him, the type of car I have and ask him if he works on those cars. He confirms he does and after a few minutes talking about the problem, he calls a guy to get my Cadillac towed to his workshop.
At this very moment I realized that it was clear that I wasn’t going to drive my car over the border myself. This guy will only start looking at my car on Monday and I am taking off on Tuesday so the time for him to order the parts needed, get them and put them on the car, I will be back in the UK. But I don’t have a choice so I ask him to get it done as soon as possible and keep chatting to him while I was for the tow truck to arrive.
This guy know people everywhere in Mexico and on this side of the border so it is a good contact for me to have and I try to win him over, it might always be useful later on. It is the kind of workshop you almost never see in Europe. A small workshop where the work is still done by hand and not in a place that is cleaner than a hospital and where customers are not welcome because the owners are worried they could get into trouble if someone got hurt.

Finally the tow truck arrives and my brother gets in the cab with the guy to show him the way back home while I follow them with the rental.
The Cadillac is quickly loaded on the tow truck and after another 5 minute drive, we are back at the workshop. A small group has already formed around my car and everybody is telling a story about how someone from their family used to have one like this or used to drive one just like it. Just for the fun of it (and also to finish winning them over), I start up the car and let them engine the sound of the V8. The car doesn’t drive but starts up perfectly now.

I also take advantage of the car being at the workshop to ask for a quotation on how much it would cost me to replace the whole double exhaust line on my car. Since it is stuck in the US for repairs for the moment, I might as well replace the exhaust. It will be quieter and catch less attention when it will get driven across the border. I will get the quotation during the next few days and the driveshaft will be taken off the car on Monday and sent away for complete restoration and balancing before being put back in the car.

And for the time being, I can only enjoy my weekend. There is nothing else I can do until Monday so after these highly stressful few days, I might as well try and enjoy myself in this part of the world that I like.

From Monday on, the project will be back and this time, I will have to manage everything from the distance since I am driving back north to Phoenix on Monday morning where I will spend the day with my friend before taking off for the UK on Monday morning. What are the problems that are going to block me again in the future? I don’t know yet but it shouldn’t be long before I see them coming my way again I am sure…

To be continued… here: 1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 7