So me and one of my buddies at work have been messing with his grandpa's old '72 caddy, trying to get it roadworthy again but the body is so far gone it may not even be worth saving. The good thing is....that big ol' 472 runs nice n strong and only has 70,000 original miles on it. He was driving the car a year ago. We threw some new fuel lines on there the other day and it fired right up. We had this crazy idea today of swapping it into my '54. I think it'll be a huge PITA but might be kinda cool (aside from the GM in a ford thing....) I mean a free big *** caddy motor...could be fun no? what do you guys think? I can't find anything about it being done so maybe there's a good reason why? who knows. just this crazy idea we came up with today.
I love it! Fordillacs were big "back in the day" moonshiner specials,it won't be easy but you have to love the challenge.
Those big cads are monsters for sure. I wouldn't do it, but thats just because I like y-blocks. If big, powerful, and reliable engines are your thing, a big cad is one of the places to look (or a 385 series ford).
Sounds like a good idea to me. As stated above, Fordillacs are traditional as hell. Just follow the two hot rodding axions: 1) If it don't fit, use a bigger hammer. 2) Hammer to shape, file to fit, paint to match.
Start looking for a stout rear end too,472-500 cube Caddy's make almost a foot pound of torque per cube.
YUP! Go for it! A big Caddy needs a stout rear end, huge brakes, and a driver who knows when to let off it. Those Caddy's were fast, with half the weight, guess what.
the only things i'm really worried about are exhaust and steering clearance and maybe overheating. the radiator in that caddy is twice the size of the one in my ford haha. i guess i could relocate a bigger radiator to the trunk or somewhere? and maybe brace the frame a bit to handle all that torque...
a 9" will be more than sufficient! Though, I forget which years work for us. I think '57-9 ones fit, and I think GT mustangs have a narrow 9"
i thin i read somewhere that the 472/500 caddy's were not much either bigger or heavier (cant remember which) than typical small block chebbie. sounds fun tho, and will be interesting to see.
Check out the pictures here at the last part,Caddy in a '53 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=33247 When swapping into a '54 and later you want a front sump oil pan here is some info on those you may want to save: http://www.cadillacpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=145098 Steve,your donor should be front sump,right? More info here,and probably good news too as there are some excellent pictures of the mounts you will be using for this swap,since the Caddy block sits high it makes for good clearance at the steering box and A-arms overall a much cleaner swap than a SBC.http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/album.php?albumid=30191
Early Bronco rearends, you'll definitely want to upgrade brakes. You'll be surprised in fit buddy of mine stuck in a Model A RPU with full hood. Guessing biggest issue might be around the steering box. At 70,000 miles that is barely broken in.
awesome thanks Jeff! The mounts look WAY easier than i thought. I'll have read through that thread and check the oil pan on the caddy. That's good stuff I never would have even thought of that. dwaynerz yeah i read that too. somewhere on the main board they aren't much heavier than a SBC. which rules. I thought for sure that big ol motor would be crazy heavy but i guess not! Looks like I've got some time to save up and hunt for parts and knowledge. My buddy wants to get the caddy at least driveable and cruise it for a couple months this spring just for one last hurrah in grandpas ol' caddy. and then I think it's swap time! I was planning on just fixing the minor rust on the rockers and driving the car as is haha. I guess thats how it goes huh? FASTER! LOUDER!
i think there within 50 pounds of the same weight. really high nickle content in the block makes them light. might be easier to clip the frame with the front clip from the caddy. id measure the caddy rear. you might be able to use it.
a garage large enough to house 2 lifts. im jealous. but im also happy i was able to rearrange (clean) garage well enough to leave space to walk around both wifes daily and my 53 while still getting the rider and push mower in there. is that mII suspension i see?
yeah G***er i went through all those! super helpful. what are you doing about radiator and fan setup, etc? I think I gotta have a manual trans in mine. It's 3 on the tree right now and so fun to drive. That's some research I need to do. Figure out how to get a 4 speed or something behind it.
installing aluminum radiator( full size gm cross flow style) will be posting more pitures tomorrow Basically widened the core support 6 1/2 inches and cut the 2 side pc down 3 1/2" Modified the lower core support mount the radiator fits between the core support and the sheet metal pc where the hood latch goes The radiator I use is from speedway thy are under $200 and will cool all most anything Having to redo the motor mount so I could move the motor down and back this way I can run a flex fan and poss a factory fan and fan clutch Got 4 " between pump and radiator core my do a PS gear box swap Don't know about the exhaust yet if I have to I will build a set of header (the block huger style does not fit and I do not have a set of stock ones to try)
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