The exquisite detail work is evident in every part of the car
The idea of a hot-rodded Caddy
Famed builder Boyd Coddington
A beautiful boulevard cruiser
A great deal of planning
It was a long and winding road leading to the completion of this highly modified 1953 Cadillac Convertible, customized and built with a great deal of planning, talent, time and patience along the way! The initial concept of the idea of creating a hot-rodded Caddy was conceived with a meeting with the famed car builder Boyd Coddington, and from that came a rendering of what such a car would look like upon completion.
But it was far from being a done deal when the news came in early 2008 of the untimely death of Boyd, which caught everybody off guard, to say the least, including every customer, employee, and related industry associates. Like everything else that was on the table, the Cadillac project was mothballed until a different plan could be concocted.
Detail is an important aspect of custom car building
It was the shop of West Coast Customs where the Cadillac ended up after it was determined that the Hot Rod by Boyd’s was not going to continue.
However, after some time had passed, the car was not being worked on at a fast enough pace, so it went to the newly opened American Hot Rods. Perhaps getting the car moved over there with a more intense work schedule would be given and a focus on getting it completed in a more reasonable time frame. Which did happen!
The end result is a beautifully constructed boulevard cruiser that has head-turning looks and more than ample performance all wrapped in a classic ‘50s shell, but with modern underpinnings and an extremely powerful powerplant under the hood. The exquisite detail work is evident in every part of the car, from top to bottom and front to rear, all done over time with great detail of planning work done at every juncture. This was a complicated build all things considered, but no problem for the highly experienced team from American Hot Rods.
At first glance, this Cobalt Blue classic convertible may appear to be simply lowered and fitted with larger-diameter rolling stock, however, the car has been extensively re-engineered from front to rear, including aftermarket chassis, modern high-performance running gear, aftermarket A/C and heating plus defroster, electric power windows, instead of the OE hydraulic units and tons of other upgrades not immediately seen unless under close inspection.
It should be pointed out, for accuracy, that the this Cadillac is a “Series 62” model convertible, of which 8,367 examples of these soft tops were built in 1953, selling for $4,143.00. In addition, a small number (532) of limited Product Eldorado convertibles were built during that model year, and in this case a certain amount of confusion among people that are unaware that Cadillac offered two versions of convertibles in 1953.
Eldorados were considered the first of the GM “dream cars” sold to the general public but at a total stratospheric cost of $7,750.00. The distinctive features of the Eldorado were the use of a wraparound windshield, a lowered beltline with a dip where the door meets the rear quarter panel, a metal boot for the convertible top plus chromed wire wheels as standard equipment. Eldos rode on the same126-inch frame as standard convertibles and were powered by the same 331-cid OHV V-8 engine.
The white interior color was made and while there was some initial resistance to this hue, in the end, the unique appearance must go to the color combination.
The interior was designed and stitched up by the famed hot rod custom upholstery shop known as Gabe’s and included in the seat design are the monogrammed “JH” markings. It’s a bit flashy but matches the personality of the car owner plus this is a Cadillac!
The sound system was a DVD Video system head unit and four-speaker layout, two in the doors and two in the rear seat area. In addition to the sound system, a drop-down monitor screen with a backup camera, located in the rear taillight, gives a heads-up extra set of eyes when backing up the lengthy and bulky machine.
A subtle touch is the new gauge face work which is color-matched to the body color. This gives the car, especially from the driver’s perspective, a modern look and feel.
The stock 1953 Cadillac featured removable rear fenders and featured a vertical chrome strip that appeared to look like an air scoop, keeping in check with the jet fighter aircraft theme of the era. The design eliminated that feature by removing the chrome strip, welding in a few hand-formed panels, then welding on the rear fenders followed by lead metal finishing. No Bondo on this car!
When the donor car was purchased, it was decided to forgo using the stock chassis, engine, transmission, rear end, and fuel tank, so the body was lifted off and the rest of the original car remained assembled and rolled to the back of the shop.
This is the condition of the car as it was pulled out of West Coast Customs and then arrived at American Hot Rods.
The GM 502 Ramjet is an impressive powerplant: 502-cid, 4-bolt mains, forged crankshaft, forged aluminum 9.6:1 pistons, roller camshaft, aluminum oval-port cylinder heads with 2.25-inch intake and 1.88-inch exhaust valves that delivers 502 horsepower with 565 lb.-ft. of torque, available from 2200 rpm on up.
An overdrive-equipped automatic was mandatory, and the unit used is the rugged GM 4L80E, which is an electronically controlled 4-speed system that is extremely durable and fitted to trucks and SUV applications. Internally it features many of the same components as the TH400 features a beefier 1.120-inch diameter input shaft.
A Ford 9-inch rear end was used with 3.50:1 gearset complete with posi-traction. The upper struts of the 4-link rear suspension system, all part of the chassis assembly.
The bent-up 21/4-inch diameter stainless steel exhaust pipes, are used in concert with Magnaflow mufflers. A polished aluminum driveshaft was also supplied.
The chosen chassis for the project features a C6 Corvette front suspension with forged aluminum A-arms, 13-inch disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, 9-inch Ford rear axle and coil overs on all four corners. This view shows the tubular braces and built to tie the firewall to the front of the frame, which aids in strength and reduces flex.
The donor car for the project was a fantastic rust-free example so no time was wasted doing metalwork because of corrosion, and to help keep road noise out of the interior a coat of rubberized undercoating was applied to the bottom of the body shell. When the aftermarket chassis was ordered from the manufacturer, exact measurements were given regarding the original body mount locations so when it came time to line everything up, there would be no drama—and it worked out beautifully! Attention to in and learned over time to measure twice or more times!
When the body comes down on the chassis for the first time it was the best time to feet through the wiring for the engine computer, located inside the cabin, with extra care given to make certain nothing gets pinched along the way. Advanced planning like this, helped make it a successful body drop. The best surprise is no surprise!
When the body was joined to the chassis, numerous body-on, and body-off procedures were done after test-fitting the doors. Because the original chassis was no longer being used, and with a completely new trunk floor added, for the increased clearance needed for the fuel tank there had to be a certain amount of shim work done front to rear, side to side when fitting the body mounts, to achieve the correct door gaps to the rocker panels and quarter panel area. Lots of precise adjustment work!
Liberal amounts of Dynamat insulation material were used for sound and heat protection in the cabin and this shot gives a view of the Vintage Air defroster ducting(center), the engine’s computer (far left), and the high-pressure coolant hoses that feed the A/C and heating systems.
A good deal of work went into the dashboard making way for the creature-comfort upgrades of the Vintage Air ducting and CD sound system with the center-mounted chrome radio grille (not installed) was originally stationary, however, it was made to open and close to gain access to the radio, A/C and power window controls.
The actual flame layout was handled with the only guideline was to run the flames into the doors and to the rear quarter panel area. This carefully calculated flame length was to give the car a lengthy appearance and the result satisfied the desired look. The flames on the left side mirror the right side, thanks to the stencil transfer paper.
At this stage, the car is coming along nicely, and the paint is still “flat” before buffing. To get the desired gloss, the final sanding process of the paint, which included starting with 800 grit, and moving down the line to 1000, 1500, 2000 grit intervals, and finishing with 2500 grit sandpaper, and in the end, a total of six coats of clear was applied through the process. Show car finish is not something done quickly that is for sure.
The job of creating all the inner fender panels and 2-piece upper radiator panel from scratch, used 18-gauge steel rolled on an English wheel. When the decision was made to discard the stock frame the need came for lots of metal fabrication work to support the front fenders, radiator, and surrounding components. Included in this handy work was the construction of the tubular supports shown at the front of the frame horn.
The polished aluminum upper control arms of the C6 Corvette front suspension plus the braided fender stainless-steel lines that go to and from the Vintage Air system under the dash, heating, and A/C.
To handle all the chrome work on the car, the bumpers received custom metal work before being sent off for plating, the removal of the factory bumper guards was among the modifications made.
While the door handles and various emblems were removed, the classic Cadillac “flying Goddess” hood ornament was retained, a stylish and elegant feature that symbolizes the top of the line of General Motors vehicles, and dates to the early 1930s.
This original rendering for Boyd Coddington to present to the car owner ,shows the lowered stance, approximate body hue, and large diameter rolling stock. Also shown is the reworked grille that differs from the original 1953 design that included large bombs-shaped chrome protrusions that doubled as bumper guards.
