Ash
05-07-2013, 07:39 AM
Getting pre-qualified for a mortgage this week, and have my eye on a house. The biding of time is coming to an end (single with an income leading towards the modest), and will FINALLY have a covered space to wrench, break stuff, and learn (above the maintenance/bolt-on affair). I am a novice, no bones about it...but have a few long overdue builds lined up. If any group of people can assist with advise on this one, I'm confident they are right here on this very forum.
The car in question is a FWD 1980 Cadillac Eldorado, and I want to see just how efficient it can be made. It's a shame to think how many of these engines were yanked (and surely scrapped) for their 425/500 CID brothers, especially when you see the potential in the foundation that GM laid. The 6.0L 368 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_V8_engine)is basically a 472/425 block that's been de-stroked. The engine was designed to meet CAFE requirements for fuel economy. It employed GM's earliest throttle-body injection system ("Digital fuel injection"). It's fairly impressive when you look at what primitive tech they had to work with, the size of the engine, and the results they achieved. Again, this all completely revolves around MPG and longevity...improving the HP/TQ upon factory is a bonus. It's a twin injector TBI system with a rats nest of hoses and Atari caliber ECU.
Fuel Economy (http://www.aboutautomobile.com/Fuel/1980/Cadillac/Eldorado)
------------------
Sticker City : 14 MPG
Sticker HWY : 22 MPG
Combined : 17 MPG
EPA revised City : 13 MPG
EPA revised HWY: 20 MPG
EPA Combined : 16 MPG
Specs (http://HTM)
--------
HP = 145@3800
TQ = 265@1600
C/R = 8.20:1
Curb Weight = 3,913 lbs
Drag Coefficient = 0.48
All the ingredients seem to be in place, and I see this, for lack of a better term, as a proof of concept type of build. It was made, more or less, with efficiency in mind, and I would really like to see how far it can be taken with all that's at our disposal 33 years later. The fuel injection system is already in place, so here is what I have in mind so far"
Engine Rebuild and blueprinting (without getting carried away in bills)
Megasquirt for fuel with wideband
Upgraded factory HEI with MSD 6AL and Blaster SS coil (6AL controlled by MS after everything is up & running)
Upgraded to single 3" exhaust w/ 3" Magnaflow race cat
Full Coroplast bellypan
Sealing up the front end for aero efficiency: bumper to body, radiator support to radiator, grill to radiator, headlights, and partial grill block.
Just the MS, upgraded ignition, sealing of front end, and belly ban should net a healthy MPG increase...But I would really appreciate any of your expertise on the following:
Cast iron block and head flash removal/smoothing
Cast iron head porting/gasket matching for MPG
Valve job: angles/cuts/hardened seats/over-sized valves
Blueprinting rotating assembly (partial : rods, pistons, or both)
Hydraulic roller cam/lifters retrofit or recommend MPG cam specs
Higher compression ratio vs stock (on 87 octane, ideal AFR's?)
exhaust manifold gasket/port matching
Factory routing Single exhaust diameter or duels? (get rid of as much pumping loss as possible with a cat/cats)
EGR
Swaynetech white lightning coating for exhaust ports/combustion chamber/piston tops.
This is just one of those things that has been cemented in my head for quite a while, but refrained from soliciting advise as the project was pretty far off in the distance. Looking at the other 80's 4/6/8 EFI/TBI/TPI stock megasquirt rertofits has me pretty excited: Improved MPG, starting, Idle, and all around improved operation.
"Worth it" is a relative term, and I fully know the results won't necesarily justefy the means by conventional HP/TQ to $ scales... As I said before, it's an experiment to see how much can be wringed out of the basic architecture with whats available and known today. I reiterate this because I'd like to avoid the "not worth it", "waste of time", and "swap a 500 in there" comments.
The car in question is a FWD 1980 Cadillac Eldorado, and I want to see just how efficient it can be made. It's a shame to think how many of these engines were yanked (and surely scrapped) for their 425/500 CID brothers, especially when you see the potential in the foundation that GM laid. The 6.0L 368 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_V8_engine)is basically a 472/425 block that's been de-stroked. The engine was designed to meet CAFE requirements for fuel economy. It employed GM's earliest throttle-body injection system ("Digital fuel injection"). It's fairly impressive when you look at what primitive tech they had to work with, the size of the engine, and the results they achieved. Again, this all completely revolves around MPG and longevity...improving the HP/TQ upon factory is a bonus. It's a twin injector TBI system with a rats nest of hoses and Atari caliber ECU.
Fuel Economy (http://www.aboutautomobile.com/Fuel/1980/Cadillac/Eldorado)
------------------
Sticker City : 14 MPG
Sticker HWY : 22 MPG
Combined : 17 MPG
EPA revised City : 13 MPG
EPA revised HWY: 20 MPG
EPA Combined : 16 MPG
Specs (http://HTM)
--------
HP = 145@3800
TQ = 265@1600
C/R = 8.20:1
Curb Weight = 3,913 lbs
Drag Coefficient = 0.48
All the ingredients seem to be in place, and I see this, for lack of a better term, as a proof of concept type of build. It was made, more or less, with efficiency in mind, and I would really like to see how far it can be taken with all that's at our disposal 33 years later. The fuel injection system is already in place, so here is what I have in mind so far"
Engine Rebuild and blueprinting (without getting carried away in bills)
Megasquirt for fuel with wideband
Upgraded factory HEI with MSD 6AL and Blaster SS coil (6AL controlled by MS after everything is up & running)
Upgraded to single 3" exhaust w/ 3" Magnaflow race cat
Full Coroplast bellypan
Sealing up the front end for aero efficiency: bumper to body, radiator support to radiator, grill to radiator, headlights, and partial grill block.
Just the MS, upgraded ignition, sealing of front end, and belly ban should net a healthy MPG increase...But I would really appreciate any of your expertise on the following:
Cast iron block and head flash removal/smoothing
Cast iron head porting/gasket matching for MPG
Valve job: angles/cuts/hardened seats/over-sized valves
Blueprinting rotating assembly (partial : rods, pistons, or both)
Hydraulic roller cam/lifters retrofit or recommend MPG cam specs
Higher compression ratio vs stock (on 87 octane, ideal AFR's?)
exhaust manifold gasket/port matching
Factory routing Single exhaust diameter or duels? (get rid of as much pumping loss as possible with a cat/cats)
EGR
Swaynetech white lightning coating for exhaust ports/combustion chamber/piston tops.
This is just one of those things that has been cemented in my head for quite a while, but refrained from soliciting advise as the project was pretty far off in the distance. Looking at the other 80's 4/6/8 EFI/TBI/TPI stock megasquirt rertofits has me pretty excited: Improved MPG, starting, Idle, and all around improved operation.
"Worth it" is a relative term, and I fully know the results won't necesarily justefy the means by conventional HP/TQ to $ scales... As I said before, it's an experiment to see how much can be wringed out of the basic architecture with whats available and known today. I reiterate this because I'd like to avoid the "not worth it", "waste of time", and "swap a 500 in there" comments.