4.5/4.9 Cadillac V8

[mgb260]

Happy New Year to you guys, This bench machining is a blast! You know like bench racing.Yeah, Carl thanks for the link.Cool!

[danmas]

Pies are round; cornbread are square

[BlownMGB-V8]

xcept for mathmaticians. They got square pies and round cornbread. Come to think of it. I always liked round cornbread better anyways. (baked in an iron skillet)

Jim

[roverman]

Call me old-fashined-jus doan call me, I like fish-net like material-line up the back... an an for just me, "Injection is nice, but I'd rather be bl.......", never mind. Is this our first "bench jacking" of 2010? -cool.  roverman.

[MGBV8]

"I like....
I like the little way the line runs up the back of the stockings
I've always liked those kind of high heels, too, ya know I...
No, no, no, no don't take 'em off. Don't take...leave 'em on
Yeah, that's it...a little more to the right"

-Everybody Wants Some!!- Van Halen (David Lee Roth era)

[BlownMGB-V8]

Good one.

[roverman]

Isn't this graaaaate ! Our "commune", at the Cadillac Ranch, has woven the first hemp rope in 2010 from "Caddy" threads. roverman -not up-in-smoke

[mgb260]

I don't know where to start here anymore.No wonder Nic crosses over to all these different threads. I think Roverman was inferring Jims fishnet idea for block filler.Carl's just got a good sense of humor! What really surprised me is Dan Masters started it! Hey I got it,you guys are very helpful and you can still goof around, but seriously after you get the 4"(or 3. liners in the Caddy you can pour in block filler easily because you can see down around the wet liners. There is a procedure to set the liners first. You have to torque the heads with an old gasket to 30 ft lbs first to insure they are seated on the O ring. The block filler would be insurance to prevent leaks. See how I intertwined the humor with getting back on track. I have a line on a 94 4.9 core I am going to try to get next week,plus a RWD 4.1 TBI intake and valve covers. The early intakes were single plane the later(89 and up) dual plane. My idea to make a 4 barrel manifold. First the 1/2"TBI adapter with counterunk scews,porting, then the Edelbrock split 1" spacer.Hey does that Extrudehone company still exist?More pictures:

[mgb260]

If I did fuel injection I'd be tempted to do what this guy did on a Northstar : use 650-750 Suzuki motorcycle throttle bodies on tube type manifolds because it looks so cool! I would use chrome stacks on top though.

[roverman]

Jim, you entertwined somptin-"pfunny"?Pic's are TB's with port injection?  If you "must have' I.R. ,for Caddy Shack, you mite "peep", type I or IV, VW(using IDF. Webbers) or John Eales,"swan Necks' for Rovers?  roverman.

[mgb260]

The individual runner manifold won't work, because as Nic noticed, you are limited with the intake being part of the head under the valve cover. You could do the Inglese 4 barrel to Weber deal though. This is shown on a V6 manifold.

[BlownMGB-V8]

The runner/pushrod geometry kinda sucks doesn't it. A custom intake might be quite a chore.

Jim

[roverman]

Other than the forged crank, What does the push rod motor have to offer, vs. Northstar?

[mgb260]

Inexpensive base,(thousands in wrecking yards for around $300 avg) easy 300HP,possibly larger bore. It looks like it is limited to the "poor boy" Performer 4 barrel intake mod.You could turbo or supercharge for more power.

[NixVegaGT]

Maybe you could chop off the two sides and graft in a different intake?

[roverman]

Jim, If I understand, only cast iron head available? Norstar head can't be swapped-on? 4.9L has likely more bore potential than Northstar? Used a forged crank yet? Northstars too expensive? Thanks, roverman.

[NixVegaGT]

Maybe you could chop off the flange part of the intake and graft on a different one like this:

http://www.buickperformancegroup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6012

Not that you'd happen across one with ports like that. Just a thought.

[roverman]

Until "someone" bothers to feed us exact bore spacing, head swap don't look good. The shortblock might be a good way to go, if we can get rid of the"dorky" stuff.

[mgb260]

Sometime next week I will have one in my possesion to measure everything.The guy that made that manifold in the link above is very talented! I was thinking that on the early single plane manifold you could cut off the top and weld a flat aluminum flange like these Trans-Am 351 Cleveland Holley manifolds. Then you could do Dual Quad ,Tri-power, Webers or even a Blower manifold just by bolting a different top on.

[roverman]

I like if we can find a "user friendly" head for it. May want to consider Melling sleeve# CSL 308 F(flanged,3.9"bore x1/16" wall).roverman.

[NixVegaGT]

I keep finding references that put the bore spacing at 4". I'm looking forward to when you get your spare block. Put some mystery aside. Wouldn't it be great if it was more like 4.4"?

[mgb260]

I haven't seen anything on the 4.9. The Northstar is 4".If you look at the comparison pictures the Northstar bores are touching(3.66" bore). The 4.9 looks to have a lot of space(3.62" bore).It wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't the same as SBC at 4.4".Or it could be 4.24" like the 215/Rover, it is hard to tell by looking at pictures.I've seen pictures somewhere of LS heads sitting on a SBF and SBF heads sitting on a LS block (same 4.4" bore spacing).Here is a couple more pics of the 4.9.

[mgb260]

LS 4.8/5.3 looks pretty close (3.78" bore),4.4" bore spacing. Would'nt it be great to bolt on LS heads! Here are pics of an LS block without sleeves compared to a 4.9 block.Also an older 327 chev pic.

[mgb260]

My intake idea would be similar to the Edelbrock GM V6 base. Just bolt the top you want on. The biggest problem with the Caddy is lack of aftermarket support. So you have to improvise. If it becomes more popular like in the Fiero and Kit cars, that might improve.The small port size might hurt on a large stroker also. Maybe I will get an extra head to section and see how much we can improve that without hitting a water jacket.I am making a home made flow bench using a shop vac and MAF sensor (voltage to flow calculations). The chamber looks just like the Vortech Chevy heart shape.The port size looks small like the early small block Ford. It looks like with 4" bore you have room for 2.02/1.60 Chevy valves.Of course you would have to unshroud the valves. Because of the smaller ports 3.8" bore might be more realistic, but I guess you can't beat cubic inches.

[mgb260]

Next Monday I get my 4.9 and rear wheel drive intake(front water outlet) and oil pan(rear sump). The 94 was sold, so I had them get me a 92 from Portland. I will have to find valve covers yet.Evidentaly 82-85 4.1 are steel(chrome on Eldorado).86-89 4.5 TBI finned aluminum.