Tech....bbc install in a 53 caddy

Well I think I might have it fixed finally. I drove her down the street tonight. the drivers side front brake is alittle touchy. I only had to redo some of the lines a couple of times and had to rethink a couple of fittings that were suppose to seal against pressure that didnt.the one thing that was suppose to be pretty straight forward wasnt. Now I hope to take her back out tomorrow. I was going to take her for her first cruisin Friday night. I may wait til next week. The cheapy water pump that I got on ebay is cheap, its making noise and the water pump pulley is out of round the shaft is bent. I got a stock short waterpump showing up on Saturday

 

Well I think this is almost done. I got a decent pedal on the brakes to day. I bled them AGAIN. I have only used about a gallon of brake fluid . Pirate jack sent me a new master cylinder again. the front port would not seal up. I have new lines thru out. I will problaby bleed it one more time. when I got the exhaust system put on yesterday the brakes worked but wasnt much of a pedal. I put on spintech mufflers its pretty quiet . I dont know if im gonna like that quiet or not. It will make for a good stealth car.people wont know what hit them .

Boy this has taken a LONG time and I would like to thank EVERYONE that has helped me . There is a tremendous amount of knowledge on here and people are willing to share it for those of us that need it.

I am taking her out for her first as a done car tomororrow night to the VA BBQ . I will take some pictures. I havent taken much pictures lately been trying to get her done.My kids are real excited just like their dad. the two oldest are getting back tomorrow from camp . they want me to pick them up so they can go too. JOE SMITH was her first.

I will see how the temperature runs dont know if Im gonna put a shroud on her or electric fan. that will be the last thing I need to complete. YAAAAAAAA.

 

Congrats on a job well done. This car has been an inspiration for alot of us. Post a video so we can hear her run.

 

I will try to remember to bring the digital camera it has video . i will try to post something on you tube. Have you made progress on your Caddy??? If you havent told your wife yet I can road test the ch***is for you.

 

Nice job...hope all goes well for you on its maiden run...

R-

 

Well WE had a great night. the two older girls were wiped out so it was me and my youngest daughter out for the maiden adventure. WE talked cars all night showing everyone the car. won the peoples choice and won the 50/05 drawing to. payed for the fuel and some spending money for her. I told her that I had already won because we were driving the CADDY. Lots for good comments on the car. some asked if I was gonna fix the body up and I said nope gonna drive her

 

Well I have been driving the caddy some . She does not like sitting in traffic. Temp starts to climb when sitting but cools back down once moving again. I have added a front mount pusher fan 14 incher in front of the radiator helps but didnt fix. I then cut out some cardboard to channel the air from the grill so the fans were pulling all the air thru the radiator and I drained the coolant out and put in the Royal Purple coolant additive and water that was suppose help keep the tempurature down .It looks like that I am going to have to build a shroud around the fan.

 

I have been driving her for a while now been getting from 9-14 mpg . the shroud is going to have to wait til I am done moving . I made a front shroud so that the air being pulled in from the fans are going thru the radiator. The motor is strong as hell. unbelievable driveablitiy . she tools around town really nice and will flat get down the interstate. Lots more motor than suspension and tires.

 

I have been driving the Cadillac for the last 3 months and this is how its been going. I have found my getting hot problem and there was not much of a difference between half and full throttle. When I put on the new gas peddle and throttle cable ***embly there was alittle too much slack in the cable not allowing the secondaries to kick in all the way or not at all. She runs 150 now with a 160 thermostat. Also she goes WOOOOOOOOM now. pretty good acceleration now too. I had a front shroud built for the front to help ram air the radiator get all the air coming in. I have removed that. Also had a shroud around the mechanical fan made.

Running down the Interstate she turns 2900 rpm and gets 8.8 mpg and running on the state roads at 55-60 she only turns 1900 rpm and gets 14mpg. Its a good thing that I have a 25.5 gallon gas tank. other than that shes been running great and have put about 3000 miles on her.

 

This is in my top 3 builds on the Hamb. Every challenge along the way was met and conquered. One helluva ride you got there, looks good and fast.

Bob

 

Exactly how fast is 2900 rpm...??? Is that close to 80mph...??? 8.8 mpg isn't very good...I figured you'd get more at that speed since you got the whole thing moving and keeping an even speed...no doubt lumbering along at 60 isn't hard on the engine.

My Caddy is slowly going back together now...should have it running in the next few weeks...and have taken care of some other smaller things I'd been wanting to get done while waiting for the engine to come back home...watch for an update on my build thread.

Glad you're enjoying your Caddy...road cars are KING...!!!

R-

 

Yes thats problaly close to 80 ,she does it effertlessly. Thats about my max speed for her. I will verify those figures next week coming back from the Jalopyroma in Annapolis ,Md next week. I will be meeting up with some fellow Hambers on the way up so it will be a nice and easy drive and going home I will take the interstate.

 

I put on a B&M electric kickdown switch yesterday . ITS REALLY FUN TO DRIVE. Without the kickdown switch it would shift into second gear as soon as the car starts moving and would shift at 3000 when floored. now when floored she kicks down and goes woooooom. *** end squats and goes like hell. Doesnt even spin the tires. she now shifts at 4000. There was a hole above the return spring holder so I made a little tear shaped bracket for the switch. worked out pretty slick.

 

Thats motor looks like it belongs there. Glad to hear you're reacking up the miles and enjoying all your hard work. Thats an inspiration for everyone here on the HAMB.

James

 

Thanks resqd37Zep. How are you coming along with your bad ride?? have you decided on a power plant?

 

Went with a 500 ci Caddy and Turbo 400. Way cheaper and just as kool! I'll have some new pics up soon. It's coming around and I have to say it's gonna be pretty slick. I'll keep you posted. Grat job on your Cad. I come back to this thread all the time.

 

Also I put the 180 thremostat back in. and removed the front shrould . the temp stays right at 170-180. If I can find my digital camera I will post up some video of her running down the road.

 

Well I just got back from a trip to Maxton last weekend . She got 15 mpg going at 72 mph. So much fun driving the Caddy. I have put over 6000 miles since last June. I am still playing with the jetting . I am testing with stock primary rod and jet with lean secondary. Having a nagging little leak out of the top heater ****** fitting in the manifold though it might have a hairline crack at the threads but when I removed the ****** it wasnt very tight. I am plugging it and putting the 160 thermostat back in with the warmer weather . I also have proper tunes back in. not quite traditonal its from my car stereo days in the 90's.

 

Did you have a problem with the ****** being shorter, being that the drive line has to go through a hole in the cross member. It might hit at that angle ??

 

I used the short tail shaft 350 ( with a small block) In my 53 and it was close, I lowd the car 4 inches so that helped with the angle a bit.

 

The ****** I used is the same length as the hydromatic. the end of the tailshaft is just even with the x frame

 

I think I may have fixed the last issue on the car. Since I put the 454 in last year the starter has been staying engaged when starting her up for a few seconds. I though it was the starter . It didnt matter what shims I put in or took out. After I got back from Maxton then end of the starter broke off. the starter was a rebuilt Lt-1 mini starter. I brought a new starter. The same thing with the new starter . So I thought it might be the ford solinod. I checked the output with no power to the output side and there was .7 volts . So I wired the new starter like it should be without the ford style switch and the jumper on the starter. eureka.!!!! works like it is suppose to. I guess she didnt like having any ford parts in her. I will be pulling the intake to get a hairline crack welded up so she wont be getting alittle coolant sprayed around. Hopefully I will have it ****oned up so she can be driven this weekend.

 

I like this thread Double Caddy..Im about to tackle this project on my 62 coupe deville..im a little nervous,but you have helped alot..