1951 Caddy daily driver

[Mowerhoarder]

Hey! I'm Back! And so is the car, I've put 5,000 miles on it now, driven it to West Virginia, Michigan, And Kentucky now and only broken a fuel pump. This thing is great!

[Bob Kielar]

Welcome back Conor good to have you here.

Keep Cruzin,
Bob

[Joe Jensen]

Thank you for sharing. 

Sounds like you have been having a good time.

Keep putting on the miles!

Joe

[Julien Abrahams]

I just wanted to compliment you on driving a '51 Cadillac as your daily driver, being so young! Here in Europe I very, very rarely see people in their early twenties drive anything that is older than say 15 years old. So, great to hear that there are still " kids"out there that do this. Keep driving it, keep learning and keep enjoying!

[Mowerhoarder]

Thanks everyone! I'll post some pictures soon of the places it's been. I took it camping in Wayne national forest and the campground was roughly a 45 minute drive from any paved road. The caddy did incredibly well over the 3 creeks I had to cross and the wildly steep hills. Pretty sure something freed up too as it definitely has more off the line now! I think seatbelts are in the near future if I'm driving it so far constantly but for now it seems to really like highway driving! It burns/leaks about a quart of oil every 200 miles or so so it's probably time for a "rebuild" and re-seal. Because I can't leave anything well enough alone, I'm hoping to have it bored out to a 390, put 365 heads on it, and with a 390 crank, have basically a hot 390? Not even sure if it's possible but if I happen on a surplus of money it probably will. Realistically though, I'm gonna pull the motor, maybe put new bearings in it, but for sure rings and valve seals/get the heads re-done and slap a cam and a tri carb intake on and break down more than I drive.

[dn010]

Just remember the more you do to the engine, the more abuse you'll put your 73 year old transmission through.

[jwwseville60]

Ive had four Caddy engines rebuilt so far. We had to rebuild my 429 twice due to bad rebuild parts and a faulty machine shop experience. The shops are losing their elderly and experienced machinists.

The rebuild kits are so-so. You have to CAREFULLY weigh and measure every part now.
A 3-angle valve job is a good idea.

I "think" a 331 can be made into a 365 (opinions?), but cylinder heads changed just about every year during the BHP wars of the 1950s. Intake Manifolds must match.

https://www.enginebuildermag.com/2017/01/1955-331-cadillac-engine/

The 1959-62 390 block has a taller deck.
If you go to any 390 inch motor, Id recommend the smoother 1959-62 Hydramatic with PARK.
There are adapters for the turbo 400 tranny. I know they fit the 390, but Im not sure about a 331.

The pic is my 1959 390. It had 8K miles on its 1st rebuild (former owner) but we had a big roar and some odd vibes at 50 mph. We tore it down, had a new machine shop blueprint every part, had the crank machined, the flywheel balanced, checked everything and we reassembled it. Runs perfect now. Dyno-ed out at 242.62 BHP at 4800 rpm. Just an FYI.

Poor old Flatty...covered in shop blankets.

[Mowerhoarder]

Dn,
That's very true but I'm confident it'll hold up, it's been rebuilt by a reputable shop but I'm gonna try and take it to a local shop that has some older techs who know what it is and how to mess with it and see what they think about it.

Jw,
What shops did you use? I'm not too far in Ohio and willing to drive a bit for good work. I know the rebuild kits are kinda janky, even from reputable sources you still can't find good pistons for a 331, hence the 390 pistons and all that.

[Cadillac Jack 82]

Most shops have lost all their talent, period!  Personally thought I had a good one, but they kept goofing up.  If at all possible, do most of the work yourself using the specs provided here and in the manuals.  Source the best shops possible and be willing to fork out some extra money to ship it somewhere.  Sometimes you may have to do it twice, but hopefully not.

[Mowerhoarder]

Figured I may as well post some pics of where the car has been, the gravel road pics were in Wayne national forest about 45min from any paved roads. Went camping and the car crossed 3 creeks just fine and even tried some side by side trails which were pretty much just dirt roads. I decided to drive the extra 40 min to West Virginia for kicks and the car did perfectly as always. Drove it up to Kelley's Island for vacation and with a dirt bike in the backseat, the trunk and backseat full of camping stuff, and 2 kayaks strapped to the roof, the car got 15.7 mpg!

[Mowerhoarder]

.

[Cadman-iac]

Cool pictures, glad you had a great time and the car performed well.
 Makes for a lot of great memories in your old age.
 As a young man just out of the army in the early 80's, I used to travel everywhere in the only car I had, a 56 Chevrolet, and it was great.
 Enjoy it while you can. Thanks for posting.

 Rick

[Mowerhoarder]

Cadman,
I'm sure it'll be a great story to tell later on, hopefully the car is still around too!

Also, Got a lot more pics to share

[Mowerhoarder]

.

[Mowerhoarder]

Some of these were taken by a friend of mine with a 60's film camera, I think they turned out pretty good!

[dogbergs]

Wonderful car and photos! Love those film photos.
The best of all is you`re using and working on your Caddy, and seem to do it d..n well to!.
Have no intention at all making you turn to another forum, but theres some good info in these threads.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-info-cadillac-ohv-v8s-1949-1962.8282/

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/lets-talk-cadillac-331s-365-and-390s.1015067/

/ Johan

[James Landi]

Conor,  Love you enthusiasm and the car you brought to life.  Just one cautionary note:  while these Cadillacs were well built and simple by today's standards, the mechanicals do wear out, and the frames, brake and fuels lines do rust out. James

[Mowerhoarder]

Dogbergs,
Thanks! It just deserves to be driven I guess! Those forums are really helpful too, I've looked through them before briefly but I should probably read through it

James,
I do have a lot of experience with rust! My first car was totally, and I mean totally gone. It was a 60's unibody and the torque boxes were gone, the front subframe literally moved around, and if you parked on a curb or in a pothole, the door wouldn't open or close. This car is incredibly solid and I've already undercoated pretty much the whole car, all the floors and the frame/rockers just to be safe as I drive it year round of course. I had to put all new brake lines on the drivers side because one popped, the passenger side is all original and looks fantastic too so I left it alone. 

[Mowerhoarder]

Oh, and a side note on what's next on the to-do list for the rig, I want to do a rear main seal as it leaks pretty good going down the highway and that nylon-rubber thingy seems like it shouldn't be that bad to do. I gotta (probably should've a long time ago) pull the oil pan anyway and clean it because it's pretty full of sludge to the point no oil comes out when you pull the plug. Plus I can do the gasket and get that outta the way too. I'd like to do a timing cover seal and check up on the timing set, mostly for fun but maybe to get a new set? Not sure of this one is worn bad or not yet. I really want to put an overdrive on the car too but that's probably wishful thinking as the gear vendors unit is $2500+ and I have to modify it anyways but maybe if someone buys that 85' caddy it'll happen. The pinion seal on the rear end leaks too but I think I'm gonna have a shop do that as I'm too afraid to screw something up in it and ruin a mostly fine rear end. When I did the brakes, I screwed up the new wheel seals on both the front and back because I didn't have a seal driver so I get to do those again and also pack the front wheel bearings and replace the back ones which are pretty noisy but not awful. Just gotta find a weekend to bust out the brakes and seals and should be a little better!

[Mowerhoarder]

Well, I guess I spoke to soon lol! Same day as I made this, I filled the car up for the first time in a bit and it started pissing gas, drove it home and the tank cracked around where the fuel line comes out. It's kinda dented and probably full o rust anyhow so got a new one coming Friday