472 Cadillac engine?
 

a 472 big block out of a 1969 cadillac coupe deville. Anyone heard good or bad things or dealt with these blocks? i might be buying one to build for my 86 c10? any thoughts or opinions?

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

It is basically the same thing as the 500 caddy, heads, exterior componets will interchange. Be careful, if you put 472 heads on a 500 it yields somewhere in the neighborhood of 12.5 - 1 compression. Moving on, great engine, good availability of aftermarket parts and it is a torque monster, just think about what it came in.

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

these motors ARE torque monsters (check out the torque curve to 3000 rpm), & weigh a little more than a small block. my dad's friend has a '72 blaze with a 472, incredible seamless power.
http://www.500cid.com/ Maximum Torque Specialties
my dad,s friend says their the guru,s of caddy motors

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

A guy that I work with has a 472 cadi in a 79 Z28. It runs pretty good.

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

It is a great motor the torque is awesome stock, and only get better with bolt-ons. Throw in a modern cam, and they will just about hang with many diesels when towing.

I have seen them used in a few trucks, but you need the lowest gears to make the package work its best.

In my C20 with 32" tires a fresh 350 with 3.73 gears, and no overdrive is a nice combo.

On a 472/500 Cad I would look for a Dana 61 with 3.07 gears, and it would probably still light up the tires.

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

One other thing that you need to know. The RWD oil pan won't work on your truck. Swap an Eldorado pan and you will be good to go. They are torque monsters, just don't over rev them.

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a84/low84/mycadi.jpg

It's been a good engine to me thus far. Not really a gas saver but it gets me better gas mileage on this with the hydraulics and spokes than my stock 6.0 2500hd.

My father in law has a 500 in his Caddy and that has been a good engine as well as far as I know

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

Longhornman had a 500 in his 69 longhorn. I have not seen him here in a VERY long time. Also there was a 60-66 at Brother's Show and Shine that had a caddy in it. Was pretty cool!

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

My next door neighbor has a friend with a Caddy engine in his squarebody. I saw it breifly and heard it run. It is sic.... A torque monster is right...

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

^^ That is a clean truck! What wheels are those?

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

I have a 500 in my Jimmy 2wd. Love it. Its been modded a bit and puts out around 500hp and 600tq. I'm using the oil pan from the later 425 rwd cars, commonly referred to as the mid sump. It fits fine and can be had for less than the Eldon pan.
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Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

A fellow I worked with in LA had a 472 in a 77 GMC K20. Got mid teens for fuel mileage with a Rochester quadrabogger... I never asked how he fitted the SM465 to that motor. It's a BOP bellhousing pattern but I bet it was fun to source the flywheel.
He said it towed a 28' Airstream everywhere and it ran up the Grapevine towing it like it didn't have anything in tow.

You'll need a rear sump Eldorado oil pan. If you have 2wd drop it in with a Caddy TH200R4 and mod the driveshaft.

Damn nice to have the distributor up front like my 383 Polara.

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

That's gorgeous. :c2:

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

The only issue the 472/500 motors had is in the oiling system-the wide main bearings soak up a lot of heat and tend to score a bit by the time you get to 60K and up.....but, a quality overhaul using Clevite Tri-Metal bearings will help a lot-I would recommend lightening up the stock crank while at the machine shop and paying extra for balancing the rotating assembly to +/- 3 grams.....that'll help ensure the heavy rotating assembly won't tear up the bearings much.....obviously synthetic oil wasn't a luxury those old Caddy motors originally could have taken advantage of but they can now-that too will help extend its life. For the record, in 1970 the 500 motors were rated the highest in stock form-375 HP and 500 FT!
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Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

What about adding some room in the pan for a few more quarts.

When I do up my truck engine in my c20 no matter how wild to basic. I will mod the stock pan for about 3-4 extra quarts.

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

Heres a 500 ci caddy in a 61 C10 that was at Brothers show. I love it, because its different.

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

Nice....that's a gorgeous engine bay! 500/472 Caddy motors are definitely sexy lookin!
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Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

Thanks! do you know if i am going to need to bulk up the frame at all, or cooling system? what about engine mounts? any other mods that need to be done to go from a 350 small block?

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

Your 3-4 core radiator should do. Frame is fine, remember its weight is a little more than a SBC. An Edelbrock intake will add mucho to the scene, and lighten the weight as well.

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

got some pics? I would like to see the frame area near the exhaust manifolds....Did you have to clearance the frame at all?

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

That's the one I mentioned earlier! Thanks Matt!

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

500 Cad in my Crew cab

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

Here ya go.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N...0/CIMG6557.JPG

No clearancing is necessary with manifolds. Some slight clearancing was necessary with BBC truck headers modified for the Caddy engine.

A typical installation like mine involves moving the frame mounts forward to match up with Caddy 425 engine mounts from '77 era rwd cars. That gives plenty of room to route the exhaust from the manifolds (or headers) down. Frame mounts have to be cut to clear the steering center link rod and a new hole drilled in the crossmember to attach the frame mounts (just one is used).

Another method leaves the frame mounts in place and uses a 1/4" spacer plate to extend forward to Eldorado stud-style mounts. Either method works fine.

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

Some more oil won't hurt but that's not really the problem. The design uses up most of the oil before it hits all of the bearings. Go hear for a lengthy discussion http://www.cadillacpower.com/forum/v...5265&start=140

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

Picked her up today! cant wait to build her pretty and go threw tires like i will gas!

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

man that thing sounds pissed off!!

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

How did this build go?... kinda died off

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

I really wanted to do a 500 Cadi in my truck found 2 could make a deal on one and the deal fell through on the other so I picked up a 454

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

I love my Cadillac engine. Fairly easy swap and torque for days.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4qo5Af3b88

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

Nice sound to it..

Mine was subject to a sloppy resto by the previous owner (heated the springs to drop, runs and under spray paint job, painted the block with non heat paint) so i'm giving it some much needed TLC. But they still left the front sump oil and putting it at a bad angle so that needs to change. Also i would like to connect the heater core but cant seem to find were i need to tie it into. any chance you could you snap a pic? can seem to find it in the caddy book.

Id like to keep the motor in it since not many have that swap, but they are pretty proud of their parts.. $300 for a oil pan... oh well, im sure it will be worth it... :metal:

Rims and paint got to go... in the middle of bagging, and adding power brakes and steering.

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

:c2::c2::c2:

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

Clean looking ride.. That cheetah steering wheel cover is on point! :fro:

yeah i was wondering what my MPH was gunna be... i was guessing 5... lol

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

Yeah , those oil pans are expensive. mainly because of the difficulty of harvesting them from an Eldo. The engine has to be removed and the fwd transmission has to be separated from the block before you can get to it. As far as heater hoses, the Cadillac designed the water passages to get hot water to the heater core fast. After all, a cadillac customer doesn't want to wait for the heater to warm up. The outlet for the heater hose is on the back of the passenger side cylinder head, the return line goes back to the radiator. Most people just block them off due to firewall clearance. I used a 90 degree elbow fitting to make room for the heater hose.

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

Yeah they have a hose going back there. I figured that might be one but i need to figure how to tap into to that, if i need any other parts and where the other goes. right now i just have those 2 empty In/out lines from the heater core :banghead: but thanks for that info!

Still learning as i go, fairly new at this stuff. but not afraid to tackle anything.. I'm kinda in a wheelchair so i have a "i can do anything you can do" attitude. just takes me a little longer :metal:.. Thank god for Google and YouTube tho.

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

You can seal up the back of the passenger head port and tap the water pump flat spot for the heater hose.
[IMG]http://s33.postimg.org/wp7i8n93z/cad_motor_004.jpg adult photo sharing[/IMG]


Here is a photo of where you can tap the water pump. I think the plug on the back of the head is a standard 1" iron pipe fitting.
[IMG]http://s33.postimg.org/4n2d3vcgv/cad_motor_003.jpg image hosting over 5mb[/IMG]

I twisted the frame on a 1968 k20 with a modded caddy motor. At least fab up a few more crossmembers and have a badass rearend setup. I had a th400 and 205 transfer case, both held up well.
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Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

Could one of you guys post up pics of your adapted motor to frame mounts?
I have a '85 suburban front suspension/frame cut that I'm installing in a '81 Cherokee that will be lowered and a SUA rear with a 14 bolt (4.10's/locker)

Maybe I should just start another thread asking.;)


Thanks E

Re: 472 Cadillac engine?
 

A Cadillac 472 is in my daily driver. 1972 Coupe Deville. I have owned 2. They are great engines. One thing to look out for is that the original timing chain was coated in plastic, these pieces are notorious for falling off and plugging up your oil pump with plastic bits. Stock valve-train is pretty weak, but fine below 4,000 rpm. These motors are all about low rpm torque anyways. A 1969 472 is already a pretty high compression engine 10:1 I believe. Unlike the post 1970 motors that are 8.5:1 . I have already talked about putting a 472 in my 74' c10, but don't have the funds. If you can get it, I would go for it. You wont be disappointed.

-Gavin