Cadillac 500

[Neverdone]

Given the recent acquired project I am looking for inspiration. Anyone ever build one? One of my old friends had one in a coupe years ago. Unfortunately I don't talk to him anymore.

 

[smallfoot]

No build experience but guys around here used them in airboats and did well. Lots of grunt. Cool looking mills. Good availability for trannys too.

 

[Neverdone]

Mine still has the trans attached... Might have it gone through and built.

 

[smallfoot]

Th 400?

 

[Bamamav]

Somebody used to make an aluminum intake for those, can't remember if it was Offy or Edelbrock. I think you have to regrind the cam to get a better profile, again I've seen places that can do that, just escapes me right now as to where.
They are a torque monster. Would pull that light Chevy around easy and probably get pretty good mileage.

 

[smallfoot]

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/mc/manifolds/cadillac/performer.shtml

 

[fuzz]

Here's a website with lots of info. I built a 500 for one of my projects and won't do it again, they don't respond well to mods. So if you use the motor for your project I recommend keeping it mostly stock.

http://www.cadillacpower.com/forum/

 

[Torchie]

Any idea what year it is ND? I had one in my 72 Eldorado convert and it moved that monster fairly well.
They started out at a round 400 + HP in stock form as I recall but by the early 70's they had been radically detuned in anticipation of the low lead-no lead gas era.
I remember seeing guys take those caddy beasts to the drag strip back in the day...
Torchie.

 

[zzrodder]

They are great engines, just not a SB Chevy, so they have their own needs and quirks. High nickel content block that usually shows very little cylinder wear even on high milers. Edelbrock makes a good dual plane manifold and there are lots of cam choices available, Isky, Comp, etc. SB Chev valve springs fit.
The one big problem these engines have is the crummy rocker arms - if you use anything more than a mild RV cam, you will tear them up and chew the ends of the valves. Aftermarket roller rockers are the solution here, several variations out there including shaft mounted ones like a BB Mopar.
You've probably seen these pics before but here they are again, a 472 I put together, Made my own valve covers, tunnel ram and headers, Crane 500 lift - 295 duration cam and Harland Sharp roller rockers - tons 'o fun..

 

[Neverdone]

Any idea what year it is ND?
They started out at a round 400 + HP in stock form as I recall but by the early 70's they had been radically detuned in anticipation of the low lead-no lead gas era.
I remember seeing guys take those caddy beasts to the drag strip back in the day...
Torchie.

I haven't fully ID'd the motor yet, just looked at the block casting to insure that it is a 500. The guy said that it is a detuned motor so that puts it in the mid to late 70's. Not sure how he knows unless he knows the car that it came from. Early 70s they were MONSTERS 8.2L, 10.5:1, 400HP of ground pounding pass anything but a gas station power. By mid to late 70s they were down to 190hp . But there aint nothing that says they can't be turned back up.

They are great engines, just not a SB Chevy, so they have their own needs and quirks. High nickel content block that usually shows very little cylinder wear even on high milers. Edelbrock makes a good dual plane manifold and there are lots of cam choices available, Isky, Comp, etc. SB Chev valve springs fit.
The one big problem these engines have is the crummy rocker arms - if you use anything more than a mild RV cam, you will tear them up and chew the ends of the valves. Aftermarket roller rockers are the solution here, several variations out there including shaft mounted ones like a BB Mopar.
You've probably seen these pics before but here they are again, a 472 I put together, Made my own valve covers, tunnel ram and headers, Crane 500 lift - 295 duration cam and Harland Sharp roller rockers - tons 'o fun..

ZZ this is the kind of info I was looking for. I was thinking of having my neighbor help with building an intake, just because it would be cool..... Thanks for the tip on the rockers. I have not seen your 472 before that I remember, but just like anything else you do it looks AMAZING! What trans did you have behind yours?

My whole excitement about this motor is one of my buddies had one in his old coupe, granted by the time he was done it had a blower on it and stuff.... but he twisted off a set of strange axles in a 9" with it playing around, and I have dreamed of running one of these motors ever since....

 

[zzrodder]

I haven't fully ID'd the motor yet, just looked at the block casting to insure that it is a 500. The guy said that it is a detuned motor so that puts it in the mid to late 70's.

What trans did you have behind yours?

.

That's the Turbo 400 that came on the 472 from a 73 Sedan Deville. Last year for the 500 ci. was 1976 - all 76 models came with the 500 - sort of a last hurrah for the mountain motor...
You can mate any Chev trans to the Caddy (same as Buick, Olds, Pontiac bolt pattern) with a simple adaptor plate.

 

[Neverdone]

My plan is to use the trans that is currently on the motor. Just want to have it gone through/rebuilt before I drop it in.

 

[RPM]

I am putting a 500 caddy in my 27 T truck. I have it mated to a 200r4, with a 3.42 rear. I have not got it running yet, it has turned into a long time project. Here is about as far as we have got on it.

 

[robert akers]

hello mr chrome

i have 4 or 5 500's 2 425's a couple 400's setting put the 425 with trans 39 chev2dr sedan with spring front end straight axle 9'ford out back and a 500 in my68 chev panel your little is beatiful do you have any info or paper work on the tunnel ram would try to build one i looove different. how fast does little thing run in a i/4 any would be appericated robert akers[cl[cl[cl[cl

 

[rusty46]

This IMO, is one the best engines made. Extremely durable. The one thing that nobody really mentions is the AWESOME amount of torque these engines put out. The 70 500 was 400 horsepower and 500 foot pounds of torque.

In a lighter vehicle, it is a pretty good package. A local guy put a 1970 500 into a '46 Ford coupe. He drove the car one day and got on it to avoid being hit by another car. It turned around in the road violently. It had all that Ford could handle and then some.

The rocker arms are a weak point if you have a larger cam and these engines do respond decent to an intake swap. The stock one is restrictive.

I had one in a '73 hearse and it pulled it just fine. I will take one over a Chevy BB or SB any day.

 

[Hollow65]

Seen one in a corvair years ago. That thing hauled. Torque monsters.

 

[Neverdone]

I was really excited about this motor until last night. Tore the heads off. Not sure it can be bored far enough to clean it up and be useable. It was depressing also to find out this motor has been apart before. It is a newer block low compression, but has 1970 pistons and heads to make it a high compression motor. So it WAS a 400HP 550ftlb motor....

 

[Bamamav]

I think you can bore those a pretty good size, something like .120? May be wrong on that though, so don't hold me to it, I might be thinking about something else. You could always sleeve it, or just hunt another block.....

 

[Neverdone]

Finally rolled the motor over and pulled the pan. The bottom side looks good if I can save the cylinders. Concerning thing here is that inside of one of the cylinders looks like grease [S . Not sure if it was build up in the pan that fell in there sitting upside down or what?

 

[Old Iron]

That's probably an algae, formed by the moisture that's been in the engine while sitting.
Diesels get it in the fuel tanks and the filters stop it from reaching the injector pump.