cadillac engine install

[Hard_Rain420]

I bought a 1969 Longhorn without a motor, trans and drive shaft. I'll be purchasing a drive shaft that will mate to a turbo 400.

I also have a 1962 390 cadillac engine and I'm sure it must be mated to a 400 transmission. Can anybody tell me if the eng/trans and the drive shaft will work together?

Rich G.

[LockDoc]

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Hi and welcome to the board. There is quite a bit of info on the board about the Caddy swap. The easiest way to access it would be to type "Cadillac" into the "Google" search box at the top of the page, click on the circle in front of "67-72chevytrucks.com" and click on the "Google" button. This will cover all years so be sure the thread you are reading is about the '67-'72 trucks.

LockDoc

[SS Tim]

Originally Posted by Hard_Rain420

I bought a 1969 Longhorn without a motor, trans and drive shaft. I'll be purchasing a drive shaft that will mate to a turbo 400.

I also have a 1962 390 cadillac engine and I'm sure it must be mated to a 400 transmission. Can anybody tell me if the eng/trans and the drive shaft will work together?

Rich G.

"Having an engine" is not the best reason to do a swap. If it fits your criteria then maybe. In the long run just dropping a big block will be faster and easier. Just about any 396 to 454 (non-tall deck) is a stock part drop in.

[Coley]

Welcome to the forum.
I like the idea of having a Cadillac engine in these trucks....very cool choice.
If I had to swap out my original 350 sbc I'd rather go to something like a Caddy engine (or maybe a big olds?).....although probably the 472 or 500 version.
All good
Coley

[low&slow]

I have a caddy in my truck. A turbo 400 will fit if you have an adapter plate. That's the only way a chevy tranny will bolt to a caddy engine. Other than that, you need caddy motor mounts or 4x4 chevy mounts. You shouldn't have to do any work to the driveline. I didn't have to on mine, but yours could be different.

[special-K]

Check out www.caddy500.com and www.modifiedcadillac.com . There's a company that makes the swap parts for Caddy-Chevy but I can't recall the name. I thought it was Throttlemasters but I found nothing under that name.

[ChevLoRay]

The transmission coupled to that engine in '62, was a Dual-Coupling Hydramatic. Caddy, Olds and Pontiac all used that transmission. There was a Slim-Jim automatic also available on Olds and Poncho, but not in '62. So, you're definately going to need an adapter.

B&M was the go-to place for the B&M Hydro-Stick transmissions that were raced, before there was a TH350 or TH400. Their shift bodies were modified so that you could select each gear.

My '64 Bonneville had the factory Hydramatic in it. If you've never driven an old Hydramatic, it started out in Low, but shifted once before shifting into 2nd, or Super as it was on the quadrant; then, it shifted into drive. Those old Hydramatics were found in GM vehicles beginning in '38 or '39. They were used in tanks during WWII, as well as in the GM-built 2 1/2-ton trucks that the military used. Lincoln used them behind their OHV V-8's in '52. Hudson used 'em behind their big inline engines. GM put them in the 1/2-ton pickups as early as '54. Until the '65's came out, it was THE automatic in the B-O-P lineup. It's tough and it's heavy.

[ChevLoRay]

That 390 Caddy engine was used past the time when Caddy started using TH400's. So, there should be TH400's that will bolt to that block w/o an adapter.