Metalshapes, That's actually a RARE 55-57 Chevrolet and early Corvette scattershield. It's worth some coin, the cast steel ones are far easier to find. I'd think twice about modifying it at all, and look for something not worth as much. I forgot what one brought on that auction site we all know and love, but the last it went for enough to buy two new, current, and legal hydroformed scattershields. Butch/56sedandelivery.
That "someone" is me... At this time it only exists as a prototype of a prototype. I'v cut some paper templates to mock up, and I'v done the math and crunched the numbers. It could work the way it is, or it could work even better with longer push rods... But the idea is sound. I pirated the idea from an outfit called "Burton Machine" that's doing the exact same thing with Buick 350's. From the stock shaft setup: To a pedastal that mounts SBC rollers, like this:
Awesome! Keep me posted, please... Another thought... Would it be possible to start with a thicker piece of steel for the Adaptor plate. And then mill it back out so the edges could double as a riser for the Valve Covers and maybe also to adapt them to a more available Cover? Like, say, a BBF?
Well, yes it would, but no, it would not. The 3/8 piece is the perfect size to centerline the fulcrum of the rockers to be compatable with the cadillac valvetrian geometry. A thicker piece of base plate metal would raise the rockers further away from the head, putting the rocker at an "un-natural" angle, whick could lead to much higher pressure on various pieces. The push rods would probably be the first to fail. Once we get into "milling" various pieces, we quickly run out of my workshops ability to do things in-house, resulting in $$$$. I'd say there's probably a market for 30-40 sets immedeatly, and then about 3-5 more sets per month over the next 5-7 years before the market dries up. Going by that logic, if "Big Bubba's Custom Billet Shop" were to pick up the project, they would be charging $750 a set in order to break even on the initial run,,,, so it makes a lot of sense to try and keep it a spare time "back yard" endeavour so that we may all benefit. I'd like to think I could pull it off. It's been in my list of potential projects for about 5 years... If someone else with a better equiped home shop would like to pick up the pieces and run with it, I'd be happy to let them have it in exchange for 2 completed sets......... Anyone interested?
I'm keeping my car as light as possible and using the world-class tranny. I'll keep rear tire size reasonable and hope for the best...in the meantime I'm keeping a good stock of S-10 trannys from U-Pull-it. We'll see.
Ah, on 60th, just South of Q... used to be one of my faves. Always thought how cool it would be to have one of the horns off of something in big rig boneyard you drive past on the way. ~Jason
Some engine builds everyone might be interested in.. http://popularhotrodding.automotive.com/95039/0812phr-505-cadillac-engine/index.html http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engine/hrdp_0804_541_big_block_cadillac_v8/cadillac_oil_pan.html
If anyone near Rowley,Ma, is interested I have a '71 472 caddy. It came out of my 82 3/4 ton chevy when the gas prices got too high. Its got some money in parts in it. stage 2 rockers, edelbrock intake, balanced bottom, crank has a pilot bushing, I ran a stick behind it. rear sump pan, high volume gold oil pump, small chamber heads, custom crane cam with 114 lobe separation for the efi, keith black 9:1s, computer controlled HEI and a mechanical one, also have a billet flywheel and a billet flexplate It liked to smoke when cold so I would say it needs to come apart and be punched, otherwise it was fine, really not alot of time on it. I was thinking $1000, but its gonna be best offer or possible trades, looking for an old buffalo/rockwell floor drill press, ammco 4000 brake lathe, dana 60 front axle, model A parts etc. no trash,boats/bikes
We gathered a bunch of 71 - 74 500 and 472 caddy motors over the years. They all have enough torque to rotate the earth. It was stated before that the biggest problem with these motors is the intake. For clearance reasons the intake is actually below the heads with the fuel mixture having to move upwards (??) It used to be only Offenhauser (sp?) made an alluminum replacement but now there are a couple of companies making good intakes. Not only do these improve breathing but they take upwards of 40+ pounds off of the engine. Jegs and Summit carry a couple of good cam choices as well. With a few changes these engines make 450+ Hp and 500+ trq. There are a couple of aftermarket companies making heads as well as bottom end kits. The primary weakness on these motors is the valve train. But these motors were never intended to rev over 5800 so keep it real and enjow the pull. We've dropped a couple of these stump pullers into Malibu's and ran low 12's with ease.
Here is my 425 in a 1980 C-10 short bed. As mentioned earlier the passengers side exhaust manifold (yellow arrow) is very restrictive as you can see the huge dimple in the #1 exhaust port area. I have purchased a used 472 manifold off of E-Bay for $40.00 and am in the process of cleaning it up for installation. I have driven this setup for about 5 years now and really enjoy the power / torque. The 425 does not have the power of the 472 / 500 but, it holds its own and gets between 15-19 mpg depending on how its driven of course. I am using the turbo 400 with a mild shift kit and a after market cooler. I have a Ford 9" with 2:75 geared pos-a-trac and have removed the duel fuel tanks from the sides and installed a fuel cell behind the rear axle. If you decided to go with the 425 and want to install the Edelbrock intake do some research as they all do not bolt right up (see picture) and a gap is evident at the front manifold area. MTS makes a gasket set that is supposed to take care of this problem but, I personally haven't seen it. Anyway, just a few pointers and "Good Luck" !
Hey guys I just came across this post. I know it's old but I have to say, there is a TON of misinformation in this thread. In particular, that really long post with all the "helpful" info? 75% of that is misleading or downright false, no joke. DON'T use that post as a guide because you'll get burned. Also, forget about all these ideas of adapting stuff from other engines to the Cad motor. A lot of these band aid hacks were needed in the early days when Cad parts didn't exist, but there is now a very healthy aftermarket for the Cad motor. There are piston and rod combos that bolt right in. There are several different shaft rocker setups that bolt right in and are far better than the adapted Ford stud mounted rocker junk. And forget adapting beehive springs from a Chevy-- there are plenty of affordable spring/retainer/lock packages that are designed for the Cad. Yes there are $500 valve covers, but there are several other nice options in the $200-$400 range too. There are some excellent aluminum head and intake options, balancers, roller cams, aluminum and steel flywheels, etc. You name it, it's probably available. You can build a 600+ horsepower Cad engine these days without fabricating or rigging a damn thing. I just ordered the parts needed to build a very healthy 600 HP iron headed street Cad and the total came in at under $6k. That's everything from carb to oil pan, and I even spent extra money that I didn't have to since I wanted a roller cam. All of these parts are available from MTS at http://www.500cid.com. This is an excellent, stand-up company and these guys won't do you wrong. For more race oriented engines, the folks at Potter Automotive (http://www.cadillacperformanceparts.com) are also a great choice. And if you want to learn more about this engine, visit my forum at http://www.cadillacpower.com/forum . This is THE place to learn more about the Cadillac motor, and that's not just me saying so because I run the board. I'm sure you'll agree once you visit and start sorting through the vast sums of knowledge the board has to offer. A lot of these guys are HAMB'ers too if that tells you anything about the quality of people who frequent this board. Most of these guys are old hats, extremely knowledgeable types who know their s--t when it comes to building engines. If you want to learn all about the Cad, this is the place to go, bar none. Hope this helps!
We run them on airboat due to the great low end torque they produce this is a 472 with an aluminum intake the down side to the big cads is weak valve train so I am told but weve never had an issue with it but we only turn the prop at about 3200 RPMS at the most and this boat is a monster it will run dry ground all day long with three grown men O/T I know but cant help bragging on these engines.Theres a company called Potters that builds performance parts for them but we run CRANES cams ,with HEI.
i believe but dont hold me to it i would have to go get my bible out of the shop but in 69 70 the 500 cad had 400hp and 550lbtq im putting a 472 cad out of a 69 deville in my 47 pu they are great engine ith tons of torque
When I was at Goodguys in Fort Worth, I had a chat with a Comp Cams rep. I quickly learned that they had just started making cams for 472/500 Caddys in their Thumper line. Guys....for the love of God, if you have yet to here one of these cams, go to their website now! I immediately placed my order for the Mutha Thumper. He told me I was the first guy to own one, for they hadn't been printed in any catalogs or put on the website at that time. That was kinda cool. I'm sure some guys already have one goin, but if not, I will surely post some videos of it running once the motor is complete. The 500, without a doubt, is the best way to go if you want huge power for minimal cash.
I replied to your conversation. I highly recommend this book; Its an interesting build, but there is also tons of information about what parts will interchange between different engine models, years, etc. Well worth the money Bobby
Well congratulations, you hold the distinction of answering one of the longest dead threads on the HAMB with your first post. Note that the post above yours was Nov 7, 2009 That is 13 years and 22 days. In answer to the queston, oil capacity with a pan swap be it a 68/78 is going to be the capacity of the rig that the engine came out of. Unless the pan is modified. You look up the oil capacity of the donor and that is your oil capacity . One thing on these engines, the 472/500 is seriusly wide across the outside of the exhaust manifolds. I ran into that when I put one in my 82 Coupe deville in place of the 79 425 that I had put in it after I bought it minus the engine and trans. I had to use the 425 right side exhaust manifold to barely clear the right side control arm . I'm thinking that I had to use the 79 425 pan and pickup tube on the 500 for clearance. I had exhaust manifold clearance problems with the frame on my 3/4 ton that I have the 500 in. I still don't have the truck sorted out but have a stack of parts and pieces for it. Life and priorities got in the way.
Congrats to you as well. Thanks for wasting my time reading your comment that has nothing to do with the question I asked. Thats time I will never get back.
So, I wasn't supposed to answer a question just because it was asked in an old thread? Can you explain why? I feel like you are slamming me for trying to provide some information to someone trying to figure something out. I'm betting that if tclayon85 asked this same question in a new thread you'd probably be slamming him for asking a newbie question. Here is someone trying to find some info on their build. They were probably searching the internet for answers and found this old thread. What's the harm in that? No need to beat the guy up for trying to find answers. Sorry you ran into issues swapping into your 82. From what I recall, the 425, 472, 500, and the later 368's were all the same block, heads, etc. Yea things did get tight when the changed the body style in 77. Like you mentioned thats when they had to start using that restrictive right side exhaust manifold. Bobby
I answered you in the conversation you started. I don't mind that this thread is older. If you need info, you need info. If I can help, I'll try Bobby
You answered his question Bobby, no issue with that. The FNG found the long dead thread on Google and dug it out for a question that he should already know the answer to. I've had that big inch Cadillac book for years and agree if you are going to run a 472/500 it should be in your library. The bad part of digging up a long dead thread is that it is often a newbie who found the thread in a Google search and wants to expound on his alleged expertise on the OP's question that was answered years ago. Doing so without going though the whole thread and reading all of the posts. Several times the OP had not been on the board for years and at least once the OP had passed away several years before. The 500 can be a tight fit in a lot of chassis not only with the front sump pan but my experience says that it's width across the exhaust is an issue in a lot of chassis. I didn't really mean to piss T Clayton 85 off, wonder what kind of 85 model car he is sticking the Cad in.
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