Caddy engine is roughly the physical size of a Buick Smallblock. Distributor in the same place at a similar angle. 425 oil pan, pickup and engine mounts/perches drop a 500 where a small Buick lived. Both engines were unpopular/unfamiliar with the "Cool Kids" and their Chevies, Mopars and Fords. A can of Buick Red engine paint, some creative dirt/grease application, and a Buick 350 air cleaner housing... Wow, my "Buick" was fast! Left a lot of big-blocks looking at my taillights.
In the 80s I replaced a couple of 454s in Chevy 3/4 ton Pickups one with a 472 and the other with a 500 they were used to pull stock trailers. The guys clamed they pulled better and used less fuel than the chevies.
Unless your doing it just to be different a BBC will get you more for much less if your planning any mods to up the power . in the late 80's we put a 472 out of a 68 in a 69 chevy short bed PU and while it ran fine and had good power over the 6 we took out it was not earth shattering and it was kind of ugly . Back then we did it because it was a $150 engine and they were easy to get and a 454 was big money still then and we were poor kids with lots of time . Today you can get 454 truck engines with factory roller cams cheap on the market place and a new cam and a set of ebay heads and your making 550 HP pretty easy and cheap with off the shelf stuff . Kid down the road has about $3000 in his and it makes 600HP . With the factory heads it was 450HP . In the late 80,s and 90,s there used to eb a bucnh of magazine articles on using a caddy in say a camero for dirt cheap and I know one guy who did it . There out of place some what on a HAMB era car and if a guy is spending more money than a basic hot rod from used parts there not going to rebuild a caddy to for triple a BBC and end up with less . If I had a good one and had a car i was not sticking a lot of time and money in like say a fat fender car id consider it and I did consider it for a 50 chevy deluxe I had . I almost did it in about 1999. Dont hate them they just don't do much for me aesthetically and the price per HP is high and there not very common any more . If I was doing a rat rod on the cheap Id not turn my nose up one
I have 500 out of a 70 eldorado in an OT El Camino. If you don't want a belly button chev motor like 16 million other people have, they are a good choice for a street motor. Like others have said, about 4500 RPM is the limit, unless you start spending a lot of money modifying. But if you find a 1970 or '71 500, put an Edelbrock intake on it and a decent cam, it will get a heavy vehicle into the low 13s and pull like there's no tomorrow for cheap. If you want to get over 450 horsepower or start spinning over 5,000 RPM, you're going to spend so much money that you'd be better off just starting with a Hemi.
When I had my '65 Belair wagon, someone else local had one with a 472 Caddy in theirs. I ran into him one time at a gas station and he showed me the engine. Automatic, factory-ish air, quiet as a mouse. He said it had tons of power over a SBC.
Don’t know anything about them, but I do know the one in the short bus sounds great going down the road! I just happened to be in a store parking lot when it rolled through town one day, probably doing 50-55 mph, and just happened to look up and see where those great tunes were coming from. The music of my people from twice pipes!
I have a .40 over 472 in my avatar. Put a Edelbrock intake and 650 AVS on it and has more than enough beans to get my sorry ass in trouble. Cad Co in N.M. is great to work with but stay away from MTS if they're even in business anymore.
Cortney passed last year (RIP)...I'm not sure what their status is. I know they are selling what they have in stock. Be patient with them as Cortney had lots in his head... Picked this up awhile back.....one of his engines he built....now what to put it in....it has too many cylinders and 4 bangers are a good governor for my lead foot
Am I going to have to move to Arizona.... They are in Albuquerque, New Mexico "one of our 50 is missing"
I used a '68 472 in this, .080 over, Sig Erson cam, polished exhaust runners, stock intake (to fit under the hood). It was a brute. Didn't need to rev over 4500, it was scary fast. Whoever said "...they're not hot rod material..." is wrong. I don't have any photos of the engine, but you can find them on "Hot Rod" magazines website yet from the feature.
Let's talk about cost honestly......... Buying a basic engine is gonna be about $500 for a Cad and it may be usable without an overhaul because most of them are not high mileage and have been sitting. I have 2 of them sitting in/on engine stands right now besides the one that I'm going to build for a blower motor. One of them I put a new coil on it and new oil in it and it fired up and ran with no smoke. Sounds really healthy. I think the other one will do the same thing if I try it. If I put it in a truck for a low buck swap.........I need to clean it up and paint it. and its ready to go . I however would buy an Edelbrock alum intake and replace the timing chain stuff because its a weak plastic. So for less than $1K I have 500 cubic inches pulling a truck or a car thats probably a ton lighter than what it came in. You can also buy shorty headers for these engines really really cheap. $150 Cadillac Polished STAINLESS Hugger Shorty HEADERS 425 472 500 Engines Street Rod | eBay There is a good chance that you can score the 400 turbo trans as part of the deal and being from a limo it hasn't been abused. Change the filter and fluid and cross your fingers. If everything is OK , you have a very inexpensive conversion. (Might have to rebuild the carb) If you want to move up the HP scale, like any engine its going to get more expensive. But, think about it. If we are going tit for tat here..........and using a smallblock Chevy you can do a simple reconditioning and you still won't get by any cheaper.....and you won't have comparable power. To get closer you would need some aftermarket heads and a stroker crank. Even if you build with the stock displacement, you are probably going to need pistons and ARP rod bolts which means machining $$$$. You use stock heads and they need reconditioning as well.....$$$$. The cost gradually mounts up and soon you have $3-$4K in your small displacement Chevy. With the Cad we only spent $1k so far, so we have $2K-$3K to put into the Cad. We take that money and buy a cam,lifters,springs and good rocker arms. We have now moved the Cad into the 400-450 HP range and haven't even pulled the heads. Or we did pull the heads and did a home porting job with new gaskets and a simple valve grind. Not many $$ added because we didn't change anything in the rotating assembly. Then we get to the point of wanting to really build a better engine by going completely thru it. Yep, expenses are going to go up quite a bit then. www.ebay.com/itm/194425126783?fits=Make%3ACadillac&itmmeta=01HTMSJRDEWKCTHSGQ9EBW5Z1W&hash=item2d44a3ff7f:g:LxEAAOSwus5lnCPv&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8I4ERDk%2Bfb9mSSKwc6Pta%2BmH%2FfsaA7Ce%2Blp9TBiEewD3IzthRqA2UGCaKOm1mzhOabVPSvSNpn8DmvINiB9qoC%2F6CL5FJVGOV9OcxkbyQiIUVfjIrI8YCU8ZZRUVq%2BtVcpy23bmiZkrs%2B%2Faa9kNPvkn%2Fse2dVvGdeXx1w3f%2BO%2FPwZbl0DQ0FM09ehl%2Fb4RI3420RhFU0U0I4osHwWx3Lu1qelcjJruUHHVFPKQnbFxQ0qdN4NaPW5xNHXdXveFiwq7Uy5Vq1%2Bz7BMoK2aqKGGCvCwRc%2FTPshc8J1c1pAgQNfKXJFlfeX3O6XhjhTgeh87Q%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR-aGy5nVYw Hypereutectic and forged are also available for about $600-$750 at CadCo. Stock rods are pretty strong so ARP and machine work about the same as a Chevy. Boring and honing will cost the same. Aluminum Heads for a Cad is where cost really goes up compared to the Chevy, but the stock heads work fine if you take the time. So there are some things for a Cad that will cost more if you really build it, but for a low to medium dollar build its a pretty decent starting point (IMHO)
That Edelbrock intake is $526 US now. That puts your $500 motor instantly over $1000. Add gaskets, timing chain and gears, and maintenance parts, plugs and wires, and you're probably getting close to $1,500. I've learned that with less common GM engines you can usually find maintenance and performance parts, but you'll often pay at least twice the price of Chevy stuff. You can't beat the torque of a big Buick or Caddy, though.
Got one in my '55 Caddy...a 1970 500", it will run all day long at 85-90 mph on a hot summer (Midwest) day and stay cool, will climb mountains effortlessly and get to 120mph or so in a just few seconds. I've driven the car all over the U.S. for the last 14 years and to Canada twice from Denver,,ColoRODo. The engine is basically stock internally, the only thing it has is headers and a 750 cfm Edelbrock...and the only thing it won't do is pass too many fuel stations. R- Photo shot in Moab, Utah...my brother's 54 Cad ahead of mine. "Kiki" in a photo shoot for a magazine. Photo by Johnny Covey. 1970 500 inch Cadillac engine...
I have 2 used ones sitting in on a shelf in my shop that I paid about$325/$350 for. Just gotta watch Facebook marketplace . I should have said that with the stock manifold someone would have a conversion for $1K. As for the other components like plugs and wires.........not any more expensive than a Chevy. Even if someone spent $1500 to do it............How many people can buy a used Chevy and do it any cheaper ? Most people have more than $1500 tied up in whatever engine they choose.
Well said and exactly what I was alluding to. Now, imagine this same scenario with a 283 Chevy engine..........or even a stock 350 when you want to appreciate what this engine brings to the table right from the git go.
That's lucky, I've never seen an aluminum Caddy intake come up for sale here. Absolutely if you can get a good runner it's good power for low money. As soon as you need performance or just maintenance parts (fuel pump, water pump, cam shaft, intake, etc.), it's no stretch that they're a lot more expensive than a common SBC. I think everyone should try one of the oddball engines as some point, but they should go into it aware that at times it can be a lot more costly and you'll find yourself waiting for parts.
Caddy stuff has always been more money, payment for the name. Years ago a buddy needed a section of exhaust for an OT Buick Electra. The muffler shop guy looks through the book to find the bend pattern, and goes "hmm? it's the same as a Coup DeVille, only 30 bucks cheaper.
Bought a great running 472 for $50. Had an electronic ignition conversion, new plugs, wires and coil. The exhaust manifolds had been cleaned and painted. New exhaust bolts.
This might be of some interest at $376.90 and frees shipping. Edelbrock 2115 Performer Intake Manifold For Cadillac 472-500 V8 Engines - PerformanceCenter.com
Could have sworn it was duals. Had a great harmony to it. I like that!! Ben[/QUOTE] I stole that from Finnigan. Very fitting anyway!
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