Rescued a 2005 XLR

[wardlws]

The XLR has been one of my favorite cars ever since it debuted... another "I'll never be able to afford one". Well, I finally snagged one at a great deal! I've been watching Copart Salvage Auction for a couple of years, and found this 2005 XLR in Steel Blue and Shale with only 45k miles... it even had a clean title with minimum damage:
https://www.copart.com/lot/82171705/clean-title-2005-cadillac-xlr-tn-knoxville

Some of you might recognize it as once belonging to Rich with username "xlrator"

I've only had time to clean off the dust from the salvage yard and order parts to fix it. I've been through it pretty good and have ordered:
Lower Radiator Support
2 OEM Wheels (I can sand and polish the other two)
Leather Seat Repair Kit
Paint (base, color, and clear)

Can anyone tell me what the box in the last picture does? I have found that the switch and the lower knob control the light inside the rear wind screen, but I have no idea what the upper knob does. I also found two wires (that probably come from this box) that go into a harness near the top hydraulic controller. However, I haven't traced it to where it ties into the harness yet.

I'm at least the fourth owner, though the registry shows Rich as the owner. Does the registry show the original owner, or should I ask for it to be updated? I'm totally good with Rich staying as the owner in the registry... just curious what you want it to show.

Thanks and great to be here as an owner!
Scott

 

[mickeytee]

When i
LOoked at it it said it had a salvage title. i tried to reach out to the owner but he nevergot back. I think it passed thru several hands after him.

 

[CY1957-XLR]

Looks like a pretty nice car for a "Salvage".
Have no idea what that box could be, maybe try to trace the wires from it?

Good luck, hope it works good for you.

So far, my 2005 is working good, all function, don't drive it much, has 53K miles on it.

 

[Rob]

I updated the listing in the Registry.

 

[wardlws]

I updated the listing in the Registry.

Thanks! Everything looks correct.

 

[xlrlist01]

Looks like a pretty nice car for a "Salvage".
Have no idea what that box could be, maybe try to trace the wires from it?

Good luck, hope it works good for you.

So far, my 2005 is working good, all function, don't drive it much, has 53K miles on it.

I too have no idea what that box is. It _might_ be some kind of audio (pre-)amplifier. I only mention that as it has its own 9v battery and as audio (pre-)amplifiers are vulnerable to electronic noise, one fix is to use a battery instead of a more general power supply. Assuming that 9v battery is the only power source, it must be a very low power unit, so if not audio, some kind of amplifier. It looks like a coax cable too, but is that the only one? There should be at least an in and an out circuit. Can you follow the wiring at all?

 

[wardlws]

Last weekend, I had time to replace the lower radiator support and raise the car about a half inch.

The radiator support was fairly easy, and certainly no need to remove the front bumper cover, like a lot of Corvette videos show. Just be sure to support the radiator with a jack, so you don't put any more bending pressure on the hard lines. I had a moment when one of the frame nuts kept spinning. However, I could put pressure on it with a pry-bar, and then pull the bolt in with my air ratchet.

The car is still about a half inch lower than stock, but that's as close as I could get with those NeoMax coilovers. I took a quick test drive, and the car feels as it should. Not too stiff/harsh, and definitely not too soft/squishy. The NeoMax coilovers have 18 dampening settings... these are set about 2/3 on the firmer side.

I'm still not sure about the upper dial on that weird aftermarket box. I traced two of the wires into the rear compartment with the hydraulic controller and suspension module. Both the wires tie into the rear end wiring harness... one to the positive voltage of the Park Lamps, which seems like a good idea, if you want to power the Wind Screen Light at night. However, the other wire also goes to a positive voltage, but from the Brake / Stop Lamps!

Its been cold and raining here almost everyday, but I'll dig into it further soon.

 

[wardlws]

Okay... now that it is dark outside, I decided to play around with both knobs... and knowing that one wire went to the Brake/Stop Lights, here is what I found out:
1) the switch on the box is to switch from powering the light from the Parking Lights to the 9V battery
2) the lower knob controls the brightness of the Wind Restrictor Light
3) the upper knob controls the brightness of the Wind Screen Light when you hit the brake pedal

So... the Wind Screen Light will come on when the Headlights (or just Parking Lights) are on, or you can manually turn it on by switching over to the 9V battery.
You can adjust the brightness, so it either gets a lot brighter when you hit the brakes, or it will get dimmer when you hit the brakes. You could also adjust it to only turn on when you hit the brakes, or turn off when you hit the brakes.

It is actually a fairly neat setup. Though, I'll probably keep the knobs turned all the way or almost all the way down... don't want the driver next to me having "Oh cool... what's that" and a bug to a light situation!

 

[CY1957-XLR]

@wardlws
Nice you found out what the Box and controls were for and that you can control the brightness of the added Wind Screen.
Sounds like it would look neat at night for sure!

I stick to just "cosmetic stuff' on my XLR, as I am so afraid of taking panels off and possibly breaking clips that can't be replaced!
Was thinking of trying to put in an aftermarket Stereo and back up camera in my XLR, but what I just said it keeping me from doing it.
Also, another reason is, last year I bought a 55 Nomad that I have been working on, which is WAY easier to do anything to vs the XLR.
Nomad is worth about 4 times what the XLR is worth too, so better investment and I like 55-57 Chevys since I was 15 and got my 57 Hardtop as my first car.

Still like the XLR for sure but just enjoy driving it on and off and fingers crossed I don't have issues like some I see posted on the forum!
Good luck with yours, much neater color than my Platinum!
There is a local older couple I got to know in my area has a Blue Steel XLR, their kids have no interest in the XXLR, so maybe when they want to sell, they will ask me about buying it!

 

[wardlws]

Wow! 55' Nomad sounds like a nice project! I imagine you could be out a lot of money modernizing it.

@wardlws
Also, another reason is, last year I bought a 55 Nomad that I have been working on, which is WAY easier to do anything to vs the XLR.
Nomad is worth about 4 times what the XLR is worth too, so better investment and I like 55-57 Chevys since I was 15 and got my 57 Hardtop as my first car.

 

[CY1957-XLR]

@wardlws
Thanks, 55 Nomad has been nice project for the past year. Not out lots of money though, I bought the car on Bring a Trailer last year, was the winning bidder. It was a "finished car", where the previous owner only had the car a year, paid a shop over $200K to build it then decided to sell it on BaT. I got the car for $75K. Based on all the work that was done to it, I paid less than all the parts put into it, not counting labor.

I have found LOTS of things to fix and improve though, but don't have to spend way more money and 10 years of time building the car from a rust bucket. I had done that before with a 67 Nova and took 10 years to build it and owned it 14 years more. Just sold that last year to help pay for the Nomad, so not much out for Nomad from funds made by sale of Nova.

I did a body off frame resto of my '57 from 1990-1992, and still looks great to this day. Won lots of awards and in a few magazines, but now pretty much just take to cruse nights and a few limited shows.

I got married in 2011 for the first time at 48, so car hobby is still my thing, but can't spend near as much time as when I was single.
We all know about "happy wife, happy life" ! I was able to build a nice 3 car garage at our new house and have 3 cars worth of garage in house too. Still could use more, but that is always the case!

The Nomad has a brand-new GM Crate motor, Vintage Air AC, C4 Vette front/rear suspension, all new interior with leather and vinyl, Candy Burgundy paint and all chrome and stainless finished beautifully. I recently switched the wheels to ones I had on our C5 Vette, and they look nice on there. I had thoughts of putting on my XLR wheels, but those Platinum Chrome wheels for XLR are very hard to find (found a perfect set for mine in NY luckily), so decided against it, and kept them on the XLR. Nomad also has modern Dakota Digital dash cluster, so that is really nice, I have a phone app I can change settings with, which is cool.

While I like our C5 convertible and the XLR, they are great to drive, but when it comes to 55-57's I have known these cars since I am 15 and know lots about them and can do pretty much anything. There are more repo and aftermarket parts for those cars than the XLR, so that helps a lot.

Still, lots of plans for the Nomad this winter, and XLR, 57 and Vette are pretty much "hibernated" for the winter.

Here are a couple pics of each of the cars.
This is a great hobby, but is rather expensive, but better than many other things, and you have something to show for it!

Unfortunately the XLR is still going to be a challenge for all of us that own them, since not many parts available or repo places, so just hoping mine stay working well! Your color is much cooler than my Platinum, but when I was looking based on my budget, this one came up in Fla at the right time, so got it in 2023.

Good luck with yours, that is a neat color!
Sorry for rambling!

Hope you have a great Christmas, and enjoy the nice weather in AL, here in PA, it has been crappy!

Chris Y.

 

[wardlws]

Wow! Those two 50's cars are amazing! Sounds like you got a great deal on the Nomad!

When I was 18, I did a complete "frame-off" rebuild on an '89 IROC-Z Camaro, plus a lot of modern upgrades. After owning it (or it owning me) for about 16 years, I sold it to a kid for almost nothing. I've also upgraded the interior on my '04 Silverado to the Shale color Escalade interior, and a bunch more upgrades. This was my only vehicle lost to insurance, but they paid almost as much as I bought it for 14 years earlier.

Sounds like you have your hands full with all of those toys... thanks for reaching out!

@wardlws
Thanks, 55 Nomad has been nice project for the past year. Not out lots of money though, I bought the car on Bring a Trailer last year, was the winning bidder. It was a "finished car", where the previous owner only had the car a year, paid a shop over $200K to build it then decided to sell it on BaT. I got the car for $75K. Based on all the work that was done to it, I paid less than all the parts put into it, not counting labor.

I did a body off frame resto of my '57 from 1990-1992, and still looks great to this day. Won lots of awards and in a few magazines, but now pretty much just take to cruse nights and a few limited shows.

 

[CY1957-XLR]

Thanks for the comments!
Yes, Nomad was a good deal but have had lots to fix and improve on it, based on it being a $200K car when the previous owner paid to have it done. I like doing some of the work to it though, as I can do that and keeps my fabrication skills in practice!

Prior to getting the Nomad, I had thoughts of and looked at one XLR-V for sale. But the value of mine was not enough to put towards cost of one of those. The XLR-V's are neat for sure but I just did not want to go in-debt for one. Ended up selling my Nova and then looking for a Nomad, and price was about equal, so worked it out. I was very close to buying a Nomad that was for sale in Alabama, but the guy was not getting me enough info in time.

Your IROC looks neat, bet you wish you would have kept it?
I had an 89 Camaro RS Convertible; was the first car I bought new (only one other car bought new since then too). My buddy has an '88 IROC convertible since new, but it has been sitting in his yard for probably 20 years or more now, so I know it is probably rusted like heck. They were neat design Camaros, always liked them.

Like your Silverado, interior looks nice that color and wheels look good too!

Have a good Christmas.
Hopefully Santa brings you some things for the XLR!

 

[robert.ogden2009]

Your cars look outstanding!

 

[CY1957-XLR]

Thanks much Robert!