He said he’s a writer for major auto publication, so I’d assume that’s a big part of his library and expertise. He was probably a nerd like many of us car guys as kids where he knew the vehicle by it’s headlights. I thought I was the only one who did that but it seems to be quite a few of the car guys have that trait.
I've been swapping, running, modifying the big block Cadillac since the 90's , phenomenal engines it's not hard to get 500 hp and 600 plus ft pounds of torque from an almost stock engine.
@@CarsandCats The GM supercharged 3800 cars do a pretty good job of that too. It surprised me the first time I did it and started pouring smoke into the sunroof... It just wasn't something I was expecting. 😆
Keep in mind the "gentle" tip-in throttle response may not be a mistake with the Cadillac big blocks. Can you imagine an elderly Cadillac customer complaining to the dealer after purchasing a their new Cadillac in 1970: "Ethyl says when I step on the gas pulling away from a light, it jerks her neck. The gas pedal is too touchy."
My daughter's biggest complaint about our Nissan Maxima is "it's too touchy." Compared to what she is used to driving, a 2005 Buick Lacrosse...it does jump off the line much faster....drive by wire vs. a gas pedal with a mechanical linkage.
@@325xitgrocgetter touchy in the wrong way ,keep tipping in and nothing nothing nothing and then wham 3/4 throttle. We've been away from an actual cable for so long we forget. DBW will never beat an actual cable in response. Even my lowly slow 52hp Jetta responds when I touch the pedal.
In my experience, the GM engines in the late 60s early 70s with the best throttle response was the Pontiacs. The Chevys could usually outrun them at the top end because they could rev higher. But nothing seemed faster than that 1969 340 Dodge Dart with the 4-speed. That smaller engine would embarrass many GM big blocks.
Back in the 70's when all of us owned Detroit muscle of some kind the 340 was becoming a legend. Going back to the road tests from that period today the 340's ruled.
That was because the Buick had probably the most linear, easiest to mange torque curve in order to get the best out of the limited traction of street tires. As soon as you starred using tires with more grip the Hemi ruled. But that's also why the 440 would often outperform a Hemi if you were using street tires. It was a case of the Hemi having "too much power." Not manageable with limited traction. Pontiacs were probably the worst due to oiling problems which would destroy them in routine street use if they were run hard. I'm all too familiar with lean carburetors in those days. I was working at the local Cad/Olds dealership in 1970 and instantly got stuck with warranty repair "fixing" all of the new ones which wouldn't start or run because I made the mistake of fixing one which the older guys had given up on. That was a flat money loser for me because I was getting paid for about 30 minutes of regular labor rate for about two hours of work.
I can’t ever forget my high school friend taking me for a cruise in his moms massive 1970 Cadillac coupe with, I believe, a 472 in it. Emerald green with a white top and white interior. We were burning rubber from light to light that night. I’m sure some new rear tires were needed the next week! The car was, of course heavy, so we weren’t setting records, but we very effectively turned gasoline into noise and smoke! 😬
Memory Lane. I had a 1969 Olds Delta 88, with the 455 engine. When I started driving it, I used to go just around the corner from a friends house, then burn rubber down that long street. Until the day that the guy who's house I would launch in front of came running off of his porch, cursing & threatening me if I laid rubber in front of his house again. I don't know if it was due to the smoke, the noise, or making the street look like a drag strip with the tire marks.
Remember the Cadillac was one of the heaviest cars and another thing I would take in consideration is axle ratio on caddy's, most of them had tall gears as well. They all ran lean in the 70's because of mpg which would make them have a tendency to be sluggish off the line @ tip-in let alone full throttle. Distributor timing was on the retarted side as well. My dad worked at the Tech Center in Warren for 30yrs and the first thing he would do is readjust the carb, put in lighter advance springs in the distributor and advanced the timing to wake it up. In a nutshell it's the way Cadillac wanted it.. (I do agree with you though).
My three best friends parent’s had Big Blocks in 1975; a Caddie Coupe de Ville (8.2L), a 455 Olds 98 Regency and Buick Electra (7.5 L). As a teen being driven everywhere the Caddie always seemed “sedate” and dignified. You definitely could tell the difference in the way each moved and sped down the ramp onto the expressway. The Olds roared, the Buick pushed you from behind...the Caddy? It just kinda got you up to speed without really feeling anything? Maybe that throttle tip-in was purposeful? I always felt like I was being chauffeur driven in the Caddy.
Adam, If you think the GM big block ranking will "stir emotions" then you better be in full, OSHA-approved protective gear when you rank the 350 V8s 😁😁😁😁
After 50 years of automotive repair I will definitely "go there" Before 1987 when high nickel blocks were introduced in small block Chevrolets, the Olds 350 was superior to ALL 350s in terms of reliability. Early Chevy 350s often would develop "flat" cams and cylinder wall wear would leave a considerable ridge at well under 100k The very first 1000 to 2000 Chevy small blocks ever built (265 ci) had rings that did not seat. GM sent out what was later known as a TSB telling dealers to have their mechanics throw a handful of BonAmi cleanser down the carburetor!!!
@@donreinke5863 Agreed, the Olds 350 was in a class unto itself. I worked at a full servvice repair shop that had been in business for thirty years back in the late 1970's. We routinely overhauled 350 Chev's, never once can I remember pulling down an Olds 350. They went well beyond 100K miles which was not the norm like today.They were also perfectly balanced and most had a smooth idle when properly tuned. Love the Olds blocks, have a '70 442 and a '72 Vista, both 455's.
I always liked the Buick myself. Stock there's lots of smooth low end torque kinda like a little big block. And unlike the big block Buick you've got a very strong block to build from.
@@donreinke5863 The only thing I can add to your insight is that I seemed to see early 70s Cutlasses on the road a lot longer than their Chevy, Pontiac or Buick cousins.
@@user-cs1ne8gx9u The weak point in the post nail head Buick engines was the oil pump built into the aluminum timing cover. These would commonly wear, the oil pressure would drop and that was the end of the Buick engine.
Personally, I think the 454 is the jankiest GM big block. They can be reliable, but lack performance for what they are. If given a choice, I'd take the SBC 350 every time over a 454. Parts are way cheaper and more available as well. A good truck motor for sure, but they don't like high revs.
The Cadillac 472 is my favorite big block. Over the years I've had several high mileage cars with the 472. Their biggest problem seems to be clicking valve lifters and needing valve jobs rather soon but the lower ends are bullet proof. I had a Chevy truck with a 454 and it had no more power than a 350 (but it got about 7 mpg whereas 350s gave me about 10)
I love your channel Adam - it’s like a talking cars with a buddy on his porch. I’m so happy to see the growth of the channel so rapidly. You’re building quite the community of folks interested in the near luxury cars and full size cars from the 1960s-1980s.
One thing I've seen. At about 100K miles, the timing chain takes a dump and except at idle the valves will hit the pistons. Haven't seen destroyed pistons, but many bent valves and no compression. Also the rocker arms are held on with what looks like a paper clip on steriods. Not the plan for spirited driving. They run OK though, but most of them have small single exhaust trying to exit 500 CI. Also the smallest intake and exhaust valves on any large engine.
For towing and high temp heavy traffic driving the Pontiac V8s were the best. They had larger cooling system, by several quarts over the others, and better designed passages. On the flip side since the cooling system was so large and effective warm-up takes much longer and once emissions standards increased GM could not get it to pass because it ran cold too long to pass emissions. That is why Pontiac engines were pulled from California early and then were an early choice to be be discontinued. Also for cold areas there were lots of complaints that the time for the heat to work took too long.
I did not realize that smog related problem happend to the Pontiac. It does make me wonder how the Olds engine was good with smog, and didn't even use an air pump until 1973.
Most every big block I’ve owned has warmed up pretty fast. Thermostats we’re used to warm up engines faster and keep them at a normal operating temp. Usually an engine that had a hard time with emissions was due to compression ratio , cam shaft profile and combustion chamber efficiency. Once an engine was beyond the point of being able to pass emissions it was cancelled in cars and continued to the used in trucks cause they didn’t have the same emissions standards as passenger cars. That’s why so many of the good ole motors quit being produced.
I owned a 1967 Pontiac 2+2 with a 421 with 3 carbs and a muncie 4 speed on the floor. White bucket seats with a white vinyl top and a pretty blue color. Wide track Pontiac, it was a beautiful car to drive. I miss those days,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
having owned a " 1974 CADI ELDO" with the 500 cid engine( low comp. ratio= dished pistons) ( I did a lot of "TWEEKING"( carb/ ignition modifications) to that engine where it would "SMOKE" the tires on that car when I got done with it , all from a "STOCK" engine I do remember back in the late 60's, a local police department used 454cid chevy engines in police duty cars, and after a few "HIGH SPEED CHASES" those engines came "UN-GLUED"!!!!, I also saw this at the "DRAG STRIP" as well!!!!!
I had a friend who bought a Corvette with a factory 454. I always thought of the 454 being a low rpm pickup/farm truck engine. I thought that this was the weirdest engine combo to put into a Corvette. I never had the chance of riding in it, but he seemed to be happy with it. I was never a big Chevy guy, but as a kid I always thought that the 396 that was the biggest and baddest engine offered by GM. At least, my Chevy friends back then made the 396 into this mythical monster.
Olds V8 was handicapped by its small valves and combustion chamber but has the distinction of being the last carburated engine to receive EPA approval (307, likely due to its small combustion chamber).
Not to stray too far off topic, but I never knew the Chevy 454 could bend valves if the timing chain broke. To be fair, I don't work on a lot of Chevy vehicles. Our fleet is primarily Navistar, Cummins and our Ford trucks. Back in 1994 we had a fuel trucks equipped wIth Chevy 454. One of the trucks backfired and quit running. I found the timing chain had broken. After installing a new one, the engine turned over like half the spark plugs were out. Four cylinders (two on each bank) had no compression. I pulled the valve covers and was blown away to find four exhaust valves partially open. After yanking the heads, four of the pistons had little eye lash marks from kissing the valves. I have never heard anyone else experience that. But, again I don't work on a lot of Chevy engines.
Pretty common on the Mk IV big blocks in late 80's trucks actually. GM used a timing set that had nylon "fins" for sprocket teeth and over time they would break off. Usually around 100-120k they would fail completely. The Gen V's ('91+) used a better sprocket with solid nylon "humps" for teeth and they would last a good bit longer, but nothing was better than a standard double roller set you could get from any parts store at the time.
I actually agree with you on your insight on this. I'd venture to say that because Cadillac was GM's car for wealthy folks who wanted power & comfort without all the engine noise that Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, & Olds drivers had with all the muscle and pony cars. GM had those Cadillac engines bogged down and muzzled with more emissions components than all the other GM divisions. You take all that junk off those Cadillac engines and exhaust systems and you've got yourself a hot rod.
The oiling system on the Pontiac was not very good. (Cam bearing priority) The Pontiac would suffer from excessive cylinder wall wear over time. Their cylinder heads were quite good though. The Chevy BB used canted valves with unequal length rockers which meant you couldn't use girdles to stiffen the rocker studs for high RPM use. The Cadillac V8 was never intended to be a "HP" motor, just a hulk motor for moving a hulk car. (With a family of hulks inside) The Buick was probably the best since it was a thin-wall cast block, produced gobs of torque yet was considerably lighter than it's counterparts. (Except for the ZL-1 427)
Our family,s Buick Estate Wagon , purchased new in 1970 , had the high compression 370 hp, 455 engine that was reliable as an anvil and had impressive torque.
Preach it.....My favorite motor (gas milage not considered) ! I had a 70 4 door Electra that had a Stage I cam in it, the guy I bough it from raced Buicks - this was his tow car! I used is for towing a 17 Ft speedboat, I could easily pass traffic and would get a crisp re-assuring tire chirp hitting 2nd gear towing that boat. She would chirp 2nd gear at 55 or 60 MPH. I remember a dodge Dart or Demon 340 getting next to me....grandpa's Buick snapped 2nd gear and pulled away 2 cars on him. I have a 455 GS 1974 now....built to the old compression specs too!
@@tonyrichards254 The Buick 455 is great within it's comfort zone. Unfortunately for the 455 lovers, the Buick 430 is a stronger block than the 455. I loved my Buick 455 and loved it more later as a 462. But there are thin main webs in the Buick 455, no matter how much I loved it. Heavy crank, light block.
With nearly 50 years of building engines and general repairs under my belt, I'll give you "my" spin, from best to worst. By FAR the best (in terms of durability) is the Olds, followed by the Buick, followed by the Cadillac, followed by the Pontiac, and coming in dead last would be the 454 (I call them 'trash-factories')
Having owned many of these, I had always attributed the less enthusiastic power delivery of the Cadillac to the higher curb weight for any given body style and year, so quite interesting that it was likely more than that. And of all my GM big blocks, a 1976 de Ville was the only one that consistently had trouble passing emissions, despite being in good repair and of modest mileage. I finally resorted to leaning out the carburetor every year prior to the test.
desert modern - My grandfather had a 1976 Olds 98 Regency with a 455 4 barrel. It was 455 cubes, but only put out 190 HP because it was choked so bad with emissions stuff. Car weighed as much as a house, and only had 190 HP. Hell....my 2007 Mazda 3 with a 2.3 liter 4 cylinder puts out 156 HP.
Correct. It was the weight and the gearing, nothing at all to do with the engine itself. My friend swapped a 472 Caddy into a C10 truck with 4.10 gears and it was a rocket.
in the early 80s I drove a 1969 Cadillac Coupe de Ville with a 472, and it was one of the fastest and quickest big cars I have driven to this day. No 460 powered Lincoln Ive driven (there were a few) compared with its performance, although some of them had respectable power for being 5000-6000 pounds.
@@christopherweise438 On a heavy car, you need good TORQUE. That Mazda might make a lot of horsepower per cubic inch, but in would not have made in any way enough torque to easily get a heavy car moving, especially on hills.
I never owned a Buick 455 that didn’t eventually have oil pump issues, and I never had any issues with any of the Cadillac 425/472s that I owned. My Cadillac large blocks were all flawless.
@@johndillinger8482 Care to back that up with some actual numbers? I have a roller cam in my Buick 455 with over .600" lift at the valve, so there's plenty there for a potent street engine.
In 88, I worked my first job out of tech school at the local Pontiac Buick GMC Caddilac dealership. We had old ladies bringing their late 70's 425 Caddy's in all the time running like crap. We took it out back, pulled the air cleaner, ran some water or Kerosene down the intake while revving to clean the carbon out. I would follow with a "drive it like you stole it" test drive with the air cleaner lid flipped, of course. Never forget those skinny tires smoking with the sound coming out of the 4 barell. Wished I had on of those now.
Same for a Pontiac V8: the 421/428/455 has a larger journal than the 326/350/389/400. Naturally the intake manifold would be wider if the deck height it taller, just like the difference between Windsor 302 and Windsor 351. But the Pontiac V8 and the Ford Windsor V8 are each considered one engine family.
@@RabeHighPerformance With the Olds V8 it's really low deck and high deck, not small/big when comparing the 350 to the 455. Bore spacing is the same which is why so many parts are interchangeable as you mentioned.
I recall the 1970 sedan deville was factory equipt with a 391 rear end. My cousins Dad had one, on occasion we would get to drive it. The full throttle hole shot was amazing. The huge tires would barely hold traction. It would beat most cars on the road in 1980.
@@BarryTsGarage My Cousins was a one wheel wonder. The big sedan had al ot of weight transfer that helped hold traction. It would squeel all the way down the street just digging in without breaking loose
They were, later replaced with 460 Ford's. It was just amazing how those engines revved up (5000 - 6500 rpm) and not scatter and man how they could pump some water! Even in regular boats those big blocks (Chrysler, GM, Ford) would rev high 5000+ rpm and skim along the top of the water.
Had a 73 Pontiac Grandville with a 455, that car could handle a heavier trailer than the 84 f350 diesel I owned at the time and could bury the 120mph speedometer with no issue whatsoever. Had some dumb kid talking smack at a cruise in about how fast his 5.0 mustang was and how it could beat anything there, needless to say my 455 blew his doors off with little effort. Old Pontiac cars are just cool!
Well, no issues here! I Agree. The Caddy was just a big engine without the matching horsepower…but it’s ok because….It’s a Cadillac….and it needed the biggest engine….that’s what I am paying for. I remember a family friend bought a beautiful gold 76 Fleetwood with pillowed velour seats and the 500….what a beautiful car but he could care less as he never drove very fast…..but is was impressive…….SMOOTH!
I also owned a 76 Fleetwood with the 500 and it was far and away the smoothest engine I've ever seen. I'm confident that if I parked it well for the stunt, that I could have balanced a quarter on the hood.
Awesome video. Any chance we can get a video that gives a quick overview, or pros / cons, of the GM big-blocks or small-blocks (Chevy vs. Pontiac vs. Buick vs. Olds etc.)? I always wondered what differentiated each engine.
I owned a 1972 442, 455 with the 308* cam & hood scoops....W-25. The worst I ever had with it was fouled spark plugs from too much around town driving.
As the owner of a '67 Eldo with the 429, I have endured the shade thrown by owners of '68-and-later Cad owners who crow about the vast difference they think they'd perceive between their King-of-the-hill 472/500 and the old, puny 429. Neither the 429 nor the 472/500 were perfect, but both were very good. Your remark about decreased smoothness in the later, low-compression 472/500 is interesting since, at the Eldo's 1967 debut, the 429 was touted by Cadillac as the smoothest engine in the world, out-smoothing the Granddaddy of Smooth, the Rolls Royce V8. Apparently during Cadilac's early-1960s development of a new V12, GM's bean counters came to the conclusion that potential customers would not be able to feel a difference between a V8 and a V12. Hence, Cadillac's engine-replacement strategy switched back to a V8, resulting in the 472/500. Perhaps all of these "smoothness" claims are purely works of imagination? I've always chalked up the Cadillac's "reserved" acceleration response to the car being a … Cadillac. All things in moderation. Press the Go pedal and the Engine Room responds, "Very good, Sir. How much faster would you prefer to go?" An Eldorado (or even a Coupe de Ville) isn't a hyperactive puppy, overanxious to respond to any crude simulus. A Cadillac is a thouroughbred, meeting out its seemingly infinite supply of torque on a dignified, as-needed basis. They have long final-drive ratios to keep the revs down and lots of insulation to keep the engine-agitation cacophony away from the driver. Above all, Cadillacs go about the business of getting down the road quietly! Maybe the cushy factor was worse with the 472/500, though. As a sneaky, irresponsible teen, I was able to earn top time (in my class) at my first autocross in Mom's pristine, five-year-old, stock 429-powered 1967 Sedan de Ville. (Owners of competing Camaros and Mustangs -- with whom I shared the 'Large Car' class -- were stunned.) On the Interstate, I also outran various XKEs, Chaargers, and GTOs in the beloved de Ville. If one was willing to mash the throttle, the 429 got with the program posthaste! I can't disagree, however, that other big-block cars felt faster off the line. My family's 1966 and 1973 Olds Toronados were always rarin' to go (except for when the sickly QJ on our '73 had a bad case of the Bogs). But again, I've always figured that, given the slightly more "sporty" pretensions of the Toros, it made sense that I didn't have to stand on the gas *quite* as deliberately. An Oldsmobile (or Buick) didn't have the weight of the "Standard of the World" resting on its shoulders! 😊 Back in the present day, I would have expected your biggest anti-Caddy beef to be the location of the air-conditioning compressor. All of the other GM divisions hang the compressor off the the left or right side of the block. Cadillac puts the compressor right in front of the QJ! Getting at the left idle-mixture screw can be a challenge even if you have a flexible screwdriver. On the whole, none of the GM big blocks are indestructible. My Dad brought home one well-thrashed example each of a '68 Cadillac convertible (472) and '71 "boat-tail" Riviera (455). They were both too far gone for teenage me to straighten out on the open asphalt in front of our crummy townhouse. The '73 Toro's QJ bog got me t-boned by a Chrysler wagon when the engine went "bloop" when I stood on its throttle in the face of on-coming traffic. My '73 TransAm's 455 unceremoniously stripped the nylon from its timing-gear teeth and let the timing chain jump a cog or two, leading to a greasy afternoon squriming around underneath it in a fast-food parking lot. Even the venerable Cadillac 429 (as well as a Buick or two) suffers from the notorious aluminum-timing-chain-cover-wear scenario. Thanks again for another porch chat!
ok now i must now more about the ( was a 383 727 3.2FG interior removed for restoration, now a 4.5inch stoker hemi and TR6060 TT= about 500HP to 1200HP ) charger as i have a pre-1971 and my old boss that ran a cadillac proformace shop was willing to bet a grand usd 2012 dollars on a 1/4 mile drag i laughed a 1969-77 FWD 500CI full weight no we didn't do it as he was looking for the right car to restore/buy and mine wasn't paided off that year aka my paperwork signed said no racing but if i get the chance again i might consider it
You mentioned the Q-Jet bloop in the '73 Toronado, which also existed on the '72. Had a horrifying incident borrowing my folks '72 Toro (mint) 3 decades back turning left with plenty of space to clear oncoming traffic when NOTHING came out of the throttle for about 2 very long seconds when the secondaries opened and it produced the most insane burnout. Scary yet impressive.
@@douglasb.1203 vacuum secondary's? if so as q-jet not my favourite as i proffer all lever carbs as tuning and responses is better/easygoing. my incident was a q-jet having the float sink at the most inconvenient time and side swipe my buddy's crown victora pulling out of the driveway not cool my trucks bumper was going to get replaced anyway's as it was a farm/industrial one but ugly and strong but his car not so much ouch the back end was toasted from it boggling/stolling out and dieing leaving me with no vacuum/brakes/power steering pump pressures ect. on a hill
@@richardprice5978 I'm not talking about the 1/4 mile. On the highway, the low final-drive ratio of the Cadillac will let it run all day at 130 if you bury the throttle in the carpeting and keep it there. That was the beauty of the late-60s GM Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles, and Buicks: They could run flat out all day long. For example, the guy in the Charger simply ran out of steam - engine wailing at the top of its revs - as I rolled by him at around 110. His engine was wound out and there was nothing he could do about it. The Cadillac still had plenty of pedal remaining as he vanished in my rear-view mirror.
No, there is no Pontiac small or big block V8. They never used those monikers like Chevrolet did, for example. Pontiac fans never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever refer to a Pontiac V8 as "small" or "big" block. If anything they are large DISPLACEMENT V8s, but not "big blocks".
@@RareClassicCars However, they are never called "big" and "small" block. Those two words and "Pontiac V8" never belong in the same sentence or conversation. LOL.
@@RareClassicCars The proper way to categorize Pontiac V8s from 326-455 would be small journal (326-400) and large journal (421-455). That should keep the Pontiac die hardship happy.
I had an '80 with a throttle that had that insufferable "dead zone". At one point of the pushing I think the car actually lost speed, then push past this and the car took off. This was from brand new. No one would put up with this today. The cheapest new Kia drives with precision today compared. I realise these cars were overladen with pollution controls in their infancy, but no matter, I dont miss carbs at all. I think FI is the single best improvement to engines since the beginning of cars. And a major contributor to cars' longevity now. Fuel is administered with precision now so cars last a long time and drive much better, and keep emissions low. Aunt Barbara adores you!
After 50 years of automotive repair I dont and will NOT own a fuel injected vehicle. NOTHING matches the simplicity and ability to repair (on the side of the road if necessary) of a carbureted engine. NO scan tool necessary. There are SEVEN wires running to the engine on all my vehicles...coil hot, temp sender, oil pressure sender, electric choke thermostat and 3 for the electronic ignition distributor. Compare that to a minimum of 25 (and usually more) wires for a fuel injected engine with all the failure prone sensors.
@@donreinke5863 I can understand your way of thinking. You have a point. After 40 some years of owning and driving both, I wouldn't take a carbureted vehicle (unless it was free) if I had to use it for daily transportation. There is absolutely nothing about them that I miss. Occasional use, ok. Every day vehicle, not interested in owning one.
I guess if u drive American cars thats true. All my cars are from Japan and we've never had problems with fuel systems. They tend not to be rolling garbage. Just sayin.
Properly maintained, a carbureted engine will provide excellent mileage and drivability. People managed just fine for 80 years with “primitive” carburetors and did just fine. The problem is proper maintenance. Too many people are perfectly content to drive around with worn ignition points, improper timing, chokes half closed, whatever, didn’t matter if it barely ran, as long as it got them where they needed to go that’s all that mattered. Efi and electronic ignition for the most part needs much less maintenance. On the flip side, when electronic ignition/EFI does need repair, it’s much more expensive. It’s no big deal for some people to keep spare ignition points or modules in the glove box. Not too many people would be willing to keep a spare PCM
@@johnz8210 Mine is a daily driver, but I happen to know how to rebuild set up and tune ANY carburetor. My customers are always sending me their mid 80s and older vehicles to set up carburetors, a few of them even have 3X2v "tri power" multiple carbureted systems. I can make them start as easy as ANY fuel injected vehicle and have done so many many times.
We got smoked on Floyd Hill in Colorado while driving a 78 Eldo with a 425 by a brand new Buick Grand National back in 1985. Guess what the 425 big block powered car got traded in on ? We had a 67 Eldo during the Gas Crisis in the 70s. I remember walking to the gas station when it ran out. 429 ran better than that later smogger crap.
All of these cars featured rear axle ratios around 2.41 to 3.07, because they had 3 speed transmissions with no overdrive, and no lock-up converter. Carb and ignition tuning was key to making them run good.
@@richthom6445 bull,they are really tough. Raced them for nearly 40 years, haven't had these failures every body speaks about without any knowledge of the engines.
@@richthom6445 Then you didn't know what you were doing. They are a very good set up. You must have used very worn out engines to do something they weren't intended for. My brother put a Buick in his pettybone loader and it was a beast. I ain't buying what your selling.
Having owned cars with all of these engines in the last 30 odd years I agree with all your Cadillac 472-500 comments. I suspect it was at least partly intentional, they wanted that “stately” feel like say from a Rolls Royce of the era. If had 69, 70 and 71 Eldorado’s and they all had that same underwhelming initial response. (Which btw made them great winter cars, almost like modern diesel cars, sluggish initially but tons of low end torque mid-rpm mid-throttle). Considering the other engines they all had their pros and cons. The 70 455 Pontiac had probably the best “performance” feel (not necessarily the quickest, just the best “normal” driving response feel). However this engine shared the regular Pontiac problem of timing chain failure, failure prone water pumps and the 70 455’s specifically had a abnormally high crank failure rate, perhaps related to the long about 4 and a quarter inch stroke and a then 16 year old architecture and a block that was really maxed out at this CID. The Chevy 454 got all the press back then and the hipo versions were the best revvers of the GM gang but they also had some issues including crank failure and intakes cracking on the bottom side. Also like the earlier 427’s the non performance versions were probably the worst performing of all the GM big blocks. The olds 455 was a great all arounder with lots of mid range. Even with the W30 version top end power was a bit weak which was ok given the iffy reputation of the crankshafts. The Buick 455 didn’t have quite the grunt of the Pontiac or Olds but they were the sleeper of the bunch at higher rpm. All my comments are about the high compression 70 versions and in bone stock tune and trim. The 71-72 feel very similar but with say 10-15% less grunt in the seat of the pants but still really nice feeling. The 73-74 were noticeably slower again but also suffered from drivability thanks to the factory “desperation” tuning and early EGR issues. The 75-76 are noticeably slow thanks to the cork like early cats and ultra highway gearing. However the catalytic converter ironically resulted in much much better drivability than the 73-74. But as you said these were all great engines for the average buyer. They only new had good they really were when they ended up several years later driving horribly slow small blocks in the 300 and less cube range and 100 and change horsepower.
Thanks Adam, another great video. I'm partial to GM so I enjoy most anything you do on GM, particularly the 60's and 70's. I've driven many '68 Buick430s as well as 455s from '71 and '72 and aside from the smooth performance, they were also incredibly durable. My '72 Riviera started spewing white smoke about 2 years ago and of course a head gasket was the culprit. I've had this car since the mid 90's and it was a daily driver for most of the late 90's to mid 2000's and had almost 200K miles. My mechanic told me the entire block looked great as did the heads when he took it apart. It was just a small area of the gasket that failed. I was wondering if you've ever had any experience with the Buick nailhead, either the 401 or 425. Those are actually my favorite Buick engines as I owned a few back in the 80's
I had some Nailheads over the years. My 56, my 61, and ended up with my mothers 62. Mine were great, but my parents refused to maintain their cars, so the 62 was pretty tired. PS: That white "smoke" was probably steam.
I had a '68 Buick GS 400 with the 400. Lots of fun days in that car but I expected more than the 10 mpg I got in it as it's not a heavy car for that day.
You can always find high performance parts from cad500parts for cadillac big blocks especially the 472-500 v8s, Butler performance provides high perf parts for Pontiac 389, 421, 428, 455ho an 455sd and even make crate engines, Oldsmobile has John Mondello has made spare parts for their big blocks, TA Performance makes high performance parts for any Buick big block. As for Chevy big blocks , there are Brodix, Shafiroff and more producing high performance parts. So you can always tune up a malaise era big block into a real big block brawler with real impressive net hp
The reason why GM stopped giving the divisions to design and build their own engines is because customers complained about the divisions sharing engines amongst each other. For example, a customer purchased an Oldsmobile with the Oldsmobile V-8 and discovered that his Oldsmobile was equipped with a Chevrolet V-8. It has gotten to the point that customers even took GM to court. Also, it was costing GM too much money to ceritify all the engines. Later, GM created GM Powertrain division to design and produce engines for all GM divisions. Here is my favorite big block GM engine in order: 1. Chevrolet 454 LS6 V-8 2. Buick 455 Stage 1 V-8 3. Oldsmobile 455 Rocket V-8 4. Pontiac 455 Super Duty V-8 5. Cadillac 472 V-8
Of course when I was a kid I didn't know or understand I guess how the engine internals we're different on each engine, but it explains why every engine made a different sound. And honestly, when I was a kid I could actually tell the difference between each car - without looking at it! Maybe everybody could do it, I don't know, but yeah. Especially accelerating from a stop, I knew a Chevy from an Olds from a Buick etc. I guess the Olds being the most obvious because they sounded different from everything. Anybody else get that? 😉
Your videos all remind me how different it was to grow up a car nut on the West Coast, compared to (my assumption in your case) the Midwest and especially Michigan. I'm a product of the middle of the Boomer era, so I reached the age where I could read and understand Motor Trend magazine in 1965 (Car of the Year - Pontiac). It took until 1968 when my intellect could take in Road & Track; from that point forward, that was my standard of reference. My folks - and all the other relatives - were normal American car buyers through the 60s, except for the Beetle Dad got in 1962 as our first second car. All during that time, here in the PNW there were enough VWs, M-Bs, DKWs, Renaults, Peugeots, FIATs, Simcas etc. that I recognized them as well as all the 60s Americana. Then about 1966, big numbers of Toyotas and Datsuns started appearing -- and staying, since we don't have road salt rust. My family did have two 1960s Buicks.. but both had crippling flaws, the '65 Skylark convertible having virtually zero braking capability, and the '69 LeSabre having chronic overheating. From that point on, in my own mind, no thinking person considered big American cars the best choice; per R&T and lots of teenage pressure-campaign, I talked my folks into a '73 SAAB 99 4MT. The SAAB turned out to be an utter disaster in terms of breakdowns, but its performance, economy, braking were miles ahead of the Buicks and its capacity and comfort was darn near as good as the LeSabre. Then, when I finally had career-job money of my own, I bought a 1977 fuel-injected Rabbit.
My Dad bought a ‘77 Rabbit with fuel injection. It was brown. Perfect color for that turd. It was the only foreign car my Dad ever bought. It got totaled two years after multiple breakdowns. It was hit in the front by a ‘67 Beetle. The Beetle drove away.
The only foreign cars that would last a few rust belt winters was the beetle. Even in the 80’s people say how much better the Japanese cars were then. They really weren’t a few winters of salt on the roads and suspension parts would rot to pieces. Meanwhile big American cars would last as long as you cleaned the salt off in the summer . I graduated HS in the mid 90’s my first car was a 20 year old Plymouth station wagon there was no 20 year old foreign cars running around.
Foreign cars got a well deserved bad wrap in the mid-west. My uncle had an '80 Civic that only made it to '84 before the rust totaled it. He was displeased to put it mildly. He has never again intentionally bought a foreign car (he had a Geo without fully appreciating it was a Suzuki). From that point forward, Chevettes were the ticket for the thrifty. You could get 10 years out of one and just beat it the entire time. Rust did eventually drive them into extinction as well, and they were basically as refined as a lawn tractor, but they worked.
I would agree on the Cadillac engines. They were not meant to be anything other than big motors moving around big heavy cars with with numerical low rear gears (2.56, 2.73, 3.08, etc) I drove and owned Buick's, Pontiac's and Chevy's. Lots of of performance parts for any Chevy engine, big or small block. AND they could take the horsepower. Something the Buick 455 blocks could not. Big block Buick's were limited to 550HP because of the stock oiling system and high nickel content in the engine casting. Buick engines were light and made great amounts of torque which helped push around those heavy land yachts like the Electra 225. Pontiac's were predisposed to the same engine design and block size. Also the stock cams were .407 lift, unless you used 1.65 rocker arms like the Round Port Ram air engines. Plenty of performance parts in the day from H.O. Racing specialties. My 1970 RA IV Judge used a lot of their performance parts and cams. No real experience with Oldsmobile, but the old Hurst Olds 442 versions made good power and surprised many at the drag strip. All of this is just my humble opinion and experience.
The craziest, scariest ride I ever took was on an airboat powered by a Cadillac 500...! That thing and that guy were absolutely nuts...! There were many boats out there in Lake Placid, Florida on a memorial day weekend... It out ran them all...! I don't know all the engines that were there, but I know there were a few 454s and at least one Pontiac 455 and a ton of small block Chevys... That Cadillac 500 boat was insane though...!!! Thanks for sharing... Keep up your awesomeness...!
If it's not a Cadillac 472/500....i dont even turn my head to look....been driving these engines since 1984....there is no other engine for me....period.
396 - 427 - 454 is what you use for racing, the heads are what set them apart from the others the factory high performance ones could rev to 7000 rpm, try that with the other factory 455s. The Buick 455 and the caddy 500 are the next best IMHO.
When I was growing up my parents had a 1974 Cadillac Coupe deVille with the 472 CID engine. They owned it for several years before I was allowed to drive it when I obtained my driver license a the age of 16 . I was so eager and excited to finally to drive it because I knew that it had that HUGE V-8 under the hood and on my first drive my excitement soon turned to disappointment as the car lumbered along UNTIL those secondaries kicked in and.................it still lumbered on, And you know why? because the car weighed 4942 lbs and the engine only made 205 HP😳 We've come a long way since then, thank goodness!!!! 💪
They make a stroker kit for the Caddy big blocks that comes with forged crank, pistons and rods. When the motor is stroked it is converted to 541 cubic inches and puts out a lot more horsepower and nobody but you will know what is inside the motor.
348/409, but I’d own either one in a heartbeat. That’s earlier than Adam’s intended time range, but compared to the others they come up lacking. I haven’t heard of them being problematic during town and freeway motoring, other than maybe valve train glitches early. Something to consider about the later Mk IV Chevrolet big-blocks is that they were designed first as a race engine (‘63 Mk II Mystery Engine) and later was revised for street applications when it went into production in 1965. Oval and peanut port heads always struck me as something of an afterthought.
@@michaelbenardo5695 I meant with regard to reliability and the architecture in general. They didn’t tolerate being overrevved very well. The angled deck was kind of a weird thing for machine shops to deal with. There are drag racers who seem to have overcome some of the valve train issues in recent years, though.
What would be priorities for Cadillac? Whisper quiet, velvet smooth, massive torque. Horsepower numbers, fuel economy, redline? Who cares? From an engineering perspective Buick had the best engineering at GM, where real world applications come closest to theory. Pontiac was highly innovative though not the smoothest or best fuel economy, Olds was rock solid if not outstanding. Chevrolet is the worst engineering.
I had a 68 472, I changed out the primary metering rods too, it was a heavy engine, it ran that way, but it could make a ton of low end power, (it's small valves and intake runners limited the upper end) reliable and bullet proof. Had a friend in his 70s, bought a new 454 Chevy truck to pull a camper in the 80s, he took good care of it, but it still blew a rod before it made a 100k. In fact, Chevy 454s in the 80s in motorhomes we're known for having "square crankshafts" I never heard that said about any other BB GM, just the 454 The 472 would have made a great pick-up engine imo.
I think some of these vehicles with such engines had a choice of final drive ratio,as in a "trailer tow" package. Hard to imagine any Cadillac that could run with the 1970 or earlier Ford 429 in the LTD in a match of stoplight acceleration. Did Cadillac only offer one axle ratio,no options?
I had a lot of Chevy/Olds/Pont/Buick big blocks. My parents went thru 8 Cadillacs from 1955-1990. They never had anything but the best of luck & those Caddy engines were marvelous. I was hooked on Olds, but never found them to be superior.
Pontiac never have a small block or big block classification. Pontiac v8 blocks from 301 to 455 blocks are the same size. Only difference is crankshaft journals 301 to 400 are small journal engines 421 428 and 455 are large journal engines.
Good one Adam, I've only owned Mopar 440(RB) and 400(B) and driven plenty of other brands, 460, 454, 455, etc and my personal fave was the Chrysler 400 in a '73 Newport, damn but I miss that car, by far the best road trip car I've ever driven. Around town I was lucky to get 8 or 9 MPG but with cruise control set to 70 it would average 16 from Calgary to Vancouver and if you split gas with your 3 or 4 passengers it was inexpensive, comfortable, smooth, quiet and you never slowed down no matter how steep those roads in the Rockies got.
I miss the Newport though I never owned one. It must have been one of the cheapest cars per pound. When your refer to mpg, were those 16 miles to one of our Canadian gallons or 16 miles to a US gallon?
I went on a road trip once in a 73 Newport with 400. Temperature was about minus 25 outside We had to bring the battery inside to warm up first but was great after that.
I had the '69 427 in a covette. Mild 390 hp 425 ft lbs torque. Avery good dependable engine, fast but not crazy. Jus a little crazy. I drove in off the street and turned 13.08 et quarter 3.08 rear axle that's pretty good.
I knew you were going to pick the Cadillac V8. You're not wrong about it feeling 'different'. I've always thought of it as some sort of weird intentional choice to help the elderly move as slowly as humanly possible while in traffic. Wouldn't want any vulgar shows of acceleration from your massive V8. I've heard the secondaries opening up, described like old school turbo lag. It does make me wonder, though, would you rather a '67 or a '68? 429 vs 472.
Heh... I had a super smogged down 500 in a 76 Fleetwood and it would burn a tire (open rear end) as long as you wanted to hold the pedal down. Whether or not that was a desired trait that Cadillac engineered into the car, it would certainly get vulgar if you wanted it to. It was _not_ fast, but it had ungodly amounts of torque.
The biggest engine I've ever owned was a 360 in an old Dodge truck. I've had some 350 Chevys(currently the 2nd gen LT1), 307, 305. But I've always wanted a big block. I don't care what make, size, year, anything. I've just always been curious about them.
Which one was supposedly capable of passing the Mopar 426 Hemi? Always heard the most capable opponent was the Buick 455 Stage 1. Supposedly light as a 350 small block in thin wall big block ... which probably hurt extreme durability some? I wouldn't turn down any Detroit 3 big block though.
I've always seen the Stage 1 Buick GS and the Trans Am 455HO (Super Duty? Heavy Duty? Something like that) as being the top of the pack of the era in stock vs. stock form.
The Buick 455 Stage 1 worked by having the combustion chamber specially machined out, and fitting huge deshrouded valves. They made the space between the intake and exhaust as small as it could get. It was about as big a valve as a wedge engine possibly could have. The 426 Hemi already had room to install a huge valve. However, a hemi chamber couldn't have the kind of combustion swirl that a wedge head could allow. That may have given the Buick 455 Stage 1 the edge. Here is a guide to it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RcgRTgK19GY.html
@@skylinefever stock for stock the Buick was maybe around 25 to 50lbs heavier than the 350 Chevy. Interestingly the 350 Buick is about 100lbs lighter than the Chevy in similar dress and a much stronger block as well.
a lot of this lack of response on initial pedal press was due to transmission gearing. Quite often people attributed the eventual thrust upon depressing accelerator to secondaries opening up but was actually (three speed automatic cars) downshifting from 3rd to 2nd. another subject I would like to see you cover, Adam, is the topic of “high-performance” or “HO” engined cars. What some people don’t realize is that it’s actually the components that are used in the engines like forged rods & camshafts, four bolt mains, etc. For instance, Chrysler’s 440 Magnum with 375hp vs their 440 SixPack with 390hp. The SixPack version was the only one of the two that was actually high performance, not because it was 15hp more powerful but because it had the expensive goodies in the engine that allowed it to better hold up and not break under high performance demands, like racing. Same holds true for the other manufacturers. Another example, between Pontiac’s RamAir III & RamAir IV, the IV is actually the HiPo of the two with its four bolt main, not because it’s has 2-3% more hp!
Sure. I’ll do that! As for the gearing, I’m not so sure. Other GM divisions had super lazy 2.56 rear ends and they still felt like they had more scoot. The Eldorados often had 2.73 or 3.08 final drive ratios but still exhibit the same feeling.
In 1976 my dad had a New Eldorado with the fuel injection 500cid. It had 215sae hp, & 400 torque. I had a Buick 225 coupe with 455 4bbl. 205 hp 345torq. True, changing the timing did feel much nicer. The final drive ratio is what kept em lazy. Mine was 2.53:1 limited slip. Gr8 in snow. 78, I got a new Mark V 460cid.212hp. 357torq. Lazy from stand still but, better @ hi way. Man, I miss those landyachts. Imagine with today's technology ♥️
what is your opinion of the Cadillac 429 they used in 1967 ? BTW the elderly couple across the street from us in Houston bought a new 1969 Olds 98 - they would periodically ask me to take it out on the freeway to blow out the "carbon" - it was a screamer !!!
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the lawsuits over the 1977 Delta 88 having Chevrolet engines. Today, that’s just considered badge engineering, but back then, it was seen as a bait-and-switch.
I worked at a Pontiac Buick Cadillac dealership in 1983and got the chance to bring an elderly customer’s(yellow slacks white shoes )around the lot to the body shop. I picked the right spot to floor it so as to not loose control with the 500 cu inches and sideswipe any of the new versions parked nearby .To say I was disappointed with the resultant foot on gas pedal Would be as big an under statement as was the overstatement the term 500 horsepower
I'm not going to argue with your pick, although I have heard that the Cadillac responds better to high performance mods than say the buick 455. I've heard the block itself in the buicks isnt as tough for a high performance custom build.
I had the exact same rating of these engines as you outlined, based on driving or being driven in cars with these engines, and lots of studying engines as an engineer. My brothers 1972 Cadillac with the 472 was beautiful car, but I was taken back how it didn't have the acceleration like his 1956 Imperial (354 hemi) or even my 1956 DeSoto 2 speed 331 Hemi. For all out power, the 454 has the head design, but that's another discussion.
The early hemi's are beasts . Always hear about the 430 mel when mentioning these. The classic drag racing pictures showing the winning cars always seem to say " Chrysler FirePower " stamped on the valve covers.
The reason some of these Caddys felt lazy is because they all had economy axle ratios. Swap out those lazy ratios for a more aggressive gear and you'd be impressed with the throttle response.
In the same token, my '76 Fleetwood felt like it would cruise all day at 100mph and that was without an overdrive transmission. If I had the money in the era and was driving around out west on huge empty roads, it would have been a top contender for me as a buyer.
@@TheBrokenLife Overdrive transmissions were the solution but GM did not start using them until the 1980's so they could put small displacement engines into large cars.
@@jeffrobodine8579 For sure, but I was more making the point that the car didn't really feel like it was missing something without one like a lot of things of the era would.
As an owner of a 1990 Cadillac Brougham I was sad when you said the Caddy Engine was your least favorite, but you are probably right. I am happy that My 1990 has the proven 5.7 Litre 350 Chevy Engine in it, so I think it is pretty indestructible, I hope.
All good points. I used to drive a '68 Sedan DeVille quite a bit and have to agree it just didn't feel powerful unless it was at 3/4 throttle or more. Even then it was not very impressive. Smooth and quiet, though. I drove a '75 and a '76 Eldorado often, too. Gutless is being kind - for a 500 cubic inch engine. Also I think the other big blocks were mated with a slightly higher stall speed torque converter, which makes quite a bit of difference in how the engine feels.
Wow, blow my mind, one thing that I remember of my mom's 72 caddy, is that it, and so MANY OTHER Cadillac's had of the same time/era, seems like they ALL: had some kind of "EXHAUST Manifold " leak..... all of them the 500 also had some kind of "tick" , as if , some kind of exhaust manifold leak.
454,455, were good, the cadillac 425's were ok, but did fail from oil pump issues, 500's were good, the 472's had lifter noise issues after 70k, but were solid... 500's were set up differently my 70 Eldorado, awesome, the 75's not as great, but extremely smooth... however there are a lot of variables, conventional ignition systems vs electronic systems... made a difference