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A good friend and a Caddy 500

7

77crewcab

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So I had a buddy call me last night, said he had been in a wreck on Friday and totaled the car. He wanted to know if I had been serious about wanting the engine/trans from his car. I said sure. His response "How about a case of Bud and I'll " So for a case of beer I have a Caddy 500/TH400 from a 76 sedan deville being delivered.

So the question becomes what do I do with it? I am thinking of putting it in my 60 chevy shortwide since it is planned for basically a weekend cruiser. I figure on adding a gear vendors behind the th400. But then the question becomes what rear axle should I look for? I origionally planned on just a 10 bolt but don't know if that will hold up. My plan is to swap the suspension from my 89 burb to the 60 pickup, so what ever I decide on for an axle I eant to be able to use the stock 89 wheels on Also what gears should I use with the 500 that will allow for good highway cruising with the gearvendors?
 
Why not put the 500 in your K5? Per that other thread it's got mountains of torque down low, light weight, and they're famous for doing decently in the mpg realm.

I think the stockers made something like 350ft/lbs at idle...
 
I would think a 10bolt would hold up fine. Just depends on how hard you are on it, really. With the GV, a 3.73 or 4.10 should work pretty well. Without the overdrive, maybe a 3.08 or 3.23.
 
I have thought about putting it in the K5 but then I would have to do lots of mods to get the trans/tc to work with the 500. On the other hand the pickup will stay 2WD so it would be a drop in type of deal. And it would fit with the hot rod truck theme I had planned.
 
USSkoval said:
I would think a 10bolt would hold up fine. Just depends on how hard you are on it, really. With the GV, a 3.73 or 4.10 should work pretty well. Without the overdrive, maybe a 3.08 or 3.23.
Click to expand...

ya i think the 10b should be fine too, i saw a clip of an 80s caddi doing 11's in the 1/4 (tubbed in the back) with a regeared and detroit in a 10b
 
So a 3.42 10 bolt should be okay? The rpm comes out to about 2050 rpm with a 31 inch tire with the gear vendors. Does that sound about right for the 500?
 
Adapter plate from JEG's and your trans will bolt right to the 500.
 
I agree with putting it in the '60... I think a 10-bolt will hold up fine with street-sized tires on a 2WD truck. Worst case scenario, drop in a 12-bolt or Dana 60 rear, both can be had pretty cheap.

...but I think a 10-bolt would be just fine for street. Racers put a lot more power through them at the drag strip than you will on the street.
 
77crewcab said:
So I had a buddy call me last night, said he had been in a wreck on Friday and totaled the car. He wanted to know if I had been serious about wanting the engine/trans from his car. I said sure. His response "How about a case of Bud and I'll " So for a case of beer I have a Caddy 500/TH400 from a 76 sedan deville being delivered.

So the question becomes what do I do with it? I am thinking of putting it in my 60 chevy shortwide since it is planned for basically a weekend cruiser. I figure on adding a gear vendors behind the th400. But then the question becomes what rear axle should I look for? I origionally planned on just a 10 bolt but don't know if that will hold up. My plan is to swap the suspension from my 89 burb to the 60 pickup, so what ever I decide on for an axle I eant to be able to use the stock 89 wheels on Also what gears should I use with the 500 that will allow for good highway cruising with the gearvendors?
Click to expand...
If you put the CAD500 in that '60, first thing you'll do is "light-them-up", which also means blow the diff.
14BFF is the answer.
You won't need a GearVendors in a 2WD.
 
A little off topic, but I saw a guy with the same kind of car and it had a 425 in it. I had never heard of that motor before. Any info on it?
 
If I remember correctly the 425, 472, and 500 were in the same engine family. The 425 was destroked or something and I remember reading people mention it as far behind the 472 and 500 in terms of desirability.
 
The 425 from I understand is like the little brother i.e. 400, 350, 305 = 500, 472, 425. The gearvendors is for the overdrive, when done with the truck I want to do a Power Tour and cruise the old Route 66. Yes I could use the adapter plates to bolt up to the trans in the Blazer. But I understand that even a built turbo 350 is iffy as far as being able to handle the 500. And I had planned on putting a 700 in the K5 which certainly not hold up to the 500. So I think that putting it in the 60 would be a better deal. I am also thinking of putting a the SM465 I have or a NV4500 behind it instead of the 400/gearvendors. I'm not too worried about breaking axles do to burnouts, I just don't do it anymore. My Vette cured me of that desire several years ago. I just want to make sure that the 10 bolt wont break under normal driving with that much power.
 
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The 425 and 472 share the same stroke (4.060) but have different bores. The 472 is a 4.300 bore and the 425 is 4.082 They share the same size bearings so the cranks interchange and the 425 crank is lighter.

Will a 10 bolt hold up on the street? Yes if prepped properly. Shawns 79 CDV ran low 10's on alcohol with a 514 at 3700lbs. It pulled the front tires on the 10 bolt running 3.90 gears with 10 inch slicks. He put a girdle cover on it and moser axles and it never broke
 
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