I have a 1971 Cadillac 472, its not making the power I would like and I was considering boosting it. I had the heads freshened up, it has a thumper cam in it from mts. I rebuilt the motor before I put it in my Monte, but I would love so more power. It should have 8:5 compression. Would it be worth boosting the motor or should i look for other options?

 

When I was a kid we had a 72 caddy stock car with a 472 in it. Tough as freaking nails, but we were constantly changing the valley gaskets. That may have just been because we were the ones doing it though, my dad was a factory worker, handy with a wrench, but no mechanic, and I was 13-14 years old.

 

what size turbo would be recommended for the 472? Will the thumper cam work for turbo charging?

 

What are the specs on the cam? Lift, duration, LSA, etc? I'd probably do something similar to what works well on a 454 as far as the turbo goes. I'd probably get with M and M turbochargers or VS racing on here and see what they would recommend.

 

rpm range 1,200-4800, duration range 296, valve life range .538-.555, those are the specs I have for the cam

 

id look at a pair of gt45's they be bought for 200 ea

 

I definetly have the room under the hood to fit a twin turbo set up on the monte
I would like to road trip with my buddies this summer, is single or twin better or does it not really matter?

 

with twins you will have to buy 2 turbos and 2 gates, not sure how well the cad heads flow, maybe sombody with some cad experience will chime in

maybe a pair of 60-65mm p trim t4 would be a better fit

 

the caddy heads are 76cc

 

There isn't a short answer and there is some good and bad. The 472/500 is a decent engine, but has limits. I have done a few turbo 500's over the years. In mildly modified form they handled about 10-12psi OK, but had head sealing issues with more boost. The stock Pistons can be a gamble, some have survived, some people have broken pistons easily. I haven't had much issue with stock pistons. Stock rods seem to do decent for a cast piece. Sounds like you have upgraded the cam and valve train, so that is good.

Once you step it up the real weakness starts to show up. The main caps will walk around a good bit over the 800hp point in my experience. The valvetrain and cam has some serious limits if you want to get after it, The stock heads don't flow that well for the cubic inches.

So, if you will be happy with 10 psi or so and whatever power that is then it is a decent engine, If you want to get after it and want trouble free and low maintenance then I would switch to a different platform.

 

I wouldn't want to go over 10 or 12 with it. thanks for the advice.