Projects SBC Intake To Early Caddy Adapters

I am in the process of making adapters to put a small block Chevy intake on the early Caddy V8. I have one 3D printed and I need a motor to test fit it. I have a yard nearby with motors but I have no room for another motor in my shop. Anyone near me have a block with heads that could help with the trial fit? I live in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. I already make a similar adapter for the SBC to a Stude V8.

JK

 

Wow ...so just mill/cut away the coolant and distributor mount sections of the SBC intake and bolt on with unlimited intake options....great idea !

 

Yes, great idea!

 

I finally got a lab rat test motor from a local yard last weekend. It's a 1960 390 Caddy. It is crusty and froze tight but it will serve as a test bed for fit up of the adapters. I bolted the one adapter on with a Chevy intake and the alignment looks good to the head. The manifold sits level with the motor and is equidistant from the edge of each head so I do believe I am spot on for the fit. I did order another 3D printed adapter on line last night, delivery should be by next weekend. If everything still fits well I will order a set machined from 6061 aluminum.

 

Two thumbs up. If John Kasse can put a SBC manifold on a Y-Block Ford anything is possible.

 

I think someone is making the same thing for Studebakers. I think Mike VV used them to build a Chevy based cross ram for his hot rod Stude. Maybe he’ll chime in. Seems like it worked out great so the Caddy version should be good also. Nice work!

 

I make the Studebaker adapters. $420.00 a pair, includes shipping in the lower 48. In stock.

 

@Mike VV , see post #6 above.

 

Will the Cad adapters be around the same price if all goes to plan ?

 

Yes sir. Bob and I are friends. He knows most of my stuff.
Thanks.

And yes again the 60elky plates are a little on the high dollar side, but if you have a "hot rod" engine, they are pretty much a requirement.

The fit is well done.

Mike

 

Jack's Auto Ranch still in business?

 

Love the innovation.

 

Jack's is still in business. A guy named Doug is running it now. As for the adapter cost they should be identical to the Stude as far as machine time. The cost will depend on current material costs. I am sending the 3D model to W&S Machining in New Berlin, Wisconsin tonight for quoting. As far as the cost at $420.00 I barely make enough to pay myself to install the thread inserts and box them up so there is no way I can do them cheaper.

 

Way cool. Yes the cost is a little up there but finding a good aluminum intake for these engines can’t be cheap. With the small block intake it’s endless.

 

The 60elky manifold adaptor plates have nice port alignment, so no abrupt jogs to muck up airflow.
Marcus...

 

I would not be able to do them for less.

The price is fair for the work involved.

 

Yes, the Stude side of things are basically from a stock (OEM) gasket. The Chevy side...I've forgotten the gasket number, but they are pretty normal (un ported, smaller) size.
This way, if the heads have been ported, you can match port the plates, then back finish the plates for whatever manifold that you choose. That's a little tricker, but can be done.

There is NO Studebaker intake manifold that will properly (fully) feed a well designed engine, with well ported heads (CFM wise) and a larger camshaft, plus the goodies that go with all of that.
So if you've spent a big chunk of money on ported heads, putting on a Studebaker intake manifold, will be like tossing all that porting money out an open car window...at speed..!

And other than very expensive, Extrude Hone porting a Stude manifold, there's no other way of making one work.

Mike

 

To be able to port the intake to the adapters you add the small notch added to the edge of the intake. This allows you to mount the adapters to the heads using only the four outboard corners, add the intake and then by using a "wobble" type Allen you can remove the adapters with the intake still in place. These are the Stude version, The Caddy would need the notch a bit farther to the right.

 

Smart people are fun to watch.

I usually never have an audience

 

Lol....

 

I know the feeling, I work alone most of the time!

 

An "air gap" manifold trimmed up would look like it was made for that.

Gary

 

The SBC options are plentiful. You can go old school, say a 1956 Corvette aluminum dual quad. I picked one up for $125.00 because the water passages are really corroded but who care as you're cutting them off! A DCOE crossram, mine is shown on a Stude. A modern Tri-power, TPI, an old Martin turbo set up. It goes on and on.

 

Kinda like the 302 ford tunnel ram on a 351 windsor. Lippy

 

Here's my Small Chevy manifold to Studebaker, since we're showing off...
This is a shot from the front. The thermostat "used" to be in this location.
This is an aftermarket replacement for the mid-80's Corvette manifold, the Renegade,



The shot below, the left side is where the thermostat used to be, on the right is where the distributor location used to be. The odd shaped hole is the remnant of where the EGR port used to be.


What it used to look like.


Mike

 

Mike,

Thanks for posting more possibilities for the use of the SBC on a Stude or a Caddy.

Jon

 

Mike,
Great work there,,,,,,that Stude should really come alive with that !
And for the Caddy or Studebaker,,,,,,,there are a blue million SBC intakes available .
Man,,,,,makes me want to find an old Caddy engine now !

Tommy

 

I got the second 3D printed adapter today. It fit well. Tomorrow I need to take it all off, reassemble it using only the end bolts to hold the adapters to the heads. That way I can remove the intake with adapters attached to the intake and verify the Chevy to adapter alignment. I will also need to bolt the adapters to the heads without gaskets and lay the intake on, (also without gaskets), to verify that everything is in fact parallel. It is difficult to see any taper between the surfaces with the gaskets in place. If the SBC alignment is good and we are parallel I'll start to push the machine shop to get me the quote. I try not to be too much of a pest as they have always treated me well and it is hard to find a quality shop that will do short runs. The bonus is that they are only 40 minutes away.

 

I'm thinking that those may get real popular with the Cadillac engine brigade. There may be a run on older style SBC aluminum intakes with bad cooling passages . boogered up thermostat mounting surfaces or broken bolts in the distributor hold downs though .

 

I tried some additional manifolds early this morning and found that a small adjustment is needed on the Chevy side. The intake from Thursday being an inexpensive aftermarket item has oversized bolt holes so it bolts up but the port alignment is not perfect. I put on two different GM aluminum manifolds and it appears I need to shift the Chevy pattern about 0.020" towards one end and down about 0.062. I had to make similar adjustments to the Studebaker version twice to get it right so I am not worried. I will get the 3D model tweaked this week, re-print and refit. I also tried an offshore Weber cross ram and observed the same adjustment are required. The last pictures are with the adapters bolted to the heads with no gaskets and the intake resting on top also with no gaskets. This shows we are spot on for parallel so that's good.