Even though the body is a bit smaller than the Charger Daytona classic stock car by a millimeter or two. This is a big luxury car!

It’s been 5-days. The paint/body is safe to handle. The chassis has been machined out. Time to assemble it and mate the body.

It bothers me when one of my cars goes down the track on any sort of angle. Over time I figured out a way to ensure the body height is even on both rocker panels, and the car tracks as straight as it can. Most bodies are molded fairly evenly. Using the inside of the body helps prevent errors.

I bought a variety of spacers ranging from 4mm all the way down to 1/8th mm. I assemble the chassis adding spacers evenly until the tires touch the top inside of the fender, and the wheel well lip on all 4-corners. I then carefully adjust the body posts until they barely touch while the body is still sitting on tires. I usually glue the posts in. Then remove 1mm spacer from each corner so the tires don’t rub on the fender lip. Then add one spacing washer, and one urethane washer between the body and chassis and the float/body height is done.The car can’t track crooked if it wanted to.

But the chassis sits far too low in this body. I can’t rely on the top of the fenders to adjust the body height or the body touches the track.

I have about 30 fender-washers from Home Depot for other reasons. They happen to measure 2mm thick each (I went through them all until I found 4-washers within .01mm difference). Now the rocker panels on both sides sit evenly at 2mm.

It’s time to adjust the body posts until they barely touch the inside of the body while sitting on the washers. All four tires are still touching the inside of the fender lips. I will need to remove .5mm spacers from all 4-corners after the posts are epoxied in place. The car will sit 1.2 mm higher after adding the urethane washers.

I didn’t install the wheel pants on any of the previous street racers. These however are molded into the body. I most likely won’t need inserts on the rear wheels. You can’t see them.

After installing the body posts and removing 0.5 mm axle spacer from each corner of the chassis. We have exactly 0.5 mm tire clearance. Some bodies require 1.0 mm clearance depending on styling, curves, etc…

The back seat area required some motor clearance. The rear deck may need to be removed altogether. Test fit – Remove a little material – Repeat.

This is what the car would look like with the top down.

I think the soft top looks better up rather than down.

I would have preferred the hard top. But it was not included in this kit. 😥

Das boat has arrived at the docks! :yahoo:

Chip Foose wheels were changed for proper Cadillac hub caps. The bullet tail lights were a bit of a challenge. The 18-inch subwoofers hide the motor very well. Thank goodness these are street cars. I can’t see getting away with subwoofers for an all-out race car.

This green Caddy is ready to Rock & Roll!

Thank you very kindly for looking!

Thank you very kindly, Dave.

This may very well be the only racing Biarritz on the planet. Why would anyone else race one of these? :unsure:

Where’s that “Let’s Party!” emoji when you need it! 🙂

Several 1959 Cadillac Biarritz have been seen floating around these days. It’s not a bad time to review this build thread for anyone about to assemble one.

There has been an update to the motor configuration and gears. It’s suggested to use an inline 14/30, 13/28, or 12/26 for MVL or NR. 10/23 works well on shorter tracks.

Please don’t hesitate to email me with any questions. Or post them here.

Warm regards,

Ken