Old Timer Garage

 

If you haven't read the seventh part of this restoration you can find it by clicking on this link: 1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 7

8. Back in Europe

After a flight back without problem, I am back to work.
I am lucky to have a job where I can work at flexible times which allows me to start very early in the morning and finish very early in the afternoon so it leaves me a decent amount of time each day to do whatever I want.

So I take advantage of this time every day to learn as much as I can about American cars, trying to recognize them and learning what they are worth. In parallel, I keep following the progress of the repairs on my Cadillac. It will have taken more than a week and a half for the driveshaft to be dismantled, sent to the restoration company for a complete overhaul and refitted in the car. In the same way, the exhaust job took a good week and a half and a few more days to get it fitted and make sure it wasn’t leaking.

It is then time to test the car so the guy cranked it up and… no brakes.
Another problem that wasn’t planned so it still can’t be driven across into Mexico. I had noticed when I was there that the brakes weren’t brilliant but the car was still braking OK. Now there is absolutely nothing. I thought at first that bleeding the circuit would be enough to fix the problem but it is more than that and the mechanics tells me that he needs to replace the master cylinder and the rear wheel cylinders. More expenses before the actual restoration work even starts.
I still keep my guy in Mexico posted about all the problems I am facing and why the car is still not with him so that he won’t think that I have given up on the project. He is still as enthusiastic about working on my car as the first day. Just a few more days to wait and my Cadillac should at last be on the other side of the border and the restoration work possible to start.

In parallel, I start to look for a French cars that could be exported to the US. My friend had mentioned an interest for Citroen DS Pallas so I focus on those to start with and make a list of all those that I can find for sale. I also analyse all the ads for each and every one of them and compile all the information in a document to send it to him and get his feedback.
A few days later, it is his turn to send me a few cars that I could try and advertise in Europe for him.

Around a week later, my Cadillac is ready at last. The new master cylinder and the new wheel cylinders are in and my brother goes to get the car back from the workshop.
This time it runs perfectly. He will test drive it for a while to make sure that no other problems are around the corner and apart from a hubcap lost, everything else seems to be OK.

This car will at last be driven across the border and its restoration started…or at least that’s what I was thinking back then but that would have been too easy right? But everything in its right time.
The first thing to do is to put my brother and the guy in Mexico in contact with each other so that they can organize the transfer of the car.
The day before, I had already let the Mexican guy know that the car was ready and that I would put him in touch with my brother but today I message him again and… no answer.
It is Saturday so I think that he may be busy and wait a few hours before contacting him again (he works on Satudays). But a few hours later, still nothing. In the meantime, my brother tried to get him on the phone without any more success.
I am not particularly worried because I am pretty confident he sounded interested in working with me on this project but it is the first time he takes so long to get back to me. Finally, the day passes by and I have to resign myself to the fact that I will have to wait until tomorrow to see if at last he answers me.
It is in these conditions that it is difficult to manage a project. Knowing myself, if I were there, I would have already driven up to his workshop and tracked him to see what is going on but from 6000 miles away, it is very much more complicated.
The Sunday goes by in the same way and I don’t get any news from the guy and same again on the Monday. So much so that by the end of the day, I am waiting to board my flight back to the UK after a few days in Spain when I ask my brother to drive up there for me and see what is happening. I am convinced that he is not playing us but I am still wondering what is going on and knowing Mexico a little, you never really know what to expect.
Finally around three am this morning, I get a text from my brother saying that he went to see the guy who in fact got his cell phone stolen from him and didn’t receive any of our messages.

They agreed to get my car across the border on the following Monday so I again have to wait another week for the restoration to actually start at last… one month late against what I had initially planned.

To be continued… here: 1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 9