Caprice engine swap?

[kevm14]

https://notoriousluxury.com/2014/02/26/ ... -brougham/

Cadillac sold 335,785 vehicles for the 1977 model year, it had broken the previous sales record for the 1976 model year which produced 304,485 vehicles. It was the first time that Cadillac had exceeded the 300,000 mark. Cadillac broke the sales record again for the 1978 model year building 350,813 vehicles.

Cadillac was the only luxury brand that could re-design its offerings so drastically yet manage to set new sales records. The luxury car buyers appreciated Cadillac’s trimmer, more efficient models…especially at the fuel pumps. The 1977 Fleetwood Brougham production totaled 28,000 vs the 234,171 DeVille production total. The 1977 Fleetwood Brougham was base priced at $11,546. Try to locate a brand new luxury sedan today for that price!

I keep saying that GM spent a load of money downsizing the B/D car lines for 1977 and it paid dividends. This is on top of the very strong sales success of the Seville, which sort of was happening concurrently. It is cool that the Fleetwood was far more rare (12x more DeVilles sold), another reason why I like it. But 335k sales, 351k....looking at Good Car Bad Car site, the peak of Cadillac sales going to back to 2002 was in 2005, with 235,002 total US sales.

I like that it kind of legitimizes the relevancy of this car in its time, which does make it more interesting to me.

[kevm14]

This is a 77 sedan DeVille but just look at this! Those wheels are amazing. Before anyone asks, I can't afford this, so I have to get a brown one...

[kevm14]

Fuel economy discussions.

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/rw ... stion.html

I have a 1979 Sedan deVille, which has the same driveline as a 1978 Fleetwood Brougham, and I have driven the car from Hudson, Wisconsin to Sarasota, Florida twice this winter. On these trips, I drove, on average, 75 miles per hour and the gas mileage was consistently 15 to 17 mpg. EPA fuel economy ratings from 1979 were 14 city and 20 highway. Those ratings were from an era when the maximum highway speed in the country was 55 mph and I think the estimate of 20 mpg on the highway would be accurate if we actually did drive that slow. The 4 barrel 425 has plenty of power and is exceptionally smooth and quiet and the 425 engine is incredibly simple and durable.

Truly nice examples of the 1977-1979 425 Cads seem harder and harder to find and prices can range from a few hundred bucks to over $10k. I purchased my car last October for $4,500 with 61k miles and it's exceptionally nice. I've gone overboard and invested another $2-3k renewing everything from exhaust, radiator, tires, shocks, springs, suspension, belts, hoses...everything, in order to make the car 100% roadworthy and safe for driving on the long road trips I enjoy taking regularly. It's amazing how pleasruable these cars are to drive especially considering they are getting really old. I wish Cadillac still made cars like these.

15-17 mpg at 75 mph. Well that isn't terrible (well 15 is way worse than 17 so it depends on where exactly it falls). This post was from 2006, so interesting to read the discussion pricing from 11 years ago.

This post makes me want it more. I like having the real Cadillac V8.

[kevm14]

We pre-negotiated to $2850. I said $2800 he said $2850, though I could have taken a hard line. I wasn't going to get dramatic over $50.

I asked a few more questions and here is the summary so I don't forget:
- No leaks, he had it on a lift recently. I translate this to very manageable drips at most, which means it should be worlds better than my Caprice.
- Paint is in general very good for original paint. Some cracking in the middle of the hood but on the whole, it shines up very nice. This is what I want. He thought it was lacquer with a clearcoat. I guess that would have been a lacquer clear coat, too? I suspect this was very good quality paint but that is an assumption.
- Top is whole though getting aged. It is not torn/cracked. He has done tops and said I could get the material for $300 and do it myself. This would not be an urgent requirement depending on the condition.
- Front bumper tweak. He was actually going to work on this. He said he was thinking about doing it anyway and has some kind of tools for it.
- Trans health: sounded solid to me. He did mention he drove to upstate NY with it some time ago and had it up over 100 just to test and it was great.
- Possibly the right side has positive camber he thinks and is wearing on the outer edge. He thinks. This is whatever.
- Tires are good, though not brand new. They have tread and are not all dry rotted.
- Radio and speakers work. Power antenna does not.
- He didn't think it had power recliners but he also didn't think it had manual recliners. Meh.
- He does have the title and would also let me have a copy of his reg.

The plan is to overnight him a deposit check and he'll hold it, and give it back to me when I pick up the car, so I will pay the full amount in cash. I mentioned/implied a few times that I was looking for the car to be as pictured/described so if something is way out of whack, I will either live with it, negotiate further, or leave without buying. Those are my options.

[Bob]

Prime swap candidate with kind of odd picture:

https://greensboro.craigslist.org/cto/6064606825.html

[kevm14]

'79 425 stock 1-2 shift is 3,900RPM, stock 2-3 shift is 3,400RPM... if manually kept in 2nd and brought to ~4,200RPM (redline?) the car will reachs its top speed of around 112mph.

I wonder why the 2-3 shift is so low. Both of those shifts are actually before the HP peak. That doesn't seem ideal.

[kevm14]

Last year I sold my 1977 SDV for $2,500 (I paid $2,500 for it a year earlier, Beer and E-Bay are not a good combo) I was the second owner, Bright Red on Red with a White vinyl top, original paint (beautiful and shiny with NO oxidation at all just the normal checking) Original Red cloth interior that had been kept covered by the original owner (completely flawless), about 85,000 documented miles and the car had been used weekly from new and kept in a climate controlled garage. Everything worked properly on the car, people went nuts for it. Fun driver.

This seems...similar to my situation. 11 years ago.

[kevm14]

Sounds sweet, but my 425 is no slug, sure yours was alright? mine can lay rubber down from a light, and is WAY better than the 350 in my '90 for getting on the highway.

The 350 is a little quicker from a light, but once you are going 30 and higher, the 425 has it beat all to hell. Or on a highway going 60 and want to pass, in the '90 I have to put the pedal through the floor and watch the digital speedo slowly rise while I'm slightly pumping the pedal waiting for something to happen. In the Phaeton I just go! It throws me back in the seat. On top of that, the 350 is ruining perfectly, yet the 425 needs a carb rebuild, and is still faster.

Keep in mind, I'm a very hard driver, and ask a lot of my cars, but still, you should be able to pass when you want to.

Well that's good to hear. He's talking about the L05 in his 90. I was thinking about this before - the launch is soft but when rolling, it should be alright.

[kevm14]

Stock 425 is a pleasure! Just drove 200 miles round trip to Pepin, WI to my favorite restaurant, The Harbor View Cafe, and the 79 Cad brought my group of four, including me, in style and fun! Everyone loved every minute of the cushy one of a kind Cad experience!

Smiles per mile?

[kevm14]

I had mods done to a 425 years ago, the car is tough as nails. drop a 503 in one that would be cool. They come with a TH400 trans which is incredibly tough. If you hold one in first until shift point, shift the lever from 1 to 2 and back to 1 real quick and it'll lay a nice 1-2 scratch, of course you're barely moving but it made me laugh.

The drivetrain sounds....strong. lol

I guess I shouldn't worry about it.