Sorry Bob...I'm keeping the carbs...I don't know enough about the Hilborn to be selling anything....PBR me...I'm more than likely gonna set it up on my coupe...when is still yet to be determined....I'm contemplating an EFI retrofit....I don't know....The retrofit I have in mind requires no modification to the original Hilborn unit....I wouldn't allow it... Johnny Cola....thanks! I know.... So there it is fellas....the new secret weapon in my hot rod ****nal... Hilborn mechanical fuel injection for '49-62 Cadillac mills!
Well, ya see here, I walked into this old service station cuz I had a busted fan belt, and the guy let me take the belt in back to match up with what he had....walking down the isle and I saw this on the shelf...he told me I could have it if I went and picked him up a case of beer..... Yeah, wouldn't that have been a cool story to tell? Well, I told it, but none of it was true... So if you want the truth, well, here ya go... About four years ago, I sold a '60 Cadillac block and crank on ebay to a guy out in M***achusets. I got into yappin' with the guy, and i come to find out that he races Allards...and he just so happens to run Caddy powered ones. He gets into some pretty heavy mods with these mills...he runs the '60 to '62 blocks, because they had a spin on oil provision bolted to the side of the block. He takes the provision off and makes a custom plate with lines coming out of it...and runs a dry sump. He bores the mills .060 over, making it a 402. He also has custom billet Chevy rods made up to the caddy length...6.5 inches. The chevy rods have to be trimmed just a little to sit side by side on the caddy journals...and the chevy journal is one 1/8th of an inch smaller than the caddy journals...so he has the crank offset ground and 1/8th of an inch...thus making a stroker out of the thing too....he also has developed a way to use big block chevy roller rockers on these mills...yes he's really sick. Anyway, to make a long story even longer, we got talking about my model A and my fairly rare intake choice...an Edelbrock CA-6...it's not just a six deuce, but it's a high rise six deuce...So he tells me he's got something even more rare sitting on his shelf....This Hilborn. The story goes is the thing came off of a 60's show car out of California, and has about 10 hours total of run time on it. This would account for the absolute spotless condition of the throats...no wear on the unit of ANY kind... So, I just stayed in contact with the guy for these last few years, swapping stories and info, and keeping the idea in the back of my head that when i got up the spare green backs, I'd fire him off a check and I'd have my very own Caddy injection! The guy is really cool, and he's been an unbelievable source for good useable information. Plus, he'd just been in the hospital for suffering a heart attack, so I knew I'd better buy the thing before he up and croaked on me...... ....
Okay Buster... two questions: (1) are you gonna electronify that for the street, and (B) whatchu gonna with the old intake setup?
Well Mike.... 1. As far as setting it up for EFI, this is my eventual plan. I am in discussions with a guy on ebay that uses CAD to make aluminum plates with EFI injector provisions in them...no mods to the original Hilborn....but it aint cheap, so it's gonna have to wait a little bit....I might just try to put the thing on there and run it like it is for now....just for fun 2. The old intake set-up is something that I need to keep...it works great, and it's SUPER rare also, so I'm not really willing to let that one go... Besides, then I can switch intakes if I ever have a problem with one or the other...
I think my mate's Caddy intake is a Edelbrock CA-6....never seen another one (not that Cad speed bits are exactly falling outta the sky in Oz!). It came with the dis***embled Cad motor that used to run, firstly, in a drag car and then in a drag boat. I've personally got 2 NOS intakes....an Offenhauser and a Weiand DragStar (maybe the only ones in the country?). Any chance of mocking the injection up on your block for a happy snap?
That is cool that you picked it up. It is sort of strange that it is a 2 piece design and that the shafts have the couplers. All of the pictures that I have of the Hilborn for the Cad was of a one piece design. Looks to be in good shape. Did you get the tubes as well? Pretty good score. I am still waiting, patiently I might add, to get mine. I just go look at my blower manifold when I am feeling deprived.
Cool Brock...I was kinda waiting to see what you thought of this...it is a pretty odd looking piece...all I got was what you see in the pics...so basically I need a pump, and the stacks. Both of these are pretty easy to obtain...it's the intake that's the hard one....I did notice that there is a small number 1 on each piece of the intake....does this mean what I think it means?
The Jalopy Journal
