I have a 57 Coupe de Ville that I have been gradually putting back together.
It was an accidental project. I bought it site unseen and the dealer was a crook, so instead of the running and driving $40k "presentable driver" I bought I got a presentable lawn ornament.
So far, I have had to build an entirely new engine for it, fab parts, and repaint the entire engine bay, myself, in a storage unit. It's been a slog, as well as a real drag. Dream car turned nightmare.
My situation has changed drastically. My dad, who was a former hot rodder back in the 50s and early 60s, and whom got me interested in cars, passed away last April. I kept the Caddy a secret because I wanted to drive down and surprise him. He never got to see the car, or the work I did on it. That was a blow.
361 days later, my mother passed away. She was the only one who got to ride in the car, briefly, 300 yards from where the tow truck dropped it off to the storage unit it is now in. I always wanted to take her for a nice cruise on it up to her favorite country store. Well, that will never happen either.
On top of that, I am in the process of buying a business, and moving.
Both of them dying so close together really knocked me for six, as you could imagine. It took away what was left of my motivation for this car.
Buying a business and fixin' to move has cut down on a lot of my spare time.
So I am asking for help.
*I am in Whitby.*
Can anyone recommend a shop or a mechanic who can take this car and get it running (or certified and on the road) for me?
What I need done:
Right now, the engine is out of the car, and on a stand. It is a fresh build. Zero mile, zero hour, never fired, never installed engine. It needs its initial start and break in. (I'd put the engine back in the car for transport, but, I don't have the time or the focus to do all of the fiddly stuff.)
Brake system needs to be filled, bled, and adjusted. The parking brake is stuck (off).
New tires (which I have) need mounting.
Non essential work (just to get it certified if possible):
- Intstall the new heater core.
- Figure out the blinker wiring (reverse lights blink with turn signals). (I hate electrical work)
Right now, it's just a big, dead whale sitting in a storage unit. It will be a pain to transport it like this when I move. What I am hoping for is that at the bare minimum, it can be put in running order so that it can be moved and stopped under its own steam, making it easier to transport, and work on when I get to my next place.
Ultimate goal would be to get it to the "driver" status it was sold to me as. Running and certified would be great but, its not a must.
It would have to be towed to them, and, if it can't be saftied for road use, I am willing to tow it back to storage, as long as I can drive it into the unit under its own power. I don't want to have to hire a team of body builders to help push it back into the unit.
Unless the gas tank needs replaced, or the parking brake is completely destroyed, I have all of the parts required.
I have tried fawcett. They were my first call back in 2022. "We can look at it next week... next week... next week... next week... next month... in 3 months... we are booked till next spring."
I have never heard a positive thing about Fawcett from anyone I have encountered in the wild. This mirrors my experience of a brutal semester as a co-op student there back when I was in high school.
Fawcett is out.
Who else is there?
Someone trustworthy, who will get the car in, do the work, and get it back out of their shop again. I don't want anyone who is going to want to bond with the car for ten months, or only turns wrenches for twenty minutes once every four months or so.
I'm moving and I can't be anchored by a car in a shop for weeks or months.
I have Googled around and could a couple of places with "classic" in the name, and I have spoken to people in the wild who "know an old guy" but they can never remember his number, and he doesn't have a website.
Who do you recommend? (Don't say Derek from Vice Grip Garage, though, it would be his kind of project)
Who do you NOT recommend?
Less ideal is someone who will come to the unit and work on the car there. I can assist if it gets the work done quicker than me doing it all on my own. Its just not ideal because there isn't much room, and doing brake work on the floor of a narrow storage unit, with one light bulb in the ceiling is not an enjoyable experience.
I'm open to suggestions, recommendations, massive cash offers, diamonds, gold, barrels of oil etc.
