1956 cadillac 365 help

[turbofreak24]

my dad is the owner of this car. 1956 sedan de ville, we are in the uk

a few parts have gone missing the guy that was working on it for him has let him down

this is were ive come in

ive reinsalled engine and box there is a couple of things im unsure of,

on the passenger side of the block above the starter motor there is a fitting in the block looks like oil not sure ?what is it its not in my shop manual

next the trans is water cooled cant see how to pipe it up one again not in shop manual,there is a outlet on the waterpump for the feed its more the return im not sure about.

thanks luke

[Cadillac Jim]

I'm speaking from memory here based on work I did on a number of cars of that vintage. I never worked on a 1950's Cadillac to the extent that I would remember details about the motor, but here's a good shot at some of your questions.

Automatic transmission oil coolers are nearly always heat exchangers in one of the radiator tanks. There will be a hose from the transmission to a fitting in one of the radiator tanks, and another fitting in the same tank that connects to a hose going back to the transmission. No water goes to the transmission. In cars of that vintange, this is usually the bottom tank.

The water outlet for engines of that vintage is usually the thermostat housing, which is usually mounted on the center of the intake manifold toward the front of the engine on V8s. A moulded hose goes from there to the top radiator tank. The water pump is usally the path that cool water takes from the radiator, and a large hose comes from the lower radiator tank to the water pump.

Chilton makes repair manuals for cars going back to 1940. You can get these at most auto parts stores in the US. You can probably order them there. Looking for them to deal with another post today, I turned up this link:

http://www.chiltonsonline.com/

They have a DIY page that offers online manuals that look very much like factory manuals with drawings, but they don't go back farther than 1967 for Cadillac. They do sell their old manual that covers model years 1964 through 1971, last updated in 1974.

[turbofreak24]

cheers for that jim

ive got a faxtons reprint of the origanal manual the parts that im lost on are not in it

trans is the jetaway there is a small heat exchange on the bottom of the trans fits with two bolts to the underside of box at the rear.this has a feed and return for water. the feed is not the problem is the return.

think its best for me to photograth and post them here

im at the yard today so will post photos here this evening.

thats if new members can post photos

thanks luke

[BodybyFisher]

My parents owned a 55 Fleetwood with a 365 ci in it, but I was too young at the time to know only the basics, its the car I began my mechanical knowledge on however. I can recall changing the oil, filter (odd on that car with pull out filter), cleaning water out of the fuel filter sight glass and changing the filter, changed muffers and greased wheel bearings, basic stuff. The wheel bearings in those days were ball bearings if I recall, and we regularly cleaned, inspected and repacked them. I can remember knocking out the bearing 'races' with a punch, its amazing that we did that type of work in the driveway. We also changed brushes and bearings in the generator, plugs, points, rotors and caps. My parents line of work took them on some 800 mile day trips, so constant attention to that was critical. Those cars were fairly bullet proof.

In 1964, we took it across the country from philadephia to lubbock texas, and then toured the southwest for the summer going from air force base to air force base where my parents worked in the officers clubs. It was my parents and two sisters and we went non stop from phila to lubbock with my parents sharing the driving and we slept along the way in the car. Not a seatbelt to be found, I have a lot of stories about that car, we were almost killed in it sitting on the side of the road with a flat... We actually walked a long distance to a little town called Eddy, Tx, pushing a flat along the way to have it repaired, and the next day bought a new set of tires in Waco, Texas. It got us home to phila however. Its demise was a broken rod. Good Luck with it..

I need to do some research, my dad always described that engine as a low compression engine

[Cadillac Jim]

With few exeptions, the big block Caddy motors were low to medium compression, although the potential was always there. The exeptions were never well known. See my earlier post on how somebody's daddy came out to the drags and blew away all the 57 Chevvys including the fuelies with his stock 1957 Eldorado, which turned out to have dual quads from the factory.

Then there's my favorite video on this board, of somebody's 500 cid Coupe de Ville at the drags:

Cadillac at the Drags

A few months back, somebody came here for some help with a Caddy 425 for use in circle track racing. He said that his competition was mostly Chevy 350's, and the Summit catalog sells mild 350 hp Chevy 350's for that use. The equivalent weight, better torque curve and equivalent horspower of a milder 425 Cadillac should give him an advantage, but we haven't heard back.

[growe3]

my dad is the owner of this car. 1956 sedan de ville....

on the passenger side of the block above the starter motor there is a fitting in the block looks like oil not sure ?what is it its not in my shop manual

next the trans is water cooled cant see how to pipe it up one again not in shop manual,there is a outlet on the water pump for the feed its more the return im not sure about.

thanks luke

Luke,

The fitting above the starter motor may be the point to connect the oil pressure sending unit.

The Oil Pressure sending unit would screw in there, and then a wire connects the sending unit to the Oil Pressure Gauge; on the dashboard.

(Please see attached image)

Transmission cooler lines plumb the transmission fluid through a cooler. They carry the hot transmission fluid to the cooler, and then return cooled fluid back to the transmission.

Earlier models, (up to 1956) on Chrysler's, used a small unit that bolted onto the lower drivers side of the water pump. Later cars mostly ran two 5/16" lines to the lower (or side) radiator tank, where the cooler was internally located.

The best I can tell from my manuals (Motor's 1958), the 1956 Cadillac was not always fitted with a transmission cooler.

Look at the lower radiator tank, if it has locations for two 5/16" line fittings it is setup for transmission cooling.

Also look over the water pump carefully, it may have a place where an original small cooler was bolted.

-George

[turbofreak24]

cheers for that jim

ive got a faxtons reprint of the origanal manual the parts that im lost on are not in it

trans is the jetaway there is a small heat exchange on the bottom of the trans fits with two bolts to the underside of box at the rear.this has a feed and return for water. the feed is not the problem is the return.

think its best for me to photograth and post them here

im at the yard today so will post photos here this evening.

thats if new members can post photos

thanks luke

[turbofreak24]

cheers for that jim

ive got a faxtons reprint of the origanal manual the parts that im lost on are not in it

trans is the jetaway there is a small heat exchange on the bottom of the trans fits with two bolts to the underside of box at the rear.this has a feed and return for water. the feed is not the problem is the return.

think its best for me to photograth and post them here

im at the yard today so will post photos here this evening.

thats if new members can post photos

thanks luke

[556393]

I ownd and rebuilt a `55 cadillac 6219 series sedan. The fitting above the starter is for a vacumm line to operate the wiper motor. There is a vacumme pump on the bottom of the oil pump in the oil pan. There is a steel line that comes up from that fitting with a check valve inline that changes to a rubber hose that connects to small manifold on the firewall. From the manifold a rubber hose goes to the wiper motor. Excuse my poor spelling.

[556393]

Back again. If you look at the first picture Luke posted in the above post, the picture with the stater in it. The picture show the check valve mounted on the fitting coming out of the block. The steel line threads into the check valve and runs up the side of the motor. Good luck.

[BodybyFisher]

Back again. If you look at the first picture Luke posted in the above post, the picture with the stater in it. The picture show the check valve mounted on the fitting coming out of the block. The steel line threads into the check valve and runs up the side of the motor. Good luck.

Great info 556393, your post on the 55 made me realize what your handle meant... 1955, 1963 and 1993 ...... Odd that until now I did not realize that

[Cadillac Jim]

I've seen 1950 Packards that have coolers for the automatic transmission, and have seen Chiltons of that vintage that make no mention of these. An automatic transmission that does not have a cooler is in danger of burning up whenever it is driven for long periods at high speed, and just about all of them have one. Usually in passenger cars it is a heat exchanger in one of the radiator tanks (nearly always the lower radiator tank in older cars). For around town, you can simply hook the ATF lines together and bypass the radiator, but this is not recommended for a car that will be driven at highway speeds. If there is a leak in the heat exchanger (water in the ATF or ATF in the water) this can be a patch, along with plugs in the radiator fittings, until the radiator can be repaired or replaced.

[turbofreak24]

I ownd and rebuilt a `55 cadillac 6219 series sedan. The fitting above the starter is for a vacumm line to operate the wiper motor. There is a vacumme pump on the bottom of the oil pump in the oil pan. There is a steel line that comes up from that fitting with a check valve inline that changes to a rubber hose that connects to small manifold on the firewall. From the manifold a rubber hose goes to the wiper motor. Excuse my poor spelling.

nice 0ne found the vac pump for wipers in manual now,wouldnt have without your help

as for the water cooled box well im going to change it to a oil cooler in front of the rad lose the water system altogether air flow will work better i think

thanks 4 your help

[556393]

right on.