Ihave been making payments on a 76 Eldorado to my uncle since the car has sat inhis garage for over five years. When I get it paid in full (which is very soon)I will change the fluids and belts plus flush the radiator and air up thetire to get it road ready. But my question is after I do all of that what aresome cost effective solutions to beef up the 500ci big block? I would like todual the exhaust out. this is my first Cadillac and my uncle has owned it since1990 which he is the second owner. He is almost 80 and doesn’t drive much anymore.I want to keep it looking stock butwould like some more horse power out of it. Any ideas would be welcomed.





Thankyou

 

Hi i have 73 Eldorado conv. and me in person i don't want to tune it up. Cause at that point im traditional and want to keep it as original was. i changed all fluids, the oilfilled igniton coil, cause it lost some oil and changed all the ignition cables + spark plugs...I dunno how much u want to tune it up, but i would be a bit afraid that the front suspension or transmission would stay that extra ***House Power for a long time. On my point of a view the engineer built that car with all components that fit together. If u want more HP i would modify also the radiator and the brakes... or install an additional Fan.

But i only use my Eldo only to cruise on the highway and through the city on weekend in the night.

 

[Edit] OOOooops. Ancient thread. Sorry. [/Edit]

Stop thinking about "hot-rod" modifications, and start thinking about fixing all the worn safety-related and maintenance items the car is sure to need.

Steering, suspension and brakes should be at the top of the list. Control arm bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends, idler arm, brake linings front and rear, rotor/drum condition, wheel cylinders, master cylinder/power booster condition, Power Steering hoses, rear axle bushing condition, etc.

Once the car is safe, you'll need to replace everything rubber: engine belts, coolant hoses, fuel hoses, probably the body-to-frame mounts, etc. You'll also want to replace ALL the various filters: Engine oil, transmission, PCV, air, fuel, and perhaps the filter in the charcoal canister. (some canisters don't have a replaceable filter). Don't forget the filter sock in the gas tank on the sending unit.

For the record, that car came with a single exhaust and a restrictive catalytic converter. It is against FEDERAL law (so it doesn't matter what state you live in) to disable the catalytic converter. You're stuck with single exhaust, although you can increase the diameter of the pipe and use a high-flow catalyst instead of the original pellet-style catalyst.

AFTER you've made the car safe to drive, and caught-up all the deferred maintenance, I'd verify cranking compression in all eight cylinders, and then recurve the distributor, overhaul the carburetor, and start looking for an old Toronado differential with higher-numerical gear ratio; and perhaps an older Toronado transmission that has the dual-stall-speed torque converter (Switch-Pitch stator system.)