[Ejgunth87]

This thread is long overdue, as I've had this car in my posession since last March, but haven't really started to work on it until the past few months. A little bit of history to this car- it was used as an ambulance down in Madison County, NC until 1972 (which is where we got her name "Maddie" from). From there it was sold to a gentleman in Essex, CT, where it sat until 2014. From there it was sold to a guy in Staten Island, NY, who was planning to Ecto-ify it just as I am, but he just didn't have the time.

Last March, John (aka Wharin) and I went down to Staten Island to meet with the owner and flatbed that SOB back up to CT.






Within a week or so I brought it into my garage and jacked it up, to help prevent any further rust or rot to the vehicle. Was able to start stripping and cleaning off the brake assemblies, as well as the wheel wells themselves (I plan to coat everything with automotive primer afterwards, don't worry).



These rims were such rusty pieces of........ well you get the idea. I was very surprised at how good they turned out! Fast forward to a few months later, and we have some brand new tires on these bad boys (I'll post pics of the finished rims & tires after).




Had some free time one night, so I got curious and decided to hook up a battery and see what happens.......


Low and behold, everything still works! Aside from one of the brake lights being out, everything else still worked. My neighbors weren't too thrilled about me honking the horn at midnight haha.


This past week, my father and I were able to jack up the car another 8-10", so that we'd have some more room to work with when moving around on the creepers. We built these stands out of 4x4's and 2x6's. Much more stable than the jackstands we had under there before.




Next week I hope to start taking out the brake & accelerator linkage, so that I can start cutting out the floor pans and prepping them for the new ones. Hopefully more updates next week!

[Venkman's Swagger]

Subbed. If this turns out nearly half as good as your parts then this will be 1 hell of a build.

[Grimmy GB]

Can't wait to see the outcome! Good luck, Eric!

P.S. Did the engine turn over?

[Ejgunth87]

There's still too many components missing to give it a try (exhaust, radiator hoses, fuel tank, fan belt, etc). But this car is in really good shape. The oil & coolant were both free of debris, and the crank turns nice and smooth with a wrench. It almost seems as though it was taken out of use as an ambulance while still in good working order.

My plan of attack for this car is as follows-
- replace floor pans (cab only)
- rebuild brake systems (brake lines & hoses, shoes, drums, wheel cylinders, springs, wheel bearings, master cylinder)
- install full exhaust system
- install and replace fuel tank & lines
- brush, clean, and weatherproof the undercarriage & wheelwells (as well as any other exposed components)
- rebuild carburetor
- update electrical system (dual batteries, alternators, replace old wiring)
- tune up engine (spark plugs & wires, distributor cap, filters, etc)

Not sure if I'll need to replace the suspension, but my main goal is to get as much undercarriage work done while it's jacked up real high, and then drop it down and rebuild the engine. I'm sure I'll be needing a few pointers here and there from some of the more experienced classic Caddie guys.

[Grimmy GB]

You know, that's an awfully small list for such an old boat! Seriously though, you got yourself a treat there. And you have so much room to work with in the engine bay as compared to these modern "full size" vehicles.

[mburkit]

This thing looks like it needs as much work as my 1963 Superior Crown Royale Combination! Good luck. Just make sure you do the car justice first; you need a strong foundation to build upon.

[Hoot]

Gunna be a thing of beauty brother... looking forward to it

[zeta otaku]

It's looking awesome! Let me know if you guys need another pair of hands. I'm not too far from you guys! (and again, thanks for helping me with my trap!)

[Ejgunth87]

So I had some time on Tuesday to start cutting out the old rotten floors. I started on the driver's side, and was able to get the toe pan fit into place. Next is the floor pan that goes under your feet. I'm using a set of 18 gauge pneumatic shears to cut everything out. I'll add some before/after pics once I have the driver's side riveted into place.

[Lowberg]

Beauty!

[GhostBustin_84]

This is gonna be nice!! Will def be following your progress.

[Ejgunth87]

So about 80% of the old floor pans have been removed. Next step will be to fit the new floor pans in place, and start prepping the metal for welding.


The difficult part will be fabricating the section of floor that covers the transmission. Hoping to get some more done next Tuesday.

[drcaron]

Good work up to now and lot of fun to come

Martin

[GBfan77]

I gotta ask, when you got the car did you reenact the scene from the Movie?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CPss95p3Ck

I know If I was lucky enough to get my hands on a car like that I would. Best of luck to you and I look forward to seeing progress.

[Ejgunth87]

Its about time for an update! Since my last post, I've gotten a few things accomplished. Brakes are 3/4 rebuilt (still have to replace the wheel cylinders and rebuild the master cylinder), drums are repainted, and I've ordered some parts to be installed (exhaust, wheel seals, radiator, radiator hoses).


Here's a before & aftrer pic of the brakes-


And the newly painted drums-


What was left of the exhaust-


Oooooh shiny........




Hoping to speed up the restoration process now that the winter is finally starting to break. She should be able to try to start once the floors, exhaust, and radiator have been replaced. Soon.....

[Hoot]

Me excite....

[Ejgunth87]

So it's been a long time since I've posted any updates on the progress of the car. Things have gotten quite busy between making parts, and having the wife in school full time. After we got the brakes reassembled, we installed the wheels and dropped her back down off the blocks. Wheeled her out in the driveway, and voila!



We figured we'd give this thing a good hosing down with the power washer, as I'm sure it's been at least a decade or 2 since this car has been cleaned.


Notice how happy I look (rust in the face is no fun)


Here is a before and after of the engine being cleaned. We do plan to paint the engine bay, but for now we just wanted it clean for when we do work under the hood.


Now that she's gotten a good washing, it was time to see if we could get this bitch started. First things first- reinstall the generator, and fabricate a tensioner arm. We made it from a piece of 1/4" steel-


After that, we had to do some troubleshooting with the electrical. One of the previous owners must have been inexperienced, or tried hotwiring it the wrong way, because a few of the wires in the ignition were partially melted. Once we replaced those, we replaced the condensor and cleaned off the points under the distributor. After a full day of tinkering around, this happened-


SHE LIVES!!!!!!!!


Now that we know it runs, its time to start working on the floor pans. We started with the rear ones. I know there's a few spots that still need patching, but we're going to worry about those spots once we get all of the pans welded in, and then we'll go back and tidy everything up.


Then we did the fromt passenger side. This was a huge pain, because there was a ton of rot on this side. We had to fabricate a portion of the floor to cover up the hump over the transmission. We plan to have another piece on the driver's side that will be welded to the passenger side's portion-




We've started to work on the front driver's side floor pans, and should hopefully have that side finished up sometime this week. Once that section is done, I'll weld in the passenger side as well. Then it'll be time to grind and primer the rest of the floor. Hoping to have much more updates over the summer, stay tuned!

[Hoot]

Always has a happy seeing this

[Ejgunth87]

Always has a happy seeing this

Okay Jar Jar. Me thinks yous a too happy

[Autobotmech]

This is beautiful, my old man would've loved to have seen this!

[Ejgunth87]

So I know its been a while since I last posted an update, but a lot has been going on behind the scenes. Last time I posted, we were working on getting the floor pans all welded in, and just got done power washing the car off. Since the last post, this is the progress that has been made-

Rebuilt the carb


Rebuilt the fuel pump


Painted the engine and engine bay to match the exterior. I can't recall ever seeing an Ecto with a cherried-out engine, so I figured why not?


Here's a "before" picture for comparison-


I've also finished up changing out all the wheel cylinders, as well as all the brake hoses. Power steering lines have been changed out, and I installed a new steering coupler. Next up- exhaust, fuel tank, and alternator.