Shayde:
Then, Now and the Future
First of all, this is SHAYDE, my 1961 Cadillac Commercial Chassis fashioned into a Landau style end loader hearse with X-Tend table by the Miller Meteor company (a division of Divco-Wayne) in Piqua Ohio. I acquired her from a funeral director in the Columbus Ohio area on or around May 7th 2001.
Make: Cadillac Commercial Chassis (2,331 produced)
Model: Landau End loading HEARSE (not Hurst, herse, herst, hearst) (MSRP $10,759)
Coachbuilder: Miller Meteor
In 1961, Cadillac built 2,331Commercial Chassis for use by Superior, Eureka, Hess & Eisenhart (S&S) and Miller Meteor (M+M). Of those, about 600 were used by Miller Meteor to make 8 models of Hearses, 1 model of Flower Car, and 4 models of Ambulances. Between these different models and the options had between them, it is a good bet that this particular Hearse may very well be one of less than 20 of it's kind produced with the X-Tend roll-out bier. How's that for a unique, low production car? Even the ZL-1 69 Camaro cannot make that boast.
Below I have some pictures that I took while touching up a few things right after I got her. Pay no attention to the lazy bastard skull-king in some of the pics. Each should be a link to a larger version.
So, what do I want to do with her? Glad you asked!
Re-chrome everything that had it in the first place. I'm not really a fan of chrome, but this car would not be what it is without it.
Strip the lower body to the metal, fix every bit of rust, ding, driver's fender (earlier quoted at $1600 just to put it in primer!!! Can you believe that crap?) seal the body in 2 coats of primer, wet sand, another coat of primer and a guide coat, wet sand again, another guide coat, wet sand yet again, basecoat in basic, boring, simple BLACK! Then, one more coat of basecoat, clear the hood 2 coats, lay in a tribal flame pattern (I'll post it later) painted in a blue/purple/green pearl, clear the entire car twice more (that's 4 coats on the hood), color sand to glass-smooth finish. That's a friggin' mouthful.... but wait.... there's more. The top is 100% original wrinkle finish. As far as I know, this can not be duplicated. But if it could, I would save the cash to have it done. NOTHING can protect huge expanses of steel like this stuff. As for stripping it and using a truck bed liner.... NOT NO BUT HELL NO. It just isn't the same. If it were my 81, I'd be all for it. I'll save that stuff for the underside of this coach. If the wrinkle finish had to go, I'd rather just strip it and paint it black too.
In the front, I want to get the dash dyed back to the factory BLACK! The windshield needs a few cracks filled. Normally, you would just replace it, but this one is not reproduced (to my knowledge) and goes for $1600 USED. I'd rather just fix the one I have and save the heart attack risk from the first gravel truck. As for the seat, I want to re-upholster it in BLACK or dark grey leather with a mild pattern. The front floor pan could use a patch.... Okay, that's a lie.... I should replace the whole driver's side front half. The hole is right over the frame rail, so I'm not going to fall through.... but some days I wonder... The "carpet" is actually a rubber mat (common in commercial chassis), but I am sure I could tolerate a factory style carpet instead. In BLACK or dark grey. The heater core has not been hooked up since I got it, but I was told at the time that it had quite a hole in it. The headliner and sun visors are in great shape, just need a good cleaning. As for the tunes, I'm not sure how to go about it, but I refuse to cut this car for any reason except to replace steel because of rust. The speakers will have to either stay in boxes like they are right now, or be mountable in places out of the way in special boxes. This will be the toughest nut to crack. That and getting some A/C in there but TOTALLY hiding the unit. (Not holding my breath on that one.) Nothing wild, because this car may still take quite a few souls for the last ride.
The rear interior is much easier to take care of because the only things I want to do are: Replace the Formica on the table surfaces with a BLACK marble or grey marble. The headliner is still very much intact, and it should stay that way. I just wish I knew how to clean it. The silver/grey brocade lining the interior and bolsters is in pretty good shape, and if it cannot be repaired, I want to find a correct brocade BLACK or dark grey to redo it with. If I found some EXACT matches for the rollers and skids in the table, I would be tempted to replace them. The ones I have are pretty casket-scarred. I will have to knuckle under and get an upholstery shop to do one thing though, as the piping around the partition and back door is coming apart. The only other thing I can think of is curtains. With a black and chrome exterior, and a black and grey interior, the curtains should be silver/grey brocade with a snap-in swag and airline style sides.
As for the running gear and suspension, well, other than some larger brakes (maybe some big discs in front) and wide-whites (or some really killer 18"-20" wheels & tires, but who has the money?), I would do a direct replacement of everything. It's a 43-year old procar that has had next to NOTHING replaced on it. face it, it is an ORIGIONAL car. As long as I'm dreaming, I would probably strip the undercarriage completely and spray on rhinoliner or something as indestructible. I am not exactly looking to shed pounds for racing here.
Lastly, if the engine ever happened to go (or the @!#$%&* transmission) I would be faced with a dilemma: stock replacement or update? I love this car, and a big part of it was (and still is) how original it is. If I had to get away from the 390 and Hydromatic Jet-Away, I guess I would either go with a big block Chevy (for cheapness sake) with a 700r4 or a warmed up Cadillac 500 with a 700r4 (overdrive and durability being REALLY important.)
So what do you think of my plan? Email me and let me know! [email protected]
