Roadkill's 1958 Cadillac - PROJECT THREAD

[Roadkill]

Still had no response with regards to my manifold base so asked mate in Texas for some advice . . . He kindly called them (as he's fairly local) and said he was my cousin . . . ! . . . """Apparently""" my manifold was sent to somebody else by mistake, returned to them and then sat in their returns dept. abandoned !!!
They have said it will ship yesterday, via FedEx but, as yet, I have had no confirmation of it being shipped.

I'm skeptical as I never paid for shipping in the first place, just the manifold so they could package it up and get a confirmed price (and have me pay the exact cost later).



I'm stuck, really . . .  I'll give them til the end of the month then open a dispute via PayPal to get my $750 back !!

[Roadkill]

O.K, as mentioned previously, I've now deleted most of the off-topic posts, plus the other crap littering this thread.  I've tried to leave it so it still reads normally but apologise if it's a bit clunky in places.

To update from the last post, the cast ally base did arrive after some stern emails and a phone call . . I don't buy the excuses they come up with and when the box arrived, the gaskets that I'd also purchased weren't in there.

They arrived later after more emails and excuses . . .

So here it is :





The question next (and baring in mind I had no details for this intake) was how am I going to mount 8 x 2bbl carbs on it ?

I was hoping it'd be wide enough to take two, side-by-side but, alas it was just too narrow (ideal for dual quads, though) and long enough for 4-deep.

So a simple flat plate was now looking to be a flat plate with short runners to off-set each carb up and out a bit, to get the spacing.

I sketched a simple design and went hunting for the flat-sided oval tube (to cover both the bores) I needed for the runners . . . found just one place in the U.K stocking anything like it but on calling them find that, no, in fact they don't actually stock it.



I could go with rectangular section but, aesthetically, I think that'd probably look crap.  Maybe ?



I'm working on it today . . . . .

EDIT >>>

Actually, on sketching it up, using a 60 x 40 box section, cut at 45* covers the carb bores nicely and the steel box section has a radius on the edges that is similar to that on the cast runners of the manifold base.

If I powder-coat the lid black is won't look out of place as the bottom of the carbs are also black.



Also, a 30mm high piece of box section puts the side-by-side carb centres at 190mm which is very generous, leaving loads of room for linkages and whatever I decide to do with the fuel lines.

Watch this space . . .

[Cunning Plan]

The intake looks very nice and quite well made, however, their service provides doubt as to the durability and quality, especially if something is faulty or breaks on it, I cannot imagine them taking it back for a refund  Hopefully that will not have to happen though!

Well done to you for trying something new and engineering a new piece of hardware, it looks like a beast of an intake!

[Roadkill]

Thankfully they don't make the casting themselves - they let the pro's do that, and the design (albeit altered) is proven.

On top of this it's designed as a base for a supercharger (hence the 1" thick sides) so it's massively over-spec'ed for a simple n/a set-up like mine.

I have no doubts over the product, but, yes, the service was rubbish . . .  however they're the ONLY people offering this now so I really had no choice. 

[Cunning Plan]

Yep, I know you would have good solid logical reasoning behind your decisions.

Anyway, back to the more fun stuff, please can you colour the Boogie Man logo? 

[Roadkill]

Anyway, back to the more fun stuff, please can you colour the Boogie Man logo?

No.   

If anything's getting painted it'll be the "Cadillac" across the valve covers but even then, no. 

I don't think it'll be worth it once the dizzy is mounted and the leads are on - it won't be as prominent.

Anyhooo . . . .

More progress in the last 36 hours compared to (probably) the last 36 weeks !!!!

I finished drawing the intake lid, did the drawings for manufacture, got a quote for the fabrication, sent the drawings to the fabricator and today the component parts are done (!!)

I've just finished the assembly drawing so they can hopefully start welding it up tomorrow / Thursday. 

It's crude but this is how it should look like (there's more going on to add but this is the current gist of it) :

[Cunning Plan]

No. 

BOO! 

I've just finished the assembly drawing so they can hopefully start welding it up tomorrow / Thursday. 

It's crude but this is how it should look like (there's more going on to add but this is the current gist of it) :

I find it strange that you can do all of that, but you don't get involved with wiring.

[Roadkill]

I find it strange that you can do all of that, but you don't get involved with wiring.

Firstly, my colour sight isn't good.

Secondly, I've never really got into it.

That said I'm determined to get more involved in the wiring side of the Cadillac simply because I need to know the basics plus ultimately the system will be pretty straight forward (or most of it) . . . We'll see . . .

<EDIT>

I've also instructed the machine shop to mill approximately 20-22mm off the top of the cast ally base . . .

This'll give me more hood clearance and reduce the main plemum volume by about 1800cc so should improve throttle response . . . . I'm also going to add a profile to the underside of the steel lid to further reduce the volume (by about 300cc) and help direct gas flow.

The only other addition not shown on that drawing above is that I'll be adding 2 x 1/4 NPT female bosses behind the carb on the top, left.  One of these will connect to the brake booster, the other will be capped as a spare.

[Roadkill]

Saw all the component parts of the intake lid this morning . . . just prior to welding (sorry, no pics).  Have also now got the 1/4" NPT parts to be installed, too.

Progress is tantalisingly close . . . .

[Roadkill]

Progress is tantalisingly close . . . .

BOOM BOOM !!!

Progress !



The massive plenum is being reduced by machining . . . this was taken after the second pass . . . I left them to it and will collect tomorrow.



The lid turned out better than I imagined . . . . again, I left it there as I want them to add the vacuum bosses but it should be good for me to pick up tomorrow, too.

I think I'm going to end up painting the lid (rather than powder-coating) as the carb bases are finished in black enamel, and I'm trying to match that . . . .

I'll have some filing and grinding to do on the top and underside of the plate, and will need to open-out and tap the holes but I'm pretty happy.

It's early February and this is fairly good progress, compared to recent months . . .

[Cunning Plan]

The massive plenum is being reduced by machining . . . this was taken after the second pass . . . I left them to it and will collect tomorrow.

Offhhhfffff. I bet that was hard to watch!   

[Titsy]

I see you've got some nice big bosses on the intake runners for some direct port nitrous injection. Best get those drilled and tapped for nozzles while it's on the machine... 

[Roadkill]

Nah, the thought crossed my mind but, no, the Caddy's gonna be straight - no gas, and n/a.

It's gonna have enough torque to pull a house down and for a heavy-ass car - that's what she really needs.

Collected both parts from the workshop earlier - am NOT looking forward to the final bill (!!) - will post pics later . . . .

[Roadkill]

Boogieman base, machined down 22mm, holes drilled and tapped deeper.  One hole stripped so I have a set of 5/16" helicoils on their way.



Lid sat on base to check heights / general fit - all good.



I was pretty strict on the tolerances and - fair play - the guy doing it did a cracking job.



Bosses welded on . . . I was planning on putting them behind the rear carbs but there wasn't enough room so they're nestled on the centre-line instead.



Happy with the progress and service received.  The guy doing it was a little reluctant at first but was intrigued and certainly got involved.



Next I need to open-up the ports on the underside and also shave-off a bit of the ally base so it all - theoretically - flows nice.

After that I'll tap-out the holes for the carbs and prep so it's ready for paint.

I'd like to further reduce the plenum size but need to think on this as my secondary plan won't work with the vacuum bosses where they are . . . .

[Cunning Plan]

Always good progress when you offer everything up and see it together.

Let us know how you get on with the Helicoils.

[Roadkill]

Got some serious hours put in on the upper intake section over the weekend . . .

Around 7 hours of filing, grinding, dremeling, linishing (and repeat) . . . . .

Got the "runners" nicely smoothed, though.






Earlier this evening I drilled-out the 24 x holes for mounting the carbs and then did the dreaded task of manually tapping all 24 holes

Still.  It went well with no issues.

Here's a spare carb-base Stromberg gave me mocked up :




It's all nicely de-greased and waiting for receiving its enamel finish . . . . .

[Roadkill]

3 good coats of VHT enamel applied and left to dry.

To get full chemical resistance, you need to heat it up to 200*F for over an hour . . . .

It was a tight squeeze, but it *just* about fitted in the oven. 



The end result . . . . .





I've now checked all the holes in the cast ally base, fitted the heli-coil insert into the stripped thread and marked the areas that need relieving on the upper flange of the base (more on that later . . . ).

I opted to go for a gasket, rather than RTV (I think gaskets work better over large areas) so have ordered some 0.8mm gasket paper for the job.

Also worked out how I'm going to further reduce the plenum volume so dropped a drawing off into the workshop for that earlier (again, more on that later . . . ).

[Roadkill]

Hmm.

It's been a bit of a mixed week so far . . . I found out on Monday that Marty, the guy who built the motor for me has recently passed away.  I don't have any details but it was apparently unexpected.

  Marty - the first burn-out will be dedicated to you !!

On a different note, I've been chatting to Clive at Stromberg today regarding the intake manifold and he's been adding his suggestions to the mix which has given me a few ideas to try once I have the filler panel back from the workshop.

After the intake is finished, the next step is a straight-forward (albeit hefty) purchase so my brain can have a well-deserved rest, while my wallet picks up the slack !

[FUBAR]

Looking very can't wait to see all those Carbs plumbed in & sat on top of that base, proper Car-porn that will be! 

[Roadkill]

Work in the house has been kinda taking over during the passed week or two but I have now got the gasket paper and the "filler" section for the intake base.

Just need some space (the house is utter chaos at the moment !!) and a couple of free hours and we'll be there . . !

[Cunning Plan]

I was watching the latest Engine Masters and they were talking about carbs and intakes / inlet manifolds.

Not exactly what you are doing, however I found it interesting and you might too:

[Roadkill]

Been distracted with decorating, the garden and other non-car related stuff but am soooo close to getting my carbs !!!

The intake lid is all done, but the cast base still needs work . . .

First up is the 8 relief cuts in the side for the runners . . . this may look like a mistake on my part but by creating this interference gave me an additional 20mm extra distance across the carb centres (L-R) meaning plenty of room for linkages and fuel lines. 



Taking a nibble out of the (3/4" thick !!) sides still left plenty of material and gave a smooth path from the carb base, all the way to the head . . in fact, at the right angle it's almost line-of-sight to the valves !!



With the relief cuts made, I fettled with the infill plate so that dropped into position. 



Bare in mind that the purpose of this plate is to massively reduce the plenum volume and encourage flow to the ports . . . .



It doesn't go all the way to the top on purpose - the vacuum take-offs are directly above the flat-top bit and I didn't want to create a dual-log plenum.

I've since began smoothing out the lines using JB Weld and filling some potential areas where pooling would be likely . . . JB Weld takes ages to harden fully so I'm building up the layers gradually . . .

On a side note I also stated cutting the gasket that'll go between the lid and base . . . already have the fixings . . .



Should be all in one piece before the end of the month (famous last words . . . . . ) 

[Roadkill]

And now the messy bit . . .

Got a nice couple of layers of JB Weld around the joins between the plate and the casting . . . dried super solid, which gives me confidence in the product (never used JB Weld before).



However, as it's pretty runny, I still had to break out the Chemical Metal to make some little ramps in the corners to stop pooling.



The original plan was to stop here but after looking at it (and after much thinking) I came to the conclusion that the (now very narrow) troughs, formed either side of the plate, could pool fuel as they'd probably be quite sheltered between the ports . . .

Titsy also pointed out that the middle two ports could be robbing mix from the outer ports leading to poor distribution (all theoretical, of course).

I could've created walls between the ports but then there'd have been a high risk of very little mixing going on and each carb just dumping straight into the port below . . . (again, all theoretical).

So I did a bit of both.  Using ally angle, I cut 6 little fillers to remove sheltered areas, encourage flow to the ports, form a barrier between the ports but hopefully keep the barrier low enough that mixing will happen between carbs.  Theoretically. 

The result :



Of course, these bits are now JB Welded into place but will need further smoothing (back to the Chemical Metal) before finishing with a further layer of JB Weld.

On a side note I've had to order more JB Weld.    Hopefully it arrives before the weekend. 

I also got the gasket all finished, too.

[Jo]

Looking good.

[Roadkill]

Finally I can call the intake done and it's - without doubt - turned out better than originally planned.

I always said I wouldn't start taking the Caddy to pieces until certain items were made or acquired and that list is :

1) Engine and ancillaries (less intake)
2) Transmission
3) Brake system and booster
4) Intake manifold
5) Carburetors
6) Suspension system

The carburetors are imminent and I spent Saturday digging through boxes of stuff in the shed to remind me what bits I'd previously bought . . it was well worth the time as I found a full set of wheel bearings, new ball joints, new rod ends, centre link repair kit and upper and lower control arm bush kits (basically everything you can buy to rebuild the front end of a '58 Caddy).

There'll always be bits missed but I'm happy I've covered most eventualities . . . . I've even got a complete set of new brake drums, new shoes and master & slave cylinder rebuild kits (just in case I decide not to put on the disc brakes )

Anyway, intake done, all filled and ready for sealer :



Treated with fuel-tank sealer :



Here's a close-up . . . The smooth finish isn't ideal, I know, but it is limited . . . . the original "as cast finish" is still predominant throughout :



All assembled and waiting for carbs :




Once the carbs are on (and paid for) it'll be back to saving up the pennies for the new suspension before progressing any further.