Diesels are definitely scarce today; many were traded, converted and/or scrapped while in their prime. The few owners who followed all maintenance directives to a T had far better service from their diesels than those who didn't. The fact that gasoline powered Cadillacs up until 1980 required very little by way of conscientious & deliberate care probably did not help matters any: Newbie diesel owners were unprepared - more or less - for the special needs of their machines.
Probably the rarest of the rare in diesel Cadillac is the 1986 FWD DeVille/Fleetwood. I only saw one in my entire life - a 1986 Fleetwood Sedan, brown with beige leather.
1986? Did you mean 1985? I thought production of the 4.3L V6 diesel used in the FWD Electra, 98 and DeVille/Fleetwood models ended in late 1984, maybe early 1985. Too early to be available in a 1986 model.
Despite the many myths surrounding the diesel's kinship to its gasoline counterpart, there was very little in commonality between the two other than displacement and V-8 configuration.
. My "diesels" surprised a lot of people. Bruce RoeLOL sounds like the 403 I pulled from a 77 88 freshened up, with a mild cam, standard intake and carb and headers for a 260, dropped into a 78 Cutlass. Wasn't much around that could touch it in the 1/4. With 3.73 posi it was out of breath at 85 turning about 6000....Bruce can you give an explanation of your "switch pitch" trans conversions..or perhaps have it on your website? Craig
I have spent a lot of time 5.7L diesels and Olds gas engines, and swapping their parts. The 350 Olds is a direct bolt in; essentially everything fits. Sure the power producing internal parts are all reworked for the diesel. But all the geometry is the same, including all the common accessory mounts. Valve covers, oil pan, oil filter mounting, oil pump, and more have been swapped here. An Olds 425 crank drops in.