Johan ‘70 Cadillac ElDorado pro touring (low and aggressive)

[TarheelRick]

Just came across this build and am totally absorbed in it.  Really like your concept.  I have an idea for a less popular, more anemic car that is along these very lines.  I will be watching what you do and will be stealing many of your ideas.  Thanks for doing this build.

[Steve H]

13 hours ago, Claude Thibodeau said:

Hi Steve!

What a great project ! Those Eldos were the pinacle of the "chiseled blades" school of design prevalent under Bill Mitchel back in the early 60's. My uncle had a string of 67, 68 and 70, and I was very impressed by those cars. The blue one by Mr. Airio was great. I built one 4 years ago out of the same kit, but with the 66 Riv chassis and Caddy Escalade alternate 20" wire wheels. It was fun!

I'll follow your experiment. If the past is any indication, it should be masterfull!

CT

Hi Claude! I was hoping you’d swing by and have a look. Yep, that blue Caddy Mr. Airio built left an impression on me, all of his builds were  extremely nice, but that was one of my favs.  I saw your build on one of the other Caddy threads, very nice as usual sir.  It’s fun having three of these going at the same time, I thought they were rare!!!
 Thanks for checking in, always good to hear from you Claude.

[Steve H]

13 hours ago, TarheelRick said:

Just came across this build and am totally absorbed in it.  Really like your concept.  I have an idea for a less popular, more anemic car that is along these very lines.  I will be watching what you do and will be stealing many of your ideas.  Thanks for doing this build.

Hi Ricky, thanks for the kind words. Hopefully I can give you some decent ideas worth stealing. I plan on pushing myself a bit on this one. We’ll see how it turns out… Thanks for taking the time to comment. I will keep an eye out for your build, it sounds Rey interesting.

Cheers, Steve

[Steve H]

Hi guys, I’ve had a few “little” set backs… First, I strained my back quite bad, a week later my wife got bucked off her horse and tore her knee up. Waiting for word on a surgery date for my wife. It’s been a stressful, busy few weeks, but things are improving. 

So… finally got some desk time yesterday and today. Not a lot to show for the time I put in, but still progress. I wasn’t happy with how the dash turned out, so… I cut it apart again then widened the cut to get the nav screen closer to the centre of the dash.

I also made some adjustments to the nav screen. Sliced the back and changed the angle for a better fit in the dash.

With the dash back together, it was time to get the centre console built. I didn’t count how many pieces of styrene went into this but it was lots. I feel like there must have been an easier way to get from A to B, but it’s close to done now. 

There is still a bit of detail work to do on the console, and some fine tuning on the dash and console. That said, the heavy lifting on both parts is done. I knew going in, that these two pieces would be a challenge for me. The door cards are almost complete. I hope to get all these parts fine tuned and primed this week.

Thats it for now…

[KWT]

Hate to hear about the setbacks.. Hope you two recover quick.

Nice looking dash and console

[Steve H]

On 2/5/2023 at 5:58 PM, KWT said:

Hate to hear about the setbacks.. Hope you two recover quick.

Nice looking dash and console

Thank you Jeremy, there are many people with much worse issues than mine. My wife is a strong woman, and she’ll be fine, just might be a bit of a journey getting there. I very much appreciate the kind words! 
Hoping for some bench time tomorrow so I can get them finished up and in primer. I had another idea for console that I might add too…. Gotta hit my LHS tomorrow morning to get some “stuff” ?

[Steve H]

Finally got some primer on a handful of parts today. Also thought it was time to share a couple of quick mockups. So I have a somewhat meaningful update! 
First up, a few of the wheel/tire choices. I have some wheels and tires on order which MIGHT change things. So, the body is going to be matte pearl green, similar to my Camaro build from last year, but green. Chrome will be stripped and painted black, wheel hoops will be black and centres will be gold/bronze, again very similar to the Camaro build. Deep and deeper o/s front to rear.

Now here’s where the interior is at. Everything just has a light coat of primer as I knew there would still be finessing to do. 

Still figure on using this steering wheel, shown here with the paddle shifters I scratch built.

The dash is really close now, still need to decide on gauges. Console is also close, I added some half round along the outer/top edges both for interest, and I plan on a carbon fibre decal on the top, so now there’s an edge to work to. The dash and door cards will also get some carbon. The goal is to blend some modern elements while retaining the classic lines.

One more round of putty and sanding should have the dash and console ready for paint. Out of curiosity, I counted the number of pieces in the console, it will be 25 once the shifter is installed… A lot of fiddling, but I think it was worth the effort.

Couldn’t resist a quick mock of the interior. Seats are from a Ferrari. Pardon all the tape… I could not get the nav to cooperate for the mock, but once glued in, the console will flow into the dash. I’m not ready to permanently attach it just yet, close tho.

Still need to add speakers, amp, fire extinguisher, door locks, photo etch power window/lock switches, partial roll cage, finish dash face…. Ya, there’s still a bit to do, but the bones are there now, the rest should be easy. 

That’s it for now. As always, all comments welcomed. Thanks for having a look!!

Cheers, Steve

Cheers, Steve

[KWT]

I commented on the wrong one HAHA...

That interior is coming together great!

[Steve H]

1 hour ago, KWT said:

I commented on the wrong one HAHA...

That interior is coming together great!

Thanks Jer!! Looking forward to getting some actual colour on some stuff. I’ve been dreaming up some ideas for the bodywork too… 

[Steve H]

I thought I should show the wheel colours as it might affect wheel choice. Hoping to get some feedback/opinions guys.

 

The overall “look” of the car will be similar to my Camaro, but as mentioned, it will be matte dark pearl green

 

[bobthehobbyguy]

I think it would be helpful if you could show the green you are using as it's how to judge how the wheel color would look with the rims colors.

Love this project. I have a Johan pikes peak  tornado(  missing a chassis) and am considering doing something similar.

Edited February 11, 2023 by bobthehobbyguy

[Steve H]

9 minutes ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

I think it would be helpful if you could show the green you are using as it's how to judge how the wheel color would look with the rims colors.

Love this project. I have a Johan pikes peak  tornado(  missing a chassis) and am considering doing something similar.

Yes indeed Bob! Here’s the green.. It’s Vedoro green over black with matte clear.

Thanks for checking in Bob. I will definitely keep an eye out for your build. 

[Russell C]

Equally divided between the first two wheel choices, not liking the black wagon wheels 3rd option ....

[Steve H]

56 minutes ago, Russell C said:

Equally divided between the first two wheel choices, not liking the black wagon wheels 3rd option ....

Thanks for chiming in Russell. I put the photos in order of what I liked best. The wagon wheels do look better in person than the photo, and they would definitely look better with some bronze centres. They will look good on something, but probably won’t make it on the Caddy. There’s a few more options in the who doesn’t love a mock-up page.  Thanks for taking the time to comment, I appreciate the feedback.

Cheers, Steve

[KWT]

Of these 3, I'd lean towards option 2...

[dino246gt]

I'm sure which ever wheels you choose it will look so cool.

Love the interior customization as well!

Cheers!

 

[SpikeSchumacher]

I am partial to option one myself, they would look really good with the color scheme you have in mind. Hope you and the Mrs. recuperate soon!

[Mattilacken]

Sweet progress! I like the first wheel choice, looks caddy to me but still modern and custom! 

[Reuhkapelti2]

I'd say definitely the first wheel choice. The others fit better under an European or Jap car.

[Andy Oldenburg]

That low mock up looks nasty! ? My wheel choice would be # 1. Very cool interior job so far and looking forward to see the finished job. Especially all those PE parts you mentioned. Hard too get items like that here in Europe. 

[Steve H]

On 2/11/2023 at 4:14 AM, KWT said:

Of these 3, I'd lean towards option 2...

Thanks Jeremy, I appreciate the feedback. 
 

 

On 2/11/2023 at 7:12 AM, dino246gt said:

I'm sure which ever wheels you choose it will look so cool.

Love the interior customization as well!

Cheers!

 

Hi Dennis. It’s always interesting to get opinions on aspects of a build. I always end up doing what my preference is, but I have been “leaned” in a different direction a time or two… Thanks for kind words on the interior, I’m really looking forward to getting all these parts “finessed” and assembled. Gonna be a few minutes yet…

On 2/11/2023 at 10:55 PM, Reuhkapelti2 said:

I'd say definitely the first wheel choice. The others fit better under an European or Jap car.

Thanks Ismo. That’s my first choice as of now… Your Caddy is really coming together and looks great!

Cheers, Steve

[Steve H]

On 2/11/2023 at 9:55 AM, SpikeSchumacher said:

I am partial to option one myself, they would look really good with the color scheme you have in mind. Hope you and the Mrs. recuperate soon!

Hi Mathias, thanks for the input. Option one is still the front runner, but…. see below reply. Thank you for well wishes! My wife is getting around quite well now, (she’s a strong woman!) she MIGHT not need surgery, we get a second opinion on that next week. ?

 

 

On 2/11/2023 at 11:10 AM, Mattilacken said:

Sweet progress! I like the first wheel choice, looks caddy to me but still modern and custom! 

Anton my friend, how the heck are you?!  “Looks Caddy to me” hmmmmmm… wait a minute. I have another wheel choice to present. You just gave me another idea that might look good, I need to do one more mockup. Thanks for checking in!

On 2/13/2023 at 12:15 AM, Andy Oldenburg said:

That low mock up looks nasty! ? My wheel choice would be # 1. Very cool interior job so far and looking forward to see the finished job. Especially all those PE parts you mentioned. Hard too get items like that here in Europe. 

Thanks Andy! Some people might take “looks nasty” the wrong way, to me it’s a high compliment. Just the look I was going for,
Nasty with a touch of class… As for the photo etch, there won’t be much, but it does add some detail. Is it hard to get “Model Car Garage” stuff over there? I guess shipping might be a bit expensive. I recently placed an order from Scale Productions in Germany, expensive, but hopefully worth it. Unfortunately, there was no shipping options, so the parts are literally on a slow boat from Germany… really?…. a boat?….. Oh well??‍♂️

 

Thanks as always for having a look guys, I appreciate the feedback!

Cheers, Steve

[89AKurt]

First time I saw this WIP.  I choose #2 wheels.  I love that your are using a "collectible" Johan kit!

[catpack68]

I’m enjoying this build.I vote for the 1st set of wheels. It’s going to look killer with the colors you chose for the body and wheels?

[bobthehobbyguy]

My vote is choice 1. Given the green I think the inner rim would look gold. Just a thought.