Cummins or Cadillac?
- Thread starter Woofwagon
- Start date
Colorado_Outback
Adventurer
Nice. Looking forward to the build.
My CCLB Chevy will need something eventually, its got 225k on the clock and smokes a little.
My CCLB Chevy will need something eventually, its got 225k on the clock and smokes a little.
redthies
Renaissance Redneck
I think you should change your sig from reading "350 to 6BT" to "350 to 500 Caddy". Also, note that the work light on your headache rack is putting out a "C" shaped light (Cummins logo?) just like the bat signal... One could argue that its a Caddy signal too I suppose. When the swap is done you should get one of the giant C stickers and have "addilac" in tiny letters beside it to mess with all the diesel punks:elkgrin:
superbuickguy
Explorer
that would be awesome
superbuickguy
Explorer
put escalade badging on it?
superbuickguy
Explorer
especially if come up some great cock-n-bull story about how GM experiment with this design and you have the test mule.
Colorado_Outback
Adventurer
Now you just need an Escalade interior like my crew cab is getting!
Woofwagon
Adventurer
Cadillac, The Standard of the World. They say this engine weighs in at around 600 pounds. Couldn't tell my engine stand that. That sucker is really bending low. Stand is rated for 2000 pounds. Going to do more research on cams and head work, buy all the parts and have Pacific Auto Machine upgrade the heads with larger Chevy 454 valves. I figure that since I have the time to really do this engine up right, I can make sure this isn't some piecemeal deal. I'm shooting for about 575 ft/lbs at 2,600 rpm which will work well with the trans and rear ratios.
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east_tn_81
Adventurer
I love this idea.
Mundo4x4Casa
West slope, N. Ser. Nev.
After reading over this thread, and without trying to grenade your intentions, I had a couple more thoughts. It may be way too late but,
1. Do you have room for a truly big block motor? Our daughter rented a 26' MoHo, class C, Ford F-450 chassis, V-10. We put 1800 miles on the RV with about 11 mpg and a LOT of torque. And quiet.
2. I've had several friends that had GM 454's in their pickups (w/TH400), work trucks (TH400 and SM-465), and a 30 foot, class A, MoHo called 'Elvis', (w/5 speed GM truck trans). In every case, the motors were reliable and servicable, if not mpg friendly.
Another thought is the current GM V-8 Diesel powerplant. There comes a point where the front frame horns will not support such massive amounts of torque without major frame boxing. How do I know this?
If your intention is to use the rig in a limited manner, then any choice of gas engine will be fine as you'll never get to the mileage tipping point where the fuel savings will pay for the $5K-10K penalty for buying an in-demand diesel powerplant. Just some more grist for your powerplant ambitions.
As for me, I'm so old school that being underpowered is a good thing. I've owned 12 4WD's and 5 diesel cars in my time, so I've seen the gamut of oil power. One of the 4WD's was a Yellow 1980 Scout Traveler (118" wb), factory 6-cyl. Nissan, 3.3L turbo diesel with 101 neck snapping HP, 23:1 compression, T-19, close ratio, all synchro 4 speed, Texas pattern Dana 300 Tcase. I did an SOA, put big tires on, and Trash-Locs and drove all the named jeep trails in the SW. In low range all that sooty torque shone brightly. In fact, the rig had great off-road traction as it did not make enough power to spin the wheels-not unlike the original 60 HP Jeep 4-banger. You are right about the power to weight with diesel engines. The Nissan weighed around 850 pounds. My 6BT HO Cummins weighs 1022 pounds; just the engine. Boat anchors, all. But the Nissan, with a fully loaded Scout got 20-22 mpg on a trip to Canada and back to CA.
regards, as always, jefe
1. Do you have room for a truly big block motor? Our daughter rented a 26' MoHo, class C, Ford F-450 chassis, V-10. We put 1800 miles on the RV with about 11 mpg and a LOT of torque. And quiet.
2. I've had several friends that had GM 454's in their pickups (w/TH400), work trucks (TH400 and SM-465), and a 30 foot, class A, MoHo called 'Elvis', (w/5 speed GM truck trans). In every case, the motors were reliable and servicable, if not mpg friendly.
Another thought is the current GM V-8 Diesel powerplant. There comes a point where the front frame horns will not support such massive amounts of torque without major frame boxing. How do I know this?
If your intention is to use the rig in a limited manner, then any choice of gas engine will be fine as you'll never get to the mileage tipping point where the fuel savings will pay for the $5K-10K penalty for buying an in-demand diesel powerplant. Just some more grist for your powerplant ambitions.
As for me, I'm so old school that being underpowered is a good thing. I've owned 12 4WD's and 5 diesel cars in my time, so I've seen the gamut of oil power. One of the 4WD's was a Yellow 1980 Scout Traveler (118" wb), factory 6-cyl. Nissan, 3.3L turbo diesel with 101 neck snapping HP, 23:1 compression, T-19, close ratio, all synchro 4 speed, Texas pattern Dana 300 Tcase. I did an SOA, put big tires on, and Trash-Locs and drove all the named jeep trails in the SW. In low range all that sooty torque shone brightly. In fact, the rig had great off-road traction as it did not make enough power to spin the wheels-not unlike the original 60 HP Jeep 4-banger. You are right about the power to weight with diesel engines. The Nissan weighed around 850 pounds. My 6BT HO Cummins weighs 1022 pounds; just the engine. Boat anchors, all. But the Nissan, with a fully loaded Scout got 20-22 mpg on a trip to Canada and back to CA.
regards, as always, jefe
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Woofwagon
Adventurer
I never liked the 454. For one reason why release an engine that big with only a 5 quart oil sump, Chevy? My 460 that I had was at least 9 quarts. The Cadillac 472/500 was a popular conversion for pickup owners in my home state for tow rigs. I never heard of any frame issues from all the ones that I saw so converted. The Caddy motor is only 50 pounds heavier than a 350. What killed the Cummins idea for me was all the frame and suspension work that I'd have to do on a concrete pad, I want to drive this thing not watch it grow moss while I wait for parts or money to complete the project.
I liked that Nissan 3.3, totally gutless though and only a viable option for 1/2 ton and lower trucks.
The 500 is going to have plenty of low RPM torque but able to put it down so smoothly that it's not going to pound the daylights out of the frame. Remember these came in cars that had frames not far removed from trucks and were designed to move a 2.5 ton car for 400,000 miles in silky smoothness. The Caddy motor that I have came out of a C/K20 truck already so it should be a drop in. I'll freshen up the engine with cam, head work and an aluminum manifold. Fuel injection is a later project to tackle, I'll run a 750cfm Edelbrock for the interim.
I liked that Nissan 3.3, totally gutless though and only a viable option for 1/2 ton and lower trucks.
The 500 is going to have plenty of low RPM torque but able to put it down so smoothly that it's not going to pound the daylights out of the frame. Remember these came in cars that had frames not far removed from trucks and were designed to move a 2.5 ton car for 400,000 miles in silky smoothness. The Caddy motor that I have came out of a C/K20 truck already so it should be a drop in. I'll freshen up the engine with cam, head work and an aluminum manifold. Fuel injection is a later project to tackle, I'll run a 750cfm Edelbrock for the interim.