Early Overhead Valve Cadillac V8 Engines - Hot Rod Engines 101
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
- One of the most popular engine swaps for early hot rodding has to be the early Cadillac OHV engines. The 331 was first released in 1949 and was used in hot rods almost immediately. The first generation of engines are almost identical and a vast majority of the parts swap between. Cadillac's were known for making good power and torque stock and were quite smooth running engines. Speed equipment can be a little expensive, and hard to find at times. One of the downsides to the engine is the lack of adjustable rockers, but you can use early aftermarket rockers or stock Studebaker rockers. There are a lot of great articles written in the vintage magazines about swapping an early ford, and plenty of early hot rods and customs for photo reference. Let us know in the comment section below what Hot Rod Engine we should cover in the series next!
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Back in 1965 I blew up the original Flathead and acquired a 1953 331 Caddy, $65, for my '48 Mercury Convertible. Now the following factoids are from my rusty memory of those days so don't hold me to them: 331 CID 1953 Cadillac with a Rochester 4GC carbby, dual exhaust, glass packs, & 6 volt. The engine came with a flywheel, but I had to have a pilot bushing made up for the Ford floor shifting trannies I was using and subsequently blew on a semi weekly basis. All the floor shift tranies I got from a local salvage yard were syncroed between 2nd & 3rd gears, it was that the design of the syncro mechanisms varied from year to year, so I had to be careful when swapping parts to make up a usable gear set, but they all seemed to work OK for my younger and more foolish hard shifting right arm. I installed the engine with Hurst front mounts and an alloy, "magnesium" plate adapter from JC Witney. Installation also required dropping the steering box about one inch with a self designed plat which worked out OK too. All six volt, I reverse polarized the GM genny for + ground, and all worked out well. With the original 4.11 rear gear, this car was too much fun on Friday and Saturday night bustin' the local Chevy guys out on their dates with Suzy Snatch, and Rotten Crotch Mary. Oh, yah, those were the days.....
....RooDog....
Thanks like this series. I’d like to know more about nailheads
Matt I have some couple of hot rod magazines that you was talking about I would love to build or have somebody to help me to build a hot rod like the sweetheart truth hot rod or the little four T prankster
Hey Matt,
Great load of info on the Olds to Ford swap.
Back in the day that was a very popular swap.
As well as the Caddy.
A crap load of Ford Transmissions and rear ends went into the scrap piles due to that horse power and guys racing them.
But that was early Hot Rodding !
Be Safe and Well
Everybody
I would like to see a video of the early "baby hemis" , thank you for keeping the hobby alive
Rick B aka Plastic butcher
Merry Christmas to everyone! Let's all have a hell of a good New Year and keep on keepin' on.
Merry Christmas Matt and the rest of the Iron Trap crew
Caddy motors were popular too because there were multi-carb factory options, triple 2 barrels, dual 4 barrels etc
This a great, I’m 74 and a Hot Rodder for all my life. I used Flatheads, Olds, Caddy, Chrysler engines. Olds and Cadillac had Hydromatics. Or a LaSalle box...
Merry Christmas Matt! Just picked up a 1955 King Midget that used to be sold out of the back of Popular Mechanics magazines and others and thought of you with your passion for preserving and recreating these old iron works of art. Cheers my Friend! Zip~
Curiosity question. Did you buy it off Mustie1 in Massachusetts? Thanks.
@@RichieCat4223 No RDF. This car came out of Tennessee. This one is a Model 2 and Mustie's is a Model 3. Thanks for stopping by! Cheers! Zip~
@@ZippoVarga Thanks for your reply. Didn't know you had a You Tube channel also.
My dad put an olds rocket 88 in his 30 Model A Tudor, I was 7 yo at the time. And he bought many Olds for our family cars as well. So I'd dig hearing an Olds 101. RIP Mr Newk. ...Newk from Kentucky
Wishing, Y’all have a Merry Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! How about doing one on the Buick naihead?
Thanks for the brilliant and helpful "Ted Talk". Merry Christmas to you and yours (including Moon).
After doing about a million 1950s-1970s cars and trucks I am finally building my first model A (I am 42 and have been looking at then vintage rod and custom mags since I was 12)... It is a 31 pickup complete body unmolested with the paperwork it has been sitting since 1960, I don't know where the suspension and drivetrain went but I'm not going to argue for what I got it for, that same guy I bought the car from had a complete boxed Model A frame for an additional 150 bucks (his son went with some new high tech thing) it looks really really good other than I got to cut off a bunch of BS from it (somebody put a charcoal canister on it, yes a charcoal canister lol and welded on the running board brackets and then later cut them off with a torch).
2 days after buying the truck I came up on a 1953 Cadillac 331, it is complete minus the air cleaner, it even has the driveshaft and the auto trans for 200 bucks. I was thinking I was going to run the set up as it is for now and I think you gave me the proper inspiration to do so.
Matt as usual you knocked it out of the park for basic knowledge...
Now I got to figure out a rearend... Like you I am kinda a geek on this stuff and I want the look and feel of what someone was doing in say 1955ish.
I just got a 1962 caddy 390 out of a hearse! Going in my 1935 pontiac series 605 sedan! Great timing Matt! Pun intended
Great video! Now I understand why so many of those wound up in Lincolns replacing the V12. I didn't know about the starter location difference between the Oldsmobile and the Cadillac. Keep up the good work.
Hey Matt and crew, thanks for another amazing awesome video!!! I'd love to see Nailhead vids. If it weren't for the Nailhead the SR-71 Blackbird wouldn't have started. Some serious street cred for being the starter engine for the SR-71 Blackbird's! Buick built the Nailhead for bottom end torque to get the land yachts from stop light to stop light. Then Tommy Ivo fell in love, made the four engine "Showboat" that ran exhibition NHRA. Something about a four wheel burn out pissed off the NHRA and got kicked out!!! Cool hot rod history in the Nailheads!!!
Keep up the awesome vids!!!
Thanks so much for making this video! I bought a couple of 500s some years back and that got me interested in Cad motors for performance. Wanting to build something in an older style now, the early Cad motors are really appealing. This covers a whole lot of "need to know" information in one quick video. Gives a guy a good leg up in considering one of these for a hot rod project. Thanks again.
Glad it was helpful!
WOW !!!! 👏 👏
THAT "Foster '32 roadster !!!!! I love it !!
Good stuff Matt. I just picked up a complete ‘52 331 for 5 bills. Also, It was good talking to you and Mike at Charlotte!
Nail-head Buick motors were also popular in early Fords. They provided tons of torque to get those Fords moving off the line..... I drove a 1940 Ford Coupe with a 1955 Buick Roadmaster V8 for about a year in the mid-1960s (Spring -1964 to Spring - 1965). This was the infamous 322 "Nail-Head" and with the increase in the compression ratio and the 4-barrel carb, this motor was STRONG. I never met the guys that built the car, but they could star in the video "How Not To Build A Hot Rod"... The firewall was modified for distributor clearance with an axe. The motor mounts were two-inch angle iron pedestals with a length of chain bolted to the head and welded to the frame. The engine was modified for a standard 3-speed Mercury transmission, using a Ford F600 11" flywheel and clutch. The rear axle was the 9-inch Ford from the same truck that donated the clutch/flywheel.... They did know their suspension geometry though.... The car would carry the front wheels off the ground off the line for about 60 feet consistently... The car would run mid-14 second quarter mile times and embarrassed several GTO owners. The Mercury trans would not hold up to the torque and for most of the time I drove the car it did not have 2nd gear.... I rebuilt the transmission five times over that year and finally just stopped racing it.... It was great fun while it lasted....lol Love your channel, brings back a lot of memories AND you are showing how to do the work the right way.....
Happy Christmas from the UK Matt, I did a similar video on a Y block Ford engine based on your engine 101s 😁
1949 caddy 331 had 2 bolt valve covers for half the year and are super rare. Some 57 up caddy engines and olds engines had factory dimpled valve covers on the highpo option models, stupid rare nowadays.
Merry Christmas! Thanks for the entertainment throughout the year!
My favorite uncle back in the day always talked about his Cadillac 390 / Studebaker Commander coupe conversion ( called it A StudeLac").. he did that as a kid in the late forties or early 50s in the LA custom car-craze cult . always thought it was a weird combination now I know thanks for the Memory Lane trip.
Merry Christmas To You and Yours Matt, Thank You For The Efforts in All Your Content. Thoroughly Enjoy The Videos
Merry Christmas Matt. I remember reading many years ago that the caddy blocks had a very high nickel content. Very hard block.
Same w/ the early Olds Rockets. Machine shop I used, back then, had a whale of a time boring my
Rocket out .125 over; took twice the normal time!
Although the Fordillac (49-51 "shoebox", and '40 Fords), were a popular swap back in the 50's, I would still have to give the Olds a slight edge over the Caddy, as speed equip. cost slightly less, and was more plentiful.
(Ok, I admit I may be biased, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!)
In any event, you should cover the early Olds motors next ('49-56, 303-324 models.)
I'm glad you're back to instructional videos. I was loosing interest in swap meets and barn find. Anyone can do that. You have too much talent to not share it. Thanks Matt. Merry Christmas to all my hot rod Bros and Sisters
Nice job on this one, I knew very little about these engines so the 101 is really appreciated.
Just finished paying for a complete rebuild of my 1949 Coupe Deville's original 331. Took it in for some rear suspension issues and in the process of looking over the whole car, they found some damage on the bottom end of the motor. Took it apart and sure enough the heads were cracked among other things. It's been nearly a year now waiting for this build to be done and we finally get it back in a couple of weeks.
Thank you for sharing this with me ! Take care , stay safe and healthy with whatever you maybe doing next ! Doing well here in Kansas .
Great series this! We need a video of the Y-block soon. 😉🍻
Matt, Merry Christmas to you & yours!! Moon too!! Great informative video...I learned a few things....God Bless!!!
Great video and I learned so much. The main reason La Salle transmissions were used back in the day. Was that they were a very strong transmission. . It would not break. I would love to build a traditional '32 Ford roadster. With a Caddy and a La Salle transmission. With a Winters quick-change rear end. Thank you for the inspiration. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2021 !!!!
flatmotor caddywacs have always fascinated me endlessly.Of course oldmobiles too. Thanks so much for a blast from the past. My son and I are finishiing up our 52 CORONET GASSER WITH DUAL TUNNELRAM 454 BBC. lOVE U GUYS please STAY HEALTHY. I have heard that bs about steadybrakers interchangeability with caddys, but didnt swallow it. How about a Studey hot rod feature WITH A BLOWER B COOL
Nice Job Matt. Very informative. Perhaps you could talk about putting a Y Block into an early Ford. I love Y blocks.
Great overview! Enjoying your Hot Rod Engines 101.
In the early days I use a Studebaker. Great little engine
But a little on the heavy side
MORE! MORE! MORE! Excellent content Matt! Great presentation and tons of awesome information. Merry Christmas to you and yours and thank you for all of your time and effort that goes into these videos🎄👍
Merry Christmas Matt !!!!!!!!!!! 🎄🎅🎁
I already felt like I got my 52 cadillac 331 for a steal of a deal but this video just proves it lol paid 300$ for a wrecked beyond repair caddie pulled the engine and any other valuables then scrapped the car and got 190$ so in the end the engine only cost about 110$ lol. Merry Christmas! 🎄
You did great!!
Merry Christmas! Great info! Thanks Matt!
Studebaker ohv, and Oldsmobile. That was a great video
Merry Christmas 🎄🎁 great video ty Steve
Fantastic content! Thank you for sharing!
We wish you & the crew a great Christmas & much success for the 2020’s👍 Iron-Trap has ignited my forgotten passion of hot rods & car-culture.
Thanks Matt!
Enjoy all the engine talk, would like to see Buick nailheads
54 was the last year for the long bellhousing. The lesalle will bolt up with the olds 303 bellhousing but I think only one year of the olds. Although all the olds bells bolt to the pre 55 caddy motors. I have the hotrod magazine that describes it all. 1955 331, 365, and 390 are hard to get adapters for for cheap.
I used a 1957 Pontiac 347 engine for my 37 Ford coupe. It really made that little rascal scoot!!
Love all your videos brother !! very informative , Merry Christmas to you and your family !! Thank you for all the entertainment !!
Nice to know, thanks Matt.
Thanks for sharing. Best Wishes to You and Yours for the Holidays. 👍💪
The Nailhead Buicks are cool Hotrod engines too.
Merry Xmas from Downunder :D
My old hotrod had a 55 331, finned aluminum valley cover with a modified olds or studibaker “u-fab” 4x2 with 4 “94” carbs, ford rear end lake headers.
Merry Christmas. Health and Happy Hot Rodding to all in 2021!!!!!!!
Hi matt and all the people on here 👍👍 Merry Christmas and an even BETTER NEW YEAR 2021 👍👍👍👍From Victoria Australia 👍👍👍
To put a caddy intake on a Studebaker You have to oval the holes. The ports don’t quite line up perfectly, but they work with stock Studebaker intake gaskets. It’s quite a bit more work to make a stude intake work on a caddy motor. Also the small cubic inch Studebaker motor is all forged internals, and a far superior motor compared to the caddy motor
No one gave a shit about Cadillacs until Squeak Bell & Kevan Sledge made it popular!
👎
I have two caddilac, 41 custom coupe with a 390 and a standard 55 with a 331.. great engines and to be honest a 390cu built standard has plenty of power and is a great looking engine.. fantasic video Matt..
Hey Matt : very informitive video. Merry Xmas to all at ITG.
You do have a lot of knowledge so thanks for the info. I can't seem to find the Flathead video. Can you put this series in a playlist please. Thanks and Merry Christmas
As an engine builder I feel there is more differences between 49 and ten years later. Boring a 331 to 390 would be a huge overbore.
And looking at them they are flathead and Stude siamesed centre exhaust ports, a proven hot spot. Probably why they crack heads.
IF you are building or rebuilding a 50s Hot Rod they are more period correct but otherwise a SBC or Windsor would be the go. And with those 'modern' transmissions.
Though not an LS, they are for modern hotrods!
And merry Xmas to you Mike and your lady.
Great historical information on the cadillac engines. I forget what famous drag racer tweeked those to perfection.
You may be thinking of "Ohio George" Montgomery, who used them in his Willys gassers, before
switching to the Hemis in the 60s...
@@robbh.6505 Check out this video of a sling shot running a Cadillac 500. Copper Cadillac round 2 win perfect 8 600
@@WeaponsMachinist Hmmm.....not seeing the link......
Very informative. Have a great Christmas.
I HOPE YOU GUYS ARE HAVING A AMAZING DAY SO MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021
The Kettering style Olds and Caddy engines had a great sound to them.
Good info. Please cover Y blocks. Merry Christmas
Good info!
Hot Rod Lincoln
Thanks for sharing a friend from Canada Rob 🎅✌
We can all thank the Shifters for bringing back all of this traditional resurgence to the industry. This guy wouldn't even be here if it weren't for them
And none of us would be talking about this stuff if it wasn’t for the OG’s that built this stuff back in the heydays. Nothing any of us are doing is new or original. Never claimed to be starting anything new, just sharing the love of the hobby. 👍
Matt: How about some info on using the GMC six cylinder engines. Very popular at the lakes etc in the early and mid fifties.
Just wanted to say hi and i hope you have a merry Christmas and a happy new year keep the good work up
Very cool 🤙 have a 365 and 2 390's
Merry Christmas to you & Kate and Mike & his family! Nice tutorial! Looking forward to 2021 & the "completion" of the Sweetheart Roadster! Also the construction of your new garage area so you don't have to park in the weather!
i'm up here in Schuylkill county [ i'm a skook ] but back in the early 1960's my dad had a 56 caddy ,,and sure enuff,..one day the head [ or heads] cracked on it...car was parked in the early 60's till 1996 when i was older and sold the caddy off to a guy in hazleton pa
Right on
Merry Christmas gang. Great video Matt. I really enjoyed learning about Cadillac engines. It was perfect. If you’re up for it, I’d like to hear about Oldsmobile engines in the same way.
Until next time. -Juan in Virginia
Yep that’s the next one!!
90,000 subs come on 100,000 Steve
Every one likes early Cad engines , what about Studebaker v - 8 engines , with a gear drive camshaft , heavy duty and durable.
Another good primer on engines.
Thanks, and Merry Woofmas to you all and Moon.
Merry Christmas Matt, from all the Misfires CC. Your videos and editing keep getting better. there's allot to know about these old dinosaurs, that's why i stick to my Rocket Olds motors. Been a fan since college circa 1983. Actually just acquired a '56 88, with a stuck 324, so eager to dive into it. Maybe that is your next segment....or did I miss that one???
Y-block next. Y-block y-block. You will be surprised how they dominated motor racing for a few years and the reliable hp that can be had now with them.
Awesome video , that for the info , love anything to do with cadillac .
Another great video Matt would love to see one on the little Ford bangers thanks again and have a merry Christmas and happy New Year
Thanks Davie! That’s one of the next few we have planned!
Merry Christmas guys and gals
I would love to see a video on Y blocks , Hemi's , Oldsmobile & Buick NailHead !!
Merry Christmas to you all
Merry Christmas and a Healthier Happy New Year to You n All Yours Matt n God Bless All.
Merry Christmas from the Netherlands 🎄🎄
Love it! Got a 1962 390 saved for a project...maybe my 1940 Zephyr???
That would be rad!
Studellacs were common in the day 👍
Results are IN & NAILHEADS are NEXT!!!
Merry Christmas Matt, Kate, Mike and Moon!
Merry Christmas Matt
Have all 3 of them and they run so smoothly. And have plenty of power. 390 with dual quads and it’ll burn the tires off my 64 coupe
Merry Hot Rodding Christmas everyone !!!!
Would love to see a Y-Block video, and an Early Hemi video!
Dude these engine 101 videos are killer! Thanks for spreading the knowledge! I know you have a 265 in that 34 Tudor, I’m putting one in my model T. Maybe share some knowledge on the very first Chevy v8! 🙂
Merry Christmas Matt and Mike!! Like to see a video on the "Rocket" (Olds) engine. Was quite young when these were common so don't know all the "details". Did ride in a few conversions and they sure felt like they made "lots" of low end torque even though they weren't large cubic inch motors. Not knowing any better at the time, it simply might have been lower gears (ratios) in early differentials that had been adapted to the OHV motors.