Hey guys, although its not a chevelle, nor is it a big block chevy, I was a little curious if anybody had experience with the big 472 and 500 cads. This week, unless something goes wrong, Im picking up a clean 67 skylark. Id rather it be a Velle, but there aint no way Id find a clean 67 chevelle that basically needs nothing and runs for only 3500 bucks. Either way, the plan was to transplant a big block chev into it, however theres a guy with a running 472 cad motor with the tranny bolted to it, all for 500 bones. Its still in the car and running, so I might have to pull it myself, but thats besides the point.

So, I thought I might wanna be different and drop the running 472 cad in the skylark as is, and grab up a bigger 500 cad to put on the stand and warm over while I play around with this running one. It seems that there arent a lot of options for these motors, but Ive heard of people that run them, and run them well. Anybody have any good resources to build one of these? If the cad doesnt look promising, you can bet it will have a big chevy, but I think it would be kinda cool if I did go for it. thanks for any help guys.

Try www.cad500parts.com

and

www.500cid.com

I think they may be able to help you out with the Big Cad motors..

pdq67

Check out the new issue of Car Craft. They've got a 2-pager of a 700hp Cad motor, they've got vendor info and such right there. They talk about a few of the tips and tricks, vaguely, but they do. But yeah, they've got a bit of info about at least one or two of the Cad aftermarket players.

Plus those links Paul just posted.

thanks for the info guys.

Caddy forum.

http://www.cowboyseven.us/forum/index.php

IMHO and experience,buy a 455 powered Electra "deuce and a quarter" and rob the drivetrain.
These cars are still cheap (like $500 cheap if you look),and those 455's are no joke,even with low compression.

I remember an article where they took a 500 cube caddy and put it in a late 80's cutlass with 3.42 gears and it ran in the 11's. supposedly the best engines come from the 70 Eldorado they have the best flowing heads. I also remember a guy in a mag who had a late model mustang with a cad on nitrous. I have been thinking about putting one in a 46 dodge truck I have just to see how it runs.

From looking at a blowup of the engine at one of the Cadillac sites i think that for a driver it looks O.K. but a serious strip blazer is not your best choice. It looks like the deck of the block only has four bolts per cylinder, like the 5.0 liter Fords which leads to head gasket trouble. The big Cadillac engine is an exellent motor for a heavy vehicle like a suburban and is transplanted into them up north for the great gas mileage, about 18-19 MPG i hear. The down side is only cast pistons are available. Bulldog has a couple of new high flow heads for the motor.

I built a 542 stroker Cadillac(500) and had it in my 88 Monte Carlo. I now know the meaning of torque. There are lots of aftermarket parts available. I used Eagle H beam rods for BBC (6.8'), Ross pistons, total seal rings, and comp solid cam. You just have to know what interchanges from other engines. There is also aluminum heads out there now. I never raced it, but driving around town with t-400, and 9"w/ spool and 3.00 gears, I could smoke the tires at any speed below 60kmh(42mph) just by flooring it with the kickdown. Rpm is the biggest downfall. 5500-6000 max.
Chris.

He, He!!

I love it!!

Just a little 542" motor that won't wrap up above 6,000rpm!!

Heck, I never ran my 406 short-rod SB much above 6,000rpm...

He, He!!

Torque Monster for sure!! Sucker was probably up around at least 625T!!

pdq67

It made an excellent "sleeper" with the stock exhaust manifolds and relatively smooth idle even with a 260@050 cam.

If someone was going to try the Cadillac it does have some design advantages over a buick block. The Cad has 5" bore centers and a 10.8 deck height. Any serious street/strip motor would require some outside the box thinking. Like using a different make of piston and rods because as far as i know nobody has forged pistons for them as delivered. Maybe a person could use a piston from a different type motor with a custom rod to take care of that. A fellow i talked to a while back is building one and is going to use the new Bulldog Heads and a grouted block. He said he has the intakes flow rates up to 380 CFM so it should make tons of power. Maybe Donovan will come on here and elaborate further.

a few years back ( 92-94 ?? ) Chet Herbert was trying to get interest up to market an alum. block based off of the 500 cid. I havent heard anything about it since. I do know he made a few but no idea what has happened since

I really can't see pistons being any problem at all except maybe pricey b/c all you would have to do is tell any one of at least 6 piston makers to whittle you out a set in whatever shape you want!

I am partial to ROSS pistons myself...

Same thing with rods.

Now a balancer and crank pulley system may be more of a challenge???

And I would build a big Cad. in a heartbeat if they were siamese bored and could bore out to say, 4.75"s!!!

Ca you say, "BIG MOTOR"??? Like in 4.75" b x 4.5" s = 638"er...

pdq67

www.angelfire.com/ks3/petersonracing

10:60's anit bad on a flat-tappet 89octane race car, the guy's also got a malibu wagon witha caddy and 323's i believe that runs 13's, AND an old ford truck converted from sixer/5speed to caddy/auto as his tow vehicle

Ross has a dome design already for these engines and stock heads with valve reliefs etc. The ones I got cost no more than any other Ross piston and were 2618forged.
There is at least one sfi balancer I know of for these as well.
As for blocks, they are very high nickel content from the factory.

Look at old Hearses and ambulances as a source for engines. They are in the bone yards and nobody looks at them for parts.