Will a 500CID Cadillac engine bolt up?

Hello everyone!
Newby here to your fine forum.
And so I have a question I am looking have answered.
I have a 1970 Commando with the stock V6 and turbo 400.

If I wanted to, I am thinking that a 500 c.i.d. V8 from the early 1970's will bolt right up to the existing turbo-400.

Can anyone confirm?

Thanks alot.

 

that's a lot of power!!

 

Yes it would bolt up to the transmission, but I don't know if you could get it to fit in the engine bay. My Buick 350 was a sqieze to get in.

Andrew

 

Why on Earth would you want to put a 500 inch motor into a Jeep? You have a death wish or something?

 

Yeah, it'll bolt up. Yeah, you can squeeze it in. Yeah, you should do it.

Sanderson makes some center dump headers if you can't scrounge the correct 500/472 manifolds for your chassis. You'll probably need a mix of Eldorado and sedan/coupe to get the right manifolds.

Swap to an HEI if you haven't already and keep the stock Q-Jet. Post pics.

 

...what he said:iagree:

 

Opec will undoubtedly be your best friend then.R)

 

The one thing I'd recommend for that engine is higher gearing. You don't want 4.27s, 4.88s, or especially 5.38s. That engine wants to tug and lug against the gear. For example, I'd run 3.55s-4.10s with 33s. If you're building a rockcrawler, then gear away - but for a regular multi-use driver go tall.

 

Popular swap in a Wagoneer. The Caddy 472/500 is an excellent design, light (for its displacement) ,cheap, very powerful, and compact. In a wagon, interfeerence with the heater box and power brake booster is most problematic, otherwise an easy swap, especially in place of the Buick 350.

You'll need new mounts, move the radiator forward, but you can do it. It's a lot of engine for that chassis though.

<edit> BTW the usual swap for the V6/TH400 Jeepster is a 300, 340 or 350 small-block Buick from the same era. These use the same mounts as the V6, so would be easier than the Caddy. Some of these engines came with 4Vs and high compression, and were very powerful. Even the 2V 350 has enough power to move a Wagoneer around smartly, and feels even more powerful because of the torquey character of these engines.

 

Thanks guys for confirming my assumptions.
At this point it is only a dream.
I have the Commando and it runs fine as soon as I figure out why I am getting no spark.

Why would I want to do it?
Only because it would be different and unique and cause I can.
I hear the 500 Caddy is about 100lbs lighter than a big block Chevy (with less cubes). I also understand with all that torque, a gentle right foot is required.

And I asked now cause there is a donor Caddy down the street for sale that just got slapped with a green sticker. Which around here means remove it or lose it.

I also want to remove the wings from the grill so I can install a CJ hood then repaint it in the Day-glo green or orange and put early Renegade stripes on it. Along with a surry style open sides top with the fringe.

 

:drool: A 500 caddy... I like it!

 

Great swap for a Chevy/GMC pickup, if you need a tow rig... :driving:

Buy the car, yank the engine and put it in the corner of your garage. Scrap the rest. That's what I'd do.

 

uh huh -- grab it and yank the powertrain -- ebay what ever else you can and ship the rest to the yard 8)

 

With that kinda power you're gonna need wheelie bars!

 

And an axle like this:

 

You Should Check Out - Novak Conversions- I'm Not Sure Of Their Email Address But They Discuss Several Motor Options For Jeeps And They Sell The Necessary Adapters.

 

One thing I keep thinking of is cooling. How are you planning on cooling that big motor? I don't think the stock CJ rad will even come close.

 

well a lot of the guy's agree that it is a tight fit. and a few years ago I installed a 1960's caddie "429 cuin + automatic { no 4x4} straight axle-- just to blast through the mud+and side swipe trees{that happened after having a few} and the wild thing is I have right here a 1966 cadillac with a 429cuin with 83,000 miles that I'm parting out.. have not found the jeep body {or the time } to do it again...so if you want a caddie engine.. let me know? oh! the old jeep-it rolled over many many times{ not wearing a seat belt- we parted on the first roll + I did good... bye !! good luck--and yea!! a "REAL BLAST" IS too soft of a word>>>

 

Jim Dale, an old timer and friend has a 506 Cad in his CJ-6 with an SM-465 and 205 (500 Cad bored out). He swapped to narrowed 14 bolt/Dana 44 8 lug axles at the same time. He kept the short nose, looks pretty stock from the outside, but had to cut the firewall and do some creative engineering with throttle linkage, brake power booster mounting, etc to get it to fit. You will need to beef up the chassis and especially front suspension. The rear of his is fine but the front has sagged pretty bad. It's a cool ride that gets some real attention when he drives it around here. Believe it or not, he gets pretty good mileage with it..... Nickmil