Reviving a car after a decade-plus of dormancy

It’d been 12 years. A lot had changed. I moved. I got married. I changed jobs. Yet the car that sparked my love affair for all things automotive remained in the same spot I left it. There it waited, waited for that opportunity to bask once again in the sun.

It’s not that I didn’t think of the 1974 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. Honest. I have a picture of it on my office wall. Other things just kept coming up. For real.

We’re not getting any younger. Nor is my mom, the original owner of the car. Let’s see if we can get it back on the road.

I booked my plane ticket from Tennessee back to Long Island, where I was born and raised, and where the Cadillac sat. I never fly back, but the act of purchasing that nonrefundable airfare sealed my fate. I was going to be there–mainly because I hate losing money. So will the car–it’s certainly not going anywhere.

Then Tom Suddard told me he booked his hotel to help me get the Caddy up and running. Crap. I can’t back out now.

Two planes and an Uber ride during rush hour traffic later, I’m back at my childhood home. After a big breath, I asked my dad to open the garage.

You can imagine my reaction when I saw the car swallowed up in clutter. Boxes seemed to have piled up just as much as the level of regret I had. I wanted to unleash a tirade of expletives in every direction, but if I was going to be angry at one person, all I had to do was look in the mirror.

Okay, don’t panic. Don’t get angry. Let’s organize and throw out all the unnecessary things surrounding the car. It’ll make working on the car–and getting in and out of it–much easier.

Tom arrived. We assessed the situation. We went to the local parts store, which had a happening auto repair scene in its parking lot, and bought a ton of things. Among them were CRC Clean-R-Carb, a fuel jug, car-washing materials, motor oil and other bits and pieces. We also made a Lowes run for pruning tools. Yes, pruning tools.

The clutter wasn’t the only thing that had become overgrown–so did the bush next to the driveway. We had to cut that back a bunch. The yew should look more like a bush in a couple of years, especially since it can sprout new growth from old wood.

Okay, with everything clear, let’s see if the tires hold air. If they do, we can roll the car out, in theory. Success! They took the air and now we can also remove a ladder stuck underneath the Caddy. How the heck did that get there?

Two people pushing a 5000-plus-pound car out of a small garage isn’t a smart idea. So let’s hook Tom’s Ford Lightning to the rear and pull. I got into the Caddy for the first time in more than a decade. A rush of memories flooded my mind. I kept remembering how I would watch my father start up the car from the passenger’s seat, pumping the gas first and then turning the key. Now I sit in the driver’s seat, ready to steer the car and not hit anything–such as the sides of the garage or Tom’s truck. Tom pulled and the car resisted. Well, what the heck.

The left-rear wheel was dragging, but the other three wheels seemed free. We continued to drag the Caddy a bit until we could get into the engine compartment. This provided the opportunity to install a new Optima battery and a battery tender to keep it fresh.

With the new battery in, we could open the windows. Nice. We tried turning over the engine. Good news: It turned. A seized engine would have signaled an abrupt end to this story, with a long “to be continued.”

Finding parts for a nearly 50-year-old car can be challenging. We had to drive 45 minutes away, or just 10 miles, for a rear wheel cylinder. My parents’ garage also lacked some essential tools–such as jack stands, a jack and wheel chocks. We got those, too.

We came back and pulled the car further out. The Caddy had more than a decade’s worth of buildup, which included dust, debris and mouse presents. Yeah, we’ll call it that. (Mice love this car as much as I do.) We gave it a quick bath so we could work on it.

Tom assessed the left-rear wheel situation. The rear drum brake was the culprit behind the wheel locking up. Finding a rear drum brake proved to be a challenge. Thankfully, Vinny Boombox at the local NAPA store was a big Cadillac fan. He had an ’85 Eldorado and said he could get us a brake drum the next day. Score.

Meanwhile, we changed the oil because … well, look at it. You don’t want to run this through the engine.

My father ran the Cadillac’s fuel tank empty, which in this case was a good thing–less fuel to go bad. We put a few gallons in and then tried starting it. No dice. We gave it some carb cleaner and tried starting it; the engine wanted to fire but couldn’t. We were getting spark and the plugs looked good. It wasn’t electrical. It definitely seemed fuel-related. Our diagnosis? A bad fuel pump. “Hey, Vinny Boombox, can you hook us up with one?”

With a directive from my mom to keep the car overnight in the garage, we needed to get it running to put it back in its box. Otherwise, a night of sleeping in the car beckoned, which would be quite comfortable in hindsight. Anyway, we got an electric fuel pump, wired it to the battery, and plumbed it from the carburetor to a fuel jug. It didn’t look pretty, but we were going for more function than style. Maybe the jug needed a Cadillac emblem?

We turned the key and success! It started right up. Tom took it out of the driveway to turn it around, and then fuel starting pouring out. Hey, the fuel pump works. Great! Let’s take off this jury-rigged setup before anyone sees it … like my mom.

We drove the car around the block, and we could tell we had flat-spotted tires and reduced braking power from one fewer functioning brake. We drove it into the garage and parked it for the night. We had a car that runs. Major progress.

The next day, we loaded up a set of Coker tires I’d bought through Summit Racing. A full set fits comfortably in the trunk. You know, that fact would make this a great track car, right?

We drove it two blocks to Hempstead Tire Service. Lee and his crew got the tires mounted up, balanced and ready to go in less than 20 minutes. All those years of Lee going to our local stock car track seems to have rubbed off on his business.

With new rubber on the car, we drove it back and I spent some time cleaning the interior, which needed some extensive scrubbing with mild dish soap. We also vacuumed the interior, the trunk and under the hood. After that, Tom and I picked up the rear brake drum kit.

As Tom went to work on the brakes, I spent time at the DMV trying to get the Caddy registered again. It was a bit of a challenge due to the older-style VIN and the title being under my mother’s maiden name. After 2 hours, we got it squared away and the car now sports historical plates. Going historical saves money on insurance and allows us to take a pass on emissions testing for annual New York state inspection.

Back at the car, Tom finished replacing the left-rear drum brake. Now, for the moment of truth: Would it run to my grandmother’s house and back? Tom and I jumped in and took it out. But before we got too carried away, we needed to fuel up. After all, this thing gets about 10 mpg and we had probably less than a gallon left. The tank measures 28 gallons deep. Don’t be surprised if you see me with a GoFundMe account at this rate.

So the first drive, just about 5 miles, went well. One minor incident, though: A hubcap flew off during the drive, which Tom graciously picked up. (It pays to have a passenger in a classic car.) The hubcap came off because of a bent wheel.

After Tom left, I took my brother and father for a ride. When my mom saw us, she smiled. Mission accomplished. That made this all worthwhile.

Before we put the Caddy away, we spent some more time cleaning the garage. We removed many old paint cans and containers of various automotive fluids from decades ago. The local town offers collections for hazardous materials, and my father brought those there the following week for disposal.

I placed some mice deterrent and bait around the garage to keep the mice at bay. I appreciate their love for the car, but I don’t care for them gnawing at the car and turning their efforts into paint-eroding droppings.

What’s next? I return to New York for the holidays in a few months. I’ll ask Santa for primarily three things. First, we’ll need a state inspection to legally drive it on the road. That means a functioning horn, which doesn’t work as of now. Hopefully, it’s just a fuse and not an electrical adventure thanks to mice. Second, we’re going to do another oil change. Third, we’ll get a new wheel to replace the bent one, so we can ride around on all four wheels with hubcap bling.

After that, it’s onward to mostly cosmetic things. The Caddy runs like a champ, but a decade of storage has taken its toll. The first thing on my hit list will be the filler panels. Cadillac used a plasticky, rubbery material for them that shatters after going through several temperature cycles. Fortunately, the aftermarket offers several replacement options with supposedly more durable materials.

In the grand scheme of things, our mission was a success. We have a functioning classic Caddy ready to be enjoyed. Now I have a great reason to go back to Long Island to visit family and friends. Who’s ready for a top-down ride in the winter?