Cadillac DTS with turbo and armor from D3, see link

[BodybyFisher]

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=427652603938117&set=a.173193759384004.28485.169614903075223&type=1&theater

[Cadillac Jim]

The link doesn't work for me; I get a blank page. NOTE - I'm not a member.

Whoops, I'm using FireFox; I tried the link in IE and it worked OK.

[Texas Jim]

Wonder what it would cost to put a turbo on my DTS ???

[Cadillac Jim]

If it's RWD, your best bet might be an E-Rod drive train kit from GM. You have a choice of an LS3 (315 hp, not really worth it as an upgrade from 295 hp), LS7 (505 hp), or the LSA (556 hp, the same drive train as the CTS-V). The kit includes engine, transmission, PCM, exhaust with catalytic converters, and street-legal emissions certification. GM Performance Parts web page:

http://www.chevrolet...ection=overview

Click the blue bar on the upper right marked "New E-Rod Engines" to get the page showing all three.

The combination of reliability, horsepower, and cost are just about impossible to match with build-your-own and you get a street legal car, which you won't have with an add-on turbo. The weight of the all-aluminum LS engines are about the same as the Northstar. I don't know about the transmission but you should be close enough to keep the original suspension without driveability problems. I would upgrade the tires, wheels, and brakes for either the LS7 or LSA, though.

If the 2006 DTS is FWD, the cheapest thing to do might be to get an STS-V or even a CTS-V, 2008 or later, again for the same reasons: cost, reliability, and a street-legal car, not to mention easy maintenance and parts support.

[BodybyFisher]

Wonder what it would cost to put a turbo on my DTS ???

Hey Jim, you are why I posted this link!

[Cadillac Jim]

Wonder what it would cost to put a turbo on my DTS ???

Hey Jim, you are why I posted this link!

Texas Jim, BodybyFisher - as you may know, I went through a real decision process about six months ago about this. I quickly discarded the idea of tricking out "my baby" after reviewing the STS turbo of a year or so ago. That guy got a fantastic car that ran for just a few months before shredding his tranny, and his front bumper was a plastic cover over the intercooler, not a good street car durability concept IMHO. And, we haven't heard from him since, so I infer that the car has become a hangar queen or worse. My most serious proposition was a 2008 STS-V, and I very nearly got it, until I contemplated the fate of "my baby" and decided to go with the struts and shocks, which were overdue, instead, and look at it again in a year or two. My inclination is to get something with an LSA when the prices come down a bit more.

So, my post was more than just a result of a few minutes research - it was what revealed itself to me over a few weeks of looking at options when my checkbook was hot and I was looking for an upgrade in January of this year.

That doesn't mean that I don't fantasize about a 1942 Chevrolet coupe with a 502 (which weighs about the same as the 235 cid straight six that came in the 1937-1952 Chevrolet) or perhaps an LS7 since the suspension will need new springs anyway and lightening the front end would be nice, or an LSA in just about anything that is RWD, such as a late-model Deville. Reality says that I value handling more than horsepower, so what I really want is a CTS-V. Texas Jim, you may differ; but of course you know that a suspension on a Deville that works with an LS7 or LSA will not have the same ride as a stock DTS.

[Texas Jim]

Wonder what it would cost to put a turbo on my DTS ???

Hey Jim, you are why I posted this link!

Thanks Mike...

Now I want one... haha

I am on a trip this weekend down south of Houston, almost to Galveston.

My niece is getting married... or I shold say, JUST GOT married a few hours ago.

Nice place and nice ceremony. One of my 6 Brothers is a Minister.

Didn't get good fuel mileage from Ft. Worth to Houston...

Only got 19.7MPG, but there was a pretty stout headwind...

The AVG speed for the first 225 miles was only 76.2...

It would have been a good bit better average, but there were a TON of slow poke drivers in the left lane that would not get out of the way and let me go on down the road....

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[Texas Jim]

Wonder what it would cost to put a turbo on my DTS ???

Hey Jim, you are why I posted this link!

Texas Jim, BodybyFisher - as you may know, I went through a real decision process about six months ago about this. I quickly discarded the idea of tricking out "my baby" after reviewing the STS turbo of a year or so ago. That guy got a fantastic car that ran for just a few months before shredding his tranny, and his front bumper was a plastic cover over the intercooler, not a good street car durability concept IMHO. And, we haven't heard from him since, so I infer that the car has become a hangar queen or worse. My most serious proposition was a 2008 STS-V, and I very nearly got it, until I contemplated the fate of "my baby" and decided to go with the struts and shocks, which were overdue, instead, and look at it again in a year or two. My inclination is to get something with an LSA when the prices come down a bit more.

So, my post was more than just a result of a few minutes research - it was what revealed itself to me over a few weeks of looking at options when my checkbook was hot and I was looking for an upgrade in January of this year.

That doesn't mean that I don't fantasize about a 1942 Chevrolet coupe with a 502 (which weighs about the same as the 235 cid straight six that came in the 1937-1952 Chevrolet) or perhaps an LS7 since the suspension will need new springs anyway and lightening the front end would be nice, or an LSA in just about anything that is RWD, such as a late-model Deville. Reality says that I value handling more than horsepower, so what I really want is a CTS-V. Texas Jim, you may differ; but of course you know that a suspension on a Deville that works with an LS7 or LSA will not have the same ride as a stock DTS.

I pretty much agree with you...

If I get serious, I will be looking for a 2010 or newer "V" Wagon...

I may or may not keep the "Ghost" for a daily driver for running around town.

[Cadillac Jim]

I would want the V as *the* daily driver. Synthetic oil, premium gas, and a light foot where appropriate (nearly all the time, really) and it's just fine as a daily driver.

[Cadillac Jim]

I recall vividly what I went through when I tricked out my 1964 Chevrolet Impala station wagon. I bought it because it was only two years old and it had a stick shift (!!!) with a 250 hp 327 cid V8. I was looking for a daily driver after having a sedan for weekdays and the 427 Corvette for weekends for a couple of years and it seemed just the ticket. The problem was that it burned a quart of oil every 75 miles, more than a 4:1 premix outboard motor.

A machine shop with family ties blueprinted and balanced the motor and I bought new heads, manifolds, and intake for it; I gave the old heads, manifolds and carburetor to the manager of the machine shop for his pet 283; he told me that all the oil was going through the valve guides and all that it needed was valve seals and perhaps a valve job, but it was far too late by then. When we were done, the only original parts of the motor ware the block, crank, five rods, and the oil pan.

Before I even started on the motor I changed the tires and wheels. It came with 14" wheels with 5" rims, and I put on 1967 Corvette wheels that were 15" with 7" rims, and 225-15 Michelin steel-belted radial street tires. Also, as a matter of principle, I put on nylon suspension bushings and CeraMetallic brakes.

The first thing that I had to solve was that, while I was waiting on the intake manifold (aluminum high-rise, from the 350 hp 327 Corvette parts list), the suspension would bottom on both ends when the engine got up on the cam in low gear, even with the stock intake. That meant that I couldn't see the road over the hood, even with my head bumping on the headliner. And, when I changed the intake (iron for aluminum intake manifold), the front end came up two inches just standing still. So, I changed the springs all around, and put on heavy duty Monroe shocks. This gave the car rather astounding handling for such a thing.

The next thing I had to solve was the transmission. Every two weeks it would get whiny and noisy, I would put in some bearings and maybe a gear or two, and two weeks later it had the same problem. That old Borg-Warner three-speed just wouldn't hold the new engine. The fourth time around, I got a Saginaw HD close ratio three-speed, which shares its case and most internals with the famous Muncie four-speed that came on the big-block Corvettes and Chevelles. I believe that it was sold as an option on big-block big sedans, and probably the rare 3-speed option for big block Corvettes.

The last problem was that with the oversize tires and the high 1st gear of the Muncie, the overall ratios were like a four-speed with a missing low gear. Speed was 12-14 mph in low gear with engine at 1200 rpm idle, and there was no torque below 35 mph even in low gear. I decided just to live with that, although I had to watch out who drove it because people assumed that it was a tire-smoker, and it wasn't. It was a long-legged road car. And, it never gave any trouble after I got the Muncie, and the gas mileage was pretty good, although I don't recall figures. Probably about 19-21 on the road. I do recall that it wasn't as good as my next car, a 1966 Plymouth Fury with a 318 two-barrel, hp unknown, that got 24 mpg on the road.

I did burn up a couple of differentials by topping out the car at about 155 mph while road testing a tune-up. Chevrolet customer relations told me that the only way that I could do that and not burn up the differentials was to weld up the spider gear. The third differential replaced the stock 3.08 gears with 3.55 or 3.70 positraction gears (I don't recall which) which took away the long legs and *did* make it a tire-burner, which I didn't really care for; I traded the car shortly thereafter and got the Plymouth because I was offered an incredible deal on it by a neighbor.

At this late date, with today's car designs and the inspection and registration rules and regulations and the cost of doing such things these days, I'm not inclined to go through the experience of re-engineering a vehicle. The process took several months back in 1967 when I bought that station wagon, and although it was a memorable daily driver and one of my most satisfactory cars, I'm not going to do that again. I can beat anything I can afford to build and get respectable fuel economy, a warranty, legal registration and economical maintenance in a CTS-V.