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57 or 68 Cadillac, Coupe or Convertible?


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Which would you prefer if price no object, or if price was important?

00U0U_8NROf4MlHoN_300x300.jpg 1968 Cadillac DeVille Convertible $14500 (Tulsa, OK) cars & trucks - by owner

01414_aPAUxO35XZA_300x300.jpg 1957 Cadillac $19500 (Central IA) cars & trucks - by owner

Bruce

2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing

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For a daily driver, I would want the restored 1957 Coupe DeVille. The 1968 looks like a barn find that has been cleaned up and gotten running with a new top, but still needs some restoration work, like replacing the broken bezel around the grille. The thick layer of dust in the engine compartment apparently was left as evidence that this is all original under the hood and has never been apart, which is a blessing and a curse. But I would love to have a 1968 DeVille Convertible for a weekend car.

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-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I would personally take the 57 because of the classic looks and the fact of being restored. It is beautiful

GM FAN FOREVER

Nice, clean, luxury= fine automobile

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Yeah, I'm captivated by that lovely 1957 Cadillac look too. I would even tolerate the 6 Volt system with a generator and external mechanical regulator for that.

CTS-V_LateralGs_6-2018_tiny.jpg
-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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Yeah, I'm captivated by that lovely 1957 Cadillac look too. I would even tolerate the 6 Volt system with a generator and external mechanical regulator for that.

If I am not badly mistaken...The 1957 was 12 volt...

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You're right, the year almost everybody went to 12 Volts was 1955 or 1956, I believe. I would still be tempted to put an alternator with internal solid-state regulator in it.

Lots of people converted over to 12 Volts once the advantages of battery life, starting, etc. etc. etc. became obvious, which was about a week. All you had to change was the generator, the regulator, the battery, and the bulbs, and of course the ignition dropping resistor and perhaps the coil on some cars. Most starters were OK as-is. You did have to mod the radio power supply, but back then you could change the whole radio more easily when a drop-in was available. Most radios used a vibrator and a transformer, so all it took was the vibrator and transformer. There were some exotic 6 Volt tube type radios on Packards and some other premium cars that would present a problem but that kind of car was generally OK with 5 Volts if it came with that. Maybe the turn signal clicker would be slow with half the current, so you would change that, etc.

CTS-V_LateralGs_6-2018_tiny.jpg
-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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You're right, the year almost everybody went to 12 Volts was 1955 or 1956, I believe. I would still be tempted to put an alternator with internal solid-state regulator in it.

Lots of people converted over to 12 Volts once the advantages of battery life, starting, etc. etc. etc. became obvious, which was about a week. All you had to change was the generator, the regulator, the battery, and the bulbs, and of course the ignition dropping resistor and perhaps the coil on some cars. Most starters were OK as-is. You did have to mod the radio power supply, but back then you could change the whole radio more easily when a drop-in was available. Most radios used a vibrator and a transformer, so all it took was the vibrator and transformer. There were some exotic 6 Volt tube type radios on Packards and some other premium cars that would present a problem but that kind of car was generally OK with 5 Volts if it came with that. Maybe the turn signal clicker would be slow with half the current, so you would change that, etc.

If I have my dates right... GM went to 12 volt in '55.

Ford went to 12 volt in '56.

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Yeah, I recall the 1955 Chevrolet with 12 Volts. These things are usually done in collusion with all the major automakers so that things like headlights can be standardized, so I'm a little surprised that Ford was a year late. Doubling the voltage can cut the copper weight in the car by as much as 75% because the same power is served by twice the voltage and half the current, and the voltage drop in the wiring can be twice as much for the same power drop.

For over ten years now the auto industry has been trying to define a 42 Volt standard. It hasn't been working for them because arcing is a problem with 42 VDC (some welders work with voltages in that range), and anything over 22 Volts can electrocute people if they are properly connected and grounded (there have been deaths recorded on 24 Volt farm lighting systems). I think that the 42 Volts is actually seven thee-cell (6 Volt) batteries or 3 1/2 six-sell (12 Volt) because most run at about 7 Volts for "6 Volt" batteries or 14 Volts for "12 Volt" batteries when the alternator is going.

The problem, of course, is that no one considers anything except DC. Of course 42 Volts DC is an unacceptable disaster waiting to happen in Joe Sixpack's beater, and a fender-bender can have amazing consequences if there is a lot of aluminum in the car. But, go to AC???? That's not evolution, that's revolution, and you can't have that because the risk is unacceptable.

For years I have looked for a way to suggest that a four-wire three-phase 42 Volt system is simple and feasible, and compatible with most existing components and needs no new technology. The architecture is a 12 Volt battery, alternator, and starter. Car power is supplied by an inverter box like that used with HID headlights. The four wires are the three phases and a neutral. The inverter shuts down if neutral current exceeds a small threshold, like a GFI shock-protection safety outlet or circuit breaker. Run it at 400 Hz and you have scads of efficient motors, simple DC conversion with little filtering, and far less copper and iron than is needed for DC motors of the same power at any voltage. Lower DC voltages are obtained efficiently with bucking power regulators, things you can buy on chips for pennies these days. Include a dual-redundant fiber optic cable for the CAN bus and you have an EMI-immune bus to pass around computer data, DTCs, audio, even video. With three phase, you have no high ground current return, so things like grounding headlights and extra ground returns to equalize bulb brightness in the stoplights and such go away as design problems. Etc.

CTS-V_LateralGs_6-2018_tiny.jpg
-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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