Moss, mold, and mice garbage... 1954 Cadillac gets a new lease on Life.

In 1971 a light blue 1954 Cadillac was purchased and driven to a remote hay field in Sheridan County, Wyoming. It was supposed to be torn down, and the motor used in a farm equipment. That never happened. 

It sat outside for the next 39 years until (with chance and generosity of the land owner) It was saved... by me.

The first year out of the field, the car saw no improvement. I didn't have the time, space, or money to start work on it, and even then I wasn't sure I was going to keep the car. 

I have some awesome friends and club members, and with help, the title issued where solved and now the big blue Cadillac is inside a building for the first time in 40 years. 

The Cadillac is pretty rough, by most standards. There are rust issues, completed destroyed seats and interior from 40 years of rodent occupancy, and even nice patches of moss. The interesting thing is that the car is nearly complete. Minus hubcaps, skirts and the radio, the rest of the car is there... including the original keys that were laying on the seat. 

When I inspected the engine bay, I removed the factory air cleaner and was stunned to see very clean carburetor. Lets hope as I dig deeper that the rest of the internals of the mill look just as good. The previous owners did a great job of plugging all the vitals before they let it sit, obviously because the engine was the most important component for them to save. 

Heres how it looked the day after we pulled it from the field more then a year ago.

 
And not much change but...

This carb looks pretty damn clean for 40 years of sitting.

The inside is a different story....

Mice are little, harmless and even cute when in cartoon form, but in the real world, when it comes to automobiles and time the damage they cause is astonishing.

Heres the interior fresh from the field

After a light cleaning before it was in my shop the interior was a touch more bearable. 

I dont really have words for how uncomfortable it was to remove the seats... lets just say it was ....well, uncomfrotable.

 Feeling fairly proud of accomplishing the "removal of the doomed seats" I decided, why get that headliner out while I'm at it. 

Guess where the rest of the backseat padding was...

The picture doesn't really this mess justice. It about 6 inches deep and prolly ten pounds of grass seeds, mice shit, and mice carcasses. 

That was about all I could handle at that point so I called it a night. 

I dont think that I have any desire to use the factory seats, they are just to gross and I think I want to take the interior in a different direction when i build it back up. Maybe a nice seat of 60's cadillac buckets.

Never the less, the rest of the interior is still savagable and Im happy with that fact. There is a long road ahead on this project, so I will keep updates coming as they happen, but heres a few more pictures of the car and it's "friends" that will be keeping it company.

 Adios,

Stutz