541ci Big Block Cadillac V8 Torque Monster Engine Buildup

It's not your grandpa's Cadillac engine. Dick Miller's 541ci Caddy stroker uses newly developed heads plus a custom Comp Cams bumpstick and valvetrain to produce tons of tire-twisting torque at a realistic engine speed.>

In these days of monster engines, the 450 ci just doesn't cut it. It seems everyone and his uncle is stroking old-school big-blocks to 500 ci and beyond. But there was one stock production engine that came standard with 500 cubes: the '70-'76 500ci Caddy. Admittedly this engine will never win Pro Stock, but with available aftermarket parts you can have a torque monster equally at home in your tow vehicle or dare-to-be-different rod. New aftermarket Bulldog heads (marketed by Maximum Torque Specialties) have the potential to really wake up GM's biggest engine. Cores are not that hard to find. You can pick up a rebuildable 500ci Cadillac for under $500 in many areas of the country, but be careful: Externally, the Cadillac 472 appears identical--the two engines share the same block but have different-stroke cranks. The only way to tell for sure is to measure the stroke: about 41/16 inches for a 472, 45/16 for a 500.

Dick Miller Racing has long been known for its stout Oldsmobile V-8s, but when a relative needed a new engine for his Chevy pickup, Miller decided to dive into the classic Caddy using the new Bulldog heads along with PolyDyn oil-shedding, thermal-barrier, and appearance coatings; premium pistons and rods; and a stroked, offset-ground stock 500ci Caddy crank. The whole idea was to build a durable engine that maximizes performance under 5,000 rpm. As Miller points out, he ended up with an engine that makes as much torque (about 650 lb-ft) as the high-tech Duramax diesel in his $40,000 Silverado--but also churns out nearly 50 percent more power. If you like what you see, Miller can sell just the parts or build you an entire engine.

Bottom End
With their tall deck heights, Caddy blocks readily accommodate stroked cranks and long rods. Caddy lovers claim that the stock nodular-iron crank when properly prepped will live through 1,200 hp. The beefy 2.5-inch-od rod journals can easily be offset-ground down to the big-block Chevy's 2.200-inch size. That's key to parts availability, since aftermarket long-arm Caddy cranks aren't readily obtained, and it's a lot easier to find aftermarket Chevy rods and piston pins. However, two Chevy rods are wider than those in a Cadillac, so your crank grinder must also lengthen the Caddy crank's rod journals.

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