I picked up a 70 deville for the right price and decided that the torque monster 472 was the one for the olds. finally got the motor pulled and cleaned up a little bit. Now the fun starts. I got the motor set into the frame today and looking at it Im not sure if Im going to need the rear sump or just chop this pan up a little to fit. I know that it needs to drop down a couple more inches and maybe back another inch or two. also from the looks of it I will relocate the oil filter and need to chop the x-member for it to fit. also clearance on the drivers side is slim. Where would you guys start? what to use for exhaust prefer not to have to hack up the frame and move the steering box and steering. All help, comments and opinions are welcome (even the smart asses)
You could move the engine to the right to gain more steering box clearance or raise the engine. You may have to cut the firewall if you raise it though. Not sure how much steering box clearance you want but you may have enough depending on how solid the motor mounts will be... It looks like there is plenty of crossmember that could be cut if need be... depending on where the oil pump pickup is you could use a section of tubing to make clearance for the steering or try to find an Eldorado rear sump pan/pickup. There are aftermarket rear sump pans available, too.
Im sure I will have to cut the fire wall either way. if I did move the motor to the passenger side would i slide the trans over as well to have it square with the frame or would you keep it bolted in the center where the motor and trans would be angled in the frame? as far as the rear sump pan, that has crossed my mind but I think that I would be cutting it up. but on the front instead of the back of the pan with the way it looks now. also thought about notching the steering back to bo around the back of my oil pan. would that work?
Ive heard that BBC block huggers have the same port spacing as the caddy, just hack off the flange and replace it with caddy flanges.(ive just heard about this, never done it myself.) Maybe something to check into....That may help with exhaust/steering clearance.
Unfortunately, there are no bolt on header swaps for the 472/500 Cadillac. Big block Chevys have a different bore spacing and exhaust port spacing, so changing flanges is not starightforward. It can be done, but you have to bend the manifold tubes to make it work. What you could do is try the passenger side manifold on the drivers side. The passenger side manifold is a straight log-style with an end outlet. In this case, fitted to the drivers side, the outlet will be at the front of the engine and you will have to look into piping it from there. The drivers side Eldorado manifold is a straight log with end outlet, but the outlet points up and out, so it would complicate to pipe to. JB 472
YES. This keeps the u-joints working properly. The angle of the shaft at the trans should be the same as the angle at the pinion, both vertically and horizontally. And yes, there are plenty of bad examples that are driven daily so if you cannot reach the perfect alignment it will not self destruct. .
I'd be tempted to clip one of these to do away with the kingpin front end and get the steering out of the way. Normally would want to avoid that, but when you start tracking down and pricing out a lot of the rebuild parts for the stock front end, you see pretty quick why I'd consider it here. But like the tri-5 Pontiacs, an inch or two to the right is not uncommon and will not hurt anything.
I have found that removing the exhaust, fuel pumps,alternator and other stuff from the engine helps in fitting the engine. Get the engine where you want and see what needs to be moved and where. Electric pumps work great so the pump can go. Headers are no big deal. The steering is another deal. Might have to ge to a steering rack and make some changes there. Looks like it will fit with a bit of work.
If I have to resort to this I might but it just seems that it would look funny when you open the hood up. thanks al I will look into those. but just like the oil pan I think that I can make it work without going to a rear sump. i guess once I get the oil pan to work in between the x member and steering I will get into the exhaust.
I agree a just got into a hurry and wanted to see what I would be dealing with. as for the fuel pump I think it may work without cutting the x-member on the drivers side but once again I need to get it down a couple of inches first then I will start looking at what part and how much I need to cut out of the X-member.
You can use the 68-72 Eldrorado driver side exhaust manifold (about $200 on ebay or at the local junk yard) to clear your steering box, and also use the oil pan and pick up off that same engine to give clearance to your crossmember. I ran into this same thing with my 56 caddy. And I believe that they are the same frames. I have seen people movve the engine back and notch out the firewall (not pleasing to the eyes, but it worked). the 472 engine is actually the same length as the 365 caddy motor I had removed, just wider.
do you have any pictures of your build? id like to see. as for the pan and pick up as stated ^^^^I think that I would run into the same problem and still need to cut a chunk out of it but on the front and not the back so if im going to do it regardless id rather save my $175 for something else that is needed just my .02 but correct me if im wrong
The Jalopy Journal
