I've Gotta Rip the Engine Out of My '63 Coupe De Ville! OMG!!!

The cool thing with these old muscle cars is that you can pull the entire valvetrain out in a few hours

Plastic is cheaper than metal equivalent.

After all that work you need to hold onto that cool car.

Cars require maintenance, regardless of mileage. I find cars that sit for long periods are worse for reliability than one used regularly.

How dangerous is it to handle all the lead buildup?

Do you need to wear a respirator at some point while clearing the lead?

Its the passenger safety cell, airbags, seats that protect you, collapsible steering columns etc. that add weight, then the plastics reduce it back down again.

If you want to replace the plastic with metal, then the weight would go even higher, and would be more expensive.

So nobody would buy it.

Market forces and free market capitalism have delivered exactly what people are prepared to pay for.

Wizard , i think you are forgetting the most important part in modern cars. It's safety. We see now people walking away scratchless from accidents which were fatal in old cars.

...and wait, there's more. Fortunately you've got something solid to work with on an old Caddy.

Very few things more satisfying than replacing a hard plasticky gasket with a fresh soft one and making a leak stop

I'll bet that Cadillac will be good for another 60 years after resealing and new mounts. It's built like a tank.

It looks real nice, I remember my dads 64 Sedan DE Ville I even took my road test with it.

Learn a lot from your old vehicles videos. Like to see you explain how to set up a carburetor on a running car.

You didn't mention until the end about parts. I assume you were able to find the replacement round O rings and curved oil seals. It amazes me those types of parts are still available. You can't make those parts like you might be able to do for a flat gasket.

What type of transmission fluid are you going to put in the Hydra-Matic?

I remember back in the 80's rebuilding one of those driveshafts when I worked at a machine shop in San Francisco. I was mad that it took me 5 hours to do it until my boss told me that the job called for 8 hours. Man, what a job!

Just curious, since you already have it out why not replace the main bearings or are they hard to find for a car that old? Thanks and love your vids

Nothing worse than driving an old car and marking your territory every time you stop.

I "Hot Rodded" a 72 Buick Estate Wagon and it got 15 mpg in town, 20+ on highway. My 2003 Ford F 150 doesn't get 17 off a cliff. What a waste!!!

Look at it this way: Average car trade in, maybe 5 years. Your car is 51 years old. That is 10 cars not created and traded in. Think of the carbon emissions, and waste avoided. Your car will continue to increase in value, and the money saved vs buying a new will buy gas the rest of your life.

Wizard, your comment about going back to metal actually happened in another industry for awhile. In the 70's power tools went to plastic bodies vs the old pot metal. When the Arab embargoes hit, the petro plastic started costing more then pot metal and it was used again.With the growing outcry over micro plastic waste ( ex: hundreds of tons in weed eater plastic going into the ground each year alone ), there may come a tax for using plastic and metal will get cheaper to use.

First before start doing anything I would deep clean outside of the engine, transmission and so on.

When buying an old car, even if it´s working well and kept well. Prepare to change all seals on the engine.

Hey wizard make sure people arent using Honey with your affiliates link. Theres gonna be a class action suit coming your way. You have been scammed overthe years

Wizard; this one was very interesting. Thanks. Oh; I'm 76

Have they found out what's going on with those New Jersey drones yet? 🇦🇺

As an old school mechanic I feel tempted to do an engine overhaul, it’s very satisfying ☺

Caddy's have always had a problem picking up oil in pump lot of times you have to pack Vaseline in the pump to get it to prime.

All of the gizmos and gadgets and modules and computers and wiring harness plus no plastics means it weighs much more than 4,500 lbs. And speakers! So many more audio speakers nowadays. And airbags. And...

Even seat belts! This is a '63. And as of the 1990's, three point seat belts even in the back seat.

Thanks Wizard...so much fun for me in seeing you dissect the parts to replace those old gaskets and seals. At least it's winter so it's the perfect time to sort out issues and procure hard to obtain parts. The lead sludge was a fascinating insight into what we were breathing decades ago.

Beautiful car!

❤

Are you going to check/replace rod/main bearings and rings. It just seems logical to verify the condition?

1st off love your channel. Unless you want to keep it numbers matching or just love the nostalgia of it, put a modern motor and trans in it

Got to dig out those SAE size wrenches.

The real question is if you will install Apple Play or Android Auto!

Keep up material for enthusiasts for older accessible cars, only working people and not for rich only cars, also just to add the one part that also gets plasticized are valve seals! Can drive anyone crazy by even burning oil!

If the engine is out and pulled down that far, you may as well go for a full rebuild...

Actually the Car Wizard

Hey Wizard, love your videos, especially on the older cars. I'm currently trying to convince myself to NOT buy a 62 Caddy convertible until I finish my 65 Thunderbird. 🙂

I see you have Wizardbeard’s pirate flag on the front of the boat :)

Black beards flag plate on the front....

That's a true Bat Mobile... Great Show...

biohazard oil pan, def wizard knowledge

Someone stole my catalytic converter from my 2016 Lexus ct200 h. I don’t know much about cars and I’m having a hard time finding used parts as I live in LA. Any advice on how to get it repaired for under 2k? This question is for anyone who might have an idea, any help or advice is greatly appreciated!

Love your content. Thank you Wizard

So Mr Wizard you are not going to pull the heads and put hard Ex valve seats in it for NoLead fuel? You are this far why not?

I have a 54 Ford with about 73,000mi on it. And I am going through a lot of the same stuff you are with the caddy. I can take it down the road and drive it some but it leaks everywhere and I keep having mild reliability issues with it but I can work on it because it has no electronics. Basic simple parts and easy to understand. You are not kidding when you say that the rubber turns into plastic.

Aircraft are 28 volts for a reason. Lower current, lighter wire.

Cost is the simple answer for why everything on modern cars is plastic and not metal

You guys should've cleaned that engine and transmission before opening them up.