can i turbo charge a old cadillac 500 motor??

[Oaktown]

i have a 65K mile 500 motor and trans out of a 76 cadillac that i junked years ago. my friend has a 78 skylark that he is willing to donate to me if i want to put my 500 caddy motor in it... i am thinking about making the ultimate free car. i have a bunch of stuff from all the cars i have had along with intercooler from a gn and my friend has one from a volvo along with some volvo turbos... or if that stuff didnt work i could just add a good turbo. just wondering if it is possible to add turbos to a 500 caddy and if it would handle it and what i would have to do.

 

[corsair231]

You can do anything that your money allows. :biggrin:




Really, most crucial and probably most costly would be engine managment, exhaust routing, and proper sizing of the componets. You could go blow thru carb but injection is a lot less tempermental. The stock Buick turbo would probably be much too small much less any of the volvo stuff. Twin stockers may even be on the smallish side for 500 cubes. Other than that it is just getting it all to fit together.

Keep boost reasonable and detonation in check and you would have a torque beast.

 

[Nick Micale]

I would be suprised if the pistons would last more than 5 minutes under boost!:smile: they are a weak link in a 500 cu. in. Cad engine.

 

[Nasty Wendy]

I would be suprised if the pistons would last more than 5 minutes under boost!:smile: they are a weak link in a 500 cu. in. Cad engine.

Lets see here....if I had a turbo'd 500 cube V8 I wouldn't settle for anything less than a 6 second pass. So 5 minutes would equate to 50 passes.

 

[IEATV8S]

You could do it with a blow through system with a sealed carb. for an economy job! Years ago had a guy with a big 70's Caddy with a 200 shot of NO2 running mid-low 11's and street raced it all the time in Bklyn! Those blocks and pistons would probably hold up to 7 or less lbs. of boost, back off the timing and run GOOD gas! :smile:

 

[turbofish38]

I used to have a 69 Cadillac ambulance converted by Hess&Eisenhart(they built Kennedys Lincoln limo death car) with the 390HP 472. Even at 7,000 pounds it could whip on the Mustangs and Camaros of the 70's and 80's. The motor never missed a beat but the THM475(T400 variant) had to be fixed on a regular basis.

I cant find anything on the net but back in the late 70's there was a car called the Panther 6. It used a TT 500 cube Caddy. Here are some links
Panther 6 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Panther P6
Restoration of the LHD Panther6.

I'm guessing they used the stock pistons in it.

Now that I look at those pages again I'm getting some wild ideas on what to do with a couple of the turbo'd Riviera drivetrains I have.

 

[Nasty Wendy]

Well thats something you don't see everyday.