Hello, new guy to the forum!
I bought a 1966 Cadillac Fleetwood Limousine, 66,xxx miles, a couple weeks back and have been working on it.
I'll start from the beginning.
This is a car I remember seeing sitting out front on display of "Tilley's a bar along North Broadway here in Minot, ND. It never moved for years, I think from the early 90's till some time in the late 90's when I saw the building name removed, and the car sitting along the back lot. I forgot about it and it was gone shortly after. I moved away from Minot back in Dec 2000 and moved back here to Minot, ND in June of 2009, last year. I just started looking for a project car and when I saw that I thought, no way, I thought that car was cool then and when I talked to the guy, he confirmed that it was the car, which I was pretty sure it was. It was vandalized while sitting out front of the bar from probably dumb drunks or stupid people. The windshield, and headlight had holes punched in it, wiper arms, antenna, mirror, badges torn off, driver side windows smashed out, leaving dents in various places. The car was originally Black, then was professionally painted Silver, and at some point it was painted the Maroon color it is now. The only rust I'm finding are some small spots on the fender skirts. There has been a lot of paint put on the car due to the thickness of the areas where it is flaking off. The hood looks to have been damaged and repaired but, looks like they didn't pull the nose of the hood up so it's looking more aggressive maybe? Front bumper is damaged but have found one on ebay I'm hoping to win. Have wiper arms otw. Going to put 62-64 Buick mirrors on it. Would be nice to find some 67 fenders (with the more forward pitched appearance) and a hood. The interior is pretty well worn/weathered.

When I first saw it for sale I went to look at it and the guy said the motor was locked up and was offering another 75 Cadillac with a 455 along with the deal for $2,000. I first opened the hood and tried turning the motor via the fan/belt and it moved. The car I believe hasn't been run for over 15 years. I bought it at a reduced price of $1,500. There were no keys so I tried taking the ignition out but was never able to get the stupid thing out. I eventually just pulled the connector out, found some wires and shorted till I got the accessories/run/start figured out. Once I had that, with a fresh new battery, I was able to get the motor to spin. I then put some gas in a can on the side of the car, fed into the line from the fuel sediment bowl bypassing it and put some gas in the carb. It fired right up and took some steady gas feeding to get keep it going. I then filled the fuel tank with gas along with seafoam and Lucas additives at full strength. Once I had the car running steadily, fuel starting spurting out of the fuel filter (sediment bowl) and I reconnected it to the carburetor. The car then started and ran quite well, but kinda shaky/rough. At first there was no smoke at all but, once the motor warmed up some, smoke is pouring out the tailpipe. I changed the oil, added coolant/water, brake fluid, which keeps leaking out, put 2 1/2 qts oil, 1 1/2 qts transmission fluid and have been running it that way for about an hour ac***ulated time. I've put it in gear which it immediately responds to, back and forth in D/R etc is instant...crisp surprisingly. I took the driver door apart, got the lock out and surprisingly to me it was the same as the ignition so I put the dash/ignition back together. The driver door window was smashed out so I put in the replacement that came with the car. I have taken it out driving along the gravel roads and the other day out on the pavement to listen and hear for anything. It sure smokes bad. Before I took it out on the longest test drive, about 10 minutes, I replaced the spark plugs which appeared to be oily except for one which looked brand new. I checked the compression on all the cylinders. On the left side of the motor/car the compression was at precisely 155 on all 4. On the right side/passenger of the motor, I got various numbers. 140, 145, 150, and sadly, one was at 0, zero. The spark plug that came from that one was clean as a whistle. The original spark plugs that I pulled out had been in the engine while running it till this point, probably over 30 min running. When starting and stopping, the engine would sometimes diesel and pop/snort and keep running for a sec or two then stop after shutting off the ignition. After reading through the various forums I've come to the conclusion it may be a valve problem. The other issue, the smoke cloud it creates worries me more but, I'm confident it's likely something simple. Maybe the cylinder with no compression is causing oil to be sucked into the engine somehow????
After each time I've taken it for a stroll, it responds by making a knocking sound and more so when taking it out of gear but then also, the engine wants to run at a really high idle which I can't seem to get to drop. :banghead:

So, if I were to go out right now, start it up, it'll do this:
Start and run like the choke is on, not too fast of an idle.
Engine vibrates some, but no noise from the motor except the fan blowing air.
Motor does not overheat at all.
After the engine begins to warm, the idle picks up, and smoke starts increasing out the tailpipe.

If I put it in gear, I hear a knocking and the vehicle jumps due to the high idle.
While driving it, there is a lightly descernable knock which goes away with increased throttle.
When moving between drive and reverse, brake applied, the engine will knock more with slow idle and almost diesel the idle fast and run smooth but smoke increases.

When shutting the car off finally, it doesn't always diesel.

Well, what do you guys think??? Sorry for the super long story!

 

Not a bad looking car, congradulations! No compression, you will need to remove valve cover on weak side check for something broken ( valve spring, rocker arm, push rod, etc) valve issue makes most sense. You may need to crank engine with cover off to be sure valves are openning and closing. "Leak-down" test will show where leakage is (loss of compression) if nothing is obvious.

 

the steel chrome bumper can be straighted and rechromed for a fraction of the cost of getting another one. dont toss it even if you get another one.

if the valves and valve train check out OK, you may well have piston rings that are gummed up. if that is the case, you may have to pull that piston unless slowroll has some idea of how to clean them up w/o removing the piston.



.

 

Thanks! A broken valve spring would be my best hopes since that would seem like an easy fix. Could explain the knocking sound I hear when the engine is lugging under load like when in gear? I am planning to take the valve cover off and definitely check things out. I don't mind taking the heads off to get them refinished with new hardened valves. Would be nice to put roller rockers in there too. What about stuck rings? If the rings aren't sealing wouldn't there be oil present in that cylinder and more pressure back into the crank case? If so, what could be used to dissolve whatever it is that's causing the rings to stick?

Also, what do you think about the smoking issue? It's a REALLY obvious issue. It smokes a LOT once it's warmed up. Is it related to the issues we're discussing?

 

How much would it cost to have that middle section repaired/chromed?

 

Nice looking project, for sure! Congrats on the find.
After sitting that long without running, I'd also agree there is a valve issue. It's entirely possible one or more of the valves is stuck open, which would cause a "0" compression reading in a cylinder. You would normally expect to hear a lifter noise in that case, but, if the valve was stuck fully open, the pushrod may have fallen out of the lifter, thus putting no pressure on anything that could make a noise.

An intake valve that is stuck closed could also cause "0", and also cause some smokage by pulling oil up past the rings on the intake stroke, but that plug should have wet oil on it...not look "new". This could also bend a pushrod, and would normally make some kind of noise, but not always.

The smoking is probably due to stuck/worn rings. An engine that sits that long, without being properly maintained for storage, is gonna suffer the ravages of time, mechanically. Any open valves are subject to stick open, which can also weaken the valve springs on those valves. The rings on the pistons can get gummed, or even corrode, causing them to stick to the pistons, and not seal as they should when running.

If it were me, I think I'd plan on an engine rebuild in the near future. I think the car has a great story, and doesn't appear to be to far gone for a restoration to be feasible. It may take a while, and cost a little more than intended, but the results would be worth it, imho.
I love those old dinosaurs! Good Luck with it, and let us know how it is coming along.

 

Bumper send pix to bumper restorer - it will be basic/ball park - they would have to see it off the car to give you real price. Rings generally cause low but not 0 compression. Bent, burn't or some other cause of non-seating valves cause 0. As Adam's Apple stated improperly stored engines can have unseen damage. Start with basic testing. There are occasions when heads wont come off dowel pins, also.

 

Well, went and tore part of the engine apart.
I have a 66 with a hole in piston four and need a replacement!



Some guy that sold a whole slew of goodies for CHEAP http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1966-...item439fd93fb7 said the winning bidder wouldn't part with the extra parts. Selfish dude. Going to try www.ClassicCadillacParts.com and see what they can come up with.


Also, the intake crossover ports were completely plugged. There is a hole for the choke on one side which appears to be a tube that travels into the exhaust flow area. Problem I noticed before removing the intake was exhaust coming from the opposite side which I thought was a gasket issue but notice that it's a hole that runs directly across from the opposite side. Is that hole supposed to be plugged?

 

When searching for piston you need to know what size it is. Unless you intend to overbore and replace all pistons. GM used to use letters stamped into the deck of the block to size pistons to bore, due to bore variations during machining. Cadillac bores can range from .010 under to .010 over. It is possible to get aftermarket piston and it doesn't fit the hole....I saw it a while back ...A friend dropped a 429 piston and broke it. No biggy got a standard A/M piston and put it together. It had a tapping noise on start up. Took it back apart cylinder was oversized, the piston size needed was not available, had to send block to machine shop to bore cylinder to match closest available piston. Added 2 weeks and several hunderd dollars to repair...shop ate overage and discounted repair due to delay. If you have a shop manual you can decoded letters stamped into block, they can be single or double letters. Of course measuring the actual diameter is best, but don't be surprised if it's not standard.

 

Your car are good. Not a bed idea!
Keep it up.