Just fitted a T700R (no brain trans )to an original 365 Cad Engine in a "57 cadillac eldo ( ex D'Agostino)custom. Done a few over the years Drives like a new car..........do it. .......steve
I am going through the same thing right now with my 61. I had two complete motors and transmissions for this car and everything turned out to be junk. The engine in the car ran but the trans was junk. I dropped the pans on the spare motor and tranny and found a snapped crank in the spare and tons of chunky metal in the trans pan. I was going to adapt the engine in the car to a th400 but I pulled the valve covers to clean em up and paint em and found enough shiney metal bits in the valve covers to metal flake a couple cars. I sold what was left of both motors and started on my build of a stroker SBC. The stroke on a 383sbc is 1/8 of an inch shorter than the stock 390 with the same bore. The torque and horsepower numbers are very similar if built properly. The engines look about the same all dressed up...distributor on the back and accessories in about the same place. If you didn't know your engines you would never know the difference. The last time I checked a tri power setup for a 390caddy on e-bay was going for about 3 grand. Finned aluminum valve covers were a couple hundred. I can do the same thing and make it look cool for 500$ on a SBC. I saw screw all the traditionalists! If you want to have a reliable drivetrain then do whatever you want. I didn't want to shell out all that money in the name of tradition!
got a tri-power 57-61 cad set up ---rebuilt correct carbs....manifold...no air cleaner or lingages ......$1450 USD.
My point exactly...I can do the same thing with a really bitchen air cleaner for under 500$ on an SBC. Don't get me wrong, your setup is fully worth that kind of scratch...just not to me! If I were doing an open hood car and I wanted the motor to be the centerpiece I would totally drop the coin on that but this car will probably never go to a car show because I hate sitting around at car shows. If you are building a show car then stick with the traditional stuff...if not then thumb your nose at the nay-sayers and build whatever you want. I grew up around hot rodders that didn't think twice about putting a chevy motor in a ford truck...why not put a GM motor in a GM car? GM has owned Cadillac since just after the turn of the century so who cares?
keep it caddy, don't paint it, throw a blanket on the seats and drive it. put the money in the engine!! in the long run it's a better overall investment
first of all-- i'd love to buy that 390 motor off you. i need a good core for a stroked, hopped up motor w/ all my old speed parts. that said, i really dont think you should cheapen the cadillac tradition by putting in an SBC. instead of replacing the cadillac motor with a chevy motor, perhaps you should replace the cadillac with a chevy car. lastly, it shouldnt cost you that much to rebuild the cadillac motor. the 390 isnt that expensive to rebuild. lemme know if you wanna sell that motor. i'll give you a fair price for it, and im in san jose too... -scott noteboom
thats cause the same guys who designed the Cadillac motor later went on to work at Chevy and designed the all "NEW" chevy small block in 1955. And Scott, hope your enjoying your trip, and when are you posting new pictures of your cadillac at the Gambino shop? i want to see that '59 chevy guage cluster in your caddy already!
im back in san jose for work. i'll be headed back to vegas and the wagon on thursday for VLV and then the drive home. actually the '60 cadillac took a little break in the shop and im hopeful will now be moving ahead again. the dash is done though and today i was sketching new body lines on the front end / hood of the car. no, im still not ready to post pictures-- but all i can say is that this is a radical 60's custom, that focuses on improving the class and flow that respects the cadillac legacy. my goal is to have the body like cadillac would if money and time to mass produce wasnt an issue. fine wine takes some time though. -scott noteboom
Very true, now i'll be waiting even more anxiously for the big debut! thanks alot Scott! Hope to run into you at a car show again soon Scott, have fun at Viva and on the drive home dude.
Why do people always compare old cars to investments? I NEVER buy a toy thinking of it is an investment. I buy a toy to play with...I buy into mutual funds and IRAs when I need to INVEST! You already have all the speed parts....lucky you! I refuse to run that hydramatic jetaway piece of crap transmission so I would have to buy an adaptor kit with a starter motor which would end up about 700$ shipped. Then I need another 1500$ for an intake...another couple hundred for valve covers....another 1500$ for a rebuild kit and another thousand getting the motor machined properly. So I am almost 5 grand into just the motor for something that hasn't been manufactured in 46 years, has a poor reputation for oiling and had extremely limited aftermarket potential. No thanks. I have owned several Cadillacs so I can appreciate the tradition but there is no reason to quibble about that. Now what would you say if I put a northstar under the hood? Other than the fact that is is weak on torque it is still cadillac right? I wasn't going to mention that because I had no reference material to back it up with but it has been mentioned by several of my friends in the area. I can drop a SBC383 into my car with ZERO modifications to the frame or body. If I wanted to go back to Caddy in the future I can unbolt the SBC and put a caddy motor back in. Even the tranny cooler lines for the jetaway are in the same place as the TH400. I am one of those young guys that doesn't give a hoot about tradition though!
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