Pondering
 

OK here is what I got.
I have a 94 Elderado touring coupe that our son wrecked a month ago. It's a salvaged title car so it's not worth the $2500-3000 to fix it. It would be worth maybe $1500.00 so!

I was thinking of buying this truck for I hope around $1000.00 and put all the caddy stuff in it. Motor, trans, gas tank everything and yes make it front wheel drive.
Put all the interior everything I can in the truck.
The truck has no running gear at all in it. Clean the truck up and get it it running and drive it.
I know it will take a lot of work but it's just time then it can be done when I can get to it.;)

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Errr, no. It's front wheel drive- just......no. Lol

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No on the fwd
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Do it just to say you did it.

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I hope you can buy that truck for less than a grand
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I haven't called him yet but I think I can also. I know making it FWD isn't the best way and if I could find a way to put the motor in it with a regular trans I would think hard about doing that instead. I sure hate the caddy just sitting out back. Anybody know of adapter to do this.;):chevy:

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It would sure be different Andy. I think that's a 4.6 Lt engine. The swap would most likely be easier if you cut the caddy frame at the firewall and splice it into the truck frame. That way all your mounts are already there, suspension and all. It could make for a nice cruiser.

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First off, anything that gets the truck out of the field is good. Is the eldorado worth anything? Id try to sell it and do something more relative to the truck. But, as I said, whatever gets it out of the field...good luck

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If I had such ability.....

Go for it man! Although it would be much easier (read "faster") to put in the regular 6 cylinder, rwd set up, not to mention much, much cheaper. Especially if you could sell the wrecked car and then the money saved could perhaps fix up the truck a bit. But hey, it's your stuff man and it's a super interesting idea.

Keep us posted with lots of pics!

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Since it's a new idea I would splice the frame in and then all front end with no guess work at all. Just think at a car show with the hood up and there she is a Caddy under the hood. Like nike said "Just do It"

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Andy, funny you post this. I was just thinking about the possibility of front wheel drive in one of our trucks. Am liking the suggestion of prior post of grafting the caddy front end to the truck frame.
Was good to meet u in bham on power tour. Who knows, maybe u can run power tour next year on this truck.
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Put a 5.3 in it and drive it how it sits....I dig it
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The whole point of this is to get something out of the wrecked Caddy. The car already had a salvaged title before it was wrecked so now if i sell it as is it's worth about $500.00 whole. If I take everything out of it and put into the truck I can have a truck to drive and have a one of a kind front wheel drive.
Needless to say something to talk about at shows.;):chevy:

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It would be a LOT of work...but would be pretty cool if done right.
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Might work better with a frame swap.Could be pretty low though.and the frame would need to be stretched.Still a cool idea and would turn some heads and some noses up.I think this type of innovative thinking is what got the hobby started.

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If memory serves me right, that Caddy basically has a Chevy 350. The 4.6 Northstar didn't show up until the later 90's. If that's correct, I just simply wouldn't do it.

Here's why. First off, you want to put this in a truck. Trucks already have an unbiased weight balance(heavier up front). The Caddy is engineered for this weight balance in the car chassis and platform. When you install this into a truck with the entire drivetrain into the front, it's going to be too nose heavy, and in all reality, will probably not drive well at all. I believe that understeer, which fwd cars are notorious for, will be greatly increased in a truck platform and become an issue at even low speeds.

I don't think it's a bad idea just because I don't like fwd vehicles, but because I don't think it will be a safe vehicle to drive when completed.

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No

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I saw a flatbed truck at the Daytona Turkey Rod Run last year with an Eldorado powertrain in it.

I agree that it would be cool, but I also think you would be opening a huge can or worms. You've got to be one heck of a fabricator to make that work.

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94 Elderado has the northstar 4.9 in it. I'm no where near doing this yet just thinking out loud about what to do with a perfectly good running motor and trans but the car isn't worth fixing.;):chevy:

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The 4.9 was not a Northstar. It is a bored and stroked HT4.1 V8 :puke:

In fact the whole idea is :puke:

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I stand corrected on the motor but weather it is are isn't doesn't matter, the fact is it's free with just my labor which is also free if I decide to do it.
This is what google says it is.
4.6L V8 DOHC 32V FI Engine

I know it gets 24 miles to a gallon and that would be nice in a 72 truck. It want get that good I'm sure but I bet it will get better than most carb trucks of the same year. ;):chevy:

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It's a Sacrilege! A blasphamy :devil:
But, it is your truck! What ever you decide to do, enjoy it and keep us posted

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That sounds like a simple, inexpensive project that will be very quick and fun to complete. :lol:

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you could always install the engine in the bed, and make the front a trunk.

you know, a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive truck.

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Way to much fabrication, in my opinion. Especially if you haven't done anything like this before. I think it would cost a lot more too. If you want a front wheel drive pickup, just buy a 4wd and remove the rear drive shaft. :lol:
Seriously, I'd sell the Caddy for whatever you can get. It may not be much, but maybe enough to buy a wrecked car or pickup with a drivetrain that would bolt into the pickup.