The 429/472/500 Cadillac engines are real sleepers. They only weigh slightly more than a small block V-8 and they make gobs of torque. My family put over 300,000 miles on a 472 in a Fleetwood Brougham, including a trip from Tennessee to California and back, towing a big trailer. On the return trip, the gross weight of the car/trailer combo was 16,700 lbs. The 3-axle trailer had a little over 10,000 lbs. on it. I got 5 MPG for over 2,500 miles, but the old Caddy never missed a beat. Here's the kicker- - - -it rolled over on 200,000 miles on the outbound trip! When I retired the car for major front end wear, the car was well over 300K and neither the engine nor the transmission had any major repair- - -just tuneups, fluid and filter changes, etc. It did twist the center out of the flex plate- - - - -twice!
Keep the engine and transmission well-lubricated and cool, and that Caddy will do anything you ask of it!
Jerry
Last edited by Hotrod Lincoln; 07/25/2008 3:50 AM.
