It Runs! 1953 Cadillac 331 V-8 first start!

[kirkconway]

hi Guy i just got your email

it was soo nice to see it soo quick.

Id like to do a replica of the 29 A pickup the Blue Beetle of Darryl Starbird's

It had the 331 caddy in it as far as i know.

where did yoiu find your 331?

nice project go slow and youll have a nice car when it's done.

was it in a car.

[rpeek]

@kirkconway The guy I got my project from had the motor and tranny in a '53 Cadillac and pulled it out and put in a Chevy 355. He poked the motor and dynaflow tranny into this one, kind of a mocked up rat rod made out of spare parts, and I bought it from him. He told me the engine ran, but I really didn't expect it to. Like you I wanted the classic pre-SBC hotrod motor and other than a flathead I couldn't imagine anything more appropriate than this. I love it.

[kirkconway]

@rpeek

I was gonna see if i could find an older Caddy V-8 like your's

[rpeek]

@kirkconway Good luck with yours.. 

[kirkconway]

@kirkconway

I was gonna get an older Caddy V-8 like your's

is that a model A frame under there?

look's like it. Like to find a 29 A roadster pickup and do it like the Blue Beetle show rod in the 60's

Im not sure if that thing had a special frame under it,

or it just had an A frame under it?

If the A frame would work?

then it would be so simple to do it.

[kirkconway]

right on brother good to see you building something and it having the older Cadillac engine, really cool sounds good too.

[rpeek]

@kirkconway Thank You! It's been great so far.

[SuperKONR]

I was always baffled by the three piped exhaust (no pun intended hehe). But is that enough pipe for back pressure so the valves don't burn out, or did you put something in there? Is that what the steel wool was for? Cause I know its caused from the flames so is the steel wool a spark arrester?

[rpeek]

@SuperKONR 3 exhaust pipes were standard on early V8's. Flathead Fords had the same setup. They shared the center exhaust ports. 4 pipes are better, and that did come along pretty quickly, after this motor was made. The steel wool was just an attempt to make an in-pipe exhaust, which I later accomplished using motorcycle baffles and stainless steel mesh..

[MrChevynut]

I bet your rat rod was a hot rod back in the day

[rpeek]

@MrChevynut It was actually a fire truck.. A local guy assembled it out of pile of spare parts from his and his Dad's left over projects, but never got it anywhere near finished and moved off and left it. I tracked him down, drug it home, took it apart and rebuilt it. Still workin' on it, d/t budget, can only afford so many new parts at a time, but for the money it's already been great fun..

[Gibson299]

this thing got a bit of a clicking, sounds like it's not running on all cylinders.

[rpeek]

@Gibson299 I'm surprised it ran at all... Still am. I drive it all the time and love it. The timing chain was worn way out. Replaced that. Got lots more to do.. Probably what you hear are exhaust leaks. Had a bunch of exhaust bolts broke off at the time..

[utubeworms]

I'm sort of befuddled. It says V8 but you only have 3 pipes per header manifold?

[rpeek]

@utubeworms That befuddles a lot of people. If you look at an old flathead V8 they only had 3 pipes too.. That's they way they did them on the early V8's , shared a center port with one pipe..

[amishrobots]

@rpeek yeah i was wondering about that one too.

[rockabillycat1954]

@utubeworms just count the spark plug wires, can't ever go wrong that way

[Dazzypig]

God, that sounds great. Wish I could hear it in person!

[ExUSSailor]

Of course it runs, it's a Cadillac, not a Chevy! They're not called the "Standard of the World" for nothing!

[BlackCatCustoms]

Thats a thing of beauty right there, glad to see some more metal getting another chance :)

[BlackTransAmdude]

I liked that sweet.

[doberfag]

Great sound..gotta love it. those ol caddys are great.

[fireman640]

I got a 331 myself! Out of a '49. It's going in my '53 Chevy Bel Air. How'd you solve the generator/alternator dilemma? I'm gonna run custom headers and I wanna figure out a couple options for generator/alternator... THANKS!!!!

[rpeek]

If you look at later videos you'll see I fabricated a mount and set the alternator somewhat close to where the old generator would have been. Couldn't bolt it to the headers, as the origianl was, but the alt is a lot lighter than the generator, so it's quite doable to fabricate up some mounts. Look at some of my later vids and you'll see it.

[SoilentGr33n]

What the hell was gurgling out and smoking near the spark plug hole towards the end of the video? Exhaust leak or water being purged?

[rpeek]

Probably a combination of both. That engine had sat outside without being touched for at least 3 years before I got it running, and there were no exhaust manifold gaskets on it when I first cranked it, so it was probably water that was frozen to the engine melting and blowing around in exhaust fumes. I did notice that, and for a moment wondered if I had a cracked head or head gasket, but turns out it was no problem.. Good spot though..

[Conway11906]

gm in a ford ??

[rpeek]

It's a Chevy frame... Get over it.. hahaha

[yamahonkawazuki]

Lol love it, very nice. dont you just oe that feeling when she awakens? for the first time?

[rpeek]

I love the feelin' every time it fires off..

[rpeek]

Is there another way?

[rpeek]

NO, it's a V8.  The early Cadillac engines had 3 ports, like a flathead Ford. The two center cylinders share an exhaust port.. Same with a flathead.. That's why it has 3 exhaust pipes. You're not the first one to confuse it for a 6 though. The sound gives it away. You'll never hear a 6 sound like this..

[sb07fms]

k i didant know that

[killakobra]

i wouldn't go as far as saying that you'll never hear a 6 sound like this. my 300 ford 6 has alot of low end growl. i've seen other like it that sound similiar to this. nice car though.

[ziggassedup]

Siamese ports.lots of earlier side valve and OHC engines had them.the two center cylinders share the same exhaust port.when people realized that horsepower could be gained by using the pulse from the exhaust then firing orders were changed and one port per cylinder engines made more power and so goes on but old school engines are cool...cheers.

[rpeek]

Thanks.... Yea, I love the old motor. It's so wicked fun... Thanks.

[SkinnyPimpYYZ]

no its a v8 the two center exhaust ports share a single exit port into the single exhaust pipe in the middle...and i already knew that before i saw the comment rpeek already posted.

[toolfan58]

Two cylinders share an exhaust pipe hence only three on each side.

[psychodelicdragon]

it was in the late 70's.

[Corey497]

anyone else only see 3 pipes per side?

[rpeek]

The 53 Cadillac engine shared the exhaust ports in the center two cylinders, like the flat head did..

[tipetu]

big blocks got two ports close to eachother in the middle, sharing one pipe

[amerikanerMarinen]

Whoo! She's purtty soundin.

I'll never quit beating myself up for selling my 67 Charger..never never never.

[rpeek]

Well, this might help..  I sold a '62 Corvette for $350... Feel better now....

[amerikanerMarinen]

Ahhh man..kind of..until I remembered putting a Chevelle (early 70's if I remember right) Super Sport..a few dents, no rust, primed and ready to paint, from a junkyard in a demolition derby.

I could have easily fixed it up in a month..

I think there's something mess up in my head sir haha

[rpeek]

Okay I got one for ya. I torched the roof off a '57 Chevy, two door hard top once, 'cause I thought it'd be easier to weld a new top on mine than fix the dent in it..

[amerikanerMarinen]

..That hurts sir..haha

Okay, how bout this..I remember driving my dad's '70 Camaro Z28 RS..put it in first, or so I thought..it was in reverse, panicked, ran it into a pole at Wal-Mart..beautiful car..black with white stripes

The first day I got my license..

[rpeek]

Can't quite match that, but in the 70's me and my x drove our sick Impala to a used car lot, and took out a '67 Camero SS 350 to test drive. She was behind the wheel, and pulled out in front of a car.  I told her to stomp it. She did. We turned 3 donuts in the road before jumping the curb sideways and taking down a sign. We bought the car, by the way..

[amerikanerMarinen]

Hahahah, awesome. Shoot, I'd buy the car too.

Kinda sounds like me after my first race except I bout took out the jack man in the pits.

Good times sir

[rpeek]

Yep..

[psychodelicdragon]

i got one for you guys, me and my school buds used to buy 55 to 57 chevys for 10 to 20bucks and destroy them in demolition derby and circle track races back in the 70's. 2door hdtops, panel deliveries, wagons and sedans. i cry ever so often. could have bought a 39chevy coupe with a 409 from my cousin for $350 don't tell me i kick me for that one too.

[amerikanerMarinen]

Ahhhhhh man that hurts haha.

Dang..

I race circle tracks, short tracks, stock car late model racing, and I raced a Dodge Dart there, fully restored and wrecked it. How idiotic of me...

55 to 57 Chevys huh? Back when Impalas were still legal in the derbies?

[psychodelicdragon]

it was the late 70's

[pilatunes]

Nice...just curious, does the 331 have any distinct performance advantages over the 365 and 390 versions of the same engine? These engines look great in hot rods (that and the Olds 303)

[rpeek]

Don't think so. It's just what I have, and just happens to have been built the year I was born, so that kind of makes it a bit more interesting to me. Plus, I had one in a '39 Ford p.u. when I was a kid, and didn't appreciate it, so I'm kind of making up for that now, with this one..

[pimpinproductions612]

sounds tough as, haha the driveshaft spinning around reminds me off a dogs tail

[rpeek]

Yep..  hahaha

[rpeek]

Waggin' its tail... haha

[TropicalSunriseTans]

I'm rebuilding a '72 Land Rover to former glory. However, I can FULLY understand the kick you guys must get from rat rodding. I reckon that will be my next project. Oh, and that sounds sweet man!

[rpeek]

Thank you. Yep, I'm just havin' wicked good fun..

[berkelusa]

At 0:44 I heard you say "Whoo Hoo".. Go see my second Chopper video.. My youngest (11) said "Dad he's like you with the Whoo Hoo".. lol -Must be a guy thing when we get something running for the first time...

[rpeek]

Yes. 'tis.. When you going to show me that hotrod you're makin'..

[berkelusa]

video is 6_blIqMNciA on YouTube

[HostageKiller]

It was kinda scary watching that aerosol can slowly sliding down towards the headers.

[rpeek]

Not as scary as feeling the floor shake when this thing cranks...

[starchief59]

What's that body?

[rpeek]

That's a 1947 Ford firetruck cab, chopped and channelled over the frame. The turtle deck is made from a 1957 Ford hood. The frame is a 1933 Chevy.

[starchief59]

Dang, that sounds pretty sweet

[tlhoeckel]

sounds Great!! wish you could have done that when I was there. Tod.

[rpeek]

I was workin' on it..

[dhswpea]

She sounds beautiful!! I got chilly bumps just watchin her roar to life.. "rusty 'ol American Dream" -david wilcox. :)

[rpeek]

Yep, she's a beauty.. Can't wait to get back to work on her..

[lctc10]

Josh & I just came over to the office to watch the video. Congratulations! It sounds good to me.Just waiting now, for the first ride. Makes me want to go to work on my bulldozer. Maybe in a couple of years when I can slow down a little.

[YoppyKyabetsu]

I think I felt MY floor shake when it started. Thats cool beans, man.

[spiritmaddy]

Wahooo!!!!  Cool!!!

Maddy;)