[FleetwoodDiesel]

Hey there.
Planning to buy 1970 Cadillac Fleetwood and putting a diesel engine in it. My dad wants to buy a 300D engine for it, he says it has lots of power and will get great MPG. But I wonder if this engine has enough power to pull this 4800 pounds car?
Do you have any suggestions?

 

[79Mercy]

that's about the same weight as my 76 300D, 0-60 in about 21-22 sec. I think it does pretty well.

 

[FleetwoodDiesel]

that's about the same weight as my 76 300D, 0-60 in about 21-22 sec. I think it does pretty well.

Isn't that 76 weights about 3100 pounds?
20 sec 0-60? I think I don't like it already. Would 300TD do better?

I was thinking about a 4BT or 6BT cummins turbo diesel, but it's pretty expensive for now.

 

[dude99]

there was a fellow somewhere that put a 6.3L ford diesel in his Cadillac...

 

[Benznoob26]

No clue why you would want to put a diesel engine in a '70 fleetwood. 300d are extremely slow though. I'd look for a diesel engine out of a truck like you mentioned maybe a cummins but they are really expensive engines.

 

[ilikemercedes]

Not sure about the weight of a early eighties cadillac but the diesel engines in those were rated at 105hp (according to the cadillac wiki, i think it had 200 pounds of torque), that is not great and not much more powerful than a turbo om617 which had 180 pounds of torque, except that the Mercedes engine was actually a good engine. So I don't think that is too slow seeing that it would be stockish for early 80's cadillac's. If you wanted to you could always get a diesel from and early eighties cadillac or oldsmobile and drop that in, would be about the same as the om617 performance wise but would be alot easier to retrofit probably.

edit: also I don't think the op is planning a hot rod, those early cadillacs where not known for their handling prowess lol

edit2: those early eighties cadillac sevilles weighed 3844 pounds so yeah I would probably go with a more powerfull engine.

 

[FleetwoodDiesel]

It has 7.7L 375hp V8 in it. But I don't like gas engines, will probably look for a truck engine.

 

[Garrett TA031]

An om617, even turbo, is too weak for that car. Even if you turn up the power it will struggle to see 13 seconds 0-60 and MPG will be in the low 20's.

You should swap in the 8.2L gasser engine from another caddy.

 

[300TD1984]

Why not forgo the caddy and get a mercedes or other brand with a diesel engine already in it?

 

[p100]

I think that Caddy weighs a bit more than 4,800 lbs. More like 5,300 according to official sources.

 

[H-TownBenzoboy]

I think you should put another Caddy engine in there.

 

[FleetwoodDiesel]

Seller says it only needs a carburetor rebuild, so I'll run it with original engine for a while.

 

[JBG3]

perfect engine for that car is a 7.3 ford V8 diesel. Id take the entire drivetrain out of a ford F-250 or 350 and put it in the caddy when and if you decide to do this.

Cummins is good too, but its a longer engine in the 6cyl version, not an issue in a car like that probably! , 4bt is great, but 4bt is known for pretty decent vibration according to some other swaps ive read, duramax is a bit more finicky and expensive. Chevy 6.5 and 6.2 engines are adequate and probably cheap, but can't really touch the cummins or 7.3 engines for reliability and upgradeability. Old IDI MB car engines are too small

Id go with the ford plant personally

 

[Garrett TA031]

perfect engine for that car is a 7.3 ford V8 diesel.

6.0 would be much better.

 

[JBG3]

6.0 would be much better.

Maybe 6.4, not the 6.0 liter ford though. That engine is plagued with warranty and performance issues for a lot of owners. I was working at a shop out in the midwest when those first came out, and the local box truck dealership that I would be in contact with all the time would not even take a 6.0 in on trade.

7.3 is extremely robust, and unbreakable, and would be cheaper and easier to find one.

 

[Garrett TA031]

the 6.0 liter ford though. That engine is plagued with warranty and performance issues for a lot of owners.

Thats due entirely to the emissions controls keeping too much heat in the engine. Remove the EGR, throttle (early ones), EGR cooler and EGR scoop and you've got a reliable and more powerful engine than the 7.3L. Adding studs makes it even better.

7.3 is extremely robust, and unbreakable, and

...weak, noisy and slow revving.

 

[JBG3]

Thats due entirely to the emissions controls keeping too much heat in the engine. Remove the EGR, throttle (early ones), EGR cooler and EGR scoop and you've got a reliable and more powerful engine than the 7.3L. Adding studs makes it even better.
.

with all the options over the years, why choose the most plagued version of the international/ford powerplants? If It were to be a question of any ford motor regardless of price, I would choose the 6.4 as the newest and most powerful and all problems from the 6.0 solved, or the older tried and true 7.3.

I would avoid the 6.0 based on my personal experiences with them, but to each his own!

If its regardless of price though, the last version of the duramax before the new emissions on it 07-08?, or if we are really talking about strength and being able to be built up, a 5.9 or 6.7 cummins, also before new emissions.

the big thing on the 7.3 though is that depending on the OPs budget, its a good motor that he can find at a very decent price since it spans a lot of years, even if he were to go all the way back to the 7.3 IDI turbo, which would be super easy to just throw in any vehicle.

He has a ton of options on good V8 diesel truck engines. Regardless of which way he goes, i think we can all agree that the one engine that is horribly unsuited to a vehicle of that size is the 617 MB!

 

[Garrett TA031]

with all the options over the years, why choose the most plagued version of the international/ford powerplants?

Because its the second best, 6.4 being the best and Ford's 6.7 being the worst.

i think we can all agree that the one engine that is horribly unsuited to a vehicle of that size is the 617 MB!

No, the 615 would be the worst.

 

[JBG3]

Because its the second best, 6.4 being the best and Ford's 6.7 being the worst.


No, the 615 would be the worst.

Well, we will have to agree to disagree on what ford/international engine we personally consider best. I see we can argue about that for a loooooong time, to the detriment of the OPs thread!

Yes, you are right on the 615, the weight power distribution on that would be like the little tractors used to park a jumbo jet in an airport!

 

[slcturbo]

You are going to have a hard time fitting a diesel engine from a truck into a Cadillac. It's not tall enough. Diesel engines are frequently swapped into Toyota Landcruisers for instance, and it usually requires suspension mods to get the truck high enough for the oil pan to clear the axle. So you will either be lifting your Caddy, or you will have a big tall engine sticking up out of the hood. That would definitely be a conversation starter.