72,91,92,96,99 Cadillac C-10 Pickup truck

[actconstruction]

Originally Posted by bighaas79

I'd have to jump on with pyro on this one I've worked on these motors before and can honestly say I don't have any overly kind words to say about them. In fact i just replaced a waterpump on one today. Have fun torqueing head bolts down on one if you ever have to replace head gaskets on it. Last one i saw that needed head work done ended up putting helicoils in all the head bolt holes because the bolts pulled all the threads out. And the guy doing the work was being very carefull during the torque sequence, because he knew it could be an issue. I think he pulled 3 out in the first torque which i think is like 17 lb/ft? There are even a couple machine shops in this area that will flat out refuse to do any work on these motors because of what a pile of garbage they are. That coupled with the points already stated earlier, i would recomend against it. There is a reason i think you don't hear of these motors being used for swaps. It is your vehicle and your project and ultimately your choice, but i agree, i think there are way better choices for swaps out there. I would totally vote for the 472-500 caddy route. these motors are friggin monsters and take very little work to pull huge power out of. And since they have the bop belhousing pattern it will be easy to find a tranny case to use.

Not to question what you're saying, but are you sure it was a 4.9L? I've seen issues like the ones you're talking about on 4.1/4.5's but it's been my experience that by the time 92 (or was it 91?) came around and the big brother, 4.9 hit the line, these issues were resolved. Yes, the water pump is a pain in a front wheel drive, but I'm not building a front wheel drive, so problem solved. As far as the machine work goes, yes some shops won't work on them, but not because they're piles of crap. It's because the lifters assembly is used to pre-stress the engine before final machining. Therefore, if it were removed, it would require extremely skillful machine work to bring the engine back to stock specs. There's my 2 cents. Oh, and as far as the HP goes, I should've been clear about my intentions with this build. I have stupid powerful stuff around here. I'm looking more for ease and comfort of driving, while maintaining a decent amount of power when I just have to hit the freeway at 80 mph and get it done quick. The bellhousing is resolved and it wasn't as bad as I feared. It's a simple inch thick aluminum adapter plate. Somebody makes one already, I'll look it up again if anybody's really interested. I'm going to just make mine though, using specs from a gentleman from England, since $250.00's a little steep for a simple bellhousing adapter plate. Thank you everybody for your suggestions and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Please, keep it coming. Pictures on Saturday.