March 2012

Newsletter Of The
Forty-Niners Chapter Of
The Cadillac & LaSalle Club
Joe Cutler – President
E-mail: 49caddyman@gmail.com
Art Gardner – Editor
E-mail: agardner@gardnergroff.com
Jay Friedman – Membership / Treasurer
Frank Lindauer – Editor Emeritus
From the Prez— Vol. 12, No. 1, March 2012
2012 TO BE A GOOD YEAR FOR ‘49ERS
ALOHA, my fellow 49-ers! I surmise that my greeting divulges that I'm in Hawaii as I write this! My sister from
Florida decided to have her wedding on Maui Feb. 1st. When invited, I told her I'd much prefer staying home shoveling snow
in the bitter cold, but she threatened to disown me, so here I am! We'll be in Hawaii for 5 weeks...4 weeks on Maui & 1 week
on Oahu. Being a WWII history buff, I'm excited about visiting Pearl Harbor. This is indeed paradise -- 81 degrees & bright
sun every day! Everything is exorbitantly priced, however, so I certainly couldn't afford to reside here.
Fortunately, winter in New England this year was relatively mild -- the exact opposite of last winter. I'm looking
forward to, with great anticipation, the start of the car shows & cruise nights, and of course, the annual CLC GN to be held this
year in St. Augustine, Florida. The New England Region will be hosting the GN next year in Quincy, Mass. I'm a member of
the GN Planning Committee, which has been meeting once a month since last October. We have a wide variety of tours and
events scheduled, and intend to make this GN a memorable event for everybody.
Don't forget...dues are due! Dues remain at $8 and should be mailed to Jay Friedman, 1530 September Chase,
Decatur, GA 30033 ASAP. "No duesy, no newsy!" If you don't send them in this will be the last issue of the Times you'll
receive." MAHALO! ("Thank you" in Hawaiian).
SPECIAL NOTE: We will conduct a chapter meeting at the GN in St. Augustine on Saturday June 16 (time to
be determined). The GN will be a blast, so make an effort to be there if you can and be sure to stop in at the chapter
meeting!
Keep 'Em Rolling!
Joe
AN ALTERNATE VIEW ON IDLE MIXTURE ADJUSTMENT PROCEDURES
By Art Gardner
Jon at the Carb Shop in Missouri suggests a slightly different approach to adjusting the idle mixture screws on an old
Cadillac carb. According to Jon, the Shop Manual's approach of first setting the idle speed and then tweaking the mixture is
backwards. He says you should set the mixture first and then adjust the idle speed to achieve the desired/specified idle speed.
Jon says that on a Carter 722, the mixture screws should be somewhere between 3/4 of a turn from all the way in to 1-1/2
turns. He suggests that one should break that up into thirds, so you would have more or less discrete positions of 3/4 turn, 1
turn, 1-1/4 turns, and 1-1/2 turns. He says for a brand new engine, 3/4 turn is typically the right position. As the engine wears,
1 or 1-1/4 turn become the norm. Moreover, he says that there is almost never a need to turn a mixture screw more than about
1-1/2 or 2 turns out from closed. He says that with these relatively steep mixture needles, once you turn the screw out about
that much, the mixture passageway is fully open and further turning of the screw doesn't make it any more open (open is open,
after all). I followed Jon‟s advice in fine tuning the performance of the Carter 722 on my last 1949 (sadly now enjoyed by
someone else) and found it to be very sound. Give it a try!

FRED ENGLE’S CDV (CAMARILLO, CA), OWNED SINCE 1986
IT WORKED FOR ME: STOPPING A STEERING BOX LEAK WITH SPECIAL LUBE
By Jay Friedman
Although my 49 steers precisely and easily, with no play or looseness at the steering wheel, my '49's steering gear box
has always had a slow leak. I put a new gasket on the end cover a couple of years ago, but it did not improve things.
Annoyingly, every month or so I‟ve had to top it up.
After reading a CLC Forum thread on this subject and mulling over the suggested alternatives (all of which involve
thicker oil or grease), I bought a ½ liter plastic bottle of Penrite Steering Box Lube for Vintage Cars (for anything without rack
and pinion steering or power steering), an Australian-made flowable grease. It is sold in the U.S. by Restoration Supply
Company in California and costs $17 per bottle, plus about $10 shipping. I ordered 2 bottles. When they arrived, I raised the
front wheels off the ground, took off the left front wheel to provide better access to the steering box, and drained the oil from
the steering box by removing the lower inboard bolt on the end cover. After replacing the bolt, I then removed the filler plug
and squirted lube into the box by squeezing the bottle. To get it to settle in the box I had to turn the steering wheel from side to
side a couple of times between squirts. One bottle was not enough to fill the box completely, so I had to use part of the 2 nd
bottle. It took several days before the lube totally settled, so I checked the box after every drive and topped it up. The box no
longer leaks.
A QUESTION FROM AUTHENTICITY MANUAL COMMITTEE MEMBER
(AND FORMER CLC PREZ) BILL EDMUNDS
We have found paint chips for 1949 which include paint mixing formulas. Does anyone have
similar literature for 1948 which includes paint mixing formulas that can be put in the next printing of the
1948-49 Authenticity Manual?

DON CLEVELAND’s 1949 CADILLAC 60S
Above is a beautiful example of an often-overlooked model – the fabulous 1949 60 Special. Thanks to Don
Cleveland, of Perrysburg, OH, for submitting this picture of his wonderful car. Last summer, Don drove this stunner to
Columbus for the 2011 Grand National: “I was so busy talking to folks who looked at my 1949 green Cadillac Fleetwood that I
didn‟t find good „sun‟ time to get more pictures of my car.”
TECH TIP: HORN WIRING
By Ralph DeFilippo

NEW MEMBER JOHN WALKER’S 6207 CLUB COUPE
(SEATTLE, WA)
LISTING OF PARTS AVAILABLE FROM NAPA THAT MAY FIT A ’49 CADILLAC
Part Description Manufacturer NAPA Part # Price Core
Contact Set (Points) Echlin ECH CS777A $ 17.29
Distributor Condenser Echlin ECH RR174 $ 8.49
Distributor Cap Echlin ECH RR1580 $ 15.49
Distributor Rotor Echlin ECH RR159 $ 14.29
Spark Plug Wire Set - Premium BEL BEL 700170 $ 38.99
Stoplight Switch Echlin ECH SL128 $ 24.49
Thermostat Housing Gasket THM STM1 $ 1.09
Thermostat - Premium (160?) THM THM 532060 $ 9.99
Thermostat - Premium (180?= OEM) THM THM 532080 $ 9.99
Thermostat - Premium (195?) THM THM 532090 $ 9.99
Radiator Cap (13 lb.) Balkamp BK 7031445 $ 6.09
Belt - Fan & Generator PBH NBH 257570 $ 18.29
Generator Bushing – Front Echlin ECH AD1238 $ 4.49
Generator Brush Echlin ECH SD725 $ 4.29
Starter Brush Echlin ECH R503 $ 3.29
Starter Repair Kit Echlin ECH SRK104 $ 27.49
Starter Solenoid Repair Kit Echlin ECH STK2 $ 14.69

Inner Wheel Bearing - Front Wheel BRG B62 $129.00
Outer Wheel Bearing - Front Wheel BRG B73 $ 95.49
Wheel Seal - Front Wheel NOS 19940 $ 13.49
Wheel Cylinder Kit - Front UP 36 $ 3.99
Wheel Cylinder Kit - Rear UP 20 $ 3.99
Brake Shoes - Front, Tru-Stop Tru-Stop TS TS127 $ 24.99 $ 6.50
Brake Shoes - Rear, Tru-Stop Tru-Stop TS TS
Wiper Blade – Classic WIP 601233 $ 13.29
TECH TIP: WHAT TO DO IF YOUR MOTOR SUFFERS FROM VAPOR LOCK
By Jay Friedman
Lately, I've been hearing more stories about ‟49 Cads experiencing vapor lock. This ailment is due to engine heat
causing gasoline to boil away or vaporize at certain spots in the fuel line. This makes for air in the fuel line, starving your
engine of fuel, which will then stall or refuse to start. As ‟49 Cadillacs were not known for having this problem in the past, it
makes me wonder if it is not some new problem with the formulation of gasoline. The following may help and if any members
have additional suggestions, please send them to the Times:
1. Check to see if air is freely flowing through the radiator and that the motor is running at a normal temperature;
2. Check your steel fuel line make sure it is not passing to close to the driver‟s side exhaust manifold and check the
flexible fuel line from the end of the steel line into the fuel pump to make sure it is not touching or passing very close to the oil
filler housing or another hot part of the motor;
One possible solution is to wrap an insulating material around the rubber fuel line between the end of the steel line and
the fuel pump. You can also do the same for the steel line between the pump and the carburetor. A good insulator is a length
of rubber fuel line or, alternatively, insulated hose used for radiator return lines. It should be of the right diameter; that is, of
course, bigger than the line to be wrapped. Cut it longitudinally (along its length) and place it around the length of the fuel line
to be insulated. It's expensive (at $4 / foot here in GA), but if it solves the problem is money well spent. Another insulation
material is aluminum foil. I'm not sure about other alternatives to cover the fuel lines, but you can try McVey's for some
insulating material, as they do sell stuff of this type for exhaust pipes, or go to a hardware store and see what they suggest.
Another solution is to install an electric fuel pump. If you do so, I would not do away with the mechanical pump, but
merely have the electric pump as an auxiliary. I have such a set up on 2 of my cars (but not my '49 Cad which does not vapor
lock yet). Install it so that the electric pump on a separate small fuel circuit with 2 "T" connections near the fuel tank and not
merely in line with the mechanical pump. A more ambitious electric fuel pump installation involves installing a "T"
connection just outside the fuel tank, with one branch of the "T" connection serving the existing steel fuel line and the
mechanical pump. From the 2nd branch of this "T" connection near the fuel tank, install a short line to the electric pump.
From the outlet of the electric pump install a second long steel fuel line, parallel to the long steel existing line, all the way to a
rubber line going into a second "T" connection near the carburetor, thereby bypassing the mechanical pump altogether. This
second set-up will look funny but will probably work well. The mechanical pump puts out 4 to 5¼ lbs, so the electric pump
should not put out more than this.
If you suspect your engine temperature is too hot, a good way to accurately check it is to temporarily hook up a
mechanical temp gauge to the same point on the rear of the passenger's side cylinder head as the stock electrical sending unit.
You can buy one and any necessary screw-in adapter inexpensively at an auto parts store. You install it by temporarily
removing the passenger's side ventilating tube, run the cable through the hole and gently close the vent valve over the cable to
prevent most hot air entering the engine compartment. I've done this with my own car and have been surprised at the
difference in readings between the stock electrical and auxiliary mechanical temperature gauge readings.
On the other hand, the motor‟s symptoms may be due to something else altogether, a constricted fuel line. See John
Washburn‟s article in the May 2011 Self Starter.

EARLY 1949 CADILLAC ENGINE PRODUCTION LINE
(NOTE BRIGHT GENERATOR FAN AND TWO-BOLT VALVE COVERS)
TECH TIP FOR BLEEDING BRAKES AFTER REPLACING BRAKE LINES
By Art Gardner
If you replace brake lines and/or replace or re-do wheel cylinders, it can be a chore to get all of the air back out of the
lines and cylinders. Here is a trick I came up with recently (this probably been used by lots of mechanics over the years, but it
only occurred to me in the last month or so).
The idea is to fill the lines and the cylinders as full as possible with fluid before installing them. Recently, we
replaced the rear lines, rear hose, F-to-R line, and rebuilt the rear wheel cylinders on my „50. To avoid endless pumping and
bleeding of the brakes, I filled the cylinders as full as I could with fresh fluid, then attached the new (relatively short) steel lines
and snugged them up. Then I filled the line and the cylinder the rest of the way by pouring brake fluid down the line, using a
skinny awl to lead the fluid into the line like a reverse funnel. (See drawing on next page.) After filling the line and cylinders
completely, we put a tight rubber cap on the end of the line and installed the cylinder/line. For the flexible rubber brake hose
and the F-to-R steel line, we did basically the same thing.
We had removed the wheel cylinders to rebuild them and were installing new lines at the same time. So pouring the
fluid into the lines up was no trouble. If you were doing it with the wheel cylinders still on the car, you could put a rubber hose
on the end of the line and bend up the rubber hose to give you a vertical run to pour into and to provide the elevation change
needed to force the air to rise up and out of the line. If you do it with the wheel cylinder still on the car, you might need to
open the bleeder valve to let some of the air out that way. Since I had the lines oriented vertically with the wheel cylinders off
the car, I didn't need to open the bleeder and the air escaped up the line.
As a result, there was very little spillage and it didn't take very long to fill the system or bleed the brakes. The net
effect is that when we bled the brakes, there was very, very little air in the system that needed to be purged. We had a firm
pedal almost from the start and the entire bleeding process only took about 10 minutes.

1948 “BONE BOX” OWNED BY MARK RODGERS (OHIO)