I was looking for Fiero parts when I saw it, so that sorta makes it Fiero-related, right? It's a '71 Eldorado. What a massive car. It's a 500 cubic inch engine, but notice how much space there is both in front of and behind the engine.
This is the first time I've ever looked at the front-wheel drive setup up close. Notice that the differential is almost in front of the engine and the axle passes in front of the oil pan sump, with less than a half inch of clearance.
[This message has been edited by Quad Raider (edited 08-26-2014).]
I was looking for Fiero parts when I saw it, so that sorta makes it Fiero-related, right? It's a '71 Eldorado. What a massive car. It's a 500 cubic inch engine, but notice how much space there is both in front of and behind the engine.
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[The is the first time I've ever looked at the front-wheel drive setup up close. Notice that the differential is almost in front of the engine and the axle passes in front of the oil pan sump, with less than a half inch of clearance.
A number of years ago a guy here in the Twin Cities dropped this engine/tranny setup into what was a beautiful '84 Pace car. I believe it was out of a '69 Eldorado. Butchered the heck out of the trunk area to get it to fit lengthwise. Dripped oil like A/C water.
Has anyone else even noticed..... That caddy is nearly 45 years old,in a junkyard and has absolutely ZEEERRROOOO RUST... even UNDERNEATH! WTF.. man some guys got it good... my '12 Silverado already has visible rust underneath..
Has anyone else even noticed..... That caddy is nearly 45 years old,in a junkyard and has absolutely ZEEERRROOOO RUST... even UNDERNEATH! WTF.. man some guys got it good... my '12 Silverado already has visible rust underneath..
Yes I noticed right away, I wrote it off as how crazy rust free stuff must be in Oklahoma, and how lucky car guys are who live there!
Has anyone else even noticed..... That caddy is nearly 45 years old,in a junkyard and has absolutely ZEEERRROOOO RUST... even UNDERNEATH! WTF.. man some guys got it good... my '12 Silverado already has visible rust underneath..
There's no rust anywhere on this car and the body is very straight. But let's not get carried away about the Oklahoma weather. We USUALLY have mild winters, but the last four or five have been brutal for us. Generally we have one major snow event per winter (maybe 2 or 3 inches of snowfall), but last winter we had snow or ice about every two weeks and it was freaking cold all winter. In 2009 we had a blizzard on Christmas eve and in 2011 we had TWO blizzards just 10 days apart.
Summers can be horrible. We've had a mild one this year, even though my part of the state has hit at least 100 degrees every day for the last five days. The summers of 2011 and 2012 featured 100-degree days for more than a month. Plus, this is Tornado Alley. I guess what I'm saying to my brothers and sisters in the Great White North is don't be too jealous of us down here. We do have beautiful weather, but it usually lasts for a day or two and then changes to something unpleasant.
Cars do rust here in Oklahoma, just usually not from road salt.
[This message has been edited by Quad Raider (edited 08-26-2014).]
Ford originally came up with the split transmission design that the TH425 uses. The original plans were to make the early 60's T-Birds FWD, Ford had planned for the driver side axle to pass thru the oil pan, under the main journal. They spent over $3 Mil on the design but abandoned it. The split transmission design (transmission basically cut in half at the torque convertor/pump and turned 180 degrees) was patented however so the speculation is that GM and Ford had to come to some agreement for GM to use the design. GM engineers placed the drive shaft under the oil pan, the thought was that it would be too hard to seal going thru the pan and might aerate the oil. Before that, GM had toyed with the concept of placing the engine behind the trans in the Eldorado/Toronado platform. Further proof that there must have been some deal reached between Ford and GM was the fact that the split transmission design patent ran until the late 70's and Ford didn't have a FWD platform until that time. The TH 425 was also used in GMC Motorhomes coupled to the Oldsmobile 455 like the Toronados.
Made it back to the salvage today. Someone had bought the engine, which allowed me to take better photos of the front wheel drive set-up.
First, a shot of the whole car. It's huge! The hood was on the ground on its left side leaning against another car and it was almost as tall as me (5'11").
See how far the steering box is from the firewall.
Notice that the car has a steering dampener.
[This message has been edited by Quad Raider (edited 09-01-2014).]
I remember the black ice in Oklahoma. I remember lots of toll roads. Can't recall much else. Haven't been there since maybe '82.
That is a very clean car. My question is, why is there so little rust? That is amazing! Did the materials used change? My buddy has an International pickup that still runs. It's a farm truck, and is always outside. Almost no rust. At another farm, they have a 60-something Chevy pickup. A bit of rust over the wheels and at the door corders. My neighbor where I used to live has an old Ford. I dunno the year, but probably 60-something also. The type where the cab and bed are one piece, and the transmission shifts like a 3-speed, but has 5 forward gears. It has rust on the tailgate from battery acid and the passenger floor boards are a bit rusty. Not the original paint job, though. There must be some reason newer cars (including the Fiero) rust more quickly.
Something definitely changed over the years. I don't know if it was the paint or the steel or what.
My brother has a 92 GMC extended cab pickup. I have a 92 extended cab Silverado. His is blue, mine is white. The paint is flaking off my truck and my bed is rusting in the wheel wells and at the joints. His truck is blue and the paint is faded but otherwise ok. Both trucks have rusted cab corners. What was the difference? Some of it is the white paint. I see a lot of vehicles of different brands from that time period with the same flaking white paint.
Dripped oil like A/C water.
We USUALLY have mild winters, but the last four or five have been brutal for us. Generally we have one major snow event per winter (maybe 2 or 3 inches of snowfall), but last winter we had snow or ice about every two weeks and it was freaking cold all winter. In 2009 we had a blizzard on Christmas eve and in 2011 we had TWO blizzards just 10 days apart. 
