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Cadillac 500: It Begins.

22K views 115 replies 19 participants last post by  The-Dullahan 
#1 ·
Okay, so as anyone who hangs out in the lounge may have heard, I have gotten my new engine.

Without further adieu, let's get some photography going, because everyone complained about a lack of photos.



Freshly pulled from a 1970 Eldorado, sporting some minor modification.

Lacking an engine stand at the moment, I am using a tyre and an industrial dolly.









I have three sets of these. The originals, the chromed tin ones with the Caddy scripting and the aluminum ones, which I actually think I'd like if they had some black enamel on them.



A fancy ignition system.



Here's the fuel pump, the original distributor, and a few necessities. Also, some ridiculous headers.



And lastly, the accompanying transmission.



Not shown are plenty of bolts and a few simple pieces, a new valley pan gasket and an extra set of lifters, also new.

Now I'll need some motor mounts, a new rear axle, preferably with disc brakes, a new radiator (No faith in the 307's radiator, even if it new and a 3-row), accessory brackets and some accessories themselves, an exhaust (going for duals) a custom driveshaft (because the the transmission will be a different overall length), an air cleaner and I am not sure I can even fit that engine into a Brougham's engine bay with that intake. Any expert advice in any of these tasks would be GREATLY appreciated.
 
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#6 · (Edited)
If I choose to use those ones, I will have to cut holes and add breathers to the valve covers (Anyone have experience doing that? Shouldn't be hard) and I do not really care about adding a PCV valve. I have no emissions tests in FL and besides, my Cadillac is old enough to be exempt from testing anyhow. I am taking the no emissions equipment route. This includes Catalytic converters, I do not need them either.

On the other hand, I could always go with a PCV valve on one side and a breather on the other. I suppose that would optimize pressurized air flow, but would that just make an accountable and constant vacuum leak?
 
#7 ·
Nice! It fits under the hood no problem but I got a drop base air cleaner. I think you should run the pcv/breather set up, the engine seems to like it better. Can't wait to see how that ignition works for you, I've thought of upgrading. I got seconds on the valve covers. Also, the coolant outlet on the back of the head gets very close to the firewall, if you use it, put the hose on before you put the motor in. Are you gonna try to use those headers?
 
#8 ·
Nice looking engine--that should really wake your 87 up. I bought a 2000 pound capacity engine stand at Northern Tool (I like overkill) and I think it was around $200-250, it would really make your life easier and safer while you are working on that beast.

The other suggestion I would have is get the Cad Company catalog and talk to them about combinations of parts for your 500, I stopped by there on my way to the airport in Albuquerque last week (I have a client in NM) and they have some great toys.
 
#9 ·
I knew Csbuckn would make it here.

Yeah, I thought about it and figured the PCV/breather combo may work better. Thanks for the advice on the hose, I am sure I will have to ask you more as I go on. So that's the same intake you had? Any link to the air cleaner you used?

Also, there is no way those headers are going to fit. They're friggin' huge. Would be great for a hotrod, but I plan on keeping my AC and those already look like a tight fit.

Jsherid1, thanks for the advice. I will look into it. I have also found that this book has a lot of interesting advice on the 500 Engines and the various sources of parts, both OEM and aftermarket, as well as a very nice section of Cadillac history dating back to the '57 ELdorado Brougham and even earlier, to the V12 and V16.



I have a copy of it I got from an old collector, along with some vintage "Hemming Motor News" issues.

I am going to get an engine stand. Right now, I have a brand new Torin hoist I had to assemble last night to get it out of the Uhaul. While it is not a bad tool in itself, my complaint would be that the wheels on it SUCK. They don't even spin. Instead, I had to slide it with the engine on it, up my concrete driveway, the wheels sideways and grinding along, leaving trails. Thank God I'm tougher than I look or I'd have been screwed getting it over the divider at the front of my garage. For now, the dolly works fine. I think it came from the Garden section at Lowes, but I bought it fair and square in a yard sale.
 
#10 ·
I got my air cleaner from MTS but they are all over ebay, just search drop base air cleaner. Yea, those headers dont fit on the pass side. You cant keep AC, sorry. Unless you wanna buy a special compressor from an AC company and the special mounts. The stock AC on a 500 mounts to the stock intake. You are just gonna have P/S and Alt. At least I dont know of any other way to mount AC. We have the same intake I believe, Edelbrock. The PCV/breather combo will make it start easier. Without the breather, sometimes it would start, sometimes it would turn over so slow that the battery would die first. I'm excited to see this project. You can switch your coolant temp and oil pressure switches over so your dash lights work, too.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Like this guy?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AFB-EDELBRO...pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr

Needs more obnoxious Cadillac V logo, but I can make that work.

Oh yeah, duh. I should have thought of that. The intake is different :/ I'll come up with a plan. I'm good at that. I am correct in presuming that the same alternator can be carried over though, right? From what I have seen, it is a totally different mounting method, but the same Alt. I hope so. If not, someone (Ray called dibs) is getting my fancy High Output one.

I want to get the engine together and running ASAP, so I may post a garage test of it running on a stand in the coming weeks, accounting for free time (Back to Las Vegas next week)

As for the hose at the rear of the engine, I may as well use it. Any particular part.coupler to tap it into the lower radiator hose?
 
#12 ·
The cleaner is the correct one. I'm not sure about the alternator. There are a few different alternator brackets but I believe some will work with the 307s alternator. I also have a high output alternator from a 307 that I'd like to mount on the 500 but I havent got to that part yet. The coolant port at the rear of the head goes up to the heater core via short hose but its a tight fit. I'd love to see this thing running on the engine stand, I've always wanted to run an engine like that.
 
#14 · (Edited)
^Well, right now I am looking at various options. The Edelbrock will apparently fit (Csbuckn did it with his) but the only thing about the Edelbrock is that I cannot mount the compressor with the Edelbrock on. I will have to work out an option that allows that, or compromise on either AC or HP.

As far as welding, I'd need to get a new welder (Very easy to find) or borrow someone's at work (Also possible)

If I use the aluminum valve covers, I will need give them each a grommeted hole to mount the PCV valve and the breather and will therefore have to weld a small piece of sheet aluminum on the underside of them, as splash baffles to prevent oil from deciding to vacate the engine. If not, I have the option of getting the prefitted breathers, if I can find some with in-line baffles in the tubes.

I'd love to see this thing running on the engine stand, I've always wanted to run an engine like that.
That's the plan. I've done it before. It's just a matter of getting a stable enough stand, because I have heard horror stories of engines that decided to jump the stand onto it's side whilst running. Ouch.

Gotta take advantage of those big, noisy headers when I do a test run, show the 460 who's boss.
 
#13 ·
Is that an Edelbrock intake manifold? If so, you may run in to hood clearance issues. Better idea is to get a '68 472 intake manifold and have the entire center section of the plenum cut out at a machine shop. For all practical purposes on the big block Cad, it'll flow just as well as the Edelbrock.

Not sure if you have a welder and/or know how to weld. But now would be an amazing time to pick one up and learn. If you don't have access to 220v, a Hobart Handler 140 will do most bracket/frame stuff. My Lincoln WeldPak 100HD can hold its' own for a 110v unit.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Shhhh. It's a top secret plan!

Well, if I can't find a good enough stand, I can always use the one we used for the 16.4 Litre engine in my work truck...

Got the transmission cleaned off and painted today. No big deal. It was just horrendous.

I am trying to get as much done as I can prior to my migration back to Las Vegas. I will need to figure out this particular Quadrajet, kind of a what-goes-where and to play around and learn how the fancy ignition system works.
 
#19 ·
Okay, since I won't be able to play with this for a little while and I have nothing else to do at 5 AM, I am checking resources and I learned something interesting. There IS a production AC bracket designed to fit the Edelbrock intake and it can be located here, designed by Vintage Air.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/VTA-15500-VCB/

Will my hood actually be able to close with an AC bracket mounted on top of the intake? Who really knows.

At least now, when some other poor slob is looking for this information and ends up here, he can find it.

From what I can see though, having little resource to go by, since every 500 Swapped into a Brougham seems to use a stock upper radiator hose, which naturally curves above and over the compressor, it is safe to presume that the compressor SHOULD fit. While it is not exactly cheap, "Should work" sounds good enough for me.
 
#29 ·
I'll figure it out when I get that far. Since I plan to sue the beefy aluminum ones, this MAY be an issue and I have already thought about it.

For now, seeing as I finally have some time (Was in Las Vegas until yesterday morning, in a separate 500-pwoered Cadillac) I can start on this some more.

Freeze 12 is NOT discontinued, but again, when I get that far, I will get that far.

The headers are awesome, but there is NO WAY they are going to work in this application, so yeah. Just like two sets of valve covers that I do not need.

I need to work the timing out and the distributor in and get the Carb dealt with (That's a whole bunch of mechanical zaniness).

Timing will be fun. The engine turns over, though it is not the easiest thing to do with one's bare hands, especially with the pulley resting on a tyre, but since years of idiocy have taught me that the layers of skin on your palms are trivial and not necessary for survival...
 
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