Steve H Posted January 7, 2023 Author Posted January 7, 2023 I got the chassis narrowed and glued some “stops” inside the body to set the chassis in place. Once the chassis was in place, I did a mock up and realized the that the firewall could come forward about 3 scale inches. Time to get slicing and dicing… I was initially going to cut at the front of the chassis just behind the firewall, but decided it would be better at the back. I will explain that in a moment. so, back of chassis cut off, added 3mm’s The reason I liked cutting the back, was that there was more opportunity to strengthen the joint. Chassis back in one piece… This is the area that allowed the extra strength. The other benefit of doing the joint at the back, is that this mess doesn’t need to be cleaned up, as it will be covered by a speaker box later.. On to the front. I still need to add 8mm’s to the wheel base. So….. cut off the front add the 8mm’s, also the front clip needed to be come up about 5mm’s. Here it is back together… I still need to clean things up a bit, but I now have the basic height and length of the chassis set. Next will be figuring out ride height, and engine placement. I know that both the front and rear suspension need lowering still. Thanks for having a look. 4
dino246gt Posted January 7, 2023 Posted January 7, 2023 WOW! I love it! Can't wait to see more of this exciting project!
Steve H Posted January 7, 2023 Author Posted January 7, 2023 55 minutes ago, dino246gt said: WOW! I love it! Can't wait to see more of this exciting project! Thanks for joining in Dennis. Hoping for more progress over the weekend. 1
Russell C Posted January 8, 2023 Posted January 8, 2023 Will be keeping an eye on this. Saved a bookmark in my widebodies collection years back from Yasid Design on a more extreme pro touring since it looked like a neat idea. 1
Bills72sj Posted January 8, 2023 Posted January 8, 2023 Count me in on this build. That car has such clean and CRISP lines.
Steve H Posted January 9, 2023 Author Posted January 9, 2023 21 hours ago, Russell C said: Will be keeping an eye on this. Saved a bookmark in my widebodies collection years back from Yasid Design on a more extreme pro touring since it looked like a neat idea. That is WICKED!!! I didn’t see that one in my searches. Thanks for sharing that Russell, mine won’t be quite that extreme, but the overall look is close to where I’m going. Oh ya, and thanks for including the link, I ended going down the rabbit hole there and got several images for inspiration on future projects. Great stuff!! 19 hours ago, Bills72sj said: Count me in on this build. That car has such clean and CRISP lines. Welcome aboard Bill. Yes, these cars are beautiful. Thanks for checking in! 1
Can-Con Posted January 9, 2023 Posted January 9, 2023 Het Steve, if people keep digging these old Eldorado kits out maybe we should have a good old Caddy build off. ??
Steve H Posted January 9, 2023 Author Posted January 9, 2023 Got a bit more work done on the chassis. First up, rear suspension… Started with this… I cut the truck arms free and shortened them re-attached them to the cross member After that, we end up with something like this… Still some fine tuning to do, but happy how it came together so far. Front suspension was much easier. Before… I added some rod with centre drilled on the top where the spindles mount, then cut/sanded away the bottom. Added the same amount to the lower A arm. The end result is another 1.5” drop. I still have some tinkering to do on both ends, especially the front. However, I’m not going to do more refining until I finalize my wheel tire choice, and that could be a couple weeks away or more. Having said that both are very close to the correct ride height , front will probably come down a scosh more. I will get these parts cleaned up, then start digging into interior, and engine. Lots to do! As always, thanks for looking and I appreciate the comments and feedback. 2
Steve H Posted January 9, 2023 Author Posted January 9, 2023 8 minutes ago, Can-Con said: Het Steve, if people keep digging these old Eldorado kits out maybe we should have a good old Caddy build off. ?? Heck Ya!!! Bring out the Caddies guys!
Russell C Posted January 9, 2023 Posted January 9, 2023 3 hours ago, Steve H said: ... ended going down the rabbit hole there and got several images for inspiration on future projects. Great stuff!! The guy who creates those images does indeed have killer talent!
Steve H Posted January 11, 2023 Author Posted January 11, 2023 Started planning the interior and how best to tackle it. The original thought was to heavily modify the kit tub, completely reworking the door panels, seats…. well, the whole thing. So after more head scratching, I decided it was definitely going to be easier to build a “platform” interior. I want to create a “modern” interior, but I really want to incorporate the “stock” dash. So, after another dive into the stash and parts bins, I have started to gather some parts to work with. Here’s the kit tub, the red dot is the door opening on the inside, the black is where the door actual opening is on the body… I removed the shifter bulge on the trans tunnel, then used sheet styrene for a new floor. This will get flocked later. Fabbed up a speaker enclosure behind the seats… I really like the door cards from the Lincoln pro street kit, so I will modify these. I will have the interior and exterior door opening line up when done. There is a “step” along the top to remove, and a curve along the length that needs to be straightened out. Obviously they will need other work done to so the dash fits etc. Here are some of the other parts I’m considering. Seats from a Ferrari, I will use some speakers from the sub box on my enclosure. I also decided to go with paddle shifters on this one, something new and different for me. I have some from a kit, (not shown) but I’m going to see if I can make my own. Still working out the dash, the plan is to incorporate the centre of the black dash with the kit dash. This will be the trickiest part for me. Still a bit more planning to do, but the interior is starting to come together, at least in my head… More soon! 4
NOBLNG Posted January 11, 2023 Posted January 11, 2023 Nice progress Steve. Sounds like you have a great plan in the works here.?
Mattilacken Posted January 12, 2023 Posted January 12, 2023 Nice progress! and that interior will look Great! regarding the door, i guess you would line up the interior door panel to the side glass in line with the B-pillar. As i remember from my 77 chevy the overlap of the outer door skin is quite huge in comparison to the pillar. a quick google gave this picture of the cady door. So i guess outer and inner should not line up 100%. 1
Andy Oldenburg Posted January 12, 2023 Posted January 12, 2023 Cool project Steve? That lowrider looks awesome, but turning a Caddy into a racer sounds exiting. A stupid question: Did that model ever race? Because it seems to be a too big and heavy model to compete, let alone the poor aerodynamic. Looking forward to the progress!
Lowlife ! ! Posted January 12, 2023 Posted January 12, 2023 On 1/5/2023 at 3:34 AM, Steve H said: Before I go any further, my sincere apologies to purists, and those who disapprove of cutting up collectable or rare kits. I collect kits, but I collect them to build. I treat any kit the same, and I have almost no knowledge of “box stock" Really pleased to see you write this Steve, I'm with you all the way ! Awesome project mate, look forward to more ! Be careful if you use the front of the NASCAR suspension, these are designed for a small blocks and your find there quite narrow if your adding a big motor ! Good luck with it I'll be watching !
KWT Posted January 13, 2023 Posted January 13, 2023 Ok I was already on the hook, but dang... all in now
Steve H Posted January 13, 2023 Author Posted January 13, 2023 On 1/11/2023 at 3:53 PM, NOBLNG said: Nice progress Steve. Sounds like you have a great plan in the works here.? Thanks Greg, I just need to turn the plan into styrene now. ? On 1/11/2023 at 11:43 PM, Mattilacken said: Nice progress! and that interior will look Great! regarding the door, i guess you would line up the interior door panel to the side glass in line with the B-pillar. As i remember from my 77 chevy the overlap of the outer door skin is quite huge in comparison to the pillar. a quick google gave this picture of the cady door. So i guess outer and inner should not line up 100%. A ha! Of course. Thanks Anton, I think what I will do is split the difference. It looked like a bit too much of a difference, but maybe the kit was actually correct. As this is a custom, I won’t worry too much about being “exact” with the 1:1 car. This is one of of the reasons I love this forum, having input from others, and having access to the knowledge is invaluable. Thanks again sir! On 1/12/2023 at 12:48 AM, Andy Oldenburg said: Cool project Steve? That lowrider looks awesome, but turning a Caddy into a racer sounds exiting. A stupid question: Did that model ever race? Because it seems to be a too big and heavy model to compete, let alone the poor aerodynamic. Looking forward to the progress! Hi Andy, thanks for checking in. I don’t imagine too many of these raced, although I did no research on that. They are front wheel drive, big, heavy, and as you mentioned, not exactly aerodynamic. My build will be somewhat race inspired, but will absolutely be a “street legal” car. On 1/12/2023 at 2:55 AM, Lowlife ! ! said: Really pleased to see you write this Steve, I'm with you all the way ! Awesome project mate, look forward to more ! Be careful if you use the front of the NASCAR suspension, these are designed for a small blocks and your find there quite narrow if your adding a big motor ! Good luck with it I'll be watching ! Hello Martin! Good to have you on board. As for the comment, I definitely meant no disrespect to those that collect, and those who undoubtedly disapprove of what I’m doing here. We all have different ideas, but when I see these cool, rare old kits, I want to build them! When I build, I kit bash, that’s what I like doing, so I’m glad you approve. I appreciate the heads up on the chassis/engine fit. I just finished a build that gave me nothing but trouble with this very issue. I haven’t got there yet, but at a quick glance, I THINK …. it looks like there’s room. Good reminder tho before I get too far along. 15 hours ago, KWT said: Ok I was already on the hook, but dang... all in now Excellent! Always good to have you along for the ride Jeremy. Thanks for taking the time to comment guys, it’s truly appreciated. I’m hoping to have most of the main interior pieces sorted out in the next couple of days. I want to get going on the bodywork this weekend as well. Once that is done, I will start playing with engine options. I will narrow down my wheel/tire choices too, and probably throw a couple of mock ups for opinions. I have put about 10 or so combinations under it, and they all look good! Once that decision is made I can finalize the chassis, and start shooting primer on a bunch of stuff. Cheers, Steve 1
Can-Con Posted January 13, 2023 Posted January 13, 2023 (edited) Steve, I'm glad to see you're keeping the factory dash. One thing I could never get strait with myself with other people building a custom car is them swapping out the dash for something else., especially on older cars. I know if I built a custom, I'd keep the original dash because It's part of the personality of the car. Back in the '80s, it was a popular to swap in a Monte Carlo, S-10 or other modern [at the time] dash. The way I figured it, if I wanted to look out over a Monte or S-10 dash when I'm driving, I would drive a Monte or S-10. Sorry about rambling on. ? Edited January 13, 2023 by Can-Con
Steve H Posted January 13, 2023 Author Posted January 13, 2023 13 minutes ago, Can-Con said: Steve, I'm glad to see you're keeping the factory dash. One thing I could never get strait with myself with other people building a custom car is them swapping out the dash for something else., especially on older cars. I know if I built a custom, I'd keep the original dash because It's part of the personality of the car. Back in the '80s, it was a popular to swap in a Monte Carlo, S-10 or other modern [at the time] dash. The way I figured it, if I wanted to look out over a Monte or S-10 dash when I'm driving, I would drive a Monte or S-10. Sorry about rambling on. ? Steve, you are always a wealth of information and knowledge, your “ramblings” are very welcomed. Now, about the dash… I do plan on modifying it quite a bit, but the goal, is to have it look like a ‘70 Caddy dash…sort-of. Hopefully you will approve when it’s done. Please keep checking in, your input is appreciated sir! Cheers, Steve 1
Can-Con Posted January 14, 2023 Posted January 14, 2023 19 hours ago, Steve H said: Steve, you are always a wealth of information and knowledge, your “ramblings” are very welcomed. Now, about the dash… I do plan on modifying it quite a bit, but the goal, is to have it look like a ‘70 Caddy dash…sort-of. Hopefully you will approve when it’s done. Please keep checking in, your input is appreciated sir! Cheers, Steve Well, thank you. Reading over the mods you planned, it sounds pretty cool.
speedy5963 Posted January 14, 2023 Posted January 14, 2023 Sweet start, look forward to following this build!
Steve H Posted January 15, 2023 Author Posted January 15, 2023 12 hours ago, MeatMan said: Awesome project! Thanks Dennis! 11 hours ago, speedy5963 said: Sweet start, look forward to following this build! Welcome aboard Paul! Thanks for having a look. 11 hours ago, Can-Con said: Well, thank you. Reading over the mods you planned, it sounds pretty cool. OK, hopefully we’re still friends when I’m done.?? 1
Steve H Posted January 16, 2023 Author Posted January 16, 2023 Today was dash surgery day Again the plan is to blend the modern dash with nav screen to the “stock” Caddy dash. first, I wanted to save the beautiful centre heat vents for possible re-use later. Then prep for two parallel cuts to remove about 3.5 mm from the centre of the Caddy dash, and remove the right side of dash. Then re-attach the “wing” back to the dash. Add filler piece… Then a quick mock with the new centre piece I still have LOTS of cleanup and fine tuning to do, but so far I think it will work ok. I probably could have gone another 1mm wider, but I was worried that it might look too wide. Hoping to have this cleaned up tomorrow. More soon. Cheers, Steve
Claude Thibodeau Posted January 16, 2023 Posted January 16, 2023 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
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