Customs 1959 Cadillac find!!

great buy man, you will find out what a BIG car it is, when you start the bodywork!!!!

Looks great!

 

Great find! What a deal!...I mean, what a steal! BTW, I'd be glad to swap places with you...winters are way too long up here,lmao!

 

sorry for the late reply man, been travelling all over the world!! here are some pics of a 6.0 swap done a few years back. he did a frame off and its way easier to do it like that, but there s so much space when thefront end is off you shouldbe fine!! this is a 6.0lq4 i think he used

 

here are some more examples, the 57 in veige was done also with a 6.0, but he added a blower! the blue 58 coupe is a northstar design...i highly reccomnded staying away from...eeeek....the red 58 sedan had a early 80s tune port setup if i a not mistaken. i did a topic a coupel years ago and it is titled "5.7 vs cadillac 500".....readr that topic all the way through and you will get even more information on thsi swap from otehr hambers who have done it also. and get their opionions as well.......lastly are teh pictures of the 57 that my fried put together. it has a lq9 and 4l65e...and it hausl ass!

 

again, with alll that being said, you can even go the traditional 350/350 route and dress it up to look like this guy did his...and i actually think there is a company out there making a tripower fuel injection setup!

 

theer re so many difernet egnie choices and so much coool stuff you can do man, its incredible actually! if you want a drop in, just straight bolt in and unbolt setup. go with a 64 429, you get about 50 more cubic inches, and a th400 tranny. i dropped one into my 59 a few years ago and it is the easiest upgrade you can do. take the driveshaft and cross memeber with you. they all bolt into the xframe holes so you are golden. its 50 year old technology but 429s ran great! ist 7.0 so you have tons of torque and flow, and dressed up they look good!

 

That blue 59 is ga-orgeous. I'm looking for an the appropriate donor drivetrain (LQ9 most likely) and the appropriate shop to do the custom install. If any one knows a good shop in Middle Tennessee let me know.

 

read through this one bro!

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...ertible-conversion.593245/page-7#post-8742820

 

1. any updates man? i just got a 59 limo! really rusty from gettysburg

 

Hey man! No changes Im just eying some escalades on auction sites.. I'm getting together $7500 hopefully by Sept because thats what its going to cost to get it on the road.

I want to see pictures of your limo! Whats the plan??

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Update: I got an LQ4 and 4L80E trans from an 03 Silverado. Actually I got the whole truck but thats irrelavant! Pulled the drivetrain out of the Caddy, and working the drivetrain out of the truck currently. Did some prelimnary measurements and looks like the 4L80E Transmission is 30" long and the LQ4 engine is 26" long. That puts the pulleys and maybe the front edge of the block over the Cadillac crossmember in order to clear the firewall. The front of the LS engine is too tall at this point to clear the Cadillac hood. Will need to mod the crossmember by notching it down with similar guage steel and stick welding. The rear of the trans may line up perfect with driveshaft yoke and I may avoid fabbing the driveshaft! Exact mount boltholes were not checked yet. It appears the Cadillac trans braces may fit fine. There is no apparent clearence issue in the tunnel as the 4L80E transmission is shaped a lot like the hydramatic that came out... it just a newer rendition of the TH400 anyway. The engine mounts have plenty of space but will need lots of custom fabrication to attach to the frame. Thats the biggest issue, so no surprise really! Can't wait to get the drivetrain in there and get this vehicle drive-able.

 

That car is so complete! Incredible find!

 

Id love to see more. I am stuffing a l76 and 6l80 in my 59 soon

 

Awesome! I knew I couldn't be the first or only one to do this.. I thought for a minute I found a mount kit at brphotrods but its actually only for the B body and this is a C. Guess I'll be welding. I parted out the donor vehicle and I'm pulling the engine and transmission this weekend and setting it in the Cadillac. There will be photos righr after.

 

I count 5 people that I have found that have completed ls swaps in these cars. All have made their own mounts and have massaged the tranny tunnel. 3 have done it without modifying the cradle. I suggest a lower intake for hood clearance. The truck one is super tall.

 

Update: Here she is getting sandblasted. Of course, and as expected it was a lot rustier than I thought. I took a few weekends earlier this year to dismantle it and I came just short of going frame off.. I still might after the rust repair is done. I have it with a guy who is doing the metal patch work simply because if I do it myself it will take years to get done. I found fairly close floor pans and trunk pans online, I can look up the source if anyone needs it. Pictures of that progress to follow.. its about half done and at this point I'm shooting for early spring to get it back and decide how I'm going to approach painting the underside and frame as well as the outer body. I'd like to get right into the mechanical's as soon as possible so I may just shoot the bare metal on the outer body in primer sealer for the time being and go to dropping the LS drivetrain in.

 

Caddy is lookin good got to undress them to see what ya have for sure! On a side note you need someone to come keep that old Oldsmobile limbered up? Joe

 

i was wondering how You were doing on this project. Nice to see the progress!

 

Working through the extensive rust issues that I found after it was sandblasted.. of course. I should have seen that coming. I have help on this by an experienced welder whose doing this work for me on the side. It was just more than I could find the time to do. As soon as I have it back I'll be dropping the 6.0 LS engine and transmission in that I snagged from a salvage Chevy truck and priming and sealing the underbody and interior areas.

 

Always a few surprises in any project right? Your making good progress the work is looking good! Joe

 

Yeah, you're right!