So the weather around here finally got warm enough that repainting the Cadillac was a real option. So over the course of about a week (split up by several days of downpours) she went from bright pink to a beautiful suede black.

Saturday Mar. 27th:

This is what we had to start with. There's a long way to go.

Thus far the chrome spears on the front and rear fenders have been removed (the sections on the door are staying on for the moment as they are integral to the weatherstripping). The nasty graphic has been removed from the side. I've also celaned and sanded the front rims in prep for repainting red. And several pieces of side moulding have come off. I was considering removing it all, but then discovered that there are odd large holes in the lower doors (at least 1"x2", stamped there from the factory) which will be a pain to weld up so they are staying for now.

This is a closeup of where the door graphic was, as you can clearly see this car was actually a brighter shade of pink that faded down to the current color.

Front fender, I removed the stainless lower trim soI could repaint that damn pink part there.

I did actually manage to get some black painting done, I'm using Krylon semi-flat out of rattle cans, it goes on well in warm weather (but no so well when the temp hovers around the bottom limitfor paint, 50deg, as will be obvious later).

Sunday Mar. 28th:

This is what I had at the start of sunday, as you can see I had gotten the rims painted the previous day. Sunday I an a friend wet sanded the entire car, door jambs and all. I didn't put any pics since it looks the same as it did at the beginning only less shiny.

I removed the stupid looking laurels from the rear embelem (the emblem hides the trunk lock), and will be replacing it with the older style Cadillac V off an earlier car.

Monday Mar. 29th:

This is what she looked like Monday morning. I'd done the flames quickly just before finishing for the day on Sunday. I was tired of having an all pink car and wanted something to remind me of what I was working towards.

Today's plans, paint the door jambs, trunk edge, hood edge, etc. Also note the incredible amount of crap in my car, -I drove around during this project with everything for it stuffed in the car, as a result is was nearly impossible for anyone else to ride in her.

Trunk edge done, also did a bit of the rear filler panel. I discovered a problem here in that in the lower temps the paint was really prone to drips & runs and tended to look 'striped'. Since I had already started and I was bloody tired of the pink I decided to press on, and fix/repaint/etc. later when the weather was more consistantly nice. In the end she turned out ok, from about 20ft away she looks just fine.

Black door jambs.

Four black doors (on one side anyway), trunk edged, hood edged. All that is left is the exterior sheetmetal. Good progress for the day.

(March 30th - April 5th it rained and was otherwise damp and cold. Most frustrating week in a long while)

Tuesday April 6th

Got a ton of the outside done. Hood, trunk, roof, both front fenders, and the front filler panel.

From this angle she looks like she has a really bizarre custom paintjob.

Wednesday April 7th

ARGH! Less than one day of the front fender being black, and someone hits her in a parking lot. The fender is bent and the fresh black paint is scratched. Even worse the jerk didn't leave a note or anything.

Passenger side painted.

The striping I was talking about is really obvious in this shot, it does seem to be less noticeable after a day or two but it s still there. I am definitely going to have to repaint at some point.

Tuesday April 8th

Before work I went and finally got new rear tires on the red steelie rims. No more mismatched alloys & steelies.

Side shot, the last holdout of the pink is being attacked today.

Going, Going...

Forgot to wipe the mirror down with paint thinner and ended up with fisheye spots. Going to have to sand it down and repaint it. I need to replace the mirror anyway as it is damaged somehow and doesn't sit flush against it's bracket like it should.

Black! And damn she looks good.

Stainless trim re-installed. I am still undecided on if I want to leave this trim or not. I like her like this, but I also think she'd look damn good with black all the way down.

I have considered removing all but the stainless for the fender skirt and behind it. This would help it blend with the rear bumper (which unlike the front I haven't found anything to replace it with), also it would be a nod to the 58 Cadillacs that had the stainless trim in that area.

Currently I have left the chrome trim around the taillights off because it was pointed out she looks cooler that way. I think I am going to scuff and paint it flat black though and re-install it, as it will look neater than the un-edged stock tailight. I would love ot get some '59 bullet taillights in there, but I don't think they'd fit properly, those bullets a about 3" across.

That's it for the repaint, I still have more plans and she will be forever evolving.