1955 331 motor on the engine test stand

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

The 1935 LaSalle motor was fun to work with on the engine test stand thought I would try a 1955 Series 86 motor & transmission next.

This pair has been hanging around on different shelves for a while now....I don't remember when they came in....probably was included with one of the projects worked on over the years....

I included a picture of the motors serial # 5586xxxxx

There is some ominous writing on the valve covers but, these covers look too good to be on this motor.....the transmission has a tag I put on a couple of years ago....says how I was fixing the TV lever in the transmission....

I took the 35 LaSalle motor off the stand and I'm going to put this pair on.....we'll see how it goes....

The series 86s....were they just for the funeral industry or were those just 75 series cars?.....what were the 86s ordered for?


Mike

[Jay Friedman]

I believe Series 86 motors were for what Cadillac called the Commercial Chassis; that is, hearses, flower cars and ambulances.

[Lexi]

Jay is correct for Series 86 information for 1955. The 1955 Series 75 cars would have a "75" in there for the engine starting number, not an 86, as noted in the 1955 Shop Manual (supplement). I think what confuses people is that Limousines, Hearses, Ambulances and Flower Cars are generically known as "commercial" vehicles, otherwise known as Professional Cars. From Cadillac's perspective they referred to Limousines as Series 75s, and the other vehicles noted as "commercial chassis" cars which had the Series 86 number assigned to them. The 86s had a larger wheelbase, among other things. Clay/Lexi.

[savemy67]

Hello Mike,

Your post indicates you will have the engine and transmission connected when on the test stand.  If I understand this to be the case, will you put a load on the output shaft, and will you shift through the gears using the manual lever on the side of the case?

Christopher Winter

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Hello Mike,

Your post indicates you will have the engine and transmission connected when on the test stand.  If I understand this to be the case, will you put a load on the output shaft, and will you shift through the gears using the manual lever on the side of the case?

Christopher Winter

I really wasn't planning to test the transmission that much.....I really wanted to just use it as a scatter shield for the flywheel.....

Without the load on the trans what damage would I do going thru the gears?

Mike

[savemy67]

hello Mike,

Since you were not going to test the transmission, you may just want to leave the transmission in neutral.

Without a load on the output shaft, the governor pressure might be incorrect relative to engine load.  If the transmission were in one of the drive ranges, the shift points might occur outside of their normal range.  This may or may not be injurious to the transmission or yourself, so I would probably avoid testing the transmission without a load on the output shaft.

Respectfully submitted,

Christopher Winter

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

I've been chipping away at the 331 on the engine test stand.....

What a surprise it was to find out I didn't have alot of bolts and brackets that weren't with the motor & trans....So it's been a slow process to get all this stuff together.....30 bolts to hold the flywheel to the torque converter!!....

First thing I noticed is that motors oil dip stick got chopped off probably in shipping.....I found one on eBay a few years ago and I changed out the broken one....

The directions on how to change it that came with the tube....I'm posting those 2 pages here.....

Dropped the pan, and it said to use a piece of hard wood and knock it out from the crankshaft side....of course the 2nd tap of the hammer bent the old tube in the oil pan.....I got lucky and I was able to knock the tube down from the top into and out of the sleeve in the block....

Mike

[Lexi]

Looks like Chips Caddies instructions. His replacement oil dipstick tubes are excellent and "Chip" (Bruce) is a great guy to deal with. Clay/Lexi

[David King (kz78hy)]

There is a gasket that goes in between the torus and flywheel and the 30 bolts.  If no gasket, it will leak and I would think you will have to put some trans fluid in it to run the engine, or the trans will burn up.  When I connected the trans to the engine in my Eldorado, it was tedious job to get the gasket place then torque up all those bolts.  Service manual has a procedure for it and that is what I followed.  The tip on putting grease on the gasket so it stays in place was the real key to getting assembled.