ive been thinking about this for a while

[wrecking-crew]

ive been thinking of making a fwd ranger using a caddilac drivetrain. i know its random.
do you think it could be done?

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

i drive a front wheel drive on a daily basis. i dont race, but i do have a pretty peppy driving style. i run out of traction on a regular basis. normal acceleration on wet pavement, accelerating into traffic from a side street (thats the worst), even just driving through a grassy feild becomes a chore (i have decent tires). downshifting to pass someone on the highway requires heavy driver input to counter torque steer...which tries to PIT-manuever the vehicle your overtaking (although many newer transaxles adress this problem). i must spend hours every month waiting for my FWD to find traction so i can accelerate at a respectable rate. limited slip differentials are available for some applications, but they are extremely expensive and difficult to install.

in short, trading even a low-powered RWD drivetrane for a higher powered FWD drivetrane is a considerable downgrade in drivability/performance. and that doesnt even adress the issue of what your going to do with the rangers framerails which will not allow your FWD engine and transaxle to fit into the engine bay (and mounting them on top of the frame rails will likely lead to a very top heavy design with axle clearence problems, hood clearence problems, and probably more).

but heres an idea: wack a hole in the bed of your truck and place the FWD engine and transaxle in the BACK of the truck. now you have your high-powered cadillac engine, RWD, and PLENTY of weight over the drive tires to provide all the traction you could ever need. box in the under-hood area to form a weather-tight trunk (to make up for the reduced bed space) and ta-da!

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

but heres an idea: wack a hole in the bed of your truck and place the FWD engine and transaxle in the BACK of the truck. now you have your high-powered cadillac engine, RWD, and PLENTY of weight over the drive tires to provide all the traction you could ever need. box in the under-hood area to form a weather-tight trunk (to make up for the reduced bed space) and ta-da!

That's exactly what I was thinking. That would be one badass ride!

Although the Nothstar is a very powerfull engine, it is quite difficult to diagnose, and is really expensive to repair. The junkyards by me are littered with lots or Caddys in really good shape, that have bad engines.

Some other good options would be, the Supercharged 3.8 series2 GM V6 drivetrain, or the SHO Taurus drivetrain.

 

[rurouni20xx]

let me ask you something then what size engine is in the fwd caddy? is it a 4.3? if it is it shares the same bellhousing pattern as a 5.0, 5.7 and 6.0, if the oil pan will clear id try that....hee hee hee....

 

[Beanmachine7000]

let me ask you something then what size engine is in the fwd caddy? is it a 4.3? if it is it shares the same bellhousing pattern as a 5.0, 5.7 and 6.0, if the oil pan will clear id try that....hee hee hee....

I don't think it shares the same bellhousing as the common SBC it's something funny, I'm pretty sure it has the GM 60 degree bellhousing shape (2.8 V6)... I think people used to put the Northstar into Fiero's all the time because it bolted up to the 2.8 V6 tranny...

 

[wrecking-crew]

i was thinking of the big block type of caddy engine from the 70's. i know its not worth trying but its cool to think about trying it.

 

[Beanmachine7000]

I looked it up earlier, the Caddy 4.1/4.5/4.9 uses the GM 60 degree bellhousing shape, the Northstar is it's own special bellhousing that is the same as the GM 60 degree bellhousing, but the starter is in a different location, and one bolt is moved about an inch...

 

[chvlfrk]

Go for it!

I myself have had the thought, but don't have the cash to blow to do it.

My thought is: those BIG AZZ Caddy's always had plenty of power, got descent gas mileage (18 or so) in those huge cars, so they otta just blow the tires off a lil' car/truck in STOCK form, let alone hop one up and be good on gas!

Here's a couple FFT links:
Caddilac Performance

500 cubes

Post pics if ya go for it PLEASE!

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

I looked it up earlier, the Caddy 4.1/4.5/4.9 uses the GM 60 degree bellhousing shape, the Northstar is it's own special bellhousing that is the same as the GM 60 degree bellhousing, but the starter is in a different location, and one bolt is moved about an inch...

The starter in a Northstar is over the valley cover, under the intake manifold, between the heads, towards the back of the engine(obviously), and engages the very top of the flywheel.

 

[wrecking-crew]

i was thinking of using the 500 rebuilt with tons of performance parts but my problem is i have no money and i dont know where to get that engine. i know people that could find the engine but i dont have another ranger UNLESS someone donates one......but my dad wouldnt like that idea. he tells me my 83 is too far gone to fix...

 

[chvlfrk]

My idea>>>

i was thinking of using the 500 rebuilt with tons of performance parts but my problem is i have no money and i dont know where to get that engine. i know people that could find the engine but i dont have another ranger UNLESS someone donates one......but my dad wouldnt like that idea. he tells me my 83 is too far gone to fix...

==============================================
I was gonna pick up an old 70's model Coupe DeVille, figured should be able to pickup one of those old tanks for cheap with gas prices.....that way ya get the engine w/manifolds, tranny, driveshaft to be shortened, & any other parts ya wanta rape off it, and be able to scrap the body & recoop some of your investment with its weight.

Found this: http://chattanooga.craigslist.org/pts/1007567775.html
http://knoxville.craigslist.org/pts/1031786091.html

 

[rurouni20xx]

just a rediculous question, are there any v8 fwd vehicles in existance besides taurus sho w/ v8? one that could possibly be fitted w/ a larger engine? just curious...

 

[RangerFabWorks]

the old toronados from the 60s were the first fwd cars. they had bb v8s

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

the caddilac with the northstar that we've been talking about is a v-8 FWD.

 

[rurouni20xx]

i see, was just wondering if there was a common engine that bolted up to the fwd tranny. interesting tho ill dig around some more and see what i can find.