Aluminum Small Block Chevy - WHAT IS IT?

I recently acquired this Chevy aluminum block. It is a deep skirt, wet deck, die cast unmachined block. It weighs about 25 lbs. Some notable features besides the wet deck, wet liner design are the deep skirt, the open cam valley that apparently accepts a cartridge-style lifter / cam bearing cluster and head bolt bosses that extend to the block webs, putting the entire cylinder in compression. This block must have been meant to be made on reuseable tooling (as opposed to sand casting process).

Was this a R&D exercise or was it ever in production?

When was it made? What era?

What happened to this concept?

Were complete engines built like this?

Are parts available to complete the engine build? One would need the cam bearing cluster and the main caps.

Thank you for your interest / comments.

 

i dunno what its for, but its cool

 

looks very Oldsmobile.

And like a grown up version of a Buick 215. Maybe Indy stuff?

 

may 81 casting date, probably a prototype for the 4.1 caddy ****?



(edit: btw, it's not a chevy if it's a cadillac)

 

I bet some folks around here could tell ya. Not me. if parts arent available, i bet a goo d machine shop could make some

 

The only deep-skirt aluminum SBC I knew of was the Hawk block that was used at Indy and in sprint car applications, but the Hawk had vertical ribs reinforcing the exterior. The LS-series is a deep skirt, but that looks nothing like an LS.

 

really, it's a Cadillac engine, the ****py aluminum block/iron head motor they made in the 80s. First used on the 1983 models, this is probably an early test of the casting technique.

Called the HT4100, or "hard times" if you worked on late model cars in the 80s.

see the 5-81 casting date?

 

yea bud hate to tell you but i threw more of those in the dumpster than i can count! you have the block that just about put cadillac in the toilet ,in the 80s!!! but i guess i did make pretty good money for there misfortune. it is the block that was the 4.1, 4.5,4.9 cadillac motor. that motor had more flat cams, main knocks, and oil leaks than probably any other motor every built. best use is to hold your garage door open!

 

Show us a pic of the back, where the ****** bolts on.

 

ok? BOP-cad

 

By the sounds of it you have a very cool coffee table .....

 

Thats a 4100, $.07 per Lb.

 

Probably has some value to some very geeky guy as a pre-production part.

Although I can't think of anyone who would admit to wanting anything to do with a 4.1

 

Oh, I thought maybe it was one of these.

 

Yep..I was hoping to die before I ever saw a 4100 again..worst engine I have ever had..or will ever have.
Worse..the rest of the 83 Eldo my wife had made that the best part of the dam car.

Coffee table..I bet it breaks under the weight of a 8 oz gl***...

 

Ditto on the coffee table! Maybe even polish it out for that "Custom" touch!

 

looks like a doorstopto me.

 

Definatly doesn't look anything like a small block Chevy I have ever seen! Take it back and get your money back soon!!

 

Oh lord. those things were horrible!
Aluminum block with cast iron heads. Couldn't keep a head gasket in 'em, leaked everything except peanut ****er, and was ready for the junk yard at about the same time you made the last car payment.

Yes, that motor did just about sink cadillac.

For the record, I started working for GM after that slug was in production, so I had absolutely NOTHING to do with it. I was proud of the work I did on the Northstar tho.... But I was pissed about the bean counters switching to cast rods after my R&D work was completed. Saved GM a whole whopping $3 per motor.

 

Great Yard art
or a mailbox

 

Yea it's a 4.1- 4.5 Cad. without the cyl. liners looks just like the one I rebuilt in a 88 Caddy. They were known for head gasket and oil leaks.

 

Haw haw hee hee hee! You guys kill me! Yes squirrel et al, it does look like it is the dreaded Caddy block. The guy I got it from said it was SBC. Since the last time I hotrodded a SBC was 30 years ago (I've moved on to inline sixes) I failed to recognize it for anything other.

Thanks for all your help. I love this site.

I'll make a table out of it - or maybe a wine rack.

 

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHhhhhh!

Thanks man, now Imma have nightmares. I thought I had finally put those behind me. For the longest time in this area I was one of the only guys who would work on those. Then I said "ENOUGH!".
Kinda like "Get behind me Satan!"

 

it would be fun to put it on ebay with a reserve of a hunnerd bucks or so (to cover the shipping h***le if it doesn't bring much money), listed as a rare factory prototype unmachined casting. There might be some caddy guys who'd pay for it. Or not.

 

Maybe I'm naive, but there really can't be anyone who is actually looking for one of these, can there?

It would kinda be fun to watch, I must admit...

 

I have been looking for an unbroken one to use as the base for a coffee table. Unfortunately, they all seem to have died off already!

 

so what if it used aluminum heads instead of iron heads...would it be any better?

 

It is a SBC..****BlockCaddy...!

 

I need a new coffee table, I'm interested.

 

A wine rack! now theres a good idea.

Can you bore it out some to fit 8 wine bottles? Polish it up, mount it on an oak pad, make a winegl*** rack on top of the intake (or maybe a cheese cutting board) and you got yourself a money maker!!!