1954 Cadillac Fleetwood

Series 60 Sedan

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

546019203

Gasoline

1954 Cadillac Series 60 Fleetwood - NO RESERVE The story goes something like this: She's a Colorado car - was there at least through '84 when, from what I've been told, she was repainted her original Newport Blue. Sometime after that, she was parked due to a kingpin bushing being bad and many years later... well... that's when I got a hold of her. In short, she's a driver - one hell of a driver at that; she'll float over every bump and turn the heads of even the most car-clueless people on the planet. No, she's not perfect by any means (if you want perfect, you should probably look at the $32,000 1955 Fleetwood currently also listed on eBay), but definitely a looker and a really solid driver. So let's talk condition - Here's the rundown: (and note that I attended school for Auto Restoration, so feel free to ask about clarifications on any of this). Body & Frame Paint (Exterior) As mentioned, it's a repaint of the original Newport Blue - it's a solid job lacquer job that shines well, but definitely has it's fair share of chips and nicks (see pictures). I'm sure there is a little filler here and there on the body, but scoping over the body with a magnet revealed there are no pools of bondo to be found. Chrome/Stainless (Exterior) All Trim pieces are present and are in presentable shape. The pictures do the best job of telling the story, but here's quick rundown: Most chrome pot-metal pieces have some sort of light pitting (mostly on the rear door trim pieces), but really nothing noticeable unless close-up. The hood ornament is almost perfect as are the door handles. There are a few little imperfections in the stainless, the worst being the driver's side door piece (it's bent). Included in the auction is a nearly perfect replacement piece (not mounted). Bumpers The front bumper is in fairly nice shape showing only small dings on the front dagmar tips (which are replaceable on the 54). The rear bumper center section shows evidence of being bent near the right side (has been straightened). The rear bumper ends are in very solid shape - no rust-through of any kind! The ends are scratched from steep streets/driveways, but are great candidates for re-chroming without having to rebuild material. Exhaust is still routed through the bumper ends, but the pipes have been extended just a little to safeguard against future corrosion. Frame Frame has surface rust, but rubber body mounts are all in quite good shape and nothing is rusted beyond being broken loose with a standard set of wrenches. Doors Door hinges are all in good shape and were all lubricated just a month ago. Door locks and handles (interior and exterior) all work well and she has a new set of door weatherstripping from Rubber the Right Way installed. Mechanical Engine This car does have the numbers matching 331 V8 with correct Rochester 4GC carburetor. The engines does not appear to be rebuilt and does not smoke on start-up or acceleration. If you're getting off the highway at speeds around 70-80 mph, and you let the engine do the braking for a good half-mile or so, some light wafts of blue smoke can be seen coming from the exhaust (confirmed by other cars following me on tours). Again, this is very little smoke, and it's just something that happens with age. For me, it's not worth pulling the heads to do the valve guides since she runs so well. The road draft tube does puff a touch of barely visible smoke, but again, that's normal for even newly rebuild engines with draft tubes. The fuel pump is new and the carburetor was fully disassembled, vatted and rebuilt. The distributor has been pulled off lubricated and the centrifugal advance works as it should (verified with distributor on the car). The original oil-bath air cleaner is on the car, but the oil element has been removed and a paper filter has been fitted. The original oil element is included in the sale. There is a hint of lifter-tick every now and then, and has gotten much better with driving her for long stints out on the highway. Oil is changed regularly and the original canister oil filter is retained. The engine runs very smooth with no pop-back or missing to be heard. Great power for the size of car and will get on and off the highway with ease. Yes, she drips a little. Not much - not really enough for me to even put down cardboard. Transmission I love Hydramatics - just a really solid well performing transmission. I've serviced this one and it just works great (goes through all four gears with no problems). I mean, it shifts like a Hydramatic (sometimes a bit jerky - 2-3 shift is a bit more noticeable than the 1-2 or 3-4), but that's why they were called the 'Hydra-jerk' by the marketing guys at Buick (Cadillac fired back by calling the Dynaflow the 'Dyna-slush'). From what I can tell, the transmission doesn't seem to drip at all. Steering When I got the car, the driver's side Kingpin had beat the bushing out of the top. So, she got a new set of Kingpins and bushings in addition to an alignment. Steering is relatively tight, but the steering box does have an internal leak. This internal leak causing a hissing sound in the steering column once the fluid has warmed up. I've replaced the pump and hoses and have tracked the issue to the steering box. Lucky for you, I'm including a 54 Cadillac steering box pulled from a running/driving time-capsule 17k mile car that was being rebuilt as a resto-mod. To reiterate: the power steering works fine, there is just a hiss when the steering is not under load (you can hear it in the driving video). Brakes The brakes have been fully gone through - here's the rundown: The hydrovac brake booster has been fully rebuilt; all four wheel cylinders were replaced; brake linings are new; flexible brake hoses were replaced. The brakes work great and I can easily bring her to a stop with just my big toe. She stops straight and solid and should be good to go for years to come. Emergency brake works great. Suspension Brand new shocks all the way around - new sway bar bushings and end links. Windshield Wipers Windshield wipers work, but they are a little weak (still vacuum driven). Windshield washer is hooked up and tries to work, but mainly just dribbles. Electrical Exterior All exterior lighting works - headlights, tail lights, turn signals, fog lights and license plate lights. The autronic headlight dimmer does not work - it's missing two tubes (but retains the tube diagram inside the control box). Both horns function. Interior All interior lighting works - dash lights, map light, and main door light. Signal seeking radio works very well with either the wonderbar on the radio or the footswitch (see video). Vacuum antenna control is hooked up to the radio and routed to the firewall, but firewall ports are not hooked to the vacuum antenna right now (I'll try to resolve this before the end of the auction). Power seat works in all directions. Clock works when it wants to - for the most part, it doesn't work. All power windows work very well (fast). Both heater fans come on with the controls on either side of the cluster assembly and the ducts direct air as they should. The door ducts are slightly collapsed, but still deliver air to back passengers. Engine Generator is very strong - ~13.3 volts at the battery running radio and headlights at idle. Engine still runs stock points and condenser - both recently changed in addition to cap, rotor and plugs. Interior Seats Velour/velvet seats are old - possibly original - but if nothing else, in the original style of the Fleetwood. Two-tone dark blue with light blue inserts is carried across to the door panels and dash. From different angles, the material washes-out to almost a white in the pictures, but note that in real-life, the two tone shows very nicely with only a couple of bleached out spots on the seat. No tears or rips or even really wear marks on the fabric (again, see pictures to form your own opinion). Carpet and Headliner Carpet is not original and though it is faded, it's not torn-up at all and shows well. Headliner is definitely original and is fully intact. Definitely shows it's age, but solid Ok, I think that about does it. Feel free to send me a note if you'd like more info or pictures... I'm happy to provide either. On to the pictures and videos! Exterior Walkaround: Coldstart: Highway Cruising Wonderbar Radio Demonstration: