Custom Build 49 Caddy Fleetwood
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Hi Here is my build on the 49 Caddy 4 door Fleetwood 6069…..The car is extremely rare in Australia and couldn’t let it go to the crusher…..This car was ready for the scrapper …rusted 10″ up right around the outside of the body probally been on long grass for 30 years….I have several hundred pics of the build over the years so I will post a few over the next coming weeks…
This car needed major fabrication work to repair it ..so the decision was made to transform it to 2 door and chop the top and some custom touch’s …When I got it….it parted out with a lot off parts missing so I have had to fabricate most of it as there are no 49’s here to get parts off…its been a mammoth job over about 3 years actual build …I have owned it about 10 years…worked on it for about 6 moths when I first got it and was static for about 6 years also I didnt have a digital camera back then to record the progress …For the Caddy buff’s there was 1 only 6069X coupe ever built this is a Fleetwood coupe de ville…was built for executive’s wife dont know where it is now ……This car is 5″ longer than the normal chassis….The running gear and electric seating (all leather) is out of a wrecked 77 de ville … front chassis clip similar to a nova …54 ford head light doors …removed door handles….have kept all the Fleetwood stainless trim ….removed all the dashboard chrome .. clock ..radio..speaker grill..gauge cluster….used an 55 Olds Rocket steering wheel which is pearl covered by Pearl Finish in Qld Australia … custom gauge kit…ect Doug
Very interesting Doug, especially the fact that you had to fabricate so much stuff.
I have always been amazed by the creativity and determination by builders outside the US. who had to work with what ever they could find, mostly rusted out four-doors, like yours, and be able to turn them into something so beautiful.
Looking forward to the next few weeks when more of the build up photos will be shared.
Enjoy the beauty of Customizing
Hi Rick….Here is several pics at the start of the build about 10 years ago …I have lengthened the left door to Cadillac coupe spec’s and trimmed the back door to nearly quarter panel length haven’t fitted B pillar ….have fitted a 425 and t400 it will run on straight propane…..inside front floor had to recess the firewall as I didn’t want to cut into the radiator sheet metal of move the radiator forward like most of these engine swaps do …The next pics will show chop and back window placement ……Doug
Wow , that’s awsum , a Fleetwood 49 Cadillac coupe , Im lost for words , that is so cool 🙂 ! ! !
Ahh now I know , it the cat’s pajamas , its the bee’s knees , simply one really cool kustom !
WolfHi … Wolf & David….. Thanks for taking an interest in the Caddy…..
The next set of pics are cutting the roof and sitting it back in place this was about 10 years ago.
The cut at the front was 4 3/4 probably nearer 5″ once I trimmed it square and the rear was 5 1/2″ to give the roof a little back slant….cut around the back window frame about 1 1/2″…
The great thing about this model Caddy is it’s vertical square and don’t need to stretch any thing to fit ..I cut the usual pie cuts at the front to stretch the A pillars across but it sat back right in to pillar without touching it.. the rear was exactly the same… really like the 3 piece rear window so to maintain the integrity of the shape and for the window to fit properly I cut the window frame completely out of the body and x braced to hold shape which payed off as the 3 pieces of glass fitted perfect when it was reinstalled …had to move the roof forward about 5-6″..the next pics will show rear window placement……….Doug
I really like the progress photos. Nice to see how the roof was secured to the garage roof.
Enjoy the beauty of Customizing
Hi ..Rik….One has to be innovative when working by yourself………
Hi…Quentin…I have shifted from that shed a long time ago now ….there was 3 of them sheds with about 40 years accumulation of car parts……..DougHi…Heres some pic’s of the back window ..I really wanted to maintain the 3 piece window so I cut the full frame out off the body….when the windows were reinstalled they fitted perfect…had to make a new cat walk about 5 1/2″ wider …made this in one piece…….Doug
Hi …. Here are some pics of one of the doors that I had to lengthen about 10″ to get them about the same as coupe door length just over 4 foot the rust was so bad in the left door I made new inner frames ..had to make the top window frames out of 3 pieces to get the shape right..I made the right door a different way … it was a better conversion…learn as you go!!!!!!
Hi….Here are some pics of the right rear fender…rear door converted to quarter panel and B pillar been welded up and then lead filled…..
Very nice work. And that you for the ver well explaining photos. I think a lot of people who plan to do a four to two door conversion will really love the way you are sharing this.
Very nice, very inspiring.Enjoy the beauty of Customizing
Hi Rick…..I’m just a metal junkie…999 people out of a thousand wouldn’t have even looked at repairing this car…..I have a lot of photos of the build but I didn’t have a digital camera until about 8 years ago ….so a lot of the early part of the build is missing..the couple of start photos are from photos……This car is so rare here it would have been a catastrophe to destroy it..it really was only a rusty body shell on wheels when I got it…that was mostly disassembled…..
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