Does anyone have any info/specs on the cadillac flatheads?Does anyone use one?Where they used in rodz in the old days?What about the cadillac line of ohv V8s?Where they being used to race with along side of the flathead fords?What are the specs info and years of the first ohv cadillacs? Thanks guys.
the flat Cad is a boat anchor,you might be able to find a 2x2 manifold and some high compression heads for it,but it's still about the heaviest thing you could put in your car to develop the equivallent H.P. of a flat ford.OHV started in '49 with the 331,which grew to 365 in '56 and 390 for '59-'62.look for one '55 or earlier and you'll get a hydra-matic 4 speed auto,which is plenty stout and durable.i've got a hydro in my '54 Olds and it works damn fine,Jive-Bomber has a Cad/hydro in his "A" roadster and he's pretty happy with it so far.for more hydro info check out www.rodnkustom.com/rocketeers -george
What's the going rate for a an unstuck 331 Cad mill with attached Hydromatic tranny? I put on wrench on the crankshaft pulley of the engine in a 52 - 54 Cadillac yesterday and it wasn't stuck. Motor looks complete except for the missing carb. Relative value of motor and tranny with no more certainty than that?
cadillacs were a popular choice back in "the day". i've talked to several old timers on this subject and it seems a lot of them wanted or had cads. early on speed parts were scarce and expensive. so the easiest way to go faster was to install a more powerful factory engine. cads and lincolns were at the top of the list. my best sorce for this info has been dead for about 10 years now. when he was around i used to talk to him in great length on this subject. bob hirohata bought a brand new cad crate motor in 52 and had it installed in his merc. he called his car the mercollac. so ,yes, in my opinion the cad would be a great choice for your hot rod. www.cad500parts.com try this guy, he's a cad guru.
You'll never find speed equipment for a flathead Caddie. On a side note, I know that Caddie supplied them to the military for WWII, I saw one with a brass naval tag riveted to it here local, must have come out of a patrol boat or something. When people build Caddies, they either build the early Cad OHV for vintage use or they build the 472/500 for power.
I asked this same question a while back, because i know a guy who has one for 8 hundred bucks, so if you use the search for all dates and look for Caddilac flathead v-8 then you should find my old post with some pics of engines! hope i could help.
Boat anchor, but easy to get running after sitting for 10+ years...it was a "fun" motor to learn to get running...surprisingly simple. Weird exhaust.
Cool thanks guys.I'm going to keep my eyes open for a cad motor.I'll try for a OHV but who knows.Are hop up parts rare for the flat heads or non existant?
I'll sell ya my sweet running 429 and turbo 400 for a measly $2k... comes with a handy and registered coupe deville carrying case!
[ QUOTE ] I'll sell ya my sweet running 429 and turbo 400 for a measly $2k... comes with a handy and registered coupe deville carrying case! [/ QUOTE ] If only I could bro that would be cool.
Can someone tell me if the 1986 Cadillac DeVille V8 4.1 has aluminum heads or block and if this is a car I might want to buy with 80,000 miles. It is a one owner and been taken care of very well. Thank you Jdawg
Try a search under Flathead Cadillac. There has been a ton of discussion re this engine not to mention the re-pop heads being made by a HAMBER. As far as "was this engine used by rodders in the day?"; yes it was. Hot Rod Magazines from 1948-1950 show quite a few of them in use in the "dual purpose" (street - lakes) cars of the time. At 346" it was a lot easier to make power than with a Ford or Merc-they just weren't as plentiful/cheap and they were heavier. As far as "wierd" exhaust, that's where the exhaust should have been (on top along side the intake) since it was an "L" head engine. Look at any flathead in-line (Ford six, Plymouth/Dodge, Pontiac, or Hudson) and you'll see the exhayst ports and the intake ports side by side on the same side of the engine. It's the Fords that were wierd. The popularity of the engine for Rodz was foreshortened by the early availibility of modern, high power, O.H.V. V-8s like the Oldsmoble and the Cadillac of 1949. In a technical sense the flathead Caddy may be a boat anchor but it's a hell of a lot more interesting than a S.B.C--and it seems like the HAMB "way" is to do the off beat. quote=Stone]Does anyone have any info/specs on the cadillac flatheads?Does anyone use one?Where they used in rodz in the old days?What about the cadillac line of ohv V8s?Where they being used to race with along side of the flathead fords?What are the specs info and years of the first ohv cadillacs? Thanks guys.[/quote]
One of the locals bought an original low mile 331 complete with slant pan hydro this year for 300.000. But that's unheard of. What I see mostly are worn out incomplete mills going for 600-700.00. Prior to the advent of the SBC there were so many OHV Cad V-8s being used that they had a name for hot rods running 'em. they were called fodillacs. A very popular hot rod mill in the early '50s. I don't know much about the caddy flatties, I think there was a time that they were used for rods, but that would have been way back there. As has been mentioned they were a boat anchor, but they were torquey.
I am putting a Caddy flathead into a '36 Chevy half ton, if for no other reason than it looks good and DIFFERENT. The President of the Shifters car club has one in his rod. GREAT looking ride. Aluminum heads are $1500 new. Used Edmunds Custom Dual carb intakes are that much or more. I have seen 2 dual point ignitions go on egay for less than $150 each. I am looking into making a custom 3 deuce setup for mine. Also considering putting a Graham supercharger I got in a swap on it instead.... or third option is a GMC blower. Decisions, decisions, decisions! I got my 346 for $600 in "running condition with less than 3k miles on it". The cylinders look like this is correct, but I havn't test run the engine yet. Caddy flatheads are NOT for the feint at heart. They ARE heavy and they WILL take some fabrication for intake and exhaust unless you have boxes of cash. They WILL draw a crowd when you get them running and they ARE torque monsers, even in stock clothes, so they should be fun to drive. Glenn
i have a vintage ad from WWII about Cadillac. Here is a line from it.. "The high-speed M-5 light tank and the M-8 Howitzer Motor Carriage, produced by Cadillac, are equipped with Cadillac V-type engines and Hydro-Matic transmissions". They also helped produce the Allison liquid cooled engine that was in some of the US's fighters. just thought i'd add that info...
Wow, that guy's site is pretty impressive. Those pics of him pulling the front wheels off the ground in that late 60's deville are awesome. If I were racing a big heavy-ass caddy and he wheelie'd out of the hole like that I'd probably shit myself.
Man this thread takes me back. Resurected to ask about something in a late model? Anyway. Cool info on the flathead cadillac. Hopefully in the near future I will be able to start collecting parts for a OHV cadillac mill for a project.
The Jalopy Journal
