BigJohnny Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 Long story short, I have the chance to get a 94 Cadillac STS (Seville I think) [4.6L Northstar V8] for $150. The car is in bad shape, but nothing really serious wrong with it.... it could be fixed to run with a good amount of time and effort invested (lets not forget money, its a Cadi). I also don't really have anywhere to put a whole car that doesn't run, which is another problem with keeping and rebuilding the whole car. So one of the many ideas Ive had for this car is to simply rebuild the engine(it has a blown head gasket) perhaps as a racing engine and maybe sell it OR find a way to drop it into my 96 Mercury Cougar [4.6L Ford Modular V8 281ci]. I don't know whats involved with that kind of modification or if it could even be done at all, but taking it one step further, What would be involved with literally cutting off the front of the cadi, and putting it on my car? if that is possible, would it make it easier to put the cadi engine/tranny into my car? are the front of these two cars the same width? would it work or is it just a pipe dream? I have the skill to do this kind of mod, access to most of the tools required, and the knowledge to get through it all, just no actual experience with building cars to this extent, and not alot of money, though this is a project which may warrant an investment or loan of some kind Thanks for any advice you can give me, I really want this project to become a professional endeavor somehow, if I could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarrenJ Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 I have the skill to do this kind of mod, access to most of the tools required, and the knowledge to get through it all, just no actual experience with building cars to this extent, and not alot of money, though this is a project which may warrant an investment or loan of some kind Skills, tools, and knowledge are all great, but absent experience and money I'd suggest you set your sights a little lower. In today's climate a loan for casual purposes is simply suicidal. Regards, Warren There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved. - Ludwig von Mises Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJohnny Posted February 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 I have the skill to do this kind of mod, access to most of the tools required, and the knowledge to get through it all, just no actual experience with building cars to this extent, and not alot of money, though this is a project which may warrant an investment or loan of some kind Skills, tools, and knowledge are all great, but absent experience and money I'd suggest you set your sights a little lower. In today's climate a loan for casual purposes is simply suicidal. Regards, Warren I dont totally lack experience, plus with the help of my dad its a job that could be done. the money is the real killer here. What would we be talking in terms of money for this sort of project? My other issue is cutting up a perfectly good car. My cougar is in good shape, it runs doesnt have any problems, and is my only mode of transportation........ destroying that car is what scares me the most Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Jim Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 You are going to need to buy another car to drive if you do this project. This is going to be much more than a weekend project. Is the cougar FRONT WHEEL DRIVE? If NOT I would suggest STRONGLY not to even try it. There would be way too many problems to overcome. If it IS front wheel drive...the only way I can see that it may work...would be to use the frame, wheels, suspension etc ..etc , from the STS and GRAFT it on to the frame of the Cougar. You would need someone who can weld REALLY WELL to do that. It might be much easier to do the the engine swap into an older Pontiac Grand Prix instead of your Cougar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeb Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 you have a non-running caddy that needs headgaskets and is front wheel drive and you want to somehow graft the front end onto a rear wheel drive running cougar? the caddy is basically worthless and has no value except for parts and your cougar is running and is your daily driver now so it does have value. the only thing that is common is the displacement. both motors are 4.6 but thats about it. not a good plan. the motor is scrap and you need to throw about $600-800 in parts/tools to do a proper headgasket repair. when done, the value is sketchy at best, do you think you could find a buyer for a fixed motor? maybe you would break even. a 15yr old STS is worth maybe 1500. it might be a good learning experience to rebuild the northstar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 If you are so interested in driving the cougar, I would rebuild the Ford 4.6 and continue driving the Ford. The project you are contemplating is a disaster, keep in mind that the NS PCM controls a lot more than the engine and you will pull your hair out. Are the Ford struts and traction control controlled by the PCM? I am not sure why you would consider this, rebuild one or the other Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeb Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 its unclear what his intentions are. he says he has "skills" but is not sure if the FWD caddy is much different than the RWD cougar? 2 totally different cars here. he wants to use the caddy drivetrain but it needs to be rebuilt before it can even be installed in the cougar. i think people look at what they have and try and think how it can be updated/modified without realizing the huge amount of work it would require. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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