The Preying Mantis!

[trbo355]

I thought i'd post some pics of the THING i screwed together the last few weekends. This just proves im not right in the head. LOL
It still needs a complete fuel system and unfortunately the turbo is so damn big it only spools after about 80 mph so i got some modifying to do.
The Preying Mantis weighs 5100 lbs and has the big 500 inch Cad motor. I have no idea what the turbo originally came on but my guess is a 900+ cubic inch Detroit Allison diesel semi truck. LOL
Total cost so far including car is around 1200 bucks. Oh yeah, its a 75 Cadillac Sedan Deville i got off of Craigslist for 500 bucks. Im going to attempt to do a full quarter mile burnout on street tires with it!

[Charb1618]

Marty

you've fuckin lost it!

[3258]

Very cool, i think they were going for 1 C.I. for each 10lbs!!! Well, looks like you will just need to drive the thing at 80mph :D

P.S. Does the state of WA require a special license to drive that land yacht?

[Evosol]

Whoa!

I heard about this "cruiser" your building!!!

I can't wait to see the finished results.

P.S. nice fabbin, its clean work. What kinds of plans do you have for this thing? Sunday Cruiser? Highway Monster?? Supra Killer?? might be all the above? LoL...

[trbo355]

Whoa!

I heard about this "cruiser" your building!!!

I can't wait to see the finished results.

P.S. nice fabbin, its clean work. What kinds of plans do you have for this thing? Sunday Cruiser? Highway Monster?? Supra Killer?? might be all the above? LoL...
I have no idea what its gonna be good for when its done. Im not sure what iv'e been smoking lately but it just sounded like a cool project to turbo some random bone stock big cubic inch engine and see what happens!
The car is uglier than Clark Griswolds metallic pee Family Truckster in the movie Vacation. LOL
I think i just wanted to see what a Caddy looks like lighting em up at 70 mph.

[GTIKyle]

Props for something different. I say you Auto-x that beast.

[il_wolf_li]

the turbo is so damn big nothing happens until 88 mph!!!!

Fixed!! ;)

[trbo355]

Fixed!! ;)

Ha ha! Took me a second to get it. I better make sure the Flux capacitor is uhhhhh, . . . . . . fluxing.

[GetawayInMoscow]

I will throw down some $$ to see you autocross that thing.

[trbo355]

I will throw down some $$ to see you autocross that thing.

Now wouldn't that be a sight to see! I welded the spider gears so it doesnt like to turn very well anymore.

[trbo355]

Last night after work the Mantis got a good work over with a new Holeshot 2000 stall converter to replace the broken stock one since the stator shattered the first day i owned it (powerbraking it LOL)
Now it will lay rubber all the way thru first gear and can spin a 360 up in smoke. I tried it and its fun in a 5100 lb car. Heh heh. The A/R ratio is so ridiculously oversize that it you need a calender to figure out how long it takes to spool. Hmmmm. back to the drawing board.
With any luck i might have it out to the track on the 13th.

[Gsolo]

that is so fucking awesome!!

I have a big soft spot for the big cad motors...ever plan on selling it or the motor??

Need a dyno run just for shits and giggles....and is it really a turbo lag issue or a to tall of gear ratio issue?

btw....need some video of this beast!

awesome stuff

[trbo355]

that is so fucking awesome!!

I have a big soft spot for the big cad motors...ever plan on selling it or the motor??

Need a dyno run just for shits and giggles....and is it really a turbo lag issue or a to tall of gear ratio issue?

btw....need some video of this beast!

awesome stuffTurbo is waaaaaaaay too big. I plan on dynoing it too. Once i have my fun im sure it will go up for sale as long as i can get my investment back out of it. So far the tab is about 1200 total without fuel system yet.

[Jetblack]

Very cool, i think they were going for 1 C.I. for each 10lbs!!! Well, looks like you will just need to drive the thing at 80mph :D

P.S. Does the state of WA require a special license to drive that land yacht?

Yes, you have to yield to cars on a starboard tack, or any cars larger than yours (in other words, any 1972 Thunderbirds happen to see).

[yay]

GN mike was telling me about this...man i caint wait to see that thing run....

[trbo355]

Well the Caddy did pretty good saturday considering the turbo is so hideous ly wrong to biblical proportions that it wont crank over 10 lbs boost.
I got a .149 reaction with a 2.03 60 ft. time and a 13.64 @ 103 mph anyways. LOL Thats ok for 5100 lbs i guess. It was pretty fun even though i know its supposed to do waaay better than that.
One of these days im gonna plop on a S-475 turbo and get it up around 20 lbs for some real fun! I gotta take a break from spending any more on the damn thing and will keep it around till next year and give it a real beating : )

[Ryfly05]

Lol, thats awesome. Wish I was there to see it. Maybe someone got a vdeo of it??

[3258]

Lol, thats awesome. Wish I was there to see it. Maybe someone got a vdeo of it??

I need to see a video, surely someone got a video......GTIKyle, whats the scoop?

[trbo355]

I hope somebody got video of it. Not that it would be all that exciting to see but i did do a super good burnout that ought to be entertaining since Grandpa's Caddy didn't blaze em like that stock. LOL

[Northwest outlaw]

Do you know what the hot side ar is on that turbo? thats is just crazy sleeper CAD love it

[trbo355]

Do you know what the hot side ar is on that turbo? thats is just crazy sleeper CAD love it

Its 1.39 A/R which sounds about right until you realize its based on a damn near 4 inch turbine. I researched it and. . . . . . . . . its screwed. No way in hell its gonna work right.

[Gsolo]

so i'm curious...is the motor internally stock?

That'd be pretty good for the rods...i'm not even going to start on caddy valvetrain :(

[trbo355]

The motor is all stock. . . . . . except the oil. Yeah. . . . . the oil is definitely non stock because i changed it. Oh and the filter. Thats not stock either. LOL I have been spinning it a little too high for my comfort zone since the turbo is so lazy. It seems to like 5200 rpm and i once took it to 6000 when i wasnt watching the tach very good!
The car is gonna run HARD when it gets all the bugs worked out and the proper size turbo is installed. I had it at 18 lbs a few times and she really pulls good! I guess the cams are HORRIBLE in those things and have a weird asymmetric intake lobe that is very late opening and closing.
I think i should change the cam and regasket the top end to make sure its up to the power levels i intend. It also seems to blow steam out of the overflow bottle in 3rd gear but never dumps any water so it might have a leaky head gasket already.
The cooling system was the most neglected part of the car and after two flushings its brown and muddy again! I think those engines have the potential to make a LOT of reliable power as long as the RPM is kept down since the rocker pedestals SUCK.

[Northwest outlaw]

Is it a split ar housing on the hot side if it is then try this.
Faster spool and more boost (http://www.theturboforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=45148.0)

[yay]

c'mon marty just throw some nitrous at that slug!

[3258]

Come on, that engine should be good to 6,500 easy, lets get it out this weekend and see what the boost is at 6k + ;) she'll be just fine.....

[trbo355]

Is it a split ar housing on the hot side if it is then try this.
Faster spool and more boost (http://www.theturboforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=45148.0) I wish it was a split housing so i could block off one side. Im pretty sure it needs nitrous regardless of what turbo is on it! LOL

[Gsolo]

It seems to like 5200 rpm and i once took it to 6000 when i wasnt watching the tach very good!

holy crap...lucky you didnt pull the pedestals out


check out... Maximum Torque Specialties Home Page (http://www.mtscadparts.net)

[3258]

I have to know Marty, how do you take stock stuff, and throw boost and nitrous at it and it holds together? If I remember right, this is not the first time you have done this????

With my luck, none of them would be in one piece right now :confused:

[trbo355]

I have to know Marty, how do you take stock stuff, and throw boost and nitrous at it and it holds together? If I remember right, this is not the first time you have done this????

With my luck, none of them would be in one piece right now :confused:Well, i think turbos are much more forgiving in terms of engine abuse so even stock engines can hold up to a lot if punishment. NO RPM either.
Normally everything gets plenty of dyno time to make sure the A/F is right but the Caddy is on a wing and a prayer tune up with low timing, good gas and i know its pig rich by reading the plugs. At least i knew it wasnt in any danger from a bad tune before i took it to the track.
Im 100% positive the Cad motor will make 1000 hp and live to tell about it!

[Evosol]

It not spoolin up the turbo because it needs vtech!




J/K




I have wet dreams of playing with big bore motors and big boost. :D Stock block should be able to see lots of HP in the Green Mantis!!!

P.S. I saw this thing parked out at the track the last time i was out, it looks like a G-Ride! especially with sitting on them donuts... LoL...

[Gsolo]

Im 100% positive the Cad motor will make 1000 hp and live to tell about it!

easily...not sure about the stock con rods and pistons though...otherwise no reason it shouldn't.

The scary thing is..at 1000hp what kind of torque would it have :O

[trbo355]

easily...not sure about the stock con rods and pistons though...otherwise no reason it shouldn't.

The scary thing is..at 1000hp what kind of torque would it have :O

If it had mad tight V-TAKK you know it would run! LOL 1000 hp is only 2 HP per cubic inch. Rods will be fine cuz power is a compressive load and ANY rod can handle that. Just dont wing it too hard and everything will live just fine as long as the evil detonation is avoided.
No insurance policy with cast pistons at all. I need to find a turbo with at least an 80mm comp. side to make the number though and most chineese stuff is 70mm. It needs a BW S-480. That would be perfect!

[ntrcptr90]

marty you can buy my innovative gt80, i am going twins i think now.

[trbo355]

marty you can buy my innovative gt80, i am going twins i think now.
Ooooh how much? Fuck im broke. But how much? So i know how much to steal when i rob a bank. Dammit.

[ntrcptr90]

I paid $950 for it and would like to get that out of it. I have a turbonetics racegate i could throw in for $1150.

[trbo355]

Thats a good deal but i have to give myself a reality check and remember its just a piece of crap cadillac so its gotta stay on the cheap!

[ntrcptr90]

i figured, i have a guy on turbomustangs that might trade me for a pair of 70mm's.

[trbo355]

Why dont you wanna run the one you got?

[il_wolf_li]

Why dont you wanna run the one you got?

Hopefully it's because he wants to go sbc!! ;)

[Northwest outlaw]

sbc what the rdfhoifsij :eek: just playing

[il_wolf_li]

sbc what the rdfhoifsij :eek: just playing

......... http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k96/il_wolf_li/numchuck.gif

[trbo355]

Hey wolfe, aint you glad i left my old blower motor at Steves shop so you can see how much cool shit you can hang off of it? LOL It looks BADASS with Steves turbo setup bolted on!

[Northwest outlaw]

got to love this this is from engine masters challenge

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa91/draggin96s10/Picture147-1.jpg

[ntrcptr90]

The 80mm will be maxxed out with the end result for my car. The 70s will hopefully let me skip the 9s and go straight to the 8s.

[il_wolf_li]

Hey wolfe, aint you glad i left my old blower motor at Steves shop so you can see how much cool shit you can hang off of it? LOL It looks BADASS with Steves turbo setup bolted on!

Haha, hell yea!! We need a blower to put on it to... http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k96/il_wolf_li/joystick.gif

[trbo355]

Thought id post some pix of my son AJ's car were putting together. Its gonna be old school 70's look and for a $300 car drug out of a field, its starting to look pretty good! LOL
I threw in a few pix of what it looked like when we got it. Yuk!

[Gsolo]

Thought id post some pix of my son AJ's car were putting together. Its gonna be old school 70's look and for a $300 car drug out of a field, its starting to look pretty good! LOL
I threw in a few pix of what it looked like when we got it. Yuk!

lol, any factory steel left?

[trbo355]

lol, any factory steel left?Actually most of it is still original parts. LOL The finished color is what you see and is none other than the worlds finest Krylon semi flat.
Lots of people have mistaken the panels as Goodmark repro stuff because of the finish. The fenders came from Noahs chevelle and one door is original to the car.
The drivers door was missing so i grabbed one from my stock pile, hung a new pass. quarter and the driver quarter was done very badly in the 70's since it was sideswiped bigtime. It had no trunk hinges or even the metal to bolt them to.
Had to go to Kennewick to get the donor pieces to restore the missing trunk stuff. All in all, there are body parts from 11 different cars to make 1. Ha ha!

[Gsolo]

Actually most of it is still original parts. LOL The finished color is what you see and is none other than the worlds finest Krylon semi flat.
Lots of people have mistaken the panels as Goodmark repro stuff because of the finish. The fenders came from Noahs chevelle and one door is original to the car.
The drivers door was missing so i grabbed one from my stock pile, hung a new pass. quarter and the driver quarter was done very badly in the 70's since it was sideswiped bigtime. It had no trunk hinges or even the metal to bolt them to.
Had to go to Kennewick to get the donor pieces to restore the missing trunk stuff. All in all, there are body parts from 11 different cars to make 1. Ha ha!

Yeah, I actually thought it was Goodmark panels cause it looked like the same black finish..lol probably is! Krylon ftw

[trbo355]

Hey guys check out the latest issue of Car Craft. It just hit the stands and it has a pretty good picture on the Preying Mantis in it!
The shit i do that gets ink just cracks me up sometimes. LOL

[scooter]

hell now i wanna put a turbo on mah rusty truck :D

[twotons]

Kick ass Marty, congrats on another mag write up.

[Evosol]

Cool, nice job!

[trbo355]

Its amazing that a $2300 investment can get in a car magazine. LOL No wait. . . . . . $2600 cuz i gave Joe Decaro 300 bucks to keep his carb i slapped on it. Yeah, 2600 bucks : )

[sefus]

Marty I want my six bucks back! It was a picture of your car and a couple one sentence blurbs. Didnt say a thing about 80mph burnouts! There better be a full feature planned in another mag soon.

-Sefus

[trbo355]

There is supposed to be something about it in the next issue too but i wouldnt hold my breath on some big cool article. I thought this month was supposed to have a small pix in an article about turbo sizing 101 and the affordable project cars deal was supposed to be the bigger deal out next month. Who knows!
It would have been cooler if he posted the youtube link to the smoky burnout. LOL

[TheBigO]

Just found out about the Marty Turbocharged 500 Cadillac engine in CarCraft...is there a video or a link....for more info on his ride...I don't know...If I can hold out for next month issue of Car Craft!!!

[trbo355]

YouTube - the Caddy

Here ya go!

[BoostedAWD]

Nice i love this cadillac i can't believe how fast it is lol,growing up my dad had 4 73-76 cadillacs with the 500 i know how gutless they are from factory lol nice work

[TheBigO]

I very impress with the turbocharged cad....Maybe we can get some specs on the car like it trans and rear end specs....love the car!

[TheBigO]

I have a Turbocharged 455 BBO.....but I am unable to share the video on this forum, becaue I need to post at least 15 posts.

[Gsolo]

I very impress with the turbocharged cad....Maybe we can get some specs on the car like it trans and rear end specs....love the car!

unless he's changed...specs are stock

[trbo355]

Nice i love this cadillac i can't believe how fast it is lol,growing up my dad had 4 73-76 cadillacs with the 500 i know how gutless they are from factory lol nice work

When it was stock, it almost wouldnt burnout. LOL The motor is all stock and the tranny is currently blown to bits so im gonna pull it and give it the upgrades needed to live. The rear has welded spider gears and stock 2.75 gears.
The weak link is gonna be the double cardan driveshaft. Yeah its gonna blow up in a big way soon! The turbo got revamped with a MUCH smaller turbine wheel and smaller A/R exh. housing courtesy of Younker Bros. trucking and all the spare turbo parts they have laying around. It had a monstrous 3.800 exducer diameter on the turbine when i raced it and now its sporting a 3.300 wheel and a smaller divided housing and im pretty sure it spools good now.
The torque converter blew up right after the turbo mods and it didnt make it out of the alley. LOL On the 13.6 run it made 1lb boost on the line, 5 lbs boost thru first gear and popped up to 10 lbs in 2nd and 3rd. That pretty much sucks but still a 13.64!!!!! Wheeee!

She weighs in like a biggest loser contestant at a portly 5100 lbs boys! Ha ha

[trbo355]

Speaking of converters, does anyone have a 2000-2400 rpm converter they wanna donate to the cause? It had a B@M torkmaster 2000 and it was perfect till it scattered!

[yay]

"where the fuck are they?!?" thats fucking hilarious!

[TheBigO]

Never relized the potentail of these 500 big block Cad engines.....Those huge big block Cad engines are price for little over $2,000 bucks in Advance Auto Parts and other remenfacture auto shops.

[TheBigO]

My next project will be to turbochaged a stock 500 big block Cad engine......I can see it now...stab in a Lunati Camshaft(LUN-34601) with a Edelbrock Aluminum Intake.....a Holley 700cfm blowthrough carb.....oh yeah.

[TheBigO]

Hey.....What is the weakest link in those 500 Cad engine...is it valve train, oil system ??

[trbo355]

Hey.....What is the weakest link in those 500 Cad engine...is it valve train, oil system ??

Valvetrain sucks at high RPM, the cam hurts power BIGTIME with its weird profile and im not sure on oiling system.

[TheBigO]

I think there are several companies that specialist on Caddy Big Blocks and I am sure they have some kind of kit upgrade for the Caddy Big Block valve train weakness.

[TheBigO]

Oh yeah......8 more post and I will be to link URLS and videos of my ride!

[TheBigO]

I love this tread! I am just a fan of odd ball buildups!

[Gsolo]

valvetrain is weakest link for making more than stock power. Oiling system is supposedly a problem too, fixed with newer "high volume" pump. At some point the rods are suppose to be weak link but it seems to vary on different builds on how the rods are stressed

for big caddy motors theres MTS (monster torque specialties) and Cad Company. I kinda think MTS is doing a little better off.

[trbo355]

I finally pulled the blown tranny out and Noah volunteered his labor to build up the tranny for me. Yeehah! were gonna keep with the budget theme and fix the tranny for 25 bucks or cheaper with all good used parts cuz we just dont care. LOL

[Gsolo]

lol I think you're nuts Marty

So are the hardparts in the trans all good?

[TheBigO]

What kind of trans does this Caddy have and how much power can they hold....I mean.... my trans is a TH-400 auto ...a stock one...I order from a Auto Part Store for cheap and it been holding great for the last 2 years with a 455 Big Block Olds with 5lbs of boost from a Holset HX60 turbocharger.

[Gsolo]

the big caddy motors run a TH400 with the BOP pattern.

Be really slick to use a built up 200R4 ;)

[TheBigO]

That great ....a BOP.......the day my 455 Olds blowup....I just bolt-up the Cadd 500 big Block engine to my TH-400 with the proper engine mounts.....and just reroute the exhaust pipe to my Holset HX60 turbocharger.

[Danimal]

It's funny, Marty and I were just talking about how fun it would be to do a Turbo'd 455 Olds at the track friday night.... We need pictures or it just does not exist....;)

[Gsolo]

It's funny, Marty and I were just talking about how fun it would be to do a Turbo'd 455 Olds at the track friday night.... We need pictures or it just does not exist....;)

ditto I'm little curious too. wonering how well the hx60 feeds the olds motor


Marty, when does the caddy get feature in carcraft?

[trbo355]

It was in last months issue already. It wasnt really a feature but it showed some great pix of the car in an article titled "Top ten affordable project cars" and gave a short blurb about the car. Still pretty cool though!

[TheBigO]

I will post a video link of my 455 Turbocharged Olds

[TheBigO]

The problem is....this forum will not alow me to post video, unless...I post at least 15 post total.

[TheBigO]

2 more post until I link a URL.

[Danimal]

The problem is....this forum will not alow me to post video, unless...I post at least 15 post total.

How about pics??? Post Whore.. Come on, get 15 posts!!!

[TheBigO]

1 more post!

[TheBigO]

How about pics??? Post Whore.. Come on, get 15 posts!!!




Ahhhh.....I am done....here the link.


http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Turbocharged-455-BBO-5psi_649505.htm


Here is link to my profile....


http://user.streetfire.net/profile/TheBigO.htm

[TheBigO]

The boost on my Olds goes up slowly because I slowly press on the gas....the boost keeps spiking on me with a 50mm wastegate with a 5 psi boost spring....I have considered to install another wastegate 38mm to help prevent this...too much exhaust flow...I guess???

[trbo355]

After a year of sitting apart after the Caddy spit a head gasket, its ALIVE again! Now its sporting a Howards 232-241 duration, 520 lift cam and fresh heads and it sounds mean as hell!
Hopefully i can get it back to the racetrack soon and see what it can do. Yay!

[flybynight]

I dont know Marty. I might have to build a big Ltd or something with a budget turboed 460 and grudge race ya.

[trbo355]

I dont know Marty. I might have to build a big Ltd or something with a budget turboed 460 and grudge race ya.Well you have plenty of time to build a car since that bastard of a cadillac ate probably half the lobes off the cam in the first 30 min run time and will be apart for god knows how long this time.
DAMMIT! I did everything right and im guessing the cam wasnt properly hardened. It wore most of the lobes to nothing yet the lifters were spinning and are barely even damaged. The only way that can happen is a butter soft cam core. Now i gotta start over for fucks sake.

[Ryfly05]

That sucks. What brand cam was it? How was working on the gtp by the way? lol

[trbo355]

That sucks. What brand cam was it? How was working on the gtp by the way? lolIt was a Howards cam. Yeah you did some serious additional mods to the GTP since i last saw it. I put in new halo headlights and got rid of the leaky 2 bolt flange behind the cutout so the exhaust would quit leaking. Other than that, pretty basic stuff like cleaning the air filter and cleaning off the greasy motor and slapping in some royal purple to keep the 150k mile engine happy. LOL
Its kinda funny a gal in her 50's can get into drag racing that thing so hardcore.

[whe3ls]

that sucks about the cam.

[trbo355]

Yeah i was hoping to get it to the track soon but now i gotta do a ton more work to get it back in shape. I think the bottom end will be fine as its loose enough at 100k miles to eat a little iron without killing it.