Cadillac 472 engine.

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

There is nothing wrong with the Caddy engine if you plan on building a mild street car. I tend to not want one because of the huge amount of displacement that would suck gas, but if it is not a concern, go for it. Just keep in mind that unless it is an early (1967-70) engine, it will have low or VERY low compression....like sub 8:1. If it is a 472, it is not an Eldorado as they never got the 472, only the 500. A cool weight shedding exercise would be use of the fiberglass oil pan and valve covers from a 1980 368. You could use the funky 1981 V4-6-8 valve covers too, but I would avoid them due to their height and electrical fittings. I think the set is worth 25lbs off the engine. I would also shed the early EFI system used on some 472/500 engines and go with a carb and HEI. A Quadrajet off a 472/500 would be the best carb choice for driveability and fuel economy. Plus, they are cheap and not that hard to find. If you plan on just running it as-is, I would at least change the timing chain and gears to eliminate the dreaded nylon cam gear that tends to dry out and fail. There are both bad and truly awful intake manifolds stock, some of which were aluminum on later 425's or 368's. They all make fuel go uphill to the ports rather than downhill like most engines. This was to conserve hood space, but winds up killing power. The Edelbrock intake is a good alternative here as it has a normal flow path. Headers will probably be custom, but the swap is common enough that someone may make them for the G body. Expect to shatter the stock 7.5 axle with anything but the lamest of 472's. If it is a low compression model, you could crutch it somewhat with a wide LSA cam, but you really should do pistons to fix it right. I would also try to find a kit to improve the oil pump as it is in that most cursed of places, contained in an aluminum timing cover with steel gears. If you play with Buicks or AMCs, you know what I am talking about.

 

[dan2286]

What year is it, is it an Eldo, does it have the carberator, and what do they want for it? Did you check out the forum?[/quote

I just took another look at it today. It is a 73 Fleetwood.

 

[Vern]

Yea they are smooth running engines. Gas mileage, well mine gets 17mpg hwy and its not cammed or jetted for mileage. It ran 12.60 at 110 in the 1/4 two days before I recorded the fuel mileage. I only got 18 mpg with the 307. You lose a little pumping loses due to size but it only takes X power to move the car down the road regardless, it just has to be geared accordingly. Most people way overestimate the penalty of size to fuel consumption. Fix your draging brakes, air up your low tires, change your O2 sensor, get your fuel & timeing optimised, gear it right etc or a lame v6 will suck more fuel than a large powerful but efficient v8. On that note more compression up to the point of detonation is efficiency both power and mileage. I rebuilt mine cheap no special parts to stock 70 specs with a block deck a true 10-1 compression and good quench.

If they will pull it and set it on your buddys truck and throw in the transmission you got a deal even for $125. My engine started out as a 73 472 that the demo guy kept after the demo because it ran so good. Later he had to move and could not take it with him and gave it to me so that it did not go to the crusher. Funny story he completly built a 350 chevy put it in a GP and was the man (& manager) at the Midas where he worked till I came in one day by accident with the car. I had an oil filter dumping oil. (two seals) He got a ride after fixing me up telling all the guys about it and and totally sh*t himself. He said when backing out onto the side street do you think we can power brake it a little for the guys. I said brakes?! We don't need no stinking brakes! And left two fat black marks a little longer than a school bus in length. :lol: Their was tar on that side street but the Midas boys were :shock:

 

[Vern]

After re-reading 85 Cutty's post I thought I would add some things. www.sandersonheaders.com makes the CAD600 header that will fit the Gbodys. Its coated and is $355 which is a deal. Its not needed but looks so much cooler than manifolds, is a good bang for the buck powerwise, and is much easier & cheaper than building your own. Also the Edelbrock intake is also a good power adder and weight saver. I think I paid $299. You can cut & port the stocker and add a 1" open spacer to make the stocker flow almost as good. If you took the heads off and bought an inexpensive head gasket you could take 30 thou off for a good compression boost and a lil clean up & valve job add an MT-10 cam kit and you got a stout reliable piece for cheap. With good timeing and jetting probably 350-375HP & 525TQ. Yea you would need to leave regular radials on for annialation otherwise it woud eat your 7.5 but its a great problem to have. Naturally yes change the oil pump and timeing chain. Use a good chain that looks like a bicycle chan not the cheap stretchable mesh chain. You would also need an oilpan from an Eldo. Check out www.500cid.com. Let me know if this helps and if its what you were looking for.

 

[dan2286]

What transmission options do I have?

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Either a TH350 or TH400 from a BOP engine'd donor would bolt up, as would a TH200 or TH200 4R. The TH200 will go bye bye very quickly with the Cad, so it is best to avoid it. You also want a short tailshaft trans and not a long one.

 

[dan2286]

So, the 200r4 I just grabed from the junkyard would actually bolt up? I also have a th350 with a bop bolt pattern, so I guess I am already set up in the trans area, besides making them handle the power.

 

[Vern]

You can see from my signature that I run a 200-4r behind my 509. It was street strip built with a billet forward drum shaft and has held up to 9,000 very hard miles. To make your stock regular 200-4r have a chance to hold up for a while you would need a GOOD shift kit like the one www.ckperformance.com sells. I bought their unit on sale for $99. And a large cheap transmission cooler. My suggestion though if you don't plan to use this as a daily driver that you want to run on the interstate and have 1/4 mile gearing is to skip the 200-4r and get the strong th400 that is already behind the Cad. Make em an offer like I suggested as a package. I love a well built 200-4r and it depends on your budget and needs from the car but bang for the buck the th400 is generally the best choice.

BTW addressing what 85 Cutty mentioned with respects to the oil pump. Melling has a quality regular non aluminum case angled oil pump that fits as it was originally designed for the 425. The engine droped in my gbody with no interfearence and I even run the larger front sway bar. Tight but no interfearence. Some filters are shaped difference and make a difference you can also put a thick washer between your sway bar and the frame if you use the bigger sway bar and a larger filter.