Caddy big block in a K5/10??

[pismorat]

Has anyone ever put a Cadillac big block in a K5 or K10? I may have access to a running Caddy 472 big block for next to nothing and am wondering how hard it would be to build it up and install it into my '79 K10. The biggest thing I see is possibly the accessories on the front?

 

[rdn2blazer]

Yes, one of the mods did in his K5. BranndonC. Might want to talk with him. He sold his K5 with the caddy in it I think.

 

[smalltruckbigcid]

I got nothing to add

 

[mtnman210]

Yes, one of the mods did in his K5. BranndonC. Might want to talk with him. He sold his K5 with the caddy in it I think.

Yup he sold it....sold it to someone I think on this site
http://www.coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158196&highlight=mtnman210

I can probably help you with any questions? I'm running the 500. I'm not sure specifically if they're the same or close


also smalltruckbigcid do you happen to have any pictures of how you did your motor mounts?

 

[dfl701]

diy4x also has one

 

[Corey 78K5]

No offense to anyone, but why? I don't see it being worth the hassle. You could pick up a low buck 454 for very little and add on a few after market parts for good torque numbers. With a Caddy it's not a bolt in, and you have to build a hybrid tranny to make it work. Very little aftermarket support, and simple engine parts are gonna cost more than a BBC.

On the other hand a Buick Stage 1 455 would rock in a truck.

 

[original balzer]

No offense to anyone, but why? I don't see it being worth the hassle. You could pick up a low buck 454 for very little and add on a few after market parts for good torque numbers. With a Caddy it's not a bolt in, and you have to build a hybrid tranny to make it work. Very little aftermarket support, and simple engine parts are gonna cost more than a BBC.

On the other hand a Buick Stage 1 455 would rock in a truck.

you need to look up the stock HP/TQ specs on 500 and 472 they are pretty good in stock form and get better pretty easily.

 

[Bama67]

No offense to anyone, but why? I don't see it being worth the hassle. You could pick up a low buck 454 for very little and add on a few after market parts for good torque numbers. With a Caddy it's not a bolt in, and you have to build a hybrid tranny to make it work. Very little aftermarket support, and simple engine parts are gonna cost more than a BBC.

On the other hand a Buick Stage 1 455 would rock in a truck.

I was wondering this same thing. For what it would cost to rebuild the caddy and make it work in the truck; you could build a hot 454 that would make more power. And it would also be cheaper/easier to mod and get parts down the line.

And why would you need any more power than what a 454 can put down? Even a fairly mild one can put down 500 hp/tq. How would you ever utilize more power than that? Just wondering.

 

[toomany]

One of the big advantages of the Cadillac motors is their weight, they don't weigh much for their displacment. Sure it would be cheaper to build a BBC, key word being build. Find a stock 500 and drop it in and you're good to go. Most have lived easy lives in big boat cars owned by old people or in herses. There is a guy in town that dropped a 500 into his 86 1ton, never got around to finishing it though. Plus it's cool to be differnt.

http://fixrambler.com/engineweightchart.txt

I can't say these numbers are accurate, but give you an idea.

Caddy 500--595lbs
SBC--------575lbs
BBC (454)--675lbs

 

[cybrfire]

Yep, caddy motors suck. Shoot me over the names and numbers of the guys that have them and I'll round up them boat anchors and get rid of them for ya.

This one went in realtively stock and motivated my Jimmy around quite nicely.

Good torque numbers down nice and low in the RPM range. This one has a habit of eating ujoints and pinion yokes.

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this one in the crew cab. Not so stock. It sounds like its knockin' in the video but its open headers and sound bouncing off the tcase.

Some parts going in the Jimmy rebuild.

 

[GRINCH]

With a Caddy it's not a bolt in, and you have to build a hybrid tranny to make it work.

Not quite, You will need an adapter plate and a motor mount kit. I will be running a 4L80E

Transmission Adapter Kit @ $129.00
Just like it says, this kit adapts the Cad 472/500/425 to a Chevy/GMC bell housing bolt pattern. This is not your El Cheapo $29.95 piece of sheet metal. We're talking 5/16" cold rolled steel, CNC cut, built to transfer the Cadillac torque through the rest of the drive train. Supplied with a mounting bolt kit and shims to set your converter end play.
Billet TC locator extension bushing (IF you need it) @ $20

Universal motor mount kit - for most swaps into chassis w/ standard V8 side mounts @ $95 Includes mounts, adapters, bolts, and instructions


These guys specialize in Caddy motors.
http://www.cad500parts.com/ and http://www.500cid.com/Home.htm

These motors put out some serious torque and HP.


I will admit it may cost a little more for the build parts but the HP/Torque will be worth it.

Finding a rear sump pan is one of the problems. One can be bought though.

 

[Wasatch K5]

No offense to anyone, but why? I don't see it being worth the hassle. You could pick up a low buck 454 for very little and add on a few after market parts for good torque numbers. With a Caddy it's not a bolt in, and you have to build a hybrid tranny to make it work. Very little aftermarket support, and simple engine parts are gonna cost more than a BBC.

On the other hand a Buick Stage 1 455 would rock in a truck.

I agree with Corey.

I'll admit up front I'm biased because I've done the 454 swap (put a 454 TBI in my Blazer). I'll also admit I have not swapped in a Cadillac engine.

My experience with engine swaps is you tend to think of engine mounts, transmission bolt patterns and such. The thing is there are ton of "small details" such as power steering brackets, alternator brackets, exhaust system clearance, clutch linkage, etc, etc.

I think it's fair to say we've all seen engine swaps that look awesome and others that were absolutely pathetic. The ones that look professional are done by people who sweat the details, and that takes a huge amount of time.

For me, there's a lot to said for the simplicity of the 454 swap. You can find the right parts at a salvage yard, or do as I did, buy a donor Suburban and harvest what you need. Here are just some of the things that I harvested (and things that you will need to address if you go with a Caddy engine): Radiator, fan shroud, fan blade, fan clutch, radiator hoses, all engine driven accessories, including pulleys, brackets and belts, power steering hoses, air conditioning hoses, exhaust manifolds, wiring harnesse(s), motor mounts.

You get the idea. It's also really nice when you need a part to be able to go to a dealer or parts store and just say "I need a @#$%^ for a 1988 Suburban with a 454".

You may not have the Wow! factor of a Caddy powered Blazer, but IMHO a 454 powered Blazer is still pretty cool!

 

[BoondocK5]

Been there done that. Don't get me wrong it was a good motor, but it was expensive to build , Glad to rid of it. Ask anyone who's built one they cost mucho dinero.
For the same money I could have built a rocking big block chevy. and it would have been a direct bolt in. plus no hassles if you want a Manual trans.

 

[ryoken]

caddy mills get the bonus ultra cool points.....

me? no way, not worth the hassle..... I can EASILY get stump pulling #'s from a 454, and the sky's the limit.... anythings available....

f*ck that, I want a 700+ cube Merlin mountain mill....

 

[35dp]

I just picked up a 68 caddy with 37,000 miles on it for $150. a little research told me that the 472 in this year makes 375 hp and 550 ft-lbs of torque at 3000rpm. the 70 models made more than that. put an aluminum intake on em and they only weigh 40lbs more than a small block chevy, get a hei dizzy out of a 74 or newer model to do away with the points ignition. I can easily find these motors dirt cheap, it seems like nobody wants em. that being said, I just sold two high mileage 454s, (smogged out truck motors that only made 160hp) for $800 each. it would have taken a lot more money to get em to the 375hp 550ft-lb range. that is the benefit of a caddy engine.

 

[ryoken]

eh, not for me.. dude, I'm a marine mechanic, I probably have 100 BB chevys outside the office door.... no sh*t, I work on em ALL day, probably 75% of the motors i work on.. 454's, 496's and 502's.. i can certainly build a 454 WAY cheaper than I could find a caddy motor..

and i'd venture to guess you wont find many in boneyards in jersey... that sh*ts long gone in this neck of the woods...

 

[owenst7]

bgreen on here (but appears to have been inactive for some time) runs them in his buggy.

He's a lot more active on his forum, alaska4x4network.com, and I think he's on pirate too.

There's 30-some pages in his current build thread. http://www.alaska4x4network.com/showthread.php?t=4639&page=20

I know it's been all tubed now, but I think he was running the engine before he tubed out the front years ago. If you feel like contacting him, he's probably got tons of great info on it. He's an excellent fabricator.

 

[original balzer]

I would still go for the caddy if I was going for a big block (im genrally a small block guy)

Now Im only going by what i have herd cuz I have never run a caddy. But apperantly they are tougher and more reliable than BBC. I do know both 454's and the 396 I have owned seamed to tear themselves appart in the valve train. I was constantly adjusting the valves it seamed. and the 396 liked to eat distrib shafts.

But you dont often hear of high milage caddys either like was mentioned they usually lead pampered lives for the most part.

You guys currently running caddys have imput on the reliability?

I know the BBC guys are gunna frown on my comments about the BBC's but thats my experiance with them and I have herd it a lot too.

 

[cybrfire]

When I did the swap in the crew cab, I used a BOP TH400 and swapped the tailshaft for the 4x4 version. This makes the transmission a complete bolt on affair. No adapters necessary and the tcase plugs in the same.

Motor mounts do have to be addressed.

I used the stock radiator from my Crew. Radiator hoses, simply put, there is a myriad of hoses available. Bend up a coat hanger of where you'd like to see it routed and walk in to the parts store and start comparing. That's what I did for a lower hose. Top hose is shaped the way I like but had to extend it which worked in my favor for adding the electric fan sending unit.

You could use all the factory cadillac engine accessories. AC lines would have to be changed more than likely. The 70's caddy's had fresh air pumps which was a ridiculous way to bring them within emissions standards. Fresh air was pumped into the exhaust to trick the sniffers. In actuality the belt driven pump burns more fuel. You'll want to ditch that for sure.

As for electrical, most of the accessories are GM components so the wiring is much the same. Some wires may need extended some may need to be shortened. For the most part, the electrical is very straight forward.

It may not be a "Chevy" engine but it is a GM.

Exhaust can be the biggest hiccup. If you want headers, you'll either have to pay dearly or fabricate meticulously. Factory manifolds on the Caddies can work, just keep an eye on them when your doing the engine crossmember. If you mount the engine too low, they won't clear the frame.

As far as building the engine itself, the valvetrain is the weakest link in the egnine. Get past that and you're home free. From what i've learned, you can bore the 500 alot. And I mean alot! .400" over. 400, not .040". Something like 542 cubic inches and you have done anything more than boring. Potter automotive has one bored that far and is running 12lbs. of boost from a blower and many 1/4 mile passes. The bottom end is stout, specifically the crank. Throw some decent rods and pistons in it and go have fun.

 

[USSkoval]

So where are these "low buck" 454's a couple of you are mentioning? Seems most are high miles and cost over a grand, minimum

A low mile, grandma owned Caddy is a good way to go. Who cares if it's not a Chevy motor, it's still a GM. Those still seem to be a little less common around here though, like the 454. Buying a complete car may be the best bet.

A TBI Caddy would be sweet