1960 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible Test Drive and walk around

[Bruce Nunnally]

I found this one back in 1990 for one of the local car-guys. He enjoyed the car for almost 25 years now and decided it was time to pass the car to the next caretaker. A few phone calls and the responsibility of caring for this great car has now moved to the next person.

[JohnnyG]

This would be a great car to have! I always liked that year. Don't forget, these cars had REALLY long driveshafts. In 1969 they had "Double Cardon" joints instead of regular U joints. If this car has the double cardon type (or regular U joints for that matter) They may be due for service. I realize that we're not talking about a lot of miles, but the grease has probably gotten hard and dried out in 52 years. Most did not have grease fittings and were generally overlooked during service.

[JohnnyG]

So you didn't buy it? Going to Sweden? Bummer.

Speedometer cable needs pulled and lubed.

[Cadillac Jim]

Those of us with long memories will recall that 1960 vintage cars had maintenance schedules that were dazzlingly busy compared to those of modern cars. Finding all the grease fittings can be a challenge, and if you skip any at lube time you will pay later. Tie rod ends? Idler arms? Pittman arms? Ball joints? U-joints? Kingpins? A-frame inner bushings? Spring shackles? Torque tube splines? Steering column U-joints?

Then, there's the electrical system. Mechanical external voltage regulators would wear out and were throw-away parts mounted right on the fender where they were easy to check and replace. Generators used commutating brushes instead of diodes and these arced, so they would wear out on a regular basis. Speedometers used mechanical cables that, as JohnnyG noted, need occasional lubrication. Wheel bearings, particularly the front, needed to be re-packed occasionally. Rear wheel bearings wore out and needed to be pressed off the rear axles and replaced. I've seen several differentials wear out the pinion bearing and spit a tooth through the housing. Points, condenser, and ignition coils all need attention, particularly the points, which need their dwell adjusted, which then required that the ignition be re-timed. Spark plugs rarely went much more than 15,000 miles and continued on with top performance. Brakes occasionally were self-adjusting, and would adjust when you backed up and stopped, but some needed periodic manual adjustment. Radios used vibrators that wore out, and tubes that went bad.

But the engines were real bedrock-solid if you keep the oil changed. Just watch out for the distributor gear, a brass gear on the distributor shaft that is driven by a helical gear on the camshaft. The bottom end of the distributor shaft usually drives the oil pump, and is is positioned by a pin that can shear if something gets in the oil pump or blocks the distributor rotor.

Carburetors sometimes needed rebuilding every few years. High performance cars with rarely-used secondary carburetors were prone to gunk-up of the neglected units; the J-2 Oldsmobile was famous for this problem. But the secondaries of four-barrel carburetors could dry up too because they didn't open on most cars unless the engine was over, say, 4,000 RPM in a car that shifts at $4,500 RPM, which means that the secondaries never opened for any except a tiny proportion of drivers.

But these cars drive like no others.