472/500 Application Questions

[lux hauler]

1971


1972


1973

[Spyder]

That looks just like my 'ol behemoth 1972, yeeup.

[350350]

Sweet!

I think it's a '71, which if I recall it's one of the more desireable years to have for the better heads and stronger blocks, etc?

I drive by this thing at least twice a day, only you can't see it from the road, only from a store I go to once in a while that's off the beaten path. I'll stop by today and see if it's my Lucky Day, or if I get the door slammed on me! It has a windshield sun blocker that would make you think someone actually cares about keeping at least the dash in good condition, but the body is starting to fall apart. The little rust spots are now big rust spots and the paint is stained from the rusty rain water running down the rust spots and onto the paint. (And I've only looked at it from the road!!!)

More as Breaking News Develops!

Thanks,
Paul

[350350]

Oh, and by the way, you guys ROCK! Thanks for all the help!

[lux hauler]

The blocks are basically all the same except for the '68-'69 472's and those only had a few things that were different.....but as far as block strength, no difference that I know of.
As far as heads go, small chamber heads ("250", "902", "950") were used from '68 through '73. Large chamber heads ("493" and "552") started in '74 and continued until the 472/500 were discontinued in 1976. From what I've seen and read, the 250's were used in '68 and 69. The 950's were used in 1970 and the 902's were used in '71, '72 and '73. The 493's seem to have been a '74 head and the 552's were '75 and '76.
Many people want to sticl with the early year because of the factory power numbers. Those numbers are misleading. They changed the rating system in '71/'72 so the later hp numbers appear lower than they actually are......if a rebuild is needed, the factory power rating doesn't much matter anyhow.

[lux hauler]

Well......my theory of head casting numbers to years of production seems to not be 100% correct. I know someone selling, what is supposed to be, a stock, never opened, '76 500 out of a RWD car. It has 493 heads. I thought 493's were '74 only heads.....I guess that's not so.

It's still true that 76cc heads were used from '68-'73 and 120/126cc heads were used from '74-'76.

[350350]

Now I need to go stop and ask about that Caddy... I'm sure it's not newer than a '73. I drove by it again last night and it was calling to me... The Wife and kids are all deathly ill and so I've been on Dad duty Double-Time for the past few days and haven't had time to knock on the door and hopefully have a close look at it.

Heck, if it runs I might drive it for a while to get it tuned up good... Sometimes when I buy a good running car just for the motor I feel bad for wasting the rest of the car, you know? I once bought a '71 Caprice with 50,000 miles on it that ran perfectly for $300 from an old guy that hadn't driven it in about a year. I put a battery in it and fresh gas and it ran like a dream. It even still had bias ply tires on it!!! The body was nasty from sitting under a sappy tree, but the car rode and drove so good I kept it around for a while before I yanked the motor for a Camaro I was building. It was a 4-bolt 400 (all '70-'72 400's were 4-bolts, just FYI) and was worth well more than the $300 I paid for the car. I sold the TH350 for $150 and the car body to a derby guy for $100 and the car went to the demo after only 50,000 miles!

[Randy_W]

Originally Posted by Spyder

the 5.7 diesel was NOT based on the olds 350...totally different design. Bbob posted quite a bit about this a while back...actually some pretty interesting reading, if you've got a little bit of time to kill in searching for and reading it. I found it all soon after I bought a '78 Olds 88 with the diesel as a temp car while replacing my northstar, and I loved the hell out of it, until the tranny blew up on me.

The 350 diesel was indeed an Olds design, though quite a bit was beefed internally , Olds Gas engine heads will bolt on a diesel block. The pro stock Olds racers like Warren Johnson used diesel blocks in thier race cars.

[350350]

I stopped to look at that Caddy today but nobody was home. I didn't look it over real close, just what I could see from the driveway, (I never go look without the owner's permission!) but it's probably driveable if the mice haven't destroyed the interior and wiring. I left a note on the door but no call yet...