68 Cadillac MM Combo (Restore thread)

I took it to Pinnacle Perfomance in Owasso this morning (only place in town that actually does alot of work on classics). They took a few minutes and gave it a look. Told me the drivers side mount is broken, and the passenger side is loose. I asked him if theres any danger driving it with a broken mount. He told me there was no danger at all and they have safety straps in place to keep the engine from moving too much.

He quoted me $350 total to replace both mounts if I do it later on. Sounds reasonable to me. And is he correct about the safety straps and it not being a danger to drive like that? I want to make sure I get my facts checked
 
He is correct, and honest also for not using scare tactics. It is a difficult job to do unless you have a lift and some experience. There isn't much room to get wrenches in there, and you need the experience to do the job. Given that todays labor rates are almost universally in the $75-$100 per hour, I would say that he is in the ball park. Also have him check the upper control arm bushings, since they have a tendency to fail often. Might as well consider having the entire front suspension checked while it is there. Only time that I would not suggest replacing anything that is even close to being worn out, is if you were going to be selling the car. On my cars, I replace parts that show even slight wear for safety reasons.
 
Paul Steinberg said:
He is correct, and honest also for not using scare tactics. It is a difficult job to do unless you have a lift and some experience. There isn't much room to get wrenches in there, and you need the experience to do the job. Given that todays labor rates are almost universally in the $75-$100 per hour, I would say that he is in the ball park. Also have him check the upper control arm bushings, since they have a tendency to fail often. Might as well consider having the entire front suspension checked while it is there. Only time that I would not suggest replacing anything that is even close to being worn out, is if you were going to be selling the car. On my cars, I replace parts that show even slight wear for safety reasons.
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I knew I forgot something! I was going to ask about a front-end inspection. Was worried about getting to work and forgot. I will have to call them back and inquire. I definitely want to get that done.
 
Best thing with broken motor mounts is no jackrabbit starts even without safety straps it can be driven so long as no quick starts where the torque will make the motor lift up on the drivers side. And yes at todays labor rates $350.00 is not bad.
 
Just watch those sudden left turns. I had one of the lift on me in a left turn and pull the throttle open. Of course it was old enough not to have the interlocking plates.
 
OH yes we had some interesting times in the days of the 440 Blues Mobile Mopars they were always breaking the left mount, would jam throttle wide open sometimes or fan would chop a hole in the radiator and sometimes left exhaust manifold would break.
 
Well my 4 year old son doesnt quite like going on rides with me since its so hot (cant say I blame him). I myself couldnt justify doing more than driving to the park down the street. So I am now considering fixing the air conditioning which I previously wasnt planning on fixing.

Of course if I do this I will need to find a new fuel filter with a return line, and im also considering buying some thermal heat shield wrap to put on the fuel lines for good measure.

I changed the fuse for the blower motor over the weekend and plugged the
AC relay back in. Still not working, however with careful listening I could tell that switching the AC on DID result in an activation "click" in the engine bay, so that part is working at least. I need to check that blower motor and see if theres something going on there. Theres a pretty big plastic enclosure by the passenger fender, im assuming this is it. Looks like it will be a challenge to get all the bolts out. But I will take a closer look here soon.
 
Use your vent windows! They make a huge difference just having that air movement. I wish that we still had them today!

We have already had some extreme heat here in the Midwest this past week. I believe that we set at least 3 high temp records this past week.
 
If the system is low on Freon, it might not cycle on. The HVAC systems used on the Cadillac are extremely complex, and require a very knowledgeable person to work on the system to getting it working. Not a job that the average mechanic is going to be able to complete satisfactorily.
 
Kurt Arends said:
Use your vent windows! They make a huge difference just having that air movement. I wish that we still had them today!
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Yeah I've been using them but its just been so humid out here. It honestly hasnt been that hot, only in the 90s, its just that humidity that makes it miserable. And I want my son to enjoy going on cruises with me, so thats the main reason I want that AC working.

Have any of you used thermal wrap on your fuel lines? I was reading that these can help with vaporlocking as some of these wraps can resist up to 2000 degrees. I havent encountered vapor lock yet but I am just thinking ahead here. I already have several wooden closepins on the line that a previous owner put on, so I'm assuming the car has had a history of vaporlock. For all I know maybe the AC was intentionally disabled for this. In any case I intend to find out.

I plan on trying to buy one of these AC troubleshooting guides written by "Cadillac Tim" soon, I hear praises about this book.
 
Well over the weekend I installed a few speakers behind the seat of the car. This wasnt as important to me as it was to my 4 year old son. I didnt want to molest anything so I just created a couple rather ghetto reinforced cardboard speaker boxes.

This made my son extremely happy because he had told me last week that he only wanted to ride with me if he could listen to the Trolls movie soundtrack. So I made it happen

On a sad note though my drivers side vent window knob came off Sunday morning. I havent had a chance to closely examine it and see if I can get it back on though. All I found was the knob and a washer. I feel like there is a 3rd piece missing. Will have to search for that.
 
Well Friday I drove the hearse to work since my daily driver, a 2005 Corolla is having a battery cabling short and its been pain to drive and get stranded. (it was also a good excuse for me to drive it that day if my wife asked).

Anyways all was good on the way home as I merged onto the highway, only to be faced with bumper to bumper traffic. Wasnt more than 5 or 6 minutes on the highway, when I stalled. I managed to get an opening to coast over a few lanes onto the shoulder and out of traffic. For a moment I was worried, thinking I had another mechanic problem. Car would crank but not start. As it turns out I'm pretty positive this was my first time experiencing vaporlock. It started after about 15 minutes, then I was able to keep a steady 70-75mph all the way home and give the engine a good warmup.

I bought a Wix 33040 yesterday for $7 and plan on using it in place of the GF440 I removed earlier this year. This way I can put that return line back into use.

I also bought some "cool tape" which insulates against up to 2000 degrees radiant heat. I wrapped a few of the accessible areas of the fuel line, but much of the line (and the parts I think are probably getting the most heat) are jam packed between several pipes. There is a section of the fuel line that someone had wrapped with foam, which I can only assume this was due to vaporlocking in the past, since there are also clothespins on the line farther down.

I was going to enter a independence day parade on June 30th, but with the high hear right now and the risk of vaporlock I think I may sit it out.

Anyway heres the filter im going to use. I dont see any reason this wont work as a good GF440 substitute
 

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With the return line, you shouldn't have any vapor lock problems.
 
not a lot of since in wrapping things up under there.as Paul said the return line will stop that as it lets the fuel keep moving. the only place you would need to worry about is underneath were it crosses under the engine from the frame rail to the pump it runs close to the crossover pipe there. but while you under there make sure that the dampener is free to move. if it freezes it can generate a lot of heat.
 
I will take a look under there and see. I know it goes around the bottom of the oil pan, where I found the pan to be leaking like no other, so the fuel lines in that area are also always wet with oil.
 
Well I got my new fuel filter on and attached the return line again. I couldnt get the return line on as far as I wanted to, but it seems firm enough that it wont come off. I'd like to have the hose all the way onto the pipe but with how hard it is to get a grip down there I only got it halfway down. No bracket clamp on it yet as I couldnt get it to slide down since both hoses are so close together.

Took it for a short drive around the block and checked for leaks, seems good. I'd feel better if I could get the hose all the way down, probably need a slightly bigger hose diameter. Then again with 3 hoses attached the filter is practically suspended in midair with no weight on the return line. Going to a carshow in Tulsa July 1st so will get to stress test it at that time.

Will hopefully replace the contact to the battery for the alternator cable soon too. Noticed that whoever crimped the contact for the alternator cable did it poorly, the copper is flat and flimsy and feels like it could pull right out. It appears someone did a "good enough" crimp job and then wrapped it in electrical tape, that tape is all gone now, but you can see it used to be there.
 
all they need to be is past the bulb enough so that all the clam is behind the bulb and on the rubber. don't drive that with out a clamp. it it blows off at speed it will spray gas all over the engine and you will no longer have a car
 
John ED Renstrom said:
all they need to be is past the bulb enough so that all the clam is behind the bulb and on the rubber. don't drive that with out a clamp. it it blows off at speed it will spray gas all over the engine and you will no longer have a car
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Thanks, I am going to try to wrestle a clamp onto it this evening
 
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