I miss having a nice old car.

Started by shp4man, June 05, 2015, 02:32:34 PM

Soup DeVille

Quote from: shp4man on October 17, 2017, 07:52:42 AM
The Caddy motor is supposed to have some kind of special cylinder wall hardening process from what I hear.

It's not a forged wall, but a high nickel nodular iron used in the block and the heads. It takes forever to port the heads because it's harder than normal cast iron heads. It's also lighter than the Olds engine, more in the SBC weight class than the big blocks.

But the valvetrain is shit. You can't build them for big reve without spending serious coin, at which point it makes more sense to go with something more common.
Maybe we need to start off small. I mean, they don't let you fuck the glumpers at Glumpees without a level 4 FuckPass, do they?

1975 Honda CB750, 1986 Rebel Rascal (sailing dinghy), 2015 Mini Cooper, 2020 Winnebago 31H (E450), 2021 Toyota 4Runner, 2022 Lincoln Aviator

GoCougs

Quote from: CaminoRacer on September 24, 2017, 07:14:12 PM
All I know about Mopar 383s is that supposedly they aren't very good. :lol:

A big block would work in the truck. I don't usually care for them since I'm looking for high HP + low weight, but this isn't a race truck

Oh, they were plenty good. And cheap and plentiful back in the day.

GoCougs

Quote from: shp4man on September 24, 2017, 06:26:05 PM
I know what you're talking about,  a stroked SBC. But to my old ass, a 383 is a Chrysler engine. Besides, the low end torque of one of these is awe inspiring!  :praise:



And of the GM 455s - Pontiac, Olds, and Buick - in top factory form, were serious performers. Thing was, they, especially the last two, were extremely rare in top factory form,so they don't get the press. They weren't quite up to to the task of say a 426 Hemi, 440 Six Pack, 454 LS-6 or 427 Tri-Power, but they were close.

GoCougs

Quote from: Soup DeVille on October 17, 2017, 06:06:02 AM
The Caddy 472 is better in most ways than the Olds 455. Not a lot of support for it, but if it's a mild build it will do great.

Not so sure. The Caddy's problem was severe limitation in the valve train (and hence, RPM). Yes, the 500 V8 at its peak enjoyed a rating of 400 hp and 550 lb-ft (the latter being the highest factory rating of the era) but it will never rev, so it is limited.

Of note, around here there's a silver first gen Camaro running around with a Caddy 500 V8. I saw it at a car show, and it froze me in my tracks, as I knew it wasn't a Chevy motor (as you probably know, all Chevy V8s have the distributor in the rear, and the Caddys have it in the front). I got the kuddos for the first person to recognize it as such.

CaminoRacer

Quote from: GoCougs on October 19, 2017, 10:56:35 PM
Oh, they were plenty good. And cheap and plentiful back in the day.

But the 340 was more desirable IIRC
2020 BMW 330i, 1969 El Camino, 2017 Bolt EV

GoCougs

Quote from: CaminoRacer on October 20, 2017, 12:27:20 AM
But the 340 was more desirable IIRC

IMO, stock for stock, it depends on the car.

The 340 Mopar was the hi-po LA small block so it was far smaller/lighter than the 383 B big block.

Stock for stock, IMO the 383 Magum did better in the bigger cars (Road Runner, Charger, etc.) and the 340 did better in the smaller cars (Dart, Duster, etc.). The two rarely were available in the same car - the Challenger/'Cuda and the third gen B-body ('71 - '74 Charger, Road Runner) AFAIK.

These (aftermarket) days, the 383 is essentially the same size/weight as the 440, so there is little impetus to ever spend time/money on it (much as the 396 Chevy) unless the goal is to preserve originality/numbers.

Soup DeVille

Quote from: GoCougs on October 19, 2017, 11:11:46 PM
Not so sure. The Caddy's problem was severe limitation in the valve train (and hence, RPM). Yes, the 500 V8 at its peak enjoyed a rating of 400 hp and 550 lb-ft (the latter being the highest factory rating of the era) but it will never rev, so it is limited.

Of note, around here there's a silver first gen Camaro running around with a Caddy 500 V8. I saw it at a car show, and it froze me in my tracks, as I knew it wasn't a Chevy motor (as you probably know, all Chevy V8s have the distributor in the rear, and the Caddys have it in the front). I got the kuddos for the first person to recognize it as such.

Yeah, there are a few that will still play with them and they'll show up in some weird places from time to time.

I did note the limitations later, and largely agree.
Maybe we need to start off small. I mean, they don't let you fuck the glumpers at Glumpees without a level 4 FuckPass, do they?

1975 Honda CB750, 1986 Rebel Rascal (sailing dinghy), 2015 Mini Cooper, 2020 Winnebago 31H (E450), 2021 Toyota 4Runner, 2022 Lincoln Aviator