Car Restorations

Every restoration, step by step, from my first Citroen 2cv to a 1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville.

14 posts

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

The full restoration of a 1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, from finding the car to the finished paint and interior, in 14 parts.

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 1

19 September 2018

The restoration of this car is part of a bigger project. It is linked to a part of the the story I tell in the road trip part of this website.

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 2

19 September 2018

Once my flights booked, I have two months left to prepare the launch of this restoration project. The plan is to order all the parts that the Mexican guy is going to need. In order to make sure the quality of the…

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 3

19 September 2018

On this September morning, it is 4 am when I get out of the house. It is starting to get cold in the UK at this time of the year but I know that in Arizona, the monsoon season is just over and it is still 30 to 40…

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 4

19 September 2018

It is 2 am when my alarm clock goes off. I stopped the air conditioning unit last night before going to sleep because it was too noisy but it is already starting to get hot in the room and the windows don’t open. I…

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 5

19 September 2018

A few hours later, I am feeling better. I walk around the car to get to know it in more details. The body is pretty sound apart a few spots of rust on the front fenders.

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 6

19 September 2018

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…

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 7

19 September 2018

After a good weekend of rest that was more than welcome, I am on my way back to Phoenix. During the weekend, I took advantage of the unexpected free time to go with my brother and explore some more around Tucson but…

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 8

19 September 2018

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…

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 9

19 September 2018

On the next Saturday, my brother is getting ready to take my Cadillac across the border. It should be done early in the day because queues at the border can get pretty bad on Saturdays which can lead to several hours…

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 10

19 September 2018

In the last chapter, I was saying that I was going to enjoy the fact that my car was now in Mexico without thinking about the problems that were certainly going to come my way in the future. Well it wasn’t going to…

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 11

19 September 2018

So the body is off the frame now and so far I have to admit that they have been working pretty fast. But then, taking a car apart is the easy part right? What is going to separate the boys from the men is what is…

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 12

19 September 2018

12. Re-painting of the engine and restoration of the interior

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 13

19 September 2018

The work on the engine and the transmission was pretty straight forward. It needed to be cleaned of course and then it was just a matter of replacing the seals and gaskets, repaint the parts that needed repainting,…

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

1960 Cadillac Coupe de Ville - part 14

19 September 2018

A few days later, my brother went back to get the car and drive it across the border and back into the US. It had to be driven by my brother again because he was the official owner of the car.

3 posts

Citroen 2cv

Where it all started: the first restorations, on Citroen 2cvs in France.

Citroen 2cv

1982 Citroen 2cv AZKA

5 August 2015

I bought this car after having been scammed. Want the full story?... I thought you would :) So here comes.

Citroen 2cv

1962 Citroen AZ

5 August 2015

1962 Citroen 2cv AZ, or at least that’s what it said on the title but when I went to look at it, it was a different body, more from 1963.

Citroen 2cv

1966 Citroen 2cv AZAM

5 August 2015

So after almost 8 hours picking up and driving back the first 2cv, I drove the 3 hours back to pick up the second one.

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