Technical question help guys.... My Chevy is currently getting the Kustom trim of all time and my next thing I would like to do is fit a 331 Caddy motor and mate it to the original Auto...can this be done by a conversion kit and is there a kit available, I need to fit it to the original drive line as I have had THOUSANDS spent on the running gear and don't want to change it....Any help would be much appreciated By arty66 at 2011-03-31
Kinda doubt it....suggest you either keep the stovebolt or do the entire drivetrain. Those early PGs just didn't warrant a lot of adaptor attention from those in the business.
is it a stock 53 54 powerglide? Even if you could or there was somehow a way Id think you would blow that drivetrain to pieces with a 331! Car looks great btw!
It's not going to bolt up, and building a custom adapter to make it work is going to cost more than just replacing the original trans. Also as others have mentioned the stock tranny will never hold up to the Cadillac engine.
The early 2bbl carb 331's were only rated at 160hp so it could work if you could get it to bolt up. In '53 there was a fire at the Hydramatic plant so the Buick Dynaflows were used with the 331.
No help on the motor,but I love the tail light treatment.My dad suggested I do the same thing on my car.I think I will now that I see how good it looks.
Can't help you on the adaption but I love the idea of a Cad in your Chevy. and love your Chevy. Follow up on the Dinaflow lead.
Awesome car! Check out the Wilcap website for adapters for the early Cad. Probably have to use later auto trans.
try Bendsten's in Minnesota - they make an adapter for the turbo 350 to early Cad motor. Don't think they have anything for an early powerglide.
Man, I'd run an early Hydro over a Dynaflow. The 331 should be able to be mated to either the original one or the later dual-coupling one. Of course, that doesn't help you. You can probably get a Chevy 265 or 283 to mate up easily, or a 235/261 six, but the Caddy would require a custom adapter. And who knows if the early PG would hold up, unless you had it updated and built for heavy duty use.
I just got off the phone with a couple of your fellow wiseguy members who are having "issues" with Chev sixes. Any torque tube GM auto can be used with a torque tube with qualifications. The torque tube outer diameters are the same. You will need to make the inner driveshaft - front half non-Chev rear half Chev. Don Montgomery told me he ran a Buick 3 speed stick behind the 12 port Jimmy in his 32 3W. Half Buick driveshaft half early ford for the Halibrand Q/C he ran
331's have the long bell on the back right? I doubt you will get any automatic to work with that other than what came with it originally. I have seen adapters for it using a manual trans though. I believe Bendsten's has those. The buick trans idea seems to have the most merit since Buick did use a TT rearend. If the way the bell bolts up to the trans is the same, and the tailshaft splines are the same as Chevy, then it "should" work. Question then is how long is the 331/Buick trans combo? even if it works with the TT rearend, it may be too long to fit the engine compartment?? You may also have issues with the floor, firewall, radiator position, steering and exhaust, motor mounts, etc.... Pretty hard to beat a well dressed Stovebolt six....
Maybe some things to look into: The early cast iron powerglides had a pair of "adapter" rings to get them onto the 6 and the V8. The bolt patterns between the ones for the 6's & V8's were different but... if you redrilled one of them to put the V8 engine side on your transmission you would have a V8 engine pattern on your transmission. There are Cad adapters for that. Lengths in the torque converter area may have to be played with. Somebody here might have reasons this won't work. If so, let's hear them. There could be some starter issues. Somebody put pictures of the rings on here a while ago and showed the differences between the 6 & 8 ones. I can't find them right now.
pre-55 GMC truck Hydramatics would have the TT rear coupling, just pair it with the Caddy Hydramatic bellhousing
how hard would it be to make an adapter out of 1/4" plate? Long as the flex plate and torque converter bolt to each other (use a chevy flex plate and have it drilled for the caddy if need be) adapter plate would do the job.... this is theoretical advice, dont know much about the specific application... yeah it would be tedious, but so what?
Guys you are all great and I thank you all for your interest in this. My six is dressed up with tri power and all the goodies but the idea of a 331 in it would top it off. I will follow up on on these post and keep you all updated. I get the Chevy back from the trimmers in 2 weeks, can't wait to post some pics. It's looking killa
That extended bell housing throws a wrench in the works. If you could find the Dynaflow with the special adapter for the Cadillac (Oldsmobiles too), then you would have the torque tube stuff covered. But Dynaflows are slushboxes, so it really depends on what you really want. The GMC truck suggestion is viable and probably the best for performance without getting into big costs for adapters.
I agree thats a classy looking chevy. Are those Willys Aero tailights? In my opinion the only engine that could add to your car over what you have now would be a Caddy. Nice ride.
The Jalopy Journal
