1933 Cadillac V16 Convertible Coupe

[Eric Macleod]

Any progress on this one lately?

[Hoffman]

Finally getting back to this project, after about a year off, working on other things, and well, way too much working! Lot's of overtime. Anyway, glad to get back to it, and determined to finish it.

So, the body work is coming along. I'm almost ready to tackle the belt line moldings. I've worked out the rumble seat. The trunk lid is mostly Johan '31 Cadillac, but lengthened and widened. The top cushion on the trunk lid is modified Monogram Duesenberg, with an AMT metal axle for a hinge pin. The bottom cushion is modified Johan '31 Cadillac again, this time narrowed and shortened to fit.

 

[Hoffman]

I've been working on the chassis as well. I've got a Franklin Mint '32 Cadillac all-wheather-phaeton I'm using as a parts car for various projects. For this '33 Cadillac, I'm using the wheels and tires, and the pose-able front axle. Originally I was going to try to use the steering box too, which enables working steering, but the plastic chassis seems a little too light weight to hold everything intact to function properly. Getting all the moving parts positioned in exactly the right locations and angles was giving me some trouble too. So as a compromise, I decided to just make it pose-able. I fabricated a drag link from aluminum tubing and a pitman arm. I drilled and tapped the chassis and plastic kit steering box so I could run an 0-80 button head bolt in. This fastens the steering box to the chassis much better and functions as the fulcrum point for the pitman arm as well. I glued pin heads to the springs as locating pins for the front axle. I glued brass eyelets into the axle to reduce the diameter of the screw holes that were used to attach it to the diecast model. Now it pops into place on the Italeri plastic springs in the correct position. In these photos you can see currently just pinned together. The white plastic on the sides of the frame rails are where I shortened it to the 143" wheelbase this car has.

[Hoffman]

The wheels and tires have taken some effort as well. The Italeri tires are slightly too small in diameter, in my opinion. The hubcaps are entirely wrong. I found the Franklin Mint '32 Cadillac tires were slightly larger in diameter and looked pretty good. However, the wheels are too big in diameter, and the WIDE whitewalls don't look right on a '33. The 33's are closer to a medium white wall. the solution I came up with was to remove just the outer ring of the Italeri plastic tires, shrink down their thickness and outer diameter slightly, until they were the right size to pop into the Franklin Mint tires. I used the Italeri white walls. I cut out the wheel rim from the front half of the Italeri wheel/tire assemblies. For hub caps, I'm using Everbilt #10 nickel plated finishing washers available at Home Depot in the hardware department. That's the first part. On top of that, I'm using Monogram flipper hub caps from their '48 Ford kits, reduced slightly in diameter. The photos depict the component parts I'm describing, along one wheel mocked up with some red paint and Molotow trim ring to see how they'll look on the finished car. Now, a very good match for the full size '33 Cadillac wheel and tire. The last photo shows what the Italeri pieces look like out of the box.

[Hoffman]

It's coming along. Hope you enjoy. ?

[carbuilder1950]

@Hoffman

Quite the project to take on and stay with, even after a break for a year.

Still nice progress, on a complicated build.

Been there several times on builds like this, and a break is always nice, to work on something way more simple.

[Zippi]

That is going to look super sharp with some color on the body.  Nice work.

[David G.]

Your work on this is most impressive!

David G.

[Bainford]

Very impressive effort. I am amazed at the number of individual bits of kits that you have put together to create the major sub-assemblies. The tire/wheel surgery is a perfect example. I always appreciate someone going to such lengths to get the look right. Excellent work so far.

[Hoffman]

11 hours ago, Bainford said:

Very impressive effort. I am amazed at the number of individual bits of kits that you have put together to create the major sub-assemblies. The tire/wheel surgery is a perfect example. I always appreciate someone going to such lengths to get the look right. Excellent work so far.

Trevor, thank you so much! This thing has been a head scratcher at times, trying to figure out how to piece together something that will resemble the full size article. That's what we do though, right? ? I've enjoyed your work posted here as well. Thank you again!

[Hoffman]

12 hours ago, David G. said:

Your work on this is most impressive!

David G.

David, thank you, kind Sir!

[Hoffman]

14 hours ago, Zippi said:

That is going to look super sharp with some color on the body.  Nice work.

Bob, thank you very much! You've been really active lately, posting lot's of Cool stuff. Great work you're doing. Keep it up!

[Hoffman]

22 hours ago, carbuilder1950 said:

@Hoffman

Quite the project to take on and stay with, even after a break for a year.

Still nice progress, on a complicated build.

Been there several times on builds like this, and a break is always nice, to work on something way more simple.

David, you are SO right. I did a few diecast makeovers just for fun, finally got past the mental block with this project, and ready to dive back in. Sometimes there's an initial rush from realizing something is possible, that with the right combination of pieces and scratch building you can actually pull it off. So you jump in with both feet, there's a flurry of activity, but yes, you can get burned out and need a break.

By the way, I've noticed you're quite a prolific builder. I'm impressed by how you seem to be cranking out one fantastic build after the next, very high quality too. Awesome work!

Last thing, your scripture quote is GREAT! and I just happened be reading those same passages a few days ago. ☺️ Thanks!

[Hoffman]

On 8/30/2020 at 5:09 PM, Eric Macleod said:

Any progress on this one lately?

Eric, you've waited long enough, buddy. Yep, finally made some more progress.

[Zippi]

9 hours ago, Hoffman said:

Bob, thank you very much! You've been really active lately, posting lot's of Cool stuff. Great work you're doing. Keep it up!

Thanks Tim.  I don't really get into the heavy mods like you fella's do but maybe some day I'll give it a go. 

[Dan Hay]

This is an amazing build! Subscribed.

[doorsovdoon]

Some really nice work going on there. It's going to look a stunner when done.

[Eric Macleod]

On 10/26/2021 at 9:37 PM, Hoffman said:

It's coming along. Hope you enjoy. ?

This is looking fantastic.  Your attention to detail is excellent...and inspiring. I have to ask.  What is the orange roadster in the background? I continue to watch this most excellent model. Since we last chatted,  my interest in this project,  and Classic Cadillacs has increased. 

[Hoffman]

Hi Eric! Thank you for the kind words. The Orange car in the background is 1932 Cadillac V16 Convertible Coupe, work-in-progress. It's based on a Danbury Mint '32 Roadster. I'll shoot some pictures of it and post sometime in April.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Beautiful car, definitely worth the effort you're putting to get such fine looking results.

[Hoffman]

Minor Progress Report: I've got the top 99% done, just need to create the rear window glass and a little bit of chrome trim. The body work is very nearly complete. I've applied molding at the belt line and around the trunk, made from Plastruct .020" strips. The hood sides are cut away from the hood top, cut at the newly added molding. I've got a Franklin Mint piano hinge grafted into the left and right sides of the hood top but still need to create the hinges for the sides. I've scribed  in the golf club door and drilled a hole for the handle. I made door hinges from brass strip. I drilled holes through the sides of the body at the rear edge of the doors, inserted straight pins through from inside the car and cut them off with about 1.5mm protruding through the outside. This gave me something to attach the brass hinges to. They're just small rectangular strips, kind of folded over like a taco shell, wrapping around the pin. The gap is filled in with CA.  And lastly, the interior pieces are painted to resemble the maroon leather of the full size car. I tried a new technique here. I wanted to give them a slightly uneven color, kind of stripey. I did that with varying shades of maroon and red/brown in acrylics, then went over them with a burgundy artist oil and finished with semi-gloss clear enamel to get the correct sheen. Artist oils need plenty of time to cure though, at least a week, before top coating. The effect looks good in person, but it's hard to see in the photo. Anyway, that's it for now. Enjoy!

Edited March 28, 2022 by Hoffman
Typos

[MeatMan]

Cool project & awesome fabrication work.

[landman]

Beautiful craftsmanship and clever designs. I love it. That will be a beauty.

[Hoffman]

Today I made up some hinges to tie together the hood top panels to the side panels. The original Italeri hood is just one piece. Mine is cut into four pieces, using a Franklin Mint piano hinge for the top. For the sides, I wrapped strips of brass around stick pins. This worked out fine. I'll shorten the pins a bit. With this design I can remove them while I finish and paint the hood panels, then slide the hinge pins back in and it's good to go.

[beeRS]

Excellent work on those hinges. Is this project still ongoing?