December 2012

Cadillacs, which are unrelated to year or model; some are one type, some are the other. If I remember, the difference is that
one has a narrower outside diameter than the other because it is in a "cup" of some kind. Call Olcar for details. To save time, I
bought one of each type and returned the one I didn't use because I couldn't figure out which one I had before removing the old
one.
To take the old one out you have to get the rear of the car well up in the air. It can be done on the ground with jack
stands, but it is best over a pit or on a lift. You'll need a large socket wrench, breaker bar and torque wrench, probably 3/4"
drive, to turn the pinion seal nut. You also need a large pipe wrench or large monkey wrench or some other tool to hold the
driveshaft yoke from turning while you turn the nut. With another guy tightly gripping the wrench on the yoke--or you can
brace the end of the pipe/monkey wrench against the floor or frame of the car--you remove the nut and then the yoke, and
either pry out the seal or use a seal remover to get it out. You drive in the new seal with a large socket and tap the yoke back
on.
Now comes the hard and tricky part. You must "pre-load" the bearing behind the seal. To do this you torque the nut
to a very high torque rating as per the shop manual. You then measure the load on the bearing by rotating the pinion shaft
using the socket and breaker bar, and measure the pounds of "pull" you need on a small spring scale as per the shop manual.
You may have to undo the nut and re-torque it to get it right.
Since you have to get the back of the car reasonably high off the ground, need heavy tools, must get the pre-load right
and probably a 2nd guy to help, it may be best to have this job done by a professional. I've done it three times over the years
on 3 different '49 Cadillacs, including my own. However, each time I was helping friends more skilled than myself who had
the right tools and knowledge. The first time was on the ground, the second time was using a pit and the 3rd time was on a
lift. The 2nd and 3rd times were, of course, a lot easier.
RANDY DENCHFIELD IN CHEVY CHASE, MARYLAND WITH HIS 40,000 MILE 6269
FORTY-NINE 4-DOOR SEDANS IN THE FIFTIES
By Jay Friedman
More than one Forty Niner has some historical family connection to a ‟49 Cadillac. Prez Joe Cutler‟s Dad bought a
Series 62 Club Coupe way back when, which Joe says was the inspiration for his own case of ‟49-itis today. „49er Curtis
Smith of Littleton, Colorado‟s grandfather bought a Series 61 4-door in 1953 that Curt still owns. And there are other chapter
members who have similar stories about various ‟49 models.
Nonetheless, the best selling ‟49 Cadillac was the Series 62 4-door sedan. 37,617 of the 6269s were made,
constituting 40% of all „49s manufactured, more than twice as many as the next best selling model, the nearly identical Series
61 sedan (of which only 15,738 were made). Not surprisingly, more than one Forty-Niner has a family story about a long-ago-