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The `64 Cadillac is in my possession since September 1993 . After several technical repairs I decided to sell the
vehicle in autumn 1997. A prospective customer checked the Cadillac embarrassingly exactly and discovered a
hole in the floor pan, which I had not noticed at this point of time. The offer, which the prospective customer had made to me, I found, despite the large hole in the floor pan, to low, and rejected. Now I checked
the floor pan more exactly and disassembled the Cadillac. After three weeks the body of the Cadillac was dismantled down to the last bolt, the windshield was destroyed as well as various trim moldings. A
trip organizer by the magazine chrome & flames in December 1997 to the Pomona Swap Meet in California should be a good opportunity to search for spare part. Unfortunately this was not the right Swap Meet for
Cadillacs. There were a lot of contacts and addresses for spare parts used but to my great surprise I found someone selling exactly the same model with the same colour and interior on a trailer. The condition of the
body was faar superior to my car but it had serious ENGINE DAMAGE,
which didn´t matter because my own engine and trans was in good condition. Which help from Joe and a little bit of bargaining we agreed on a price of $1.100,-- in cash and I became the proud new owner of the Caddy. Much to my astonishment Joe, the trip courier, whom I had known for barely one hour, lent me $500,-- as deposit. The rest of the money needed I borrowed from my fellow-travellers. All the moneys I repaid at the end of my trip. During the rest of my tour, which covered Los Angeles and San Diego, I arranged for shipment from various call-boxes whenever opportunity presented itself. Fundamentally it was very simple. I was fourtunated enough to contact a German speaking shipping agent, who arranged for shippment to my home address at which the Cadillac arrived 8 weeks later.
In spring 1998 I transplanted my engine and the rebuildt transmission of the dismantled Cadillac in the chassis of the imported Cadillac and drove this one until autumn 1998 to determine, which components
functioned correctly. These I could You count on the five fingers at one hand. Afterwards I also dismantled this Caddy. I took the best body parts which have been sandblasted and primered. The following
painting job of the body took approx. 6 months. I took also the best interior components of both cars which have been renovated. In the meanwhile the chassis has also been sandblasted and painted. With new suspension
bushings, ball joints and rebuildt rear axle the assembly of the chassis was completed. I began the assembly of the body with chassis and the rebuildt of all the parts from the Cadillac in August 1999. The
completion, after some technical setbacks and assembly errors, was in August 2001. |
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