Keep in mind the "gentle" tip-in throttle response may not be a mistake with the Cadillac big blocks. Can you imagine an elderly Cadillac customer complaining to the dealer after purchasing a their new Cadillac in 1970: "Ethyl says when I step on the gas pulling away from a light, it jerks her neck. The gas pedal is too touchy."

I've been swapping, running, modifying the big block Cadillac since the 90's , phenomenal engines it's not hard to get 500 hp and 600 plus ft pounds of torque from an almost stock engine.

In my experience, the GM engines in the late 60s early 70s with the best throttle response was the Pontiacs. The Chevys could usually outrun them at the top end because they could rev higher. But nothing seemed faster than that 1969 340 Dodge Dart with the 4-speed. That smaller engine would embarrass many GM big blocks.

I can’t ever forget my high school friend taking me for a cruise in his moms massive 1970 Cadillac coupe with, I believe, a 472 in it. Emerald green with a white top and white interior. We were burning rubber from light to light that night. I’m sure some new rear tires were needed the next week! The car was, of course heavy, so we weren’t setting records, but we very effectively turned gasoline into noise and smoke! 😬

I love your channel Adam - it’s like a talking cars with a buddy on his porch. I’m so happy to see the growth of the channel so rapidly. You’re building quite the community of folks interested in the near luxury cars and full size cars from the 1960s-1980s.

My three best friends parent’s had Big Blocks in 1975; a Caddie Coupe de Ville (8.2L), a 455 Olds 98 Regency and Buick Electra (7.5 L). As a teen being driven everywhere the Caddie always seemed “sedate” and dignified. You definitely could tell the difference in the way each moved and sped down the ramp onto the expressway. The Olds roared, the Buick pushed you from behind...the Caddy? It just kinda got you up to speed without really feeling anything? Maybe that throttle tip-in was purposeful? I always felt like I was being chauffeur driven in the Caddy.

Remember the Cadillac was one of the heaviest cars and another thing I would take in consideration is axle ratio on caddy's, most of them had tall gears as well. They all ran lean in the 70's because of mpg which would make them have a tendency to be sluggish off the line @ tip-in let alone full throttle. Distributor timing was on the retarted side as well. My dad worked at the Tech Center in Warren for 30yrs and the first thing he would do is readjust the carb, put in lighter advance springs in the distributor and advanced the timing to wake it up. In a nutshell it's the way Cadillac wanted it.. (I do agree with you though).

Do a video on yourself , how did you learn all this? All your videos very helpfull , from an old timer technician thank you.

In 88, I worked my first job out of tech school at the local Pontiac Buick GMC Caddilac dealership. We had old ladies bringing their late 70's 425 Caddy's in all the time running like crap. We took it out back, pulled the air cleaner, ran some water or Kerosene down the intake while revving to clean the carbon out. I would follow with a "drive it like you stole it" test drive with the air cleaner lid flipped, of course. Never forget those skinny tires smoking with the sound coming out of the 4 barell. Wished I had on of those now.

The Cadillac 472 is my favorite big block. Over the years I've had several high mileage cars with the 472. Their biggest problem seems to be clicking valve lifters and needing valve jobs rather soon but the lower ends are bullet proof. I had a Chevy truck with a 454 and it had no more power than a 350 (but it got about 7 mpg whereas 350s gave me about 10)

I had a friend who bought a Corvette with a factory 454. I always thought of the 454 being a low rpm pickup/farm truck engine. I thought that this was the weirdest engine combo to put into a Corvette. I never had the chance of riding in it, but he seemed to be happy with it. I was never a big Chevy guy, but as a kid I always thought that the 396 that was the biggest and baddest engine offered by GM. At least, my Chevy friends back then made the 396 into this mythical monster.

I liked the 1969 Buick 430 in my Riviera

One thing I've seen. At about 100K miles, the timing chain takes a dump and except at idle the valves will hit the pistons. Haven't seen destroyed pistons, but many bent valves and no compression. Also the rocker arms are held on with what looks like a paper clip on steriods. Not the plan for spirited driving. They run OK though, but most of them have small single exhaust trying to exit 500 CI. Also the smallest intake and exhaust valves on any large engine.

Never owned a Cadillac, but remember how popular the Olds 455 was in jet boats with sustained high rpms, I love those engines, 2 thumbs up )

Least favorite? I can’t choose one I like less than most others but I do have 1 favorite: Buick 455

Every time you release a new video, the subscriber count is higher. Good for you! These are my favorite KZfaq auto vids: quiet, informative, well researched; and you concentrate on my favorite era and types of cars.

Awesome video. Any chance we can get a video that gives a quick overview, or pros / cons, of the GM big-blocks or small-blocks (Chevy vs. Pontiac vs. Buick vs. Olds etc.)? I always wondered what differentiated each engine.

I actually agree with you on your insight on this. I'd venture to say that because Cadillac was GM's car for wealthy folks who wanted power & comfort without all the engine noise that Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, & Olds drivers had with all the muscle and pony cars. GM had those Cadillac engines bogged down and muzzled with more emissions components than all the other GM divisions. You take all that junk off those Cadillac engines and exhaust systems and you've got yourself a hot rod.

Our family,s Buick Estate Wagon , purchased new in 1970 , had the high compression 370 hp, 455 engine that was reliable as an anvil and had impressive torque.

For towing and high temp heavy traffic driving the Pontiac V8s were the best. They had larger cooling system, by several quarts over the others, and better designed passages. On the flip side since the cooling system was so large and effective warm-up takes much longer and once emissions standards increased GM could not get it to pass because it ran cold too long to pass emissions. That is why Pontiac engines were pulled from California early and then were an early choice to be be discontinued. Also for cold areas there were lots of complaints that the time for the heat to work took too long.

Adam, If you think the GM big block ranking will "stir emotions" then you better be in full, OSHA-approved protective gear when you rank the 350 V8s 😁😁😁😁

Just a tad beyond my knowledge of this era - but as always informative. Always fun to watch and learn. Bobby

I had an '80 with a throttle that had that insufferable "dead zone". At one point of the pushing I think the car actually lost speed, then push past this and the car took off. This was from brand new. No one would put up with this today. The cheapest new Kia drives with precision today compared. I realise these cars were overladen with pollution controls in their infancy, but no matter, I dont miss carbs at all. I think FI is the single best improvement to engines since the beginning of cars. And a major contributor to cars' longevity now. Fuel is administered with precision now so cars last a long time and drive much better, and keep emissions low. Aunt Barbara adores you!

I never owned a Buick 455 that didn’t eventually have oil pump issues, and I never had any issues with any of the Cadillac 425/472s that I owned. My Cadillac large blocks were all flawless.

I know that this channel isn't about GMC trucks but crazy to think that they had their own engines too, the big block 6s. love the channel

Love these porch chats. I always learn something. Thank you for sharing!

The Cadillac had a 272:1 rear end. That's why they seemed sluggish. My '76 got 22 MPG on the highway. Besides the cars were HEAVY.

Olds V8 was handicapped by its small valves and combustion chamber but has the distinction of being the last carburated engine to receive EPA approval (307, likely due to its small combustion chamber).

Just curious Adam what your thoughts are on the 65-67 429 engine, is it a small block due to the head configuration, is that why you didn't mention it but did mention the 425 and 368 ? I'm confused like you pointed out the Pontiac is just a large displacement, but at any rate what is your opinion of the 429

having owned a " 1974 CADI ELDO" with the 500 cid engine( low comp. ratio= dished pistons) ( I did a lot of "TWEEKING"( carb/ ignition modifications) to that engine where it would "SMOKE" the tires on that car when I got done with it , all from a "STOCK" engine I do remember back in the late 60's, a local police department used 454cid chevy engines in police duty cars, and after a few "HIGH SPEED CHASES" those engines came "UN-GLUED"!!!!, I also saw this at the "DRAG STRIP" as well!!!!!

What's your opinion on the previous Cadillac V8 390-429?

The craziest, scariest ride I ever took was on an airboat powered by a Cadillac 500...! That thing and that guy were absolutely nuts...! There were many boats out there in Lake Placid, Florida on a memorial day weekend... It out ran them all...! I don't know all the engines that were there, but I know there were a few 454s and at least one Pontiac 455 and a ton of small block Chevys... That Cadillac 500 boat was insane though...!!! Thanks for sharing... Keep up your awesomeness...!

I recall the 1970 sedan deville was factory equipt with a 391 rear end. My cousins Dad had one, on occasion we would get to drive it. The full throttle hole shot was amazing. The huge tires would barely hold traction. It would beat most cars on the road in 1980.

Having owned many of these, I had always attributed the less enthusiastic power delivery of the Cadillac to the higher curb weight for any given body style and year, so quite interesting that it was likely more than that. And of all my GM big blocks, a 1976 de Ville was the only one that consistently had trouble passing emissions, despite being in good repair and of modest mileage. I finally resorted to leaning out the carburetor every year prior to the test.

The difference at Olds between "small block" and "big block" is also just 1/2" deck height. A 350 cam runs in a 455, though not optimal.

Personally, I think the 454 is the jankiest GM big block. They can be reliable, but lack performance for what they are. If given a choice, I'd take the SBC 350 every time over a 454. Parts are way cheaper and more available as well. A good truck motor for sure, but they don't like high revs.

Thanks Adam, another great video. I'm partial to GM so I enjoy most anything you do on GM, particularly the 60's and 70's. I've driven many '68 Buick430s as well as 455s from '71 and '72 and aside from the smooth performance, they were also incredibly durable. My '72 Riviera started spewing white smoke about 2 years ago and of course a head gasket was the culprit. I've had this car since the mid 90's and it was a daily driver for most of the late 90's to mid 2000's and had almost 200K miles. My mechanic told me the entire block looked great as did the heads when he took it apart. It was just a small area of the gasket that failed. I was wondering if you've ever had any experience with the Buick nailhead, either the 401 or 425. Those are actually my favorite Buick engines as I owned a few back in the 80's

I’ve always read the Buick Skylark GS Stage 1 455 was the absolute cream of the crop for GM big blocks.

All of these cars featured rear axle ratios around 2.41 to 3.07, because they had 3 speed transmissions with no overdrive, and no lock-up converter. Carb and ignition tuning was key to making them run good.

I had a 68 472, I changed out the primary metering rods too, it was a heavy engine, it ran that way, but it could make a ton of low end power, (it's small valves and intake runners limited the upper end) reliable and bullet proof. Had a friend in his 70s, bought a new 454 Chevy truck to pull a camper in the 80s, he took good care of it, but it still blew a rod before it made a 100k. In fact, Chevy 454s in the 80s in motorhomes we're known for having "square crankshafts" I never heard that said about any other BB GM, just the 454 The 472 would have made a great pick-up engine imo.

Your videos all remind me how different it was to grow up a car nut on the West Coast, compared to (my assumption in your case) the Midwest and especially Michigan. I'm a product of the middle of the Boomer era, so I reached the age where I could read and understand Motor Trend magazine in 1965 (Car of the Year - Pontiac). It took until 1968 when my intellect could take in Road & Track; from that point forward, that was my standard of reference. My folks - and all the other relatives - were normal American car buyers through the 60s, except for the Beetle Dad got in 1962 as our first second car. All during that time, here in the PNW there were enough VWs, M-Bs, DKWs, Renaults, Peugeots, FIATs, Simcas etc. that I recognized them as well as all the 60s Americana. Then about 1966, big numbers of Toyotas and Datsuns started appearing -- and staying, since we don't have road salt rust. My family did have two 1960s Buicks.. but both had crippling flaws, the '65 Skylark convertible having virtually zero braking capability, and the '69 LeSabre having chronic overheating. From that point on, in my own mind, no thinking person considered big American cars the best choice; per R&T and lots of teenage pressure-campaign, I talked my folks into a '73 SAAB 99 4MT. The SAAB turned out to be an utter disaster in terms of breakdowns, but its performance, economy, braking were miles ahead of the Buicks and its capacity and comfort was darn near as good as the LeSabre. Then, when I finally had career-job money of my own, I bought a 1977 fuel-injected Rabbit.

I saw a caddy 500 once that threw a rod, I reached in the hole and pulled out a piece of camshaft. They weren’t meant to rev above 4500 rpm.

Could you please do a video explaining the Cadillac v8-6-4 setup?

I would like to know what a built 472 or 500 would do.

When I was growing up my parents had a 1974 Cadillac Coupe deVille with the 472 CID engine. They owned it for several years before I was allowed to drive it when I obtained my driver license a the age of 16 . I was so eager and excited to finally to drive it because I knew that it had that HUGE V-8 under the hood and on my first drive my excitement soon turned to disappointment as the car lumbered along UNTIL those secondaries kicked in and.................it still lumbered on, And you know why? because the car weighed 4942 lbs and the engine only made 205 HP😳 We've come a long way since then, thank goodness!!!! 💪

Not to stray too far off topic, but I never knew the Chevy 454 could bend valves if the timing chain broke. To be fair, I don't work on a lot of Chevy vehicles. Our fleet is primarily Navistar, Cummins and our Ford trucks. Back in 1994 we had a fuel trucks equipped wIth Chevy 454. One of the trucks backfired and quit running. I found the timing chain had broken. After installing a new one, the engine turned over like half the spark plugs were out. Four cylinders (two on each bank) had no compression. I pulled the valve covers and was blown away to find four exhaust valves partially open. After yanking the heads, four of the pistons had little eye lash marks from kissing the valves. I have never heard anyone else experience that. But, again I don't work on a lot of Chevy engines.

In 1976 my dad had a New Eldorado with the fuel injection 500cid. It had 215sae hp, & 400 torque. I had a Buick 225 coupe with 455 4bbl. 205 hp 345torq. True, changing the timing did feel much nicer. The final drive ratio is what kept em lazy. Mine was 2.53:1 limited slip. Gr8 in snow. 78, I got a new Mark V 460cid.212hp. 357torq. Lazy from stand still but, better @ hi way. Man, I miss those landyachts. Imagine with today's technology ♥️

I owned a 1972 442, 455 with the 308* cam & hood scoops....W-25. The worst I ever had with it was fouled spark plugs from too much around town driving.

I have 1972 500 do I have to run lead additive in my fuel?

As the owner of a '67 Eldo with the 429, I have endured the shade thrown by owners of '68-and-later Cad owners who crow about the vast difference they think they'd perceive between their King-of-the-hill 472/500 and the old, puny 429. Neither the 429 nor the 472/500 were perfect, but both were very good. Your remark about decreased smoothness in the later, low-compression 472/500 is interesting since, at the Eldo's 1967 debut, the 429 was touted by Cadillac as the smoothest engine in the world, out-smoothing the Granddaddy of Smooth, the Rolls Royce V8. Apparently during Cadilac's early-1960s development of a new V12, GM's bean counters came to the conclusion that potential customers would not be able to feel a difference between a V8 and a V12. Hence, Cadillac's engine-replacement strategy switched back to a V8, resulting in the 472/500. Perhaps all of these "smoothness" claims are purely works of imagination? I've always chalked up the Cadillac's "reserved" acceleration response to the car being a … Cadillac. All things in moderation. Press the Go pedal and the Engine Room responds, "Very good, Sir. How much faster would you prefer to go?" An Eldorado (or even a Coupe de Ville) isn't a hyperactive puppy, overanxious to respond to any crude simulus. A Cadillac is a thouroughbred, meeting out its seemingly infinite supply of torque on a dignified, as-needed basis. They have long final-drive ratios to keep the revs down and lots of insulation to keep the engine-agitation cacophony away from the driver. Above all, Cadillacs go about the business of getting down the road quietly! Maybe the cushy factor was worse with the 472/500, though. As a sneaky, irresponsible teen, I was able to earn top time (in my class) at my first autocross in Mom's pristine, five-year-old, stock 429-powered 1967 Sedan de Ville. (Owners of competing Camaros and Mustangs -- with whom I shared the 'Large Car' class -- were stunned.) On the Interstate, I also outran various XKEs, Chaargers, and GTOs in the beloved de Ville. If one was willing to mash the throttle, the 429 got with the program posthaste! I can't disagree, however, that other big-block cars felt faster off the line. My family's 1966 and 1973 Olds Toronados were always rarin' to go (except for when the sickly QJ on our '73 had a bad case of the Bogs). But again, I've always figured that, given the slightly more "sporty" pretensions of the Toros, it made sense that I didn't have to stand on the gas *quite* as deliberately. An Oldsmobile (or Buick) didn't have the weight of the "Standard of the World" resting on its shoulders! 😊 Back in the present day, I would have expected your biggest anti-Caddy beef to be the location of the air-conditioning compressor. All of the other GM divisions hang the compressor off the the left or right side of the block. Cadillac puts the compressor right in front of the QJ! Getting at the left idle-mixture screw can be a challenge even if you have a flexible screwdriver. On the whole, none of the GM big blocks are indestructible. My Dad brought home one well-thrashed example each of a '68 Cadillac convertible (472) and '71 "boat-tail" Riviera (455). They were both too far gone for teenage me to straighten out on the open asphalt in front of our crummy townhouse. The '73 Toro's QJ bog got me t-boned by a Chrysler wagon when the engine went "bloop" when I stood on its throttle in the face of on-coming traffic. My '73 TransAm's 455 unceremoniously stripped the nylon from its timing-gear teeth and let the timing chain jump a cog or two, leading to a greasy afternoon squriming around underneath it in a fast-food parking lot. Even the venerable Cadillac 429 (as well as a Buick or two) suffers from the notorious aluminum-timing-chain-cover-wear scenario. Thanks again for another porch chat!

Having owned cars with all of these engines in the last 30 odd years I agree with all your Cadillac 472-500 comments. I suspect it was at least partly intentional, they wanted that “stately” feel like say from a Rolls Royce of the era. If had 69, 70 and 71 Eldorado’s and they all had that same underwhelming initial response. (Which btw made them great winter cars, almost like modern diesel cars, sluggish initially but tons of low end torque mid-rpm mid-throttle). Considering the other engines they all had their pros and cons. The 70 455 Pontiac had probably the best “performance” feel (not necessarily the quickest, just the best “normal” driving response feel). However this engine shared the regular Pontiac problem of timing chain failure, failure prone water pumps and the 70 455’s specifically had a abnormally high crank failure rate, perhaps related to the long about 4 and a quarter inch stroke and a then 16 year old architecture and a block that was really maxed out at this CID. The Chevy 454 got all the press back then and the hipo versions were the best revvers of the GM gang but they also had some issues including crank failure and intakes cracking on the bottom side. Also like the earlier 427’s the non performance versions were probably the worst performing of all the GM big blocks. The olds 455 was a great all arounder with lots of mid range. Even with the W30 version top end power was a bit weak which was ok given the iffy reputation of the crankshafts. The Buick 455 didn’t have quite the grunt of the Pontiac or Olds but they were the sleeper of the bunch at higher rpm. All my comments are about the high compression 70 versions and in bone stock tune and trim. The 71-72 feel very similar but with say 10-15% less grunt in the seat of the pants but still really nice feeling. The 73-74 were noticeably slower again but also suffered from drivability thanks to the factory “desperation” tuning and early EGR issues. The 75-76 are noticeably slow thanks to the cork like early cats and ultra highway gearing. However the catalytic converter ironically resulted in much much better drivability than the 73-74. But as you said these were all great engines for the average buyer. They only new had good they really were when they ended up several years later driving horribly slow small blocks in the 300 and less cube range and 100 and change horsepower.

You are right about the customers, the q-jet rods, and most other stuff. Olds used a ton of the 425 motors in the 68 - 70 model years also depending on the trim and budget.

What about the 336? Around 1980-1981. From what I’ve heard it’s considered to be the same engine family and in 82(?), idk for how long; was the V8-6-4 version of that

I thought that the 429 on my 1966 Fleetwood Brougham was smoother than the 425 on my Eldorado.

With nearly 50 years of building engines and general repairs under my belt, I'll give you "my" spin, from best to worst. By FAR the best (in terms of durability) is the Olds, followed by the Buick, followed by the Cadillac, followed by the Pontiac, and coming in dead last would be the 454 (I call them 'trash-factories')

348/409, but I’d own either one in a heartbeat. That’s earlier than Adam’s intended time range, but compared to the others they come up lacking. I haven’t heard of them being problematic during town and freeway motoring, other than maybe valve train glitches early. Something to consider about the later Mk IV Chevrolet big-blocks is that they were designed first as a race engine (‘63 Mk II Mystery Engine) and later was revised for street applications when it went into production in 1965. Oval and peanut port heads always struck me as something of an afterthought.

We got smoked on Floyd Hill in Colorado while driving a 78 Eldo with a 425 by a brand new Buick Grand National back in 1985. Guess what the 425 big block powered car got traded in on ? We had a 67 Eldo during the Gas Crisis in the 70s. I remember walking to the gas station when it ran out. 429 ran better than that later smogger crap.

When should the timing chain be replaced on a Buick 455 cu in? I have my Dad’s 1973 Buick centurion with the 455 that he purchased new. The car has 94,000 miles? Someone suggested that the timing change should be replaced? Is there a way to tell if the timing chain needs to be replaced? Many thanks

Well, no issues here! I Agree. The Caddy was just a big engine without the matching horsepower…but it’s ok because….It’s a Cadillac….and it needed the biggest engine….that’s what I am paying for. I remember a family friend bought a beautiful gold 76 Fleetwood with pillowed velour seats and the 500….what a beautiful car but he could care less as he never drove very fast…..but is was impressive…….SMOOTH!

I would also add the much higher cost of Cadillac parts.

What about the cadillac 390 and 429 engines compared to the engines mentioned in this video ?

As an owner of a 1990 Cadillac Brougham I was sad when you said the Caddy Engine was your least favorite, but you are probably right. I am happy that My 1990 has the proven 5.7 Litre 350 Chevy Engine in it, so I think it is pretty indestructible, I hope.

I read somewhere recently that the 472 is significantly lighter than the 454, which surprised me. How do they all compare weight-wise?

I was unaware that the Pontiac 301 was used in another division what other division used it?

Excellent discussion. You make your best point at 13:10. This is what holds the most relevance.

Thank you again Adam. Please feature some of your Cadillacs if you still have them. Oh and more of everything while I’m asking.

In every convo I have with people on the rowdiest street/strip engines of the 60’s I always put the 421sd Pontiac’s and the Max Wedge Mopar’s at the top of the heap. Cheers and keep up the great work🍻

I think some of these vehicles with such engines had a choice of final drive ratio,as in a "trailer tow" package. Hard to imagine any Cadillac that could run with the 1970 or earlier Ford 429 in the LTD in a match of stoplight acceleration. Did Cadillac only offer one axle ratio,no options?

I would agree on the Cadillac engines. They were not meant to be anything other than big motors moving around big heavy cars with with numerical low rear gears (2.56, 2.73, 3.08, etc) I drove and owned Buick's, Pontiac's and Chevy's. Lots of of performance parts for any Chevy engine, big or small block. AND they could take the horsepower. Something the Buick 455 blocks could not. Big block Buick's were limited to 550HP because of the stock oiling system and high nickel content in the engine casting. Buick engines were light and made great amounts of torque which helped push around those heavy land yachts like the Electra 225. Pontiac's were predisposed to the same engine design and block size. Also the stock cams were .407 lift, unless you used 1.65 rocker arms like the Round Port Ram air engines. Plenty of performance parts in the day from H.O. Racing specialties. My 1970 RA IV Judge used a lot of their performance parts and cams. No real experience with Oldsmobile, but the old Hurst Olds 442 versions made good power and surprised many at the drag strip. All of this is just my humble opinion and experience.

I had a lot of Chevy/Olds/Pont/Buick big blocks. My parents went thru 8 Cadillacs from 1955-1990. They never had anything but the best of luck & those Caddy engines were marvelous. I was hooked on Olds, but never found them to be superior.

Good one Adam, I've only owned Mopar 440(RB) and 400(B) and driven plenty of other brands, 460, 454, 455, etc and my personal fave was the Chrysler 400 in a '73 Newport, damn but I miss that car, by far the best road trip car I've ever driven. Around town I was lucky to get 8 or 9 MPG but with cruise control set to 70 it would average 16 from Calgary to Vancouver and if you split gas with your 3 or 4 passengers it was inexpensive, comfortable, smooth, quiet and you never slowed down no matter how steep those roads in the Rockies got.

what is your opinion of the Cadillac 429 they used in 1967 ? BTW the elderly couple across the street from us in Houston bought a new 1969 Olds 98 - they would periodically ask me to take it out on the freeway to blow out the "carbon" - it was a screamer !!!

All good points. I used to drive a '68 Sedan DeVille quite a bit and have to agree it just didn't feel powerful unless it was at 3/4 throttle or more. Even then it was not very impressive. Smooth and quiet, though. I drove a '75 and a '76 Eldorado often, too. Gutless is being kind - for a 500 cubic inch engine. Also I think the other big blocks were mated with a slightly higher stall speed torque converter, which makes quite a bit of difference in how the engine feels.

The reason why GM stopped giving the divisions to design and build their own engines is because customers complained about the divisions sharing engines amongst each other. For example, a customer purchased an Oldsmobile with the Oldsmobile V-8 and discovered that his Oldsmobile was equipped with a Chevrolet V-8. It has gotten to the point that customers even took GM to court. Also, it was costing GM too much money to ceritify all the engines. Later, GM created GM Powertrain division to design and produce engines for all GM divisions. Here is my favorite big block GM engine in order: 1. Chevrolet 454 LS6 V-8 2. Buick 455 Stage 1 V-8 3. Oldsmobile 455 Rocket V-8 4. Pontiac 455 Super Duty V-8 5. Cadillac 472 V-8

Interesting about the 472. In the mid '70s, a guy we hung out with would borrow his Dad's '72 Coupe De Ville (maroon, black top and interior) with a 472. Car was awesome. I remember one night, we're following him from one house party to the next going north bound on Hwy One , turns right onto mainstreet of our town at a high rate of speed, does a 180 and stops at the curb of a gas station like a perfect park job ! We were in shock. This is nearly 50 years ago and i remember this like it was last night. I've had a different view on these cars ever since.

I had a 1980 Cadillac Coupe Deville as my first car. I agree with you wholeheartedly about the power delivery. In normal driving, the car felt slow. When you got on it, it took off like a rocket. I had a 1977 Sedan Deville, slightly quicker in normal driving, get on it and, it flew. It's funny you mentioned water pumps. I had to replace them in both cars!

The biggest engine I've ever owned was a 360 in an old Dodge truck. I've had some 350 Chevys(currently the 2nd gen LT1), 307, 305. But I've always wanted a big block. I don't care what make, size, year, anything. I've just always been curious about them.

The Buicks used the 850 CFM Quadrajet Carburetors and you described exactly how the power arrived, that was a great time gas was 39 cents a Gallon until the oil embargo in October of 1973 and you were lucky if you found a gas station that was open for the next several months.

The reminds me my grandmother’s 76 Sedan DeVille with the 8.2L V8. When she got that car new, she was about 65 years old and God forbid if that engine had ever been tuned to anything more than “gutless”. When she turned 81 my mother finally took the keys away from her and I nominally inherited the car although it was in storage for much of the remaining years of her life. When I did drive it, it wasn’t much different than the 368 in my ‘80 Coupe Deville that I had in college in the mid 80s. Neither engine were going to set the drag strip on fire and that was the point to the typical Cadillac geriatric customer. I miss both of those cars.

I bought a 1978 Chev pickup 1/2 ton 2 wheel drive stepside short box with a factory 454 engine and 400 transmission. It was a heavy 1/2 ton version, so there was no smog pumps or catalytic converter on it. But in 1979 they could no longer use the heavy 1/2 ton loophole. I still have this pickup in storage with around 100,000 miles on it. Only removed the valve covers on it because they siliconed them on that year. It was a fun truck to drive too,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Maybe lower rpm or bigger radiator for longer lasting water pumps in the big blocks??

Had a 73 Pontiac Grandville with a 455, that car could handle a heavier trailer than the 84 f350 diesel I owned at the time and could bury the 120mph speedometer with no issue whatsoever. Had some dumb kid talking smack at a cruise in about how fast his 5.0 mustang was and how it could beat anything there, needless to say my 455 blew his doors off with little effort. Old Pontiac cars are just cool!

I'm not going to argue with your pick, although I have heard that the Cadillac responds better to high performance mods than say the buick 455. I've heard the block itself in the buicks isnt as tough for a high performance custom build.

You put out a lot of content. A lot of content.

I had the '69 427 in a covette. Mild 390 hp 425 ft lbs torque. Avery good dependable engine, fast but not crazy. Jus a little crazy. I drove in off the street and turned 13.08 et quarter 3.08 rear axle that's pretty good.

Very interesting, impressed with what you have owned. That said, personally I don't feel there are any real issues with the 472, which I owned and loved, (and the 454, I currently own). I miss the '69 Cadillac Eldorado, such a smooth, reliable, powerful vehicle, even with the front wheel drive (which was extremely expensive to work on). Other favorites were a '64 Riviera 401, Buick 350, and a '60 Electra 2 dr. I feel blessed to have owned some great GM engines and automobiles, thanks for your overview.

I worked at a Pontiac Buick Cadillac dealership in 1983and got the chance to bring an elderly customer’s(yellow slacks white shoes )around the lot to the body shop. I picked the right spot to floor it so as to not loose control with the 500 cu inches and sideswipe any of the new versions parked nearby .To say I was disappointed with the resultant foot on gas pedal Would be as big an under statement as was the overstatement the term 500 horsepower

I had an 80 coupe deville with a carbed 368. It was smooth and reliable, but it could have used the extra displacement.

Please do a video on the ford FE big block

Funny you should mention the late 60s/early 70s Cadillacs being a bit doggy until the secondaries opened... My dad was a mechanic at Central Cadillac in Cleveland, Ohio from 1967 until 1971... He was also (still is) a Quadrajet Guru... So the management always had him bench those carbs and reinstall them, tune the cars and then they'd send them out the door. Northern Ohio had a few hot rodded Caddies running around there, in those days😁 Back in the Eighties, I had a Wysteria/Evening Orchid (can't remember what the color is called) 69 convertible when I was a teenager in Houston, Texas. We did the whole enchilada tune on it and that car would nearly walk a then-new 5.0 Mustang off the line... And make one look like it was going backwards after about 40 mph, when you'd nail it.... Fun and good times!

Great kob Adam you are like me in that you are passonite about these older cars .I love the big boats of the 50s to late 70s.

I had a '68 472 powered Sedan deVille back in the late 1990s as a teenager... wish I had the know how and drive to tinker with it's carb like you mentioned.

We had a '68, '70 & '72 Caddies (all 4 door sedans). Fell into the category of "lead sleds". When you hit the gas, it felt like the front end started moving before the back end! LOL. If you feel it's a bit under powered, just put one in neutral, get out and try to push the thing! You'd swear it was in Park! I think the 502 was used just to be super quiet and smooth running.

Your videos are really so very interesting, thank you

The reason some of these Caddys felt lazy is because they all had economy axle ratios. Swap out those lazy ratios for a more aggressive gear and you'd be impressed with the throttle response.

The '70 Buick 455 hooked to a three-on-the-tree really made the Estate Wagon scoot! And yes, a couple of dozen were so equipped.

I thought the 454 was the worst because it usually started burning oil at a low mileage .

396 - 427 - 454 is what you use for racing, the heads are what set them apart from the others the factory high performance ones could rev to 7000 rpm, try that with the other factory 455s. The Buick 455 and the caddy 500 are the next best IMHO.

My favorite big block is none of them at these fuel prices

“Big Block” and “Small Block” is a Chevy lingo which Spilled over to Ford and Dodge. Didn’t apply to Buick, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile.