If all goes well I'm going up to get the 472 Caddy motor that Justin 415 posted in the classifieds up tonight! Sooooooooo, what's the skinney on Cams, heads, Cranks for 500's, intakes, headers... ignition... parts sources etc. It's a '73, how are they different from the earlier models... what about trannies?? How much torque will this motor have? How can I increase it? This is the ideal motor for the Digger hauler... and it's priced right too. Oh yea, what about engine mounts and oil pans??? You guys are boss. Sam.
they make plenty of torque. edelbrock makes a single 4 intake for them. i forget the company that makes the ajustable rockers for them and cams. a big problem with those motors was the plastic timing gears would fall apart and lock up the oil pump.
This one has 80,000 miles or so... so should I at least replace that? Also, if you go with a non-stock cam, do you need the adjustable rockers?? Sam.
with that kind of miles i would do a valve job so the bigger cam does not get the crusty carbon build up on the valves stuck in the guides. if you go with a slighly bigger hydrolic cam you do not need the ajustable rockers.
Lots of torque to be had, quite a few guys I know pulled their oil burning 454's and dropped in Cads with a little bit of shoe-horning. Check out this website for info, not a lot available but a few sites offer the goods. The Hot Rod mag with the chevette and the 500 Cad also had alot of good info. http://www.cad500parts.com/
Sam, What Booze 455 said... he beat me to the punch... The Cad Company has a wealth of info and are pretty cool guys to deal with over the phone... they have just about anything you need... Tim
a guy i use to pal around with is now running mid 10s with his 500ci powered chevelle. he was the only kid i knew running this motor back in the early-mid 90s, not bad at all! sam - check out this book, excellant performance coverage for the 472ci and 500ci cad motors. also gives a nice history lesson of early OHV cad motors too. http://www.webrodder.com/index.php?page=listProducts&CID=14 also, same site posted above, but the catalogue is where some important info lives. you'll need acrobat reader to view it, i reccomend right mouse clicking on the .PDF file (catalogue icon) -> save target as -> save on desktop or where ever you store downloaded material... http://www.cad500parts.com/catalog/catalog_v3.1.pdf hope that wasnt confusing... hah flo reals though, this is a pretty straight foward SWAP... headers you can get from sanderson, HEI ignition or points with the pertronix ignition conversion... pre-fabbed mounts are available as well. heads, look for the 950's if youre going with higher compression... but, this is for the hauler, lower compression with a super charger on top? keep your current heads for 87 octane luvin the book says these blocks were cast with a high nickel content, and mains are reinforced... sooo, if you dont run a hell of a lot of boost you should be kosher. cam, a large lift cam .500+ with a 290's duration will let the motor breathe, but youll retain good vaccuum for power assisted items... these motors love Qjets... the guy running mid 10s is using his reworked Qjet... i can go on forever, but its all in the book and on the cadi website!
i'm in the process of putting one in my girlfriends car. the oil pan is the only issue so far. the eldorados have a rear sump pan, thats what they say to use for most swaps, but the sump is still about 11 inches long and interfered with the steering linkage. what i did was pushed the pickup back a couple inches and grafted in the lower section of a small block chevy pan. these motors are neat cause they dont weigh that much for the cubic inches they have. maximum torque specialties has also been very helpful with all my questions. the downfall is the valvetrain, your not supposed to rev them past 5000 i think, but now there are parts made to cure this too!
A buddy of mine is building a pretty radical 500 Caddy for his pulling truck. I don't know exactly where he has been getting all his parts, but I do know he has a LOT of money in them. He managed to find a set of Aluminum heads for it (super rare according to him) for around $2500. He spent about $1500 getting a Stroker Crank made, and I think he said he had $800 in the Rods. Seems like everything he buys for that Motor cost's at least a grand... He also had to make his own headers. he started with a pair of BBC headers, cut the block flanges off, then modified the tubes to fit Caddy Flanges that he milled out of 3/8" plate. He also machined an adapter to fit the Caddy to the bellhousing of the 4 spd he is using. I'm not sure which tranny he is using, whatever they used in early 70's 1-Ton Chevy pickups.... I know this probably doesn't have anything to do with your application, but if you think of any specific questions, let me know and i'll ask him. It has taken him a couple of years to find all the parts and get his machinework done and he has learned quite a bit about caddy motors in the process.
I want to do this truck "on the cheap"... so I am a little leary of the price of all the parts listed... will the motor be good as a hauler motor if it is left STOCK? What about Edelbrock cams and intakes?? Are they reasonably priced? (as in the BBC+ range?) Sam.
[ QUOTE ] I want to do this truck "on the cheap"... so I am a little leary of the price of all the parts listed... will the motor be good as a hauler motor if it is left STOCK? What about Edelbrock cams and intakes?? Are they reasonably priced? (as in the BBC+ range?) Sam. [/ QUOTE ] They have loads of torque, so I imagine it would do just fine left stock. That truck my buddy is building is strictly a full competition pulling Truck.
the stock cam will be fine for what you are doing, if the motor is in good shape run it answer youre phone once in a while Fred
I have a friend running a 500 Cad in a '79 Nova. He mated it to the TH350 that was in the car. By the way this car is for sale if anyone is interested. It is registered, inspected and driveable. Located in NYC.
bftwcs is right, these motors make huge amounts of torque stock. rickyracer is also correct with the rpm range, large cube cadillacs dont like rpms over 5k rpm unless the valve train is beefed up, its their weekest link. i know a lot of guys with chevy pickups who have done this swap, it shouldnt be at all difficult to set this up in a Ford truck. to add to the rest of the good info here, its advised that you run a TH400 w/ tranny cooler if using it to tow (duh!)... or for that matter running a warmed over cadi.
the one intake they make is like 280 from PAW. all the speed stuff is pricey for these motors, but you probably dont need any of that stuff anyway for what you want to do.
Maximum Torque Specialties in Wi. has a lot of Cad speed parts. Including 3/8" header flanges with or w/o starter tubes welded on
I'm runnin' three of these engines-a 472 in a Malibu wagon,a stock 500 in my Ford pickup tow rig,and a 500 in the '26 "T" drag car goin 10.90s.The 472 with a new timing chain and new valve seals will pull Hell out by the roots in a pickup.Gear it to run 2500 rpm at 70 mph and you will love it.Same with the 500.If you want to do it later,a mild cam and the stock valvetrain will work great,as will the Edelbrock intake.The q-jet is my favorite for a stock engine-the Holley Street Avenger 770/870 my next choice.These engines use a lot of fuel if you spin them fast,so gear like I was saying earlier and all is well.The turbo 400 is a must-a towing application with a Caddy will hurt a 350! Chicken
Sam a buddy here put an Edelbrock intake from a 429Ford on his 500 Caddy it was an easy modification I think he said.
we have a twin engine dragster with two 500 cadillacs in it...the motors are bullit proof...cheapest bang for the buck that i know of...the first year we put the dragster togeather the good motor had 187,000 miles on it, never did break it, did get around to rebuildin it..the new manifold and carb will make a stocker a real stump puller and a ball to drive...I'v got one in my 51 Studebaker, it has so much torgue that when i get my foot in it the car stands still and the whole world turns....you won't be sorry you use the Cadillac
I can't wait to get this sucker in and turn the globe! Here's a pic of what I picked up tonight for FREE! How do I tell it's a '73 for sure?? Sam.
[ QUOTE ] I can't wait to get this sucker in and turn the globe! Here's a pic of what I picked up tonight for FREE! How do I tell it's a '73 for sure?? Sam. [/ QUOTE ] post up the head casting numbers. i can look em up
sam, good choice for a tow motor. drd57 is putting one in his caddy and i'm puttin one in my chevy. pick up that book posted earlier has lots of good info. here is a list of some ofmy caddy book marks. http://www.cowboyseven.us/forum/ http://www.cadillacperformanceparts.com/ http://www.500cid.com/aboutus.html they have a good catolog/book of info as well as a good message board. they have aluminum heads out for them now, a bit pricey tho. as above an edelbrock manifold will save a TON of weight as well as perform better. sanderson sells headers. you'll prolly need a the rear sump pan, if you can't find it local they are on ebay all the time, they go from 50 (if you're lucky) to 400. make sure you get the oil pickup with it. later jim
Good score Sam! I just picked up a free 72 Coupe de ville. The 472 is going into my 56 Caddy and will be towing a 27' Airstream. I wanted a 500 but I couldn't beat the price on the 472. Rear sump oil pans are on all the Eldorado motors 68-76. I need one too.
[ QUOTE ] Thanks Jim! What did the rear sump pans come in??? Sam. [/ QUOTE ] my book says: rear sump pans used in 68-77 el dorados (getting harder to find). easier to find found on 368's and the V4-6-8 cars from 80-81 theres also a mid-sump pan, perhaps itll work if the crossmember in your ford is located farther forward than a chevys... got any pics of the engine compartment or perhaps one showing crossmember location?
The Eldrado is the front wheel drive car, right? Plan, I'm not following you when you say "368's and the V4-6-8 cars from 80-81". What year did the 368 come in... and what is a V4-6-8?? And engine? I am going to be running '70's Chevy pickup suspension in the front... I have a mid sump pan right now (it's a tad closer to the front, but the engine can just sit on the pan and not fall one way or the other. Where are the numbers located on the head that I have to find? Under the valve cover? Or near the front there? How many digits? Also, transmissions... I have NOTHING! What trannies will fit?? BOP? Or just stick with the Caddy TH400's? I would LOVE to have a stick behind this motor... something with o.d. But, there's no provision for a input shaft bushing... and then I'd have to find an adaptor, have the crank machined or make an adaptor for the bushing... a TH400 will work fine. I talked with DRD57 last night, he says the Edelbrock intakes add a lot of power... do they show up on e-bay? Also, how much power (hp and torque) did this motor coem with? And if I put the Edelbrock intake on it, how mush will it then have? You guys rock, I NEVER would have thought about Caddy power if it wasn't for guys like you and Dr.Chop from the old RRT. I ain' lackin'... I'm Caddilac'n!! Sam. p.s. I wont' screw up the pic tonight...
The Jalopy Journal
