The
Cadillac Car Clinic, Marietta, GA hosted by; Bob Winchell & Art Gardner
Peach State CLC Cadillac
Clinic – April 10th
It was Sunday. Larry Reece was
on his hands and knees, sweating hard, asking for patience, and trying hard not
to cuss.
Actually, Larry’s a good man, but he was not in
church. He was wrasslin’ the window regulator in a
’58 sedan’s back door. If you’ve ever tried to replace a window motor in one of
those dad-gummed things you know it’s like trying to perform heart surgery
through an ear hole. Up to the elbows inside the works, and
not a lot of wiggle room. The shop manual claims you take your
life into your own hands by trying what we were doing – replacing the motor
without removing the regulator – BUT – SUCCESS! I have been looking at
this window stuck in the UP position since the weather made me happy it was UP.
Now, I am ready to go cruisin’ into the BOPC event in
a couple of weeks, and the Turk’s going to have that hardtop look again! It
doesn’t take much to make this old dude happy when it comes to his 53-year-old
car.
Larry Reece is the model of persistence. I am
NOT. When we were finished, I told him how much I appreciated his help, because
I get frustrated when that motor just doesn’t seem to FIT. Larry says, “Well,
that’s what I thought belonging to a car club was all about. Helping each other
with the cars…” Larry, you are so right. And that’s what these Cadillac Clinics
are all about: fixing some peculiar and not-so-peculiar points of operation in
the cars. AND hanging out, spending time with some of the best folks you will
ever want to hang out with. Car guys. The
club owes Bob Winchell some champagne or something because his sharing of his
shop space and expertise has been such a gift to us. Thanks, Robert! Good man!
Needless to say, then, as far as I am concerned
this week’s Cadillac Clinic was another magnificent success!
I bet Frank Butler thinks the same. While Larry
and I worked on the ground, Frank was able to get his Big Blue ’64 Eldorado
convertible up in the air. Frank got a good look underneath for the first time
since he’s had her. Apparently he and Bob found a few little leaks and
tightened those up. (Y’all, that is one TIDY
undercarriage!) He whacked a few connections and adjusted a couple of fardenscrapers, then ran that beast until I could no longer
breathe in Bob’s garage. Not sure, but I think they might have tested
compression and produced Frank a list of other “to-do’s” he can chip away at
over the coming weeks. I should note that in previous weeks Frank did the
electrical testing on my windows to ensure that replacing the motor was the
proper fix; without that diagnostic work we might have done the motor when the
problem was the wiring. Thanks, Frank!
And that’s what it’s been all about for several
of these clinics now. Some of us worked on our cars, and a few just spent some
quality time chewing the fat. Jay Friedman showed up, just in time to show
Larry some nuances of the fuel pump on his ’49. Larry has been wrestling with
what seems like vapor lock, and doesn’t want the ugliness of wood clothes pins
lined up on his fuel lines… Bruce Scheck and Stan Tucker were there,
discussing music videos I imagine. Stan brought in a producer/director who
wants to feature our club’s Cadillac’s in a music video being produced the beginning
of May. Stay tuned for these developments… They’re trying to line up a venue,
such as Barrington Hall, to show off the beauty of the Cadillac lines.
Well, Frank Lindauer is up next, on May
8th at 1:30 PM, to check out his transmission. Lynn Newport
might make this one and we keep hoping Hal Raper will find time to bring the
’56 back for more tweaking. If nothing else, I still have a problem with my
horn…
Robert Kipping, Art Gardner, Day Diodati, Jimmy
Dorsey, Jack Nicholson, Bill Greene and others have been part of these
gatherings, and we were all the better for it. Come on back down on May 8th!
Anyone else planning on joining us in Marietta for this classic time of
camaraderie and character-building? If so, please send me a note so we can plan
for your cars.
Doug