Here's your chance guys................

[Guest RedCutlassSL]

if i allow it

[Guest TurboSedan]

Hippie - looks great! i like all of your ideas with the car. but yeah, maybe you could soup up that Caddy 4.9 V8 engine a *little* more.....

joshua (Working Undercover For The Man)

[91GranSport]

I think that Cadillac 4.9L V-8 had plenty of problems. I'm not talking peripheral problems, but actual internal engine problems.

[Hippie]

I think that Cadillac 4.9L V-8 had plenty of problems. I'm not talking peripheral problems, but actual internal engine problems.

 

Yes, the early ones did but GM made several upgrades to the block. The later ones still require some special precautions because of the wet sleeves but I have talked to several people with later 4.9's like mine and they have well over 100K with no problems and some pushing 200K. If you do the required maintenance they'll do just fine. I'm not scared, mine has 50K and is absolutely cherry. It will take me 10 years to put another 50K on it as this is not my main ride or even my back up. With a little care and PM it should make the 200,000 mark. People told me the same thing about the 3.8 in my LeSabre 5 years and 83,000 miles ago. It's still as strong as ever @ 143K, you just have to treat them right and know their limitations. And run Castrol GTX.

[RomeoZ34]

I dig the Razzi sideskirts, however, go w/ a Z34 front end and the hood, if not the front end then the hood for sure. Z34 spoiler of course. Maybe some yellow lette Eagle 1 nascar style tires too!

[91GranSport]

Heh heh! I run Valvoline MaxLife, but I'd rather stay away from the oil debate.

 

I'm sure the Cadillac 4.9L V-8 couldn't be more high maintenance than the 3.4L Twin Cam engine. I have no idea how "wet" sleeves work, I thought sleeves were basically cylinder liners and they're pretty much stuck to the cylinder walls. Either way, I think that if you're careful you should be able to get a lot of mileage out of the engine.

 

As for someone telling you that your 3800 TPI V-6 won't last, whoever told you that is a fool. I've seen several of them well past the 250,000km+ mark, and some even higher. Mine's sitting at 185,000km and it runs just fine. Now, if only I had new tires...

 

I think that Cadillac 4.9L V-8 had plenty of problems. I'm not talking peripheral problems, but actual internal engine problems.

 

Yes, the early ones did but GM made several upgrades to the block. The later ones still require some special precautions because of the wet sleeves but I have talked to several people with later 4.9's like mine and they have well over 100K with no problems and some pushing 200K. If you do the required maintenance they'll do just fine. I'm not scared, mine has 50K and is absolutely cherry. It will take me 10 years to put another 50K on it as this is not my main ride or even my back up. With a little care and PM it should make the 200,000 mark. People told me the same thing about the 3.8 in my LeSabre 5 years and 83,000 miles ago. It's still as strong as ever @ 143K, you just have to treat them right and know their limitations. And run Castrol GTX.

[Hippie]

Heh heh! I run Valvoline MaxLife, but I'd rather stay away from the oil debate.

 

I've been using Castrol GTX for 25 years and it is great stuff. Other than that I'll stay out of the debate as well.

 

I have no idea how "wet" sleeves work, I thought sleeves were basically cylinder liners and they're pretty much stuck to the cylinder walls.

 

The 4.9 doesn't have cast cylinders as such that the sleeves fit into, the fit into a recess in the lower block and the cylinder head holds them in place. The sleeve actually forms part of the water jacket. The early versions weren't strong enough in the bottom end and the sleeves would work loose and allow coolant into the crankcase. Instant Bye Bye bottom end. So they earned a nasty and not altogether undeserved reputation. GM made several revisions to the blocks and by the time they got to mine they were at least fairly reliable, not a good base for a true Hi Perf motor but good enough for what I have in mind.

[91GranSport]

I can clearly see how it works from the way you describe it. Thanks a bundle for the info. Although it has the reputation for being unreliable, I think it's actually a "cool" idea. Theoretically, you can increase the displacement by simply installing larger sleeves and pistons to match. No need to mess around with the crankshaft and connecting rods.

 

Funny, you mention that it isn't a baseline for a strong, high performance motor. However, if I recall correctly ASG had two versions of their 5.0L ASG V-8. The Series I was around 285HP/300lb-ft of torque, while the Serie II put out 300HP. I'm not sure about the torque for the Series II. Either way, that's tremendous amounts of power to me, hell that's more power than the early 5.7L LT-1!

 

The 4.9 doesn't have cast cylinders as such that the sleeves fit into, the fit into a recess in the lower block and the cylinder head holds them in place. The sleeve actually forms part of the water jacket. The early versions weren't strong enough in the bottom end and the sleeves would work loose and allow coolant into the crankcase. Instant Bye Bye bottom end. So they earned a nasty and not altogether undeserved reputation. GM made several revisions to the blocks and by the time they got to mine they were at least fairly reliable, not a good base for a true Hi Perf motor but good enough for what I have in mind.

[GnatGoSplat]

I can clearly see how it works from the way you describe it. Thanks a bundle for the info. Although it has the reputation for being unreliable, I think it's actually a "cool" idea. Theoretically, you can increase the displacement by simply installing larger sleeves and pistons to match. No need to mess around with the crankshaft and connecting rods.

 

Yeah, you can also rebuild the engine simply by replacing the cylinder sleeves rather than having to hone them.

[Hippie]

I didn't mean "strong" performance wise, they do OK. I meant strong as in able to hold up to the abuse a performance motor is subjected to. They can make power I'd just be leary of how well they can handle it.

 

By early 5.7L LT-1 I assume you meant the new LT-'1's not the 1970 350 LT-1. They were rated at 360HP and were easily capable of more with a little tuning and a set of headers. Manual trans only and no AC.