Anybody hot rodding a flathead Cadillac?

What kind of goodies were/are available for these motors. I've got one with just a slightly warmed cam, with Edmunds dual deuce intake and matching Edmunds finned aluminum heads. Just wondering what else is out there speed equipment wise. Anybody ever force-feed one of these with a supercharger or turbo? Are they durable in anything other than stock form? First motor I've ever seen with BOLT-ON counterweights on the crank, I think if it was spun very fast at all there'd be a schrapnel party.

 

any pics of your heads. i have a set but i have never seen a set like them before. the fins arnt tight they are big and spaced farther apart then alll of the other sets i have seen

 

Flop, here's a couple pictures of the engine on the stand....

 

I like how you are running two driverside exhaust manifolds. Very cool.

There really weren't a lot of speed parts for the Cad/Lasalle Flatheads.
Cyclone, and Edmunds made heads, Edmunds, and Burrell made intakes.

There were a couple guys making custom grind cams.
Hot Rod Chassis & Cycle (Alliance Vendor) makes some exhaust flanges.
I made a run of exhaust flanges myself, but ended up going with Kevins as they work slightly better.

"Savage" Aaron Von Minden has a blown one in his shop. Homemade intake, and the blower is front mounted as it was in a lakester back in the '50s. It is crazy.

There are quite a few thread on here about the Cad flatty. Just search "Cadillac Flathead" "Caddy Flatty" or some variation.

 

I spoke to a guy a while back that was supercharging a Cad flathead with a McCulloch. He was also running a 6 speed box behind it. Dunno what heads though. I assume it was a custom manifold or modified stock, at least, but it was a while ago that I spoke to the guy. It was going into a chopped/channelled 36 pickup.

I "plan" on adding some Cyclone heads to mine (a 322 LaSalle) down the track, and most likely making my own manifold but about the only thing I've done is have a hi-torque starter made for it and get a start on a sealed-bearing water pump conversion.

 

yah my heads are completley different then yours
ill get a picture tomorrow

 

Tell me more about this.

 

Yeah, I was initially going to run one pipe down each side, but there's precious little room on the drivers side to do that, so thought I'd keep it "kinda" stock and build a "Y"-pipe and run it all out the right side. That left/rear part of the "Y" is kinda close to the rear carb, not sure if I'll have any heat related problems with that. I do plan on building a little heat shield between the carb and the pipe.

 

For all the years that engine was used, the highest RPM's the factory HP was taken at was 3400. That should tell you how fast they thought it could run and last.

 

Have you been inside yet ? Or has anyone installed a big cam in one ?

I have a '41 Cad with a factory 2x2 intake & a Double life Mallory and am wanting to install a Big Cam...

Need to find out if they REQUIRE different lifters, Maybe Adjustables like a Flathead Ford and if there are any available.

Thats a NICE one ya got there.. Any history on it or did you build it ?

 

i have a couple of engines myself. two sets of edmunds heads, and one cyclone. hopefully running in my 32 roadster next summer.
i want to run a burrell intake and the cyclone heads
DE SOTO please post a pic of that intake of yours. thanks!
EBBSSPEED do a search for cyclone vs edmunds here on the hamb. indashop did it last year i think. a lot of cadflat talking...how are you WYATT!??
but as shown in this pic..i have a dream of that blown cadflat.
palle

 

Please keep this post going. It has some good info.

 

Anyone doing headers or flanges? I have been saving my pennies for cyclone heads and Burrel intake. Already have a mallory small cap DP for it.

 

Call Kevin over at Hot Rod Chassis he is making flanges. I made a run but had a problem with them heating up the intake too much. I was using not only the stock doglegs to tiedown, but also the intake holddowns. Intake just got a bit to warm for my liking. Kevins are nice, I have a set, just haven't built them to anything yet. Make sure you get 3-4"s of stub on them so you can weld a shoulder on and use the factory doglegs to hold them on.

Palle, you know, I'm good, just kicking around here and there. Haven't been building for a while, got a 4 month old, and somehow my time goes to him.
Your heads look way better than last time I saw them (sitting on a table in Los Angelos...)

Oh I totally forgot. There are some aftermarket dual point dizzy's out there back in the day. I've seen a few, and had the chance to own a few. But they have all been too high dollar for me. I ended up buying one of Aaron "Savage" mil-spec units. Haven't run it yet, but its a clean unit.

 

Searched for ya. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100131

 

Wyatt,

Have any updated pictures of the Chevy project.

 

glad youre doing okay wyatt!
take close look at this don berg T! running a full race cam from harman&collins.
i even think i have a later pic, when it was blown! cool stuff right? finnished in 47!
palle

 

That is interesting, does anyone have the specs on this Harmon&Collins cam? Anyone out there making HP cams for these or is it stricktly re-grinds now?

 

JRBLACK30 i would be interested in a cam myself. please let me know if you find something.
in the meantime you can take a look at the h&c decal

 

I suck, I don't. It hasn't progressed much. Other things keep cropping up and it just keeps being left on the backburner. I suppose if I got rid of my other drivers, I'd probably build it as I'd have motivation. Goal was for this Roundup. I feel I'm not going to make that one or even be close. Around the time my son was born, I was talking to a builder on here about maybe completing it for me. But that fell by the wayside, that was the suckers way out, and I need to do it myself.

Paule, the Don Berg T, did it get hoodsides, and a hood at one point? I've seen pics of a very similiar car, and I swear the same exhaust but the engine was covered and the exhaust followed the contour of the hood down to the hoodsides. Man, I need to find those pics again. It was a sessssssy car.

 

That was Don Berg and Gus Wright's roadster they built.....Gus is the guy who gave me my Caddy for the coupe. Unfortunately he passed away, but they're are still alot of parts and pics at his house of the many historical cars he has had his hand in building. It's pretty impressive!

 

there are two on the craigslist okla city today one with and one without trans 1000 dollars and 800 dollars

 

i just bought a '38 cad 346 to put in my '41 diamond t rod that i'm building but since it's something so diff, i'm keeping hush hush as it goes together. once i make a little more progress i'll show off a bit though

 

This is 3.50" bore × 4.50" stroke = 346", yes?
Reasonable piston speed of 3,500 f/m = 4,667 RPM - not bad at all (assuming you have oil pressure, and enough valve spring).

 

take a closer look at the article wyatt! it says that benny govin built the hood, and painted the car its green colour..funny caus i had a picture in my mind of the car in a maroon colour.
i too would like to see a better picture
congrats on the son, i have a 6 months old son myself


indashop:
the Don Berg T, did it get hoodsides, and a hood at one point? I've seen pics of a very similiar car, and I swear the same exhaust but the engine was covered and the exhaust followed the contour of the hood down to the hoodsides. Man, I need to find those pics again. It was a sessssssy car.

 

Then maybe its a different car. The one I'm talking about is maroon or was maroon. I think we both must have seen it. I searched for about 30 minutes last night and never came up with it.

 

The Jan.08 issue of Street Rodder,page 40,short feature on Burrell's Service reproducing intakes. [email protected] or phone (248)682-2376.

 

I redid this one years ago, and have the car it came out of sitting in the shed, 1940 Sedan Model 62. It's a rust-free Texas car, but has some bent metal on it. I've run the motor a few times, and turn it a half revolution or so every couple of months. Once I get the 56 New Yorker and the 37 Buick out of the garage, and finish the build on my son's El Camino I'll roll the Caddy in the shed and get to work on it, although I'm seriously considering putting this motor into some version of "hoodless hoodlum" rod so it can be seen. Those shiny black porcelain coated exhaust manifolds are just too pretty to cover up. I just kind of stumbled across the heads and manifold for it at a swap meet, then a couple years later found another set of heads to hang on the wall. I forgot who reground the cam for me, but someone up in the Northeast that I found in Hemmings catalog. The cam had a flat lobe on it when I got the car, so I had this place weld up and regrind the cam with just a bit more lift and duration over stock, on the order of another .050 lift and a few degrees duration. They also refaced the lifters. The lifters in these motors are pretty funky, a lot like Harley Davidson lifters it you're familiar with them. There's a lifter body that's mushroom shaped and hollow, with a removeable hydraulic cylinder/plunger setup that fits into the hollow of the lifter body. The lifters themselves fit into a lifter block that bolts to the engine block, four lifters to a lifter block. Each of these lifter blocks has a separate oil line plumbed to it. They would be real easy to convert to solid lifters by simply machining an adjustable plug to fit into the lifter body. Lifters push right on the bottom of the valve stem, and it's a real trick to compress the hydraulic plungers and then slide the lifter block, with lifters installed, into the space between the cam and the valve stems. If a guy had twelve fingers on one hand it would be a little easier.

Wow, long answer to your question. Yes, I do have some history on it, and I did build it.

 

heres a pic of the heads that i picked up at hershey

 

anyone seen those heads before?