Caddy engines...

[40StudeDude]

Who knows about Caddy engines...particularly '78/'79 425 inchers?
Are they good engines, stay together?
Any bad parts on them?(prone to breakage?)
Whatever else info you can give me...looking at buying a zero mile 425"...
R-

[Fat Hack]

Not bad for a smog-era motor with some cubes behind it, but not as good as the earlier 472/500 mills. Probably a good, reliable motor for a custom or a sled in relatively stock form with the emissions stuff axed.

There's a company, I think it's called CMD (Cadillac Motor Development) that specializes in Caddy engines and makes some performance parts for them. I don't know what they have for a 425, but they handled the 472/500 stuff back in the 80s.

A zero mile new motor should be good for a cruiser...whadday thinkin' about puttin' it in??

[plan9]

http://www.cad500parts.com/index.htm

hey stude.. i think you will find the information you are looking for in the link above... as to the 425, those are good engines, what are your intentions? for raw power you could just go with more displacement (500ci), they are plentiful and cheap... although some heads are better than others for compression. however, custom pistons rated @ 10.5:1 are about $425, if i recall correctly.

its all in this companys catalogue. there is one other company located in wisconsin... dont remember the URL, but if you do a google search for cadillac 500 performance, you will find them.

out of curiosity, what do you plan on putting it in?

[40StudeDude]

Thanx FH, and P9...it'll go in a '48 Sedanet in the works rite now...mild kustom/sled...so don't need mega-horsepower, just hiway reliability.

Anyone else got any thots???
R-

[Uncle Pancakes]

Knew a guy at an old job who had one, I being a huge Caddy fan started doing some research for him on his car what I basically found was this: Don't walk, RUN away from that motor, when new they are barely ok, not much power and a reputation for suffering catastrophic failure without warning. Something to do with block or water jacket failure, I can't remember which. The 472/500 motors are awesome torque monsters and you can get some good hop up parts for them and they are built like a brick s*#t house and will run for a long long time.... oh yeah, the guy I knew had an 82 Caddy I think? I would seriously suggest you get on the web and do research on that motor before going with it...

[plan9]

[ QUOTE ]
Not bad for a smog-era motor with some cubes behind it, but not as good as the earlier 472/500 mills.

[/ QUOTE ]

the 472/500 are the late model mills... cadillac produced the 500 up until 76, but it had real low compression, i think 8.5:1, compared to its 1970 version which had 10.5:1 (i think 25 more HP)... if you want more compression you can search for those heads, or just get pistons custom built.... finding the older heads would deffinately be the cheaper route. its all in the catalogue

[Zeke]

This is from Maximum Torque Specialities tech pages (http://500cid.com/mts/tech/basics.htm) Lots more info on there

BIG BLOCK CADILLAC GENERAL TIPS AND INFO
The Cadillac 368 through 500cid engines were produced in various displacements from 1968 until 1984. Displacement of the engine was varied through bore and stroke changes. External dimensions of the entire 368 - 425 - 472 - 500 Cadillac engines are identical.

Most performance use is concentrated on the 425 - 472 - 500 inchers. In stock form theses engines are perfect swap material. A 500cid Cadillac engine weighs about 595 lbs. complete. Change to an aluminum intake manifold and it reduces it by 22 lbs. to lower the overall weight of this engine to about 575 lbs. Big cubes with the weight of a small block!

Use of the Cadillac engine dictates a close look at your vehicles total combination. Most people are not used to the huge amounts of torque the Cadillac produces. The Cadillac big block prefers to pull against a low numerical rear gear set. Most strip only applications only run a 3:73 ratio. Most street vehicles work well with as low as 2:73 to 3:55 ratios. This big boy wants to "tug" not "rev". Keep that in mind and your engine will live longer and perform better.

First and best for longevity is the "same as stock" use of the engine. By this we mean no more than putting the car in DRIVE and flooring it. This type of use is no worse than Cadillac intended when you wanted to move your 2 1/2 ton Fleetwood Brougham D'Elegance, six passengers, and a trunk full of their luggage on to the interstate. You stuck your foot to the floor and let the trans shift itself at its maximum points. At this level of use you are pretty safe from engine failure for a long time. For "hot rodder" use our parts will make you quicker and yet still maintain factory reliability. Once you want to rev above 5000 you need much better than stock parts to do it and let the engine live.

Just swapping a stock engine into a lighter vehicle than a Fleetwood is a natural performance hop up. Truck swaps are incredible. The Cadillac has to be the best Pickup, Suburban, or Blazer engine on the planet! Once you drive one you will never go back.

Availability of these engines is amazing. The bodies of this era Caddy tend to rot out quickly. This leaves lots of ugly, good running Caddy's for you to buy cheap. By far the best way to buy your engine is in a running Cadillac.

You can test and tune it right in the car. Then make your decision if you will use it as is or rebuild it.

"Same as stock" engine use is also a very broad term. A stock 500 Cadillac engine will take a 150 hp shot of nitrous oxide for a full quarter mile pass. We have used many engines like this. Some with over 200 nitrous runs! Pop it in drive, nail it and let the trans do the shifting. You will have a deadly, repeatable combination. It will be simple, inexpensive and consistent. Your competition is going to hate you.

472 - 500 engines see the most performance use. Here is the general information on them. Since most of you will be swapping the engines out of the Caddy into something else, we will start there.

There are 3 different oil pans available for the engine. Front, 3/4 rear and full rear sump pans. Determine the style your swap will need. Most GM midsize car swaps require an original 1968 - 1981 Eldorado or Seville oil pan. V-4-6-8 Cadillac engines in 1978 - 1981 Eldorado and Seville also work.

GM truck swaps can use the 425cid 3/4 rear sump pans. When you swap any oil pan to any other than the original engine it MUST have its pickup tube checked and adjusted. Clearance should be set to 3/8" to 1/4" from the pan floor.

This pan is also used to install the engine into full size GM cars and wagons. Ninety-Eight's, Caprice wagons and sedans, Electra wagons and sedans and so forth. These cars are a bolt in with factory parts. 1977 - 1982 425cid and 368cid Cadillac's have all the mounts, brackets, oil pan, and the works! Unbolt it from the Caddy and bolt it in your car!!

These same Cadillac's will provide everything those of you who want to convert the later notorious 4100 powered cars. You need all the brackets and so forth from one of these 1977 - 1982 Cadillacs.

4100 powered Seville and Eldorados can use a transaxle from a 368 or V-4-6-8 powered model and convert to real Cadillac power.

Most Cadillac engine swaps into any vehicle can be handled without the #MT01 install kit. This kit will mount the big Cadillac into any vehicle that uses the front suspension crossmember to mount the engine brackets to. Vehicles using other types of mounting can use our street rod motor mounts part #DT22 and #DT23. Between either system we can get the Cadillac engine mounted in your project vehicle. Photos of both mount systems can be found in the swap section of this catalog.

[40StudeDude]

Thanx Zeke...keep it coming guys...appreciate it.
R-

[Uncle Pancakes]

Please ignore my prevous post regarding the 425 motor, I did some homework and found that the motor with mucho problems I was talking about was the HT4100 engine which is a totally different beast. RATBOY bad, Maximum Torque Specialites info GOOD. You can't go wrong with a real Caddy motor (which the 425 is!)........

[VAPHEAD]

I say buy it! HA!
Oh look here walks in Cadillac Jim,hey Jim come over here I got a deal for you.... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[plan9]

cad company also has really good information, both have helped me understand the differences. i talked on the phone with a guy from maximum torque specialties and he suggested for my particular application, going to a 500ci would give me more power. but for a fun cruiser motor, any of the other versions are perfect.

[Thirdyfivepickup]

Zeke! You beat me to it!!!

Give Al at Maximum Torque a call. He knows his sh...stuff.