Caddy powered project ideas...

Looking to build a rear engine-rear drive lightwieght using a 71 eldorado 500c.i. engine and transaxle. Has this been done (old articles)? Seems that I remember reading or hearing about toronado powered microbuses and a baracuda hemi under glass that were similar concepts and I was thinking maybe smaller. Suggestions and ideas appreciated, and I'm hoping to have something that acts kindalike and looks a little like an ac cobra or a viper but costs only a fraction...  

here a different spin...   take a C6 corvette transaxle...   remove the long tube.. bolt it directly to the bell housing .. put it in the rear of something..  with a hot LS motor .. so much better than a 500 cad and a TH425... cost more.. but there are a lot of people selling wrecked corvette parts...

you could always do it in one of the micro vans ... like the Xb or cube... but i don't know if it will fit... but it would be different...

if you do it.. a pair of exhaust cut outs to bypass the muffler  would be nice.. so you could impress the young crowd also...

flair the rear wheel wells like a renault R5 turbo...

as for the hemi under glass ..  that was a neat car.. but i think it used a conventional rear axle with a V drive to allow the reversed mounted motor to drive the rear end...    i was even at OCIR on night when the hemi under glass dropped it too late and rolled over ...  i talked to bill  years later.. standing at the pit fence at OCIR..  he said that was the night he knocked the blower off the top of the motor when it flipped...

so many options... and the newer versions of the corvette have a six speed automatic transaxle...

you could always to it to an astro van...   and section the body to bring the height down..      since you don't have to have the dash board above the motor...  you can really cut it down...    mid door...  leave the windows tall ... for the gawkers... with upgrades to the front suspension.. and the corvette IRS... it should be able to go round corners also...  

Thanks for replying Wayne, cool ideas for someone that wants a van full of vette stuff. I also appreciate the info and anecdotal re. hemi under glass.
 The oil pump failed on my 85 S-10 blazer today, it's got significant body rust and a pretty rigid boxed frame,  hmmmm...  

Well,what is it you really want?  Pontiac Fieros, with their Citation underpinings, are wanted for Ferrari kit cars, and thus there are kits out there to put Cadillac 4.1 liters, and now Northstars, into the place a 2.5 Iron Duke once sat.  That would be Cadillac, lightweight, and midengine.

A 1970 500 w/ 10:1 Cr makes 400 hp stock w/ an intake that puts the carb below the heads.  If you're going lightweight, how much power do you really need?  That 500cid and TH425 or whatever it is will make your car no longer lightweight...which means the northstar could be a better idea, and there are speed parts for the 4.1, 4.5, and northstar made 3oohp stock.  

The problem with all those FWD, is locking up wheels meant to turn.  If you can rig that up, you can figure out how to make a subframe to connect the Caddy drivetrain to nearly any floorplan.  Obviously, it has to be level with the ground, but the driveshaft phasing issue is already taken cared of.  You could find a corvair Briarwood van, they were designed w/ an engine already located there.  

I assume you are looking for a midengine vehicle, that handles like it has its weight in the middle of the car, not like vipers or cobras, but much more like V12 lamborghinis and Ferrari boxers of the late 1970's.  In which case, find anything you like with a good back seat--so there's room for your caddy package--and a good B pillar setup, so the roof can handle the torque rather than you having to build some roll cage around the engine comparment so it doesn't twist the car from the middle.  

then figure out where the radiator's gonna go.  You want to run hot hoses thru the passenger compartment, do you want scoops in the side windows to duct air into the rad sitting behind your backside--and if so, where's the hot air gonna exit?  The engine block and exhaust is gonna shed heat too, and hot air rises.  You want a sunroof in the ceiling to vent?  Look at European rally cars like the Renault R5, etc for ideas.  Plus you want a cold air induction that isn't sucking that hot air.

Or like i said, look at the smaller lightweight caddies...  

How in the world do I post a question? can antone tell me? Thanx in advance.  

I mean, so that everyone can see it in the discussion forum.  

Thanks for your consideration and reply gtomustang !     "what I really want"... I'd like to figure out how to utilize this torque monster leftover from a eldorado in a stable, full framed (and fully boxed frame) rolling chassis (no unibody please). Locking the steering and configuring the suspension under the 500/TH425 which had long torque arms traveling rearward (to "spring" it)is a part of the puzzle I'll need to solve as (or before) I attach this former front end to the rear of my concept frame. I shouldn't have said "lightwieght" since it's subjective... I'm envisioning the existing eldorado width in the rear, a wheelbase length of an average two seater sports car and front suspension, steering and (disc) brakes from an early 70s GM A-body. This may very well prove to be way too hairy and just plain unfeasable (unlike your good ideas) but it's what's rattling around in my head.
 Since the front will need a little something to hold it down I was figuring radiator and battery up there using 2 inch stainless tubing outside the frame rails for coolant plumbing
  Hey, thanks again for the help brainstorming..... jeff  

I should have also pointed out, when you use that Caddy front end...considering using the same type of rims for the front, whatever they may be.  since you're trunk is gonna be full of engine, you're going to want to carry only one type of spare wheel (unless this is a track car, not a street car).