1970 Cadillac Deville convertible - restore, hot rodding

[grantatx]

A couple of final jobs. From the get-go, the engine simply would not spin over when hot using the stock GM starter motor. I tried everything, including rigging an extra battery in the driver's side of the engine compartment running in parallel with the existing battery. Two gauge wire all the way to the engine block as a ground and same for the live wire to the starter, nothing worked. Even tried rigging a Ford solenoid, as so many say this cures the solenoid heat issue with GM starters. Still had starting issues. In the end I purchased a Powermaster mini torque starter, which I should have done from the beginning. Half the size, half the weight, and spins the 507 10.5:1 engine over like it's a 4 cylinder. Oh, and it's a trick looking unit compared to stock. Never had a starting issue since! My advice - if you're hot rodding a big Caddy, don't waste your time with any other starter, just get the mini torque!

[grantatx]

And finally, at least for now, i'd always wanted to dress the engine with a nice set of valve covers - the PML cast aluminum covers (sold to me by OPGI) were my Christmas present to myself. Dewayne suggested not cutting holes in the covers to preserve the look, and I thought that was a great idea. That meant we needed to figure out a PCV solution. In the end I contacted Dan Medice of Medice Manufacturing in PA, who kindly worked with me to fabricate a custom build of his excellent billet valve cover spacers. He made me a one inch spacer set and machined 8-AN bosses in to both sides. Dan does excellent work and I highly recommend him if you want to run the same type of setup. I was then able to plumb both the breather and PCV valve sides using 8-AN fittings. With the added height of the valve covers I had to use ARP Hemi valve cover studs to fasten them. The PML covers really make the engine "pop" and get positive comments from everyone that looks under the hood.



So that's about it for now. Next up is fuel injection - I have a used Holley Sniper setup I bought off Craigslist and plan to install it over the winter. I've really not been happy with the Holley 870 Street Avenger and from what I've read I'm not the only one. I've toyed with the idea of going with a double pumper but I think FI is the way to go for tunability. I'll do another post once we get the FI done.