Hello, I'm trying to se if anyone knows of one of the small mags that may outline a 331 cad to shoebox swap. I have the car craft's that outline the olds to shoebox and y block to shoebox. Was hoping to get a year and issue if anyone knows. Or hell, I'll take a first hand account any day also if anyone has done it. Thanks a million Chris
Best swap ever for a '49-'51 Ford. Mounts, some wiring work, dropped steering center link, & a 6 cylinder radiator are just about all you need. Decide which trans to use first. Cad & a hydro or Cad 3 speed was the preferred '50s setup, tho many were hooked to a Ford 3 speed and lasted if driven gently..
@cretin thanks man, I will definitely keep that in mind. To be honest I'm on the fence. I have a 51 merc flatty that I was going to use but, I'm starting to think I might want to save that for another project later on. I don't know I still might use the merc but, it's a tough decision. If anyone has an opinion I'm all ears. There is a 331 and several y blocks around these parts and I am very tempted to go that route. Every older dude I talk to around here says "you want to run a flathead? Guess you don't actually want to drive your car" just "put a small block in it" while I understand that reasoning, and mind you I have not hate what so ever for the sbc. I'm just not sure that is the direction I want to go. But, it is a very practical and affordable option.
Many a flathead were replaced by Olds, Cad and Buick back in the old days and usually all ran like a scalded ape. No bad choices with early v-8 swaps. .
A good swap.In the day Bill Frick up in Rochester actually built "Fordillacs" out of new 49 and 50 Fords and sold them at his dealership.
Go with the Caddy...........you'll never second guess yourself about it once you've got it running and driving. BTW, Bill Frick did the same with Studebakers when the '53 Lowey Coupes came to market. Studillac ! Ray
Love that idea.. Little worried about the cost of a rebuild if need be, but I guess that is about as ideal as it gets in regards to swaps..
It should be easy to get but, if you strike out send me a message. I have it, I can scan the article and email it to you.
I wanted to put an early Cad in my shoebox when it was going together 20+ years ago, but I chose a SBC instead because of more dependable parts availability. The Chevy has worked out extremely well, but I think the coolness factor would have been much higher with the Cadillac. IMO the Cadillac was absolutely THE engine swap of choice in the early '50s.
I will be putting a sbc in my shoebox....but, it will be dressed to look like 1959. I didn't want to, but ran across a real good deal and got to thinking about what we would have done in 59. We wouldn't have even gave it a second thought. Now, back to 1959...I had a 53 Merc with a 55 Caddy and hydro. The layout of the Merc is pretty much the same as the shoebox. Its a nearly bolt-in job. Motor mounts came from Honest Charley, fabricated rear tranny mount. Dropped center section on tie rod. Got the exhaust pipes of the doaner car and they fit right back to my mufflers. No clearance problems anywhere. It looked like it came in the car and I never had any problems with it. Oh, did I mention it was fast....freaky fast. Do it, you'll never regret it and your buddies will love you.
@50Fraud Nice ride! Wow you are in Pedro! We are Neighbors! Thanks for the suggestions. Im going to look into the caddy some more. That has always sort of been my "in an ideal world scenario". I totally agree with the practicality and reliability of the SBC. Hell, I might end up with one of those if all this falls through. However, I am glad to hear about there being no clearance issues with the Cadillac. I always worry about the steering box and interference. That is what concerned be about the Nailhead and Olds. The Y block does not look too bad. Anyway thank you all for the feedback. How difficult do you think fabbing the Motor Mounts would be?
With the Caddy engine, the motor mounts are quite easy to do. The Cad (and Studebaker and Chrysler) have mounting 'ears' cast into the block along side at front. Their location will fall right above the Shoebox front cross member and requires a frame bracket with a rubber mount in between. The "early Ford" style biscuit mount is well suited for this application. Ray
The Old Hurst style mount for the Cad is essentially the same as the Early Hemi and uses a simple bracket on the crossmember with a biscuit cushion as Ray mentions. We no longer make this bracket (slow sales) and a quick check of ebay does not show any current listings but there were some available not long ago. If you are not in a major rush then keep checking the listings. I might consider another short run of these if the other ebay vendor doesn't pop back up in the next couple of months. .
Please keep me posted if you do decide to make more. I would be in 100%. Thank you for the information.
I'll take a look at making a small batch. Anyone else working on a Cad or EarlyHemi that might use these ?? Send a PM so I can see what the level of interest is. Thanks .
73RR, did you end up running a a small batch of these style mounts? I have a 390 caddy that I am stuffing in a 40 merc. Think these mounts would work for me.
If you go the caddy route I have a complete stick setup I took out of a 52 cad.This setup works for the 49 thru 54 cads. Thanks,Jack
Yes, I did make a short run of these mounts. They have been welded up but not yet cleaned up (bead/shot blast) and my time is somewhat limited right now. If you can do the clean-up then send a pm or email to: [email protected] Gary
The Jalopy Journal
