KILLER CADILLAC

At first glance this 1977 Coupe Deville could pass for your mom's car (the wheels might give it away though). Hearing it drive by you would probably look up and expect to see an LS-6 Chevelle cruising by. This car is the perfect combination of luxury and raw power. It has all the luxury features you'd expect from a Cadillac and none of the performance. If you nail it, you'd better have the slicks on and a spare pair of shorts.

The interior is original except for tach and gauges (not permanently mounted) and the exterior is just the way Cadillac intended it to be. The car is in excellent condition and was recently painted with urethane base coat clear coat. It has approximately 60,000 miles on it. The clock even works.

I bought the car in 1978 when it was a year old and very slow. I proceeded to pull the stock engine, trans and rear end out and replaced them with a real drivetrain. The car was my basic fair weather transportation when I did not want to drive my street/strip Mustang. The car was a blast to drive and very luxurious too.

The 500 CID Cadillac engine is fresh, with less than 5,000 miles on it. The car can be driven daily and runs fine on 93 octane premium unleaded with a shot of lead substitute. A can or two of Lucas octane booster should be added if you plan on racing it. It runs low thirteens without the NOS and well into the twelves with it. A little tuning should put it nicely in the elevens. The car launches great with 7" slicks, lifting the left front tire off the ground. The last time it was at a quarter mile strip was twenty five years ago, before my kids were born. Now I just cruise the street a few times a year just to remind the motoring public, that Cadillac rules.

Of all the high performance cars I have owned I have had the most fun with this one. It would always attract a crowd at the drag strip. Imagine the reaction of a die hard street racer when he gets blown away by a Cadillac. I only put a few hundred miles on the car a year and never drive it in bad weather. It is always stored inside. Please feel free to contact me at mike@mikesalkin.com for further details.

P e r f o r m a n c e   M o d i f i c a t i o n s
1977 Cadillac Coupe Deville



P e r f o r m a n c e   D e t a i l s

The block is from a 1969 Cadillac 472 (4.30 bore) it is bored .020 over, honed on a Sunnen Cylinder King. The block has been squared and milled to .000 deck height. The head gasket is .040 thick, so there is plenty of piston to head clearance.

The crank is a standard 500 CID crank (4.30 stroke), purchased new, which has been micro polished. The rotating assembly has been balanced. Bearing clearance is set at .0015 - .0020. The oil pump is a stock high volume design with a stiffer spring.

The rods are 455 Olds, which are forged instead of cast like Caddy rods. They have been magna fluxed, fitted with Chrysler 440 SPS bolts, the small end offset drilled to make up for .035 shorter length and fitted with Chrysler 426 Hemi pins (they're stronger and .10 wider).

The pistons are Ertel cast .020 over 1971-1973 Cadillac 500. They were fly cut to accommodate larger valves. The actual compression ratio is 9.7:1. They are clearanced at .003. The rings are standard Chrysler 440 double moly, I believe they are TRW.

The camshaft is a Competition Cams hydraulic 232/242 duration at .050 lobe lift with .545/.560 lift and a 110 degree center line. The cam was reground from a stock Cadillac cam. It uses Rhodes lifters, stock pushrods, and stock timing chain and gears.

The heads have been significantly modified. The intake port was raised .250 inch, opened up and recontoured to improve flow. The exhaust port was also opened up, though it needed less modifying than the intake. The heads were milled .100 and squared to even out cc volume. Chevy 427 L88 2nd design TRW swirl polished exhaust valves and Ford 429 SCJ TRW swirl polished intakes were used. The valve heads were reduced to prevent shrouding (1.84 to 1.80 and 2.25 to 2.20). The valve pockets were significantly opened up to improve flow. A three angle valve job was done and the intake valves were back cut. The combustion chamber was recontoured and a rough polish was applied to reduce turbulence. The valve springs are Sig Erson Chevy 327 conical springs. They are small diameter at the bottom, fit on the stock valve seat and large diameter (like a rat motor) on the top, to facilitate higher spring pressures and longer life span. The retainers and keepers are hardened steel. The intake valve uses .060 thick lash caps to equal the height of the exhaust valve. The rockers are stock steel Cadillac 1.65:1 ratio. They are adjusted by putting shims under the rocker stands.  

The headers are custom made with 1.875 diameter pipe leading down to 3 inch collectors and 2.5 inch dual exhaust going to 2 turbo mufflers. The 2.25 inch tail pipes exit under the rear bumper. The cross member was replaced with one from a 1972 Chevy Impala to permit both exhaust pipes to be tucked up near the floor pan. The two pipes are connected to form an "H" pipe. There are also dumps installed to make opening the exhaust easy. There is no catalytic converter. The headers can be removed and installed in less than an hour without raising the engine.

The intake is a modified Edelbrock Streetmaster for a Ford 428. It was modified to fit the Cadillac engine. The plenum was opened to convert it to a Torker. All factory accessories that were bolted to the intake still are. The manifold was engineered to perform well and look decent. A modified 780 CFM Holley 3310 (the original design) sits on the manifold. The air cleaner is from a Chevelle SS 454. It has a dual fuel line to allow the stock mechanical pump and the Holly electric pump to work independently of each other. There is a small tranny cooler in line to cool the fuel temperature.

The ignition is HEI with external coil and MSD blaster ignition. It was curved to 26 degrees in the distributor most in by 3,000 RPM, fully in by 4,000 RPM.

The Turbo 400 transmission has a shift kit and other modifications to improve performance and durability. It has a Turbo 350 converter. The stall speed is about 2,500 RPM. I had a 3,500 stall converter in it and it was too strong for street use (the 235-75x15 tires went up in smoke and the car did not go anywhere). The car runs almost as fast on the strip with the lower stall and has better top end. It launches plenty strong with the Turbo 350 converter.

The rear end is a 1970 Chevelle 12 bolt with 3.55 gears mounted on a 3 series posi-traction carrier. The 3.55 ratio is an excellent ratio for street and highway use as well as the drag strip.

The car has an NOS 125 horsepower nitrous system that sits below the carb.

I have two pairs of slicks, one I use for asphalt and one for concrete.

The car could be driven every day. It gets about 8-9 miles per gallon around town. It is very reliable. The drive train has less than 5,000 miles on it. I have driven the car about 300 miles a year for the last 15 years. It is always garaged. It is never outside unless I'm driving it. For more information contact Mike Salkin   E-mail  = mike@mikesalkin.com
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