What is this engine

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DirtyDon

Active member
Joined
Jan 2, 2011
Messages
36
Location
Kingman, Arizona
Anyone know what this is ?
 

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Wish you had more, better pics. I'm thinking it's some kind of import, but not sure. Looks to be 70's or 80's vintage, the dist cap looks as though it might be some kind of electronic ignition, but it still uses carbs, so that limits the time frame somewhat. Another reason I think it might be imported is how narrow it is, something like 60* or less banking, and the fact that the intake and exhaust are on the same side of the heads instead of being a cross flow., and the use of dual carbs. The aluminum valve covers are another giveaway, domestic engines almost always used stamped steel valve covers, while a lot of imports use aluminum.

What ever it is, it would look cool in a open hooded roadster!
 
Yep, Caddy V12 from the early 30's - is it really just sitting out in a yard like that ??:eek:
Love to get my hands on one of those...
They look a lot like the top halves of two Chevy 6 engines bolted to a common crankcase. They also made V16 engines in the same basic design. Looks like some one converted it to downdraft carbs.
 
I'm with earthman, good merchandise, if you can buy it.
I did find this article too.
"Definitely a retrofit, original carbs were updraft Detroit Lubricator Model 51's with hidden linkage and large firewall mounted air cleaners. Very hard to find and very expensive if you do."

These engines were 368 cu. in. with 140 horse
V10 pic but, not real clear
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This modification seemed to be pretty common as the updraft carbs were a pain.
 

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Well I'll be........................never would have thought of a Caddy! Never seen one of those, all the old Caddy's I have seen were flatheads until the 50's models overhead V8's. Learn something new every day!
 

You have to wonder if this was the inspiration for finned aluminum valve covers....

I imagine one of these with a trio of 97's on each side and zoomie pipes... :)

Also here's a pic of one of the V16 engines - they were dropped in the mid 30's due to their high cost and replaced with a flathead V16.
 

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Wow. Thanks guys. Sorry i did t get back on sooner. Had a water heater blow up. Then had to go for a root canal. You know, life getting in the way. Been a fun few days. I had no idea what this thing was. I saw a pickup cab sticking out of the weeds and went to investigate. And here's this weird looking engine next to it. I'm going to be in that area in a week or so and will try to find the owner and make an offer on it, the cab and a few other things that I saw laying around. I'll tell him I could clean up all that junk for free and see where it goes from there. I'll keep ya'll posted.
 
That would be "cleaning up" for sure.

Back in the '70s I bought a race ready V8-60 from a guy that was building a '30 Cad fantom touring car with the V12 in it. Trippy engine.
 
Well, I was finally able to find out who owned the Caddy engine and the various other interesting pieces laying around in the weeds. Unfortunately, the guy won't sell anything. He has no plans for any of it, just won't part with anything in case he needs it some day. Enough to **** off the pope. Oh well, I tried.
 

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