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SCORE of the day

cybrfire

cybrfire

1 ton status
GMOTM Winner
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Dec 15, 2002
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Friend calls me tonight and says I know where you can get a motor. So I go and look at it,


500 cad low miles complete carb to pan. Running and in good shape. It was definitely in good shape. Good compressions too. When the dust settled I had my engine home for 300 bucks.
 
/forums/images/graemlins/peace.gif /forums/images/graemlins/peace.gif i guess i wont be as unique as i'd hoped, but awesome score! i'll be PM'ing you during out build ups
 
I was just reading your post. That's cool. What's your plans for build up? I'm thinking

Aluminum intake
Aluminum water pump
Headers
Maybe bump the cam a little
Maybe a little laughing gas.
 
Thats not a bad price for a 500 caddy--I have a 1976 500 with a TH400 I got from my friend when he decided he had too much heavy iron cluttering up his shop--can you say FREEBIE!. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gifOnly thing is,it hasent been run for at least 5 years,it turns over by hand fine,he pulled the carb off and duct taped the manifold holes shut,and knocked out the freeze plugs to make sure it was completely empty(so any water left behind wouldn't freeze and crack it)now I must decide whether to use it as is,or since its been a long storage,to pull it apart and put new head gaskets,etc.before using it--its a toss up--I dont know if its worth all the effort of getting the right oil pan that will fit my gm truck,and making mounts and crossmember modifications,and driveshaft wont fit anymore(its the super long tail TH400),or if I should just stay with a chevy motor.I was thinking of putting it in my 79 C10 2wd--it would definately be faster than the 250 six in it now!(250+250=500 /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif)!.I dont think it would need any "hot rod" stuff on it--I've ridden in a similar truck a guy built--it was very impressive--he could smoke the tires in all 3 gears right up to 80mph,no sweat! /forums/images/graemlins/yikes.gif
 
You The Man /forums/images/graemlins/peace.gif /forums/images/graemlins/peace.gif /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
:drool: /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif awesome deal /forums/images/graemlins/woot.gif /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
Sounds great, Kert. I have thought about building a Caddy engine some time. I will have to keep track of your progress.
 
Not such a smoking deal after all. After some conversation with the boys over at 500cid.com, we determined that it is a 425. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif So I went back and talked to the seller again and to say the least I was a little /forums/images/graemlins/angryfire.gif After some discussion I ended up only paying 200 for it. Not all bad but not all the smoking deal I thought I was getting. I wasn't armed with enough knowledge when I went and picked it up in the first place so partly my fault. Life goes on. Still looking for a 500 if anybody knows of one /forums/images/graemlins/whistling.gif
 
Hard to say. It might be. guys at 500 cid told me there is now way to tell a 472 from a 500 without looking directly at the crank numbers. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
I'm in the middle of rebuilding my 500, the machine work alone wasover 8 bills, the rest of the parts will be in excess of 15 bills, but will be worth it! /forums/images/graemlins/whistling.gifkeep lookin! /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif
 
Dont totally discount the 425 motor as junk--its only 75 cubes less than a 500,and still has more HP and tourque than most stock smallblock and some big block chevys.I know someone who bought a caddy motor at my favorite boneyard,got it all installed and running great,and he was very impressed with the trucks performance.Then one night he went to a car show with it,and another caddy enthusiast told him it was a 425,not a 500--he showed him the differences,(not much visible external difference,same block,etc)and the guy could not beleive it wasnt a 500,judging by the way his truck performed!.The other caddy guy hooked him up with a 500 motor a few weeks later,he hasnt swapped it in yet--he likes the way it is now,and would rather wear out the 425 for awhile before going through another motor swap.It should drop right in place of the 500 without any major changes--you could do the same thing,and upgrade later if you feel 425 cubes aint enough! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
The heads on the 425 could come in handy in the future. If you wind up getting a low compression 500 (8.5:1) the 425's heads will bump it up to 10.5:1 There are a few mods that have to be made to use the 425 heads but they aren't hard to do.
 
Thanks for the tips guys. I was hoping somebody would say the 425 and 500 require the same mounting mods. I'll drop the 425 in and run it till I come across the 500. How about intake manifolds, same-same? Headers I would assume are the same. Also are the camshafts interchangable. If all those parts are interchangable I can go ahead and do a light build on the 425 and not feel like I'm throwing good money after bad.(not bad just not what I wanted)

/forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif
 
I know the 425 and the 500 share a lot of parts,but some are different--I would go to www.500cid.com and explore their vast collection of knowledge,they are the ones to ask what will and wont work.I'm no caddy expert,but looking at the guys 425 it didnt look much different than my 500,but like anything else,I'm sure there are some differences.The guy that pointed out to him it was a 425 seemed to know his stuff,so I assume he was correct in saying the 500 would bolt up the same.By the way,this truck with the 425 is a 4x4,he used the stock chevy TH350 tranny with an adapter in his conversion,he didnt want to fiddle with the tranny and transfer case.There is a good website with pictures of a 2wd 78 chevy being converted to caddy power at www.victimizerRacing.com---if that link doesnt work,look in google under "78 Chevrollac C-10"--pretty interesting! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
500's only came in Eldo's from 1970-1976. There may have been Cad 500's in some other vehicles from 75-76 but I cannot confirm that.


I have a 472CID out of a 74' sedan deville, The only year model to have true flat top pistons(no valve detents). Parts for this are harder to get but it more uniquie /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
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