Hi all,

My dad has a 1969 Eldorado, it is in very good shape. Looks like a re paint on the door and hood and the body would be cherry. It's black and has many gizmos, most of them work, (at least as many as I could play with!) But the big thing about it is the big motor!! 472 CI !!! Makes 375hp at 4400 and 525ftlbs at 3000!! Stock no less!! I figure if I was too open up the intake and exhaust alittle it would really sing! I drove it and it still has good power. It didn't snap me back in the seat, but it "gently" set me deeper in the seat when I hit it. Anyway, you guys think it would be a worthy build? Throw some cool wheels and a few speed parts on it and it would seem to be a good driver.

There are two things I'm concered with, being that it was one of the first FWD cars how hard is it to fix or find parts for that driveline? And with all the extra gizmos, as cool as they are, could that present a wiring nightmare that I don't want?

Anyway thanks in advance I know I'll get some good info from you guys!! Jesse

As for the engine there are a few places out there that make Caddy 472 and 500 speed parts (aluminum intake, heads, etc).  Not many of them, but I have seen them.  The Front wheel drive transmission is pretty much a TH-400 that has been modified to be a transaxle so it should be quite strong. The correct name for the trans should be a TH-425 and they were used well into the 70's.  The Haynes transmission repair book for GM Transmissions has it listed. 

As for speed a couple things work against it.  Weight is number one, but I think it is pretty impressive to get a lot of iron rolling quickly (I have a 5,000lb Centurion w/ Buick 455) Another is the front wheel drive, though initially the weight over the drive wheels will help, but after a certain point rear wheel drive is better for the chassis loading (look at the trouble quick FWD imports have with traction)  But for a daily driver/cruiser it should rock. 

The Gizmo's with out specifing any of them are probably a hit or miss on ebay. I don't know any Cadillac suppliers, but I haven't looked.

Thanks for the info, I think my eyes are getting to big for my walet and driveway. I think it would be a cool project, different for sure. Headers and some three inch exhaust would really open up that thing, and I too have found quite a few speed parts for it. I think it would be a real street sleeper and 1/4 mile surprise, but the head are pretty spendy ($2100) I thik I can almost build a BBC for the cost of the parts I'd need.

But man it just sounds soooooooooooo cool to try, you know being a car guy is a disease, even if it's a good disease. =() !!!!

I guess I'll think about it for awhile maybe get more info. I have two 66 Caprice's he said maybe he'd trade me for. Maybe I'll trade him one for it. Anyway thanks for the info about the tranny-are all TH425 transaxles? I could find anything to say they were or weren't, it might be kinda cool to have a stock tranny hold 525ftlbs. Thanks again.

Jesse 

I imagine if you go with too much more power, your gonna get too much torque steer.  

Well, I'm not sure of the toq. steer. But I have had a FWD that did alittle. The Caddy is pretty heavy though. From what I've found online the Caddy is about 4700lbs, so it would be just shy of 5k with me in it. I have a 04 Silverado with a 5.3. It runs 16.2 and weighs in at around 5500 with me in it. It only has 325ftlbs and 285 hp, so who knows.................?

Thanks Jese

Yeah all TH425's are Transaxles, but I think there might be a difference in bellhousing pattern between the Cadillac's and Oldsmobiles, but I am not 100% sure on what the Cadillac's bellhousing pattern is, I think it is a chevy pattern but don't know for sure. 

I've never driven a FWD with that much power, not sure about the torque steer on that large of a car.

I would imagine their would be a bunch. especially if you romp on it from a stop i am a younger guy that was almost lost to the darkside of sport compact cars (thank ALL the gods that didnt happen) but my mostly stock 4cyl would try to break my wrists when i would dump the clutch at any thing over 5grand(motor good for 7500rpm)with sticky tires. it had a quaife LSD and only made about 210 to 225hp. the car weighed 3400lbs.by the way to keep the jokes down it was dead reliable would run 860's in the eigth and then be able to red line sixth gear on the expressway for almost 40 mins straight on the way home. your caddy weighs a bit more but makes a WHOLE LOT MORE POWER than my nissan could ever hope to  make. by the way i am not trying to discourage you TORQUE STEER CAN BE FUN. when you get it all together slowly increase your launch rpm and adjust your technique at each increment till you get it down pat then you can really impress the ladies at the strip. i suggest starting with a set of CHEAP tires on a back road with no traffic and keep 60 footing the car you will know you are getting good when your peel outs are looking like this = ) (sort of) the front end should only drift out either side a few inches and then come back in then just ride it out   have fun

Well I have romped on it, and because of its age-or because of the weight, it just motored away. I don't think it will be as easy to induce tq steer, you gotta remember that the motor itself is probally 1000lbs, not to mention a TH400 converted into a transaxle. I think you would have to put more power than the current drivline could handle to get alot of that kinda of a problem. However the 472 is supposed to be a verystong motor. I would only want another 50hp and 30-40 more ftlbs.

IThe real key would be to rasie the peakrpms alittle. It peaks out a 4400 right now, maybe if I could get 5000 or 5200, it could sqeeze out some xtra power.

Bummer all the TH425's are transaxles, it would be cool to drop one behind a BBC with gobbs of torque.

Thanks guys  Jesse

I found that the big caddy mills will fit in other gm's with little or no problem. all ya gotta do is get the oil pan oil pump pickop engine mounts, off of a 425 c.i.d caddy engine (rear sump)77 on up i think and then use the chevy mounts on the frame all b.o.p transmissions will fit behind it. I put a 1970 472 in my 79 monte carlo I think you can still get the factory 10.25 to 1 pistons from gm. the 70 only model was rated at 475 h.p and 555 ft #'s of tourque. it should make for some cheap fast fun  

my bad i didnt realize you only wanted a few extra hp i  thought you were going to cam/head whole 9 yards. with what you are looking for i wouldnt worry about it and just have a cool odd daily driver

the 472 500's are 75#,s lighter than a 454!!

And will out torque the 454 pretty much through the whole powerband. I've always looked at the 472/500's as bastardized stroked Buick engines, they are light, distributors in the front, oil pump's in the timing cover, tons of torque and even the heads look similar (they are different/not interchangable). They are stroked .21"/.50" over the Buick 455 the rod/stroke ratio isn't the same, but getting it to rev to at least 5200 shouldn't be that hard.  

Well I thnak you guys for all the info, I have also found some way cool stuff for it, the heads are spendy, but the rest of the stuff is no more than BBC stuff. This car would be a great rig to run around in all year long,(even in snow, I drove this thing on a snow packed gravel road and beside the awsome ride, it sailed down the road like there was no snow!) while I tear down and build my Caprice. The Caddy is also nice enough, that if I fixed the door and hood, but some nicer lookn wheels on it, I could take it to shows with no shame!! Right now my Caprice it a nice 66 with 57k on the orginal 396, runs great, but has two ugly holes under the windshield chrome so it leaks!! Anyway it has a few ugly spots on the body too so it looks worse than it is, and even for a guy that like funtion over form; its ugly!! So while I fix that, this rig would be way cool!

Thanks again-if you run into anymore info please post it thanks guys! Jesse

I think your gonna have to be careful when you look for different wheels. I believe they run an odd backspacing like the olds toronado.  

I'm pretty sure the TH425's are all the BOP pattern. These trannies never made it into any Chevy. Have to check to be sure. I will look at my customers 76 Eldo tomorrow and get back to you. My other client's all black 76 Eldo convert with 7.6 to 1 compression 500 ci engine will smoke the front tires with ease. Some torque occurs, but not near as bad as the new Impala SS V8. Front axles are closer to equal length than newer fron drive cars. Though I am worried about the chain drives in the trans snapping.