Caddy 500 big block Blazer 4x4 swap

[steelsoldiers]

Hi Guys,
I have a 1984 4x4 Blazer with a sick 6.2L diesel, a TH400, and a NP208 t-case. I have a 500 Caddy that I want to swap in. Have any of you ever done this swap before? I found a place that sells an adapter to mount my TH400 to the Caddy engine. What have you guys done before to flush out a diesel system to run gasoline? The company also sells motor mounts for swaps into anything. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Sincerely,
Chris

[gchemist]

Can you post the link to the company with the adapting plates? Thanks!!

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Gerardo
1983 Custom Truck
TX Plates: "BAD BOW"

[Fast68Chevy]

youl be welding it in because caddy engine mounts are way farther forward on the block than chevy ones, advnce adaptors ahs the adaptors to go from BOP/Caddy engines to chevy trannies

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-71/C-10(thx teeitup and crews!)350 4+4/CH465(thx 71Chev, GMCPaul, and CPNE)longfleet bed(thnx meathead95)!still building it-
-'84 Z28(Z28) 1G1AP87GXEL100000 with H.O. 305/4bbl/190net/hp(L69) 3.73 rear(GT4/YC4) 700R4(MD8-MXO) & other goodies
-79 G20 pass van, 350/th350/10bolt,
paint is overrated
Randy- Lincoln, IL

r68c30@hotmail.com
© RSS Enterprises 2000

[bbf557ci]

why go with a caddy engine if you dont mind me asking, the chev 454 outperforms any caddy and doesnt need millions of dollars in adapters, plus any kind of performance parts for the caddys are rare.

[steelsoldiers]

OK guys, I'll try to answer all these with one reply. The two sites for Caddy 500 engine parts, adapters, etc... are www.cad500parts.com and www.mts.simplenet.com. This is the reason I'm going with a Caddy 500 and not a 454. The Caddy motor can be mine for a song. The 454 will cost serious cash from a salvage yard, if they have one. Yep, I have to use an adapter to bolt it to my TH400, but it's only around $100. The companies also sell adjustable motor mount kits for about $80. A brand new $4500 454 HO from your Chevy dealer puts out 450hp and 500 torque. A $100 Caddy 500 from a 1970 ElDorado puts out roughly 400hp and 500 torque. So, for about $300 in engine, adapter, and mounts and another $100 in wiring, hoses, and vacuum brake booster(diesel has hydroboost), I'll be smoking my 35"s all the way down the block, right before grenading my 10-bolt. What do y'all think?
Sincerely,
Chris



[This message has been edited by steelsoldiers (edited March 24, 2002).]

[70 Jimmy]

Caddy is a good choice. Rebuild/performance parts are a bit more expensive but performance is great. Torque wins races!

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"KEEP IT DOWN!"
70 Jimmy 454 2wd
56 GMC Big Window

[tom hand]

If you have a 6.2 diesel I would think that the caddy motor would bolt right up to the trans.

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72 GMC Sierra SWB almost finished---- 84 Softail
Olive Branch MS

[Fast68Chevy]

eh ? why how could it ?
6.2L is not BOP or caddy engine,,,,

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-71/C-10(thx teeitup and crews!)350 4+4/CH465(thx 71Chev, GMCPaul, and CPNE)longfleet bed(thnx meathead95)!still building it-
-'84 Z28(Z28) 1G1AP87GXEL100000 with H.O. 305/4bbl/190net/hp(L69) 3.73 rear(GT4/YC4) 700R4(MD8-MXO) & other goodies
-79 G20 pass van, 350/th350/10bolt,
paint is overrated
Randy- Lincoln, IL

r68c30@hotmail.com
© RSS Enterprises 2000

[tom hand]

OK my bad, I was thinking about the 5.7 diesel which was an converted oldsmobile block.

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72 GMC Sierra SWB almost finished---- 84 Softail
Olive Branch MS

[StingRay]

The engines in 4x4's sit along way back from where they do in a 2X. That may improve the motor mount thing but are you gonna have enough room in the fire wall recess to fit that Caddy in? You might need a really really BFH. I think in general the Caddy is a great choice as long as you can make it fit.

[steelsoldiers]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for all the great ideas. I'm going to go for it. As for the engine being too close to the firewall, I got two things working for me. 1) The Caddy distributor is on the front of the engine. 2) The adapter to mount the 500 on my TH400 is 5/16" steel so that should help scoot it up a little bit. We'll find out soon enough. Another question is about the fuel system. My plan is to use the stock tank and fuel lines. I have an intake and a return line. I believe they are the same size as a gasser truck. The fuel pump will be replaced with one meant for gasoline. My main concern is the tank. It's a 27 gallon unit and it has a thick skid plate under it. Will I be OK just taking the tank out and flushing it out (or having a radiator shop flush it)? Anybody out there converted a diesel to a gasser and kept the tank? Any thoughts will be appreciated. The diesel radiator should be more than enough to cool the Caddy. Plus, it has a built in tranny cooler and a oil cooler. The wiring won't have to modified too much. I'll be able to disconnect all of the glow plug harness and just run a wire to the coil and to the starter. One other question I have is what to do about the brakes. The truck has the Hydroboost system on it right now. It has had some problems, but generally works pretty good. Since I'll now have a source of engine vacuum, I could convert over to vacuum boost. Or, I could try to bolt up my Hydroboost pump to the Caddy. They should be almost identical. Hmmmmm. Well, I'm off in search of a beater '70-76 Caddy Eldorado for my engine. I'll keep y'all posted.
Sincerely,
Chris

[truckster]

I converted a 82 Buick Estate from a 350 diesel to a 455 Olds. The fuel problem isn't a big one; just try to drain the tank and flush the lines. A little bit of diesel will just make your first tankful a little smoky. As for the brake booster, you can keep your hydro unit if it works well. GM actually installed a few hydroboost units in gasoline vehicles- supposedly they provide more brake boost. The only reason I ended up eventually switching my to vacuum boost was that when the booster went out, it cost about 3 times as much a the vacuum unit.

[MADRAD]

It cost just under $4000 to finsh off my big block. Hell if you can afford it.. go for it. And I'm able to smoke all 4 of my tires.. woohoo.. rock on people..

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74 Chevy K-5 Blazer. 565 Tall Deck Big Block Chevy, 4.5 bore, 4.50 stroked crank, 10 to 1 pistons that are 60 over, aluminum heads with full rocker cam and lifters. hooker heads with 2" primary and 4" collectors to a pair of flowmasters. 4spd auto, 205 T-case, Dana 60 front limited slip, Corp 14 bolt rear lockers, with 4:88. Working on a 4 link coil over spring front suspenion with 63inch leaf link rear suspenion. Running 38 Ground Hawg tires on custom 16.5 bead locked rims. 8 point roll cage and lots of other goodies. Its my money pit land boat, but I love it!!

[steelsoldiers]

Hey Truckster,
What kind of wiring modifications did you make when you swapped out your diesel for a gasser? Did any of your guages or "idiot" lights work with the gasser sending units? Thanks.
Chris

[truckster]

Steelsoldiers, sorry it's taken so long to get back to you. I've been upgrading my computer. As far as the electrical, it wasn't too complicated. I used a stock HEI and ran 12 volts to it from a circuit that was on when the key was on. The oil/temp/alt idiot lights all worked. I used the sending units from the diesel, if I remember right. The gas guage was off a little bit-- I suspect it was because of the difference in the density of diesel and gas. I removed the harness that fed the glow plugs, and since I had a hydroboost brake unit, the only vacuum lines were to the distributor and the vacuum reservior.
It was a fun car, and it took a lot of people (and their mustangs and Camaros) by surprise. The only problem was the mileage. I averaged less than 10 MPG.

I almost forgot to add this part- I had to work with both sets of brackets (old & new) to get the right alignments for the accessories, and I think I had to bend the alt bracket just a little bit.

[This message has been edited by truckster (edited April 16, 2002).]

[steelsoldiers]

Thanks Truckster,
I can't wait to do this swap. It's going to be real nice. I'll make sure to post some photos and details after I'm done. I appreciate all the information. I'm still looking for my perfect engine. Wish me luck.
Sincerely,
Chris

[Longhorn Man]

The caddy motors are all high nickle blocks. It is common to find 100,000 mile engines, that need no machine work what soever. They had much better toloranses, and overall fit was 10 times better than any other G.M.
A couple things to look at;
1. You may need to have an oil pan made for your aplication, might not.
2. Headers are the only way to go...but they will need to be fabbed. You can get a bolt on flange and weld from there.
3. A body lift will help with your firewall clearance issues.
4. As far as MPG...this thing makes so much torque, at suck a low rpm, you can install 3.07 gears and still light them off the line. Then you'll be highway cruising at about 2200 - 2500 RPM. Not bad for a non overdrive truck.
I have been wanting a caddy 500 for years. would love to put one in my '70 Longhorn.

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'69 G.M.C. 350/350. Trying to clean up the left over damage from the Dope-Smokin-Old-Man
I've been dubbed the Longhorn Freak/Fanatic/Expert, I just hope I can live up to it.
FINALLY got the HORNIAC...a '70 one ton Longhorn with a Pontiac 350/350 and lots of 'personality'. Check out The Longhorn Webite.
If you need a pic posted, E-mail me at longhornmail@yahoo.com
Andy, in Columbus Ohio

[Longhorn Man]

Almost forgot, if you want an overdrive, don't waste your time with anything G.M. has built. (it pains me to say that, but facts are facts) Check these guys out; http://www.gearvendors.com/commercial.html
I have seen one of these in a '69 Camaro R.S. that ran 11's in the 1/4 mile, and he also had one in his tow rig.
Impressive IMO.

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'69 G.M.C. 350/350. Trying to clean up the left over damage from the Dope-Smokin-Old-Man
I've been dubbed the Longhorn Freak/Fanatic/Expert, I just hope I can live up to it.
FINALLY got the HORNIAC...a '70 one ton Longhorn with a Pontiac 350/350 and lots of 'personality'. Check out The Longhorn Webite.
If you need a pic posted, E-mail me at longhornmail@yahoo.com
Andy, in Columbus Ohio

[steelsoldiers]

Thanks for all the tips Andy. I had heard that about the high nickle blocks before. That sounds good to me because the chances of finding a low mileage Caddy, of that vintage, in my price range are slim to none. I definitely want to go with headers. I'll buy my BB Chevy headers and weld on the Caddy flanges. I was thinking of going with dual 3" pipes all the way from the collectors back. Would that be best for the low end torque? Also, do you think it would need a cross-over pipe to equalize the exhaust? I am going to get the Edlebrock 2115 intake for it. That's supposed to add about 20hp right out of the box. I am going to keep planning night and day because I only want to do this once. Thanks again. By the way, I liked your Longhorn website.
Sincerely,
Chris


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webmaster, http://www.steelsoldiers.com

1984 M1009 CUCV Military Blazer w/ 6.2L diesel (maybe a Caddy 500 soon) and a 1970 M35A2 2.5-ton 6x6 cargo truck w/ 478ci multi-fuel straight-six engine. Both in desert tan CARC paint from Operation Desert Storm.



[This message has been edited by steelsoldiers (edited April 18, 2002).]

[steelsoldiers]

One more thought guys. I just calculated the RPMs I'd be running at 75mph. It would be about 2685rpm with my 3.73 gears, 35" tires, and non-OD tranny. Not bad. That should keep the MPG pretty decent. Even better if I go up to 38" tires, 2473rpm. Hmmm... There's a great page with all different sorts of calculators at http://www.dirtroad.com/gears.htm .
Sincerely,
Chris


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webmaster, www.steelsoldiers.com

1984 M1009 CUCV Military Blazer w/ 6.2L diesel (maybe a Caddy 500 soon) and a 1970 M35A2 2.5-ton 6x6 cargo truck w/ 478ci multi-fuel straight-six engine. Both in desert tan CARC paint from Operation Desert Storm.

[Duallie]

I'm just finishing my Cad swap into a (mostly) '72 C30. Had to build an oilpan to clear the crossmember, and had to widen the firewall recess where the clutch linkage would've gone through. I used exhaust manifolds for durability, and didn't need to grind on the frame for clearance. 2.5" exhaust tube fits on the manifolds with minor filing to the flanges. Get ALL of the pullies from the same engine; Cadillac changed them every year.
I used Hydraboost because I didn't have the room for a normal vacuum booster.



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Just as if I knew what I was doin'

[Duallie]

Her's my in-need-of-updating truck site: http://www.ptialaska.net/~nickel/index.html


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Just as if I knew what I was doin'

[dmoss69]

Man, I have a caddy 500c.i in my truck, and this thing is a beast!!!!!

I had to make my oil pan, make my oil pick up tube, move the engine to frame mounts, move the cross member, cut the firewall, and make my driveshaft.

But....someone said about putting a 454 in your truck......I wouldn't. I'm buying caddy CARS, not just engines, for $75. Running engines and trannys..these cars came with 350+ horsepower and 500+ ft pounds of torque.

Mine is a 2 wheel drive 70 model c10, and If I can ever get some traction, I'll be alright.

Never give up on the almighty caddy.

D Moss

[71gmcfanatic]

Whatever happened to swapping in a big block chevy? Seems like it would be much easier, cheaper, and just as if not more powerful for the money. Plus there is tons of parts available for them. Just my opinion but id never go through all the hassle when I could just drop in a big block chev.

[Bill W]

Originally posted by 71gmcfanatic
Whatever happened to swapping in a big block chevy? Seems like it would be much easier, cheaper, and just as if not more powerful for the money. Plus there is tons of parts available for them. Just my opinion but id never go through all the hassle when I could just drop in a big block chev.

We who swap engines do so because we can. Chevy engines into Toyota Landcruisers, Subaru engines into VW Busses, 350's into Porsche 914's. Old's 455 with transaxle into the back of an Opel GT. VW Turbo Diesel into a Suzuki Samurai.

I'm telling ya, it can be great fun to be a backyard engineer even if it does sometimes cost more money.

Bill