Ok, the 390 needs a rebuild, that's $$$ I don't have. SO... I'm lookin to swap instead. What engines swap into a 1960 Cadillac without much trouble... ie: not fabricating motor mounts or changing the tranmission if there is such a thing, lemme know I'm thinking maybe a cadillac 425, 472, or 500? But not sure if they will fit the trans or engine mounts. The engine bay is big enough for whatever I can dream of, but I want this to be quick, easy, and cheap, and I'm praying I don't have to pick 2.
I'd figure on the 472/500s being the better option, moreso considering the speed gear you can get for them now than anything else. What ended up being the prob with the 390?
if the crossmember is any thing like a 57 caddy,you will be doing some whittling and fabricating. my buddy and i put a 500 caddy in his 57 sedan de ville,and we had to sink the mounts into the crossmember,and do some surgery on an eldorado oil pan to get it all together. most of the cutting on the oil pan was for drag link clearance. not an easy swap,but quite do-able.
There are 3 different oil pans for these motors. The most popular is the Eldo pan in the front for truck swaps. The normal 472/500 pan is large in the rear and the 425 pan is about 3/4 front to back. They are all interchangable but you need the pick up tube from the same pan.They make Hot Rod side mounts for minor fabbing (maximum torque carries these) A early ford flathead type will work or something simular to the SBC that is used in a lot of rods. The exhaust manifolds may give you more problems than anything else. You can buy header flanges and make your own using a cheap set of Chevy headers. If you run a 425 get an after market intake it will really wake it up and improve milage at the same time. The moters will take a lot of abuse but the timing chain upper gear is fiber and they should be changed. I said way too much.
Oye, what am I in for. To answer as to what happened to my engine... it has some leakdown prob's on the #3 cylinder, which is one of the two that was previously sleeved. So.. I'm not exactly sure what all is wrong in there, and I'm not willing to put the $$$ into finding out right now. I'd tear into it myself if I had the skillz and the tools, but right now I got niether, and no place to work on it. SO.. that's what prompted me to get another engine. I may just get a cheap ride round here, and pimp it till I get a house, and some time, place, and skillz to work. Anybody in the wilmington area work for nothin, got lottsa skillz with ole caddies, and got lottsa time on their hands??? lmao. Just like everything else in life, give it time, throw money at it, work your ass off, and it'll be fine.
You could find a running 60-64 caddy with the hydramatic tranny and swap the engine out. I have a 1962 caddy with a 429 out of a 1964. bolts right up, just watch it because the 64 was the first year for the turbo hydramatic and it's totally different. these engines are horribly expensive to rebuild, $2000-4000 depending on what you do...you could find a running 63 or 64 caddy for under that, pull the engine and sell it for parts... good luck bryan
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