The chronicle of a first father son engine swap

Finally got to drive the car today after a ten month journey from 2.8 to 8.2l caddy. this all started with a pipe dream that came about after scouring the junkyard for a chevy 400. When my dad popped the hood of a 74 caddy and jokingly said i should buy the motor for my car since my 2.8 recentlythrew a rod. two days later i had a $200 rust bucket of a caddy in my driveway with a running motor. after sawzalling the front end off the caddy i had the motor pullled and ever since it has been a struggle to get the motor to fit. a notched crossmember ac removal and custom cross member for the torque arm later it is goin good. car still has no exhaust and needs some carb tuning but all in all im just glad to have my car back. btw i am only seventeen and have built this car on MY highschool budget not daddy's car built for me. we have done all the work ourselfs except for rebuiling the th-400 . will post pics later tonight . i would be glad to answer any questions anyone has in regards to the swap as well

 

Thirdgencaddy,

Awsome work! I cant wait to see pictures of the swap. About how many horses is the 74 caddy motor pushing out? Do you have any mods done to it?

I also wanted to say I love the look of crosslace rims on camaros.

Bill

 

I just looked it up...only 210 hp....but 380tq!!!

 

Especially take pictures of the left and right sides of the engine. I would like to see where the engine fits against the heater box and the steering.

Which motor mounts and frame brackets did you use? Did you redrill the frame and bolt on the caddy lower mounts?
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Also seriously consider swapping in a 700r4 or 2004r so that you can have overdrive again! Your stock engine won't kill the tranny!!!

 

THE DYNO SAYS: A bone stock 8:1 (large chamber) 500 makes 302 HP (.588 HP/CID) and that is with fly cut pistons lowering the compression from 8.5:1 according to this company http://www.cad500parts.com and the torque is in the mid to high 400's sry no pictures tonight.... camera eats batteries ...... havin a few coolant problems but will sort out tomorrow. runs like a striped a** ape when it isnt hot though... and all ive done to the motor is a summit hei performance cap rotor and 50k coil and accell wires.

 

project dyslexia... awesome. I'll watch for pictures.

 

here are the pics i promised everyone


hole to clear dist. cap





pics of engine

motormounts sit like this in car all one peice no top or bottom

plate welded to k member cuz caddy mount sit about 6" forward to clear fwd eldo trans


th400 crossmember and custom torque arm cross member

 

It looks like you need to add a formula-style power buldge!

 

car is gettin a 5inch pin on jongbloed when i get the extra cash....

 

Good to see you shoe-horned that beast in there. I remember when you shot that idea out there and naturally most people shot you down. Big props for pulling off an unusual and neat swap!

 

What's with that thermostat housing? Where did that come from?

Great pics! Thanks!

Now we need track slips!!
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Your hood just needs a "bubble" for now!

I think they're 20 bucks from JC Whitney!!!!

Very cool car!!!!!!!

 

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...10002_14032_-1

its a moroso part ordered it through a local speed parts shop.


thanks for the compliments guys. if ayone wants measurements of the clearances id be happy to post them . it will help save sumone the all the hassles i went through getting the engine to fit ....

 

wow that a tight fit!

should have at least cleaned and painted it first.

 

love the cap thorugh the hood, congrats looks good

 

i would have cleaned and painted it but i have a second 500 that i building a little stouter than this one so i didnt want to take anything apart to strip it don and paint it..... definatly workin on the cleaning to try and find some cadillac blue under the 30+ years of grime......

 

Subscribed!

EXCELLENT work so far. There was a member on here a few years back who was doing a similar swap, but he literally cut the firewall, and moved the engine back a great deal for better weight distribution. The car's going to be one heck of a torque monster, that's for sure....




-Rob

 

This is also one of my preferred methods. I like the idea that you stuck one in to figure out the "bugs" of the project and you have a nice one getting prepped and ready for the big show!

Good job so far! Your pictures are now in my alternative engine archives. Very, good!

 

well boys the cadmaro is down again . semms the b&m torqmaster couldnt handle the caddy..... but i got rid of the nasty hole in the hood. picked up a nice lil cowl the other day and the car has real exhaust now ( still no mufflers ) but while lettin my friend listen to the motor i randomly blew a head gasket.. upon closer inspection it seems the valve spring for the number one cylinders exhaust port collapsed letting the pushrod come off the lifter.... anyways while i have it apart im sending the heads to be decked , ported and polished . and im putting in the cam kit i have sittin in the garage. look forward to a sound clip and burnout video soon!!!!! (hopefully)

 

Holy oil pan to ground clearance Batman! Don't hit any bumps or you are going to put the crank into the road.

 

Yep, I think it may be skidplate time for you!!

 

well it seems my projects go through these akward year long streaks were i have no drive to work on them at all and they just sit behind the shop. the cadmaro has had its year of sittin so now the fun begins.... motor is completely trashed so im goin through it with new pistons rods rings bearings heads port and polished and an intake. at about 10.5:1 it should be good for around 425-450hp and around
550ft lbs. also lookin into a 6speed swap so i can take the beast on the highway. anyways thanks for listening to my mindless babble and look out for pictures of progress (only way to keep myself motivated lol)

 

Thats awesome! Happy to see you have a "built" " not bought" car.

 

I'm glad to hear it's gonna hit the road soon; I'm jealous!

 

Any updates on this project?

 

sorry to say but you better straighten out that motor and tranny !!!! looks like its listing to one side

 

Has this project offically died?

 

the project indeed still lives. after driving it for a while and going through several more transmissions the motor finally gave way after overrevving during yet another transmission failure. block is sitting in the shop ready to be assembled . this time around it is gonna be offset ground crank with bbc rods and pistons and will be 546ci. Also in the works are a sheet metal intake, one off headers and a big shot of nitrous. my desktop dyno software estimates 648hp @ 5400rpm and 836ft-lbs @ 3200 n/a and 886hp@5400rpm and 1189ft-lbs@3400 rpm on the bottle. probably wont be finished anytime soon as i have to finish the l-98 build in my 88 vette first .

 

this bothered me for a while and after pulling the engine it seems that the plate that are welded onto the crossmember bent. driver side is bent up while passenger side is bent down. when i put it all back together i will weld in new thicker plates and some gussets so it can be straight again.

 

I already have a 500, freshed up with new bearings, Edelbrock Performer, hotter cam and blueprinted carb that was originally built for a rock crawler. Still might drop it all into my Scout as I have everything to bolt it up, but the 4l80e will leave me with a very short driveshaft.

Engine should have a hell of a lot of torqe off idle

Might be a cool spring project if the 305 or 700r4 gives me any problems

 

What a pig haha. Did you ever run it at the track?

 

I like it alot. Isn't the engine leaning on purpose to clear the steering ?

 

mad props on the project and stickin w it. looking 4ward to seein some pics soon on wat she looks lik nowa days.

 

You have a pm

 

Wow nice project! Anything happen lately?

 

Burnout pix ?

 

What happened to this car ?

 

still have the car. its sitting in the yard with no motor or tranny in it. tryin to decide the best way to get the car deep into the 9s. lol

 

maybe this will fulfill your need for burnout pics? this is my other car that has been soaking up my attention lately

 

Thanks for the burnouts ! I'm gonna be smelling that all day. As for the Firebird, cut out the rear footwells and reverse them to make room for rear mount turbos...

 

A pair of 70mm turbos a 536ci engine and a bottle of spray? That had better get into the 9s. If it didn't I would honestly believe the civic with two 66mm turbos was lieing when she pulled somewhere in the 6s to become the fastest ff driving woman on the planet.

 

Yup, that should do nicely !

 

I've been trolling this thread for a long while, love the build, any updates?I

 

Bump

 

What happened to this car?

 

I know it's been almost 2 years, but are you still alive? does the car still exist?

 

those pics of that big Caddy between those strut towers gave me an extra special happy feeling..

if i was gonna do it, i wouldn't be aiming for 9 second 1/4 mile times- i'd be aiming for leisurely cruising and the feeling of 500+ torques jamming me into my seat, so 2.56 gears and the quietest exhaust i could build without it being restrictive would be a part of the plan..

 

is this one still going to live. or did you give up on it?

 

i had a 500 caddy in a 64 chevy truck.with an eldlebrock aluminum intake its only like 60 pounds heavier than a iron intake 350.im not sure why he had so many trans problems.a built turbo 400 should be bullet proof.