OK class, today we learn about Flatties.

02.17.25
 

Well, I sent the LaSalle up to my friend's shop for a once over.  I made a list of things to be checked, mostly why fuel wasn't leaving the tank.  Solved!  They also did the required NYS Inspection.  It's been there a month, probably could have been done quicker but every Friday morning I went to check on the progress and brought a dozen fresh bagels with me.  He poked at it, an hour here and there but now everything works (except the radio) and it's not hard to look at.

Then I did EXACTLY WHAT I TOLD MYSELF NOT TO.  I drove it over slushy, icy, salt covered roads at -1* f.   I made two videos, now have to find out how to use a drop box.  This weekend will be 32 - 35* so I'll get out the hose and spray down the undercarriage.

I wouldn't have been able to contain myself either :)

Man, such a pretty car. I'm so glad to hear that it's running and driving! I can't wait to see the videos

I wouldn't be able to wait either; it looks amazing! Great job, and I'm super excited for those videos.

Different style of 1940 LaSalle hubcaps-

Ebay linky

I'm not sure if you're still looking, but these are OEM.

My son just called:  "Hey, watching you double clutch downshift a 3-on-the-tree with one hand is entertaining as hell.

In reply to Recon1342 :

I got the same thing but with a Caddy logo, $200 vs $1000.  Won't be going to Pebble Beach anyway.

See below:        \/

The video is private

Thanks Buzz, I just went and reloaded it, waiting approval.

Outstanding!

First Walk Around - LaSalle

on behalf of 914Driver

That Cadillac flathead really does have a satisfying burble doesn't it?  Congratulations on getting this one back on the road, looking forward to some more updates when the weather warms up.

02.22.25

The sun is out, the roads are dry so I took it 2 miles away for gas.  There was only a few gallons in there and I wanted to see if the gage worked.  It does.  

Coming through town it started farting and burbling like it was starved for gas, thought the choke was stuck so I hit the first parking lot I could.  It looked OK, what I didn't notice were the air bubbles climbing into the fuel pump.  The pump has a glass bulb on top, the whole top half is glass which is handy.  Air bubbles, means something somewhere is sucking air into the system.  I put an additional in line clear type filter and it was empty.  Oops.

As I stumbled up the driveway and into the garage it blew steam all over, overheated.  =~ (   The thermostat isn't in the block, it's in the top radiator tank, when things warm up the thermostat opens and pulls a lever that opens a series of louvers on the front of the radiator.  Like a vertical Venetian blind.  Because I won't be driving in the winter anyway, I'll just wire the slats open.

Thoughts, suggestions & Kibbitzing welcome.

Dan

I may have just joined, but I just read through this thread and, man, what a ride!

Awesome stuff and what a beautiful car.

ShawnG said:

Being loud and over-the-top is allowed with a Cadillac.

Well, there ya be.  Chrome nutz.  BTW, that cheezy tin carb heat thing has been replaced, still not OEM.

Well, I've driven it a few times now.  The carb is still a mess, runs very rich!  Stumbles at full throttle and unrelated, it overheated.  The thermostat isn't in the block but in the radiator.  When hot, it pulls a lever that opens the Venetian blind slats in front of the radiator.  I just wired it open, fixed that.

Because of the car's history and appearance, I chose to rebuild a 346 Caddy flattie.  Not crying over spilled milk, but starting with a later engine would have cost so much less than the $7k I've invested in just the engine.  Newer would be 12V, turn the key and go, appealing to me right now.   I'm not starting over.

Not sure if you know this, but that OHV Cadillac engine was designed by some certain people at GM.  A few years later, they took the design and simplified it by doing things like making the valley pan and water crossover all one piece with the intake manifold, to cut down on machining, parts count, fasteners, and assembly line time.  They borrowed stud mounted rockers from Pontiac but decided to lubricate them through hollow pushrods instead of oil galleries through the deck, again saving parts count, machining time, etc.

The small block Chevy started out as that Caddy engine.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Huh.

Today I Learned.

In reply to 914Driver :

You're doing great. Keep going!!!

No engine swaps. You're doing the right thing and the car deserves better than that. 

You're 95% there, just the driveability issues to sort out which won't be a big deal.

For over heating, wiring the Pines Winterfront open is fine don't worry about it until last. Double check your ignition timing, could be contributing to the overheat. Could also be that the radiator is a bit scaled up, you might find an old-school rad shop that can clean it out.

Running rich: Make sure the choke opens fully. Check to make sure your idle speed is what the book says it should be. I'm guessing 500 - 700 rpm when warm. Then take off the air cleaner and have a look down the carb throat with a flashlight while it's at idle. See if there's fuel coming from the booster. It should only be fueling through the idle circuit. If there's fuel spilling out of the booster then your float level is too high and it's pulling from the main circuit at idle. Dropping the float level should solve this.

If you added an electric fuel pump, the extra pressure could be causing the fuel level to be too high as well. Adding a decent regulator will fix this.

In reply to Recon1342 :

I'm fascinated by the history of design, the etymology of machine if you will.  Like those exhaust manifolds that people today call ram's horn.

Those are all colloquially known as Kettering V8s (yes, the ignition system guy) with their characteristic siamesed center exhaust ports and paired intake ports.  This was so they could run exhaust heat from those center ports through the intake manifold to heat the floor, which helps economy and drivability greatly by vaporizing the fuel.

All SORTS of neat ideas that made a lot of sense in the context of what the priorities were at the time of engineering.

People today bypass a lot of those innovations for MOAR POWER but, really, for a car that you drive on sunny days to the milkshake shop and back, I'll take those old time innovations for what they are.  And also bleach those wide whitewall tires 

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

I'm much the same way. The history of the humble torque converter is another fascinating chapter in that book... especially when you start talking about the "semi-auto" transmissions that Ma Mopar got into in the late 40s and early 50s. Gyro-matic, anyone?

914Driver said:

...Because of the car's history and appearance, I chose to rebuild a 346 Caddy flattie.  Not crying over spilled milk, but starting with a later engine would have cost so much less than the $7k I've invested in just the engine.  Newer would be 12V, turn the key and go, appealing to me right now.   I'm not starting over...

 

 

Whatever engine you put in there would have had teething issues.  You're a few minor tweaks away from the turn the key and go objective.

The gas cap was painted body color.  I filled the tank and when parked, the fill tube puked gas all over the ground!  Pop the cap and hit it with air using the rubber tipped thing used for small carb holes, nadda.  Paint filled the vent hole, vapor lock?  Dunno yet, so this morning I popped a tiny hole in it, now the vent works.  Still poking....

The carb was messed up, the accelerator pump just didn't. A quickie rebuild didn't help, so I went to Kanter and got another Stromberg AA-26.  Results seen below.