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Has Anyone Put In A V8 Cadillac 472 In A 80s C20 ?
- Thread starter Sam13under
- Start date
How do you tag someone? Ebke has made some really decent power with some almost zero dollar 454's.
Martin
Martin
People keep talking about cost of speed parts.... But...
If you just want to swap in an engine that gives you a diesel engine torque curve without touching it, or adding speed parts, it's hard to beat the cad.
Yes, if you want a bunch of torque at an unusable 4k+ rpm, go BBC and add $$$. But for a driver rig, the cad will put down more torque stock below 3k where it's usable, than the mildly modified BBC will at 4k.
I believe motor mounts are a near bolt in, and the bell housing is all you have to worry about for the swap. iirc anyway.
It all depends on what the OP wants to do with it.
If you just want to swap in an engine that gives you a diesel engine torque curve without touching it, or adding speed parts, it's hard to beat the cad.
Yes, if you want a bunch of torque at an unusable 4k+ rpm, go BBC and add $$$. But for a driver rig, the cad will put down more torque stock below 3k where it's usable, than the mildly modified BBC will at 4k.
I believe motor mounts are a near bolt in, and the bell housing is all you have to worry about for the swap. iirc anyway.
It all depends on what the OP wants to do with it.
You lost me at unusable torque above 4,000 rpm. Sure if you are building a big block to drag race with and run massive heads with huge ports and the intake and exhaust to support it. Stick to the stock heads noted previously, mild cam and induction and it will make good low end torque for much less than building an antique that has very little support for parts.
I want to say there was a guy here years ago in California who put a 500 caddy engine in his lifted K5 and was racing mustangs and eclipses with it. not saying that's the route I would go, but its been done
Like this @80' 427
Brandonc had the 514 caddy motor back in the day in a k5...
that's right, and he went by projecttorque on YouTube. see I knew someone else would remember lol
That was a minute ago...
I say stuff the caddy engine into it. Then find out it has a cracked block, which those old caddy's where known for. 
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All big blocks are antiques, dude, except the 8.1/8.8L (and Viper). Then again, the 454 still has more support than any other BB.
Ok, when was the last time a caddy big block produced? 1976? GM is still producing Big Blocks right now through the GM performance parts arm.
Yes, the Big Block Chevy dates back to '63/64 as the "mystery motor" and production in '65 so the design is just as old as the Caddy. If we are looking at the idea of if a design is still in production or not it's pretty obvious the caddy got dropped a solid 30 years before the 8.1's went out of production in 2009. Factor in the performance parts side and I would still say there are new assemblies coming out, just not for use in current production trucks.
Support is massive for a Big Block Chevy vs the Caddy. Only the SBC has more support than the BBC. The Caddy has very little support and what there is out there commands a premium over comparable BBC.
The caddy is a turd, almost no aftermarket support, and it's a turd. It's also a turd. Mostly it's turdtastic. Anything you do to a Caddy to make it less turd like is spendy, and if you did the same things to a BBC it'd make twice the power reliably.
Here is a vid from Richard Holdener on a super mild Gen 5 BBC with peanut port heads. Made 500+ ft lbs from 2700 rpm to 4600 rpm and ran to 5500 rpm with zero drama. Super tiny flat tappet cam (268HE) and 750 cfm carb. Peak hp was 448 hp. He did put higher compression pistons in it but figures he could have accomplished the same power or better for much less money by using some stock Gen 6 heads.
The point of a caddy big block was never about a built engine.
It has plenty of torque down low where most rock crawlers are normally.
And at the time those engines were not breaking the bank, since they were not desirable for the hot rod crowd, so you could have a good torquey engine for cheap.
Anything other than this case a caddy engine is garbage.
I think most people agree on that.
For someone like me that prefers using an engine in stock form. If I had a good deal on one I wouldn't hesitate.
But if the plan is platform to build on, forget about it.
It's like my 400 Pontiac engine if I want just rebuild it, it will cost me 3 times what my 454 Chevy will cost, but if I want the original engine in my 67 firebird, it's what I gotta do.
Don't forget the Caddy engine has a different bellhousing pattern, so that needs addressing as well.
Easy fix.
Plenty of th400 caddy transmission cases.
Plus I have a nice adapter from Chevy to BOP
I believe he sold it for a song too. I was randomly thinking about his build a couple months ago and saw he sold it real cheap. Bet he’d love to still have it.
Sam13under
Registered Member
Huh? If you can, show and tell me what the BOP is.
Also, My mistake. Its a 1970 500 Cadillac Engine. Not 472..
Sam13under
Registered Member
Also, can a Stock TH400 handle a 500 Caddy engine?
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