1963 CC skirts

John ED Renstrom

PCS Member
Super Site Supporter
I have always hear that these early 60 year skirts were different then the standard car. the have been describes as longer. yesterday I got the opportunity to wake up and see what the difference is. we have a NOS set of 63 caddy skirts for Brendon's 63 high top. the lefts side fit well and went on and off easily. but the right side has some damage and the quarter was bad so I have be fighting getting it to lock in. got it finally and in the process I have discovered that all then did was grind off a section of the standard skirt to make the commercial chassis skirt. this was done to accommodate the wider with of the rear end. it's just enough to clear the side wall. so for the 63 model you can use the standard skirt if you modify it like this. I would suspect the rest of the years are the same also. but can't confirm that.
 

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those of you that knew were just trusting in me to figure it out. so got to looking for other things on e-bay and ran across this 63 skirt which is different then the ones we have been discussing. it has the lower body line threw the bottom of it. so went back a few years and found a new 60 skirt for sale. it looks to be a match. the jury i still out but if any one has a old GM parts book here is the number off the box the gray ones were in.
 

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I had to notch the fender skirts inside on the 1951 Superior just like you did to allow for slightly wider tires.

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Nice we can trim the inner lip to make things fit! You did nice work modifying to make them work on the ambulance. My '66 ambulance accepted the bigger tires with little effort, no trimming on them but they are CC skirts to begin with. I love following along with your restoration progress pix Ed
 
according to the Cadillac parts book, part #3512818 is a right hand rear fender wheel opening shield that fits 1963 thru 1964 commercial chassis and model 75 through 1965. It cost $19.50 in 1968... if you consider the inflation factor, that part today would cost $125.22 or a 542.1% more!!!
 
Since each body builder made the rear section the way that they though best, the skirts were just generic to the quarter panels. I have always believed that the quarter panels were also supplied by GM in some fashion that was modified by the body builder. I am not certain about the 1963, but I do know that on some years, the rear end brake drum used a spacer block and longer studs. I believe that this was to put the wheel and tire further out, since the body had a flair to it starting at the rear edge of the front door. This is noticeable on some models more than others. It is quite obvious on my 1969 Miller Meteor Cadillac.
 
Pink Cadillac...... It certainly appears as if this ambulance will not be making an appearance at the Ohio show but, it should be ready for Florida in 012.
 
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