Quote:
Originally Posted by wedged
sorry if you took it the wrong way ? Your project is one of those " i gotta see this" types. I like sleepers and sneaky type of cars. A land yacht that handles is going to be a shocker to everyone.  |
All is forgiven: it was my misunderstanding. My 70 Eldorado is a land yacht, but my 82 is so small and light it is surprising: Here is some info:
My 82 Eldorado has 114” wheelbase, while a 78 Camaro has 108”. The 82 Eldo weighed 3637 lbs. with the aluminum 4100 engine and the 78 Camaro weighs 3616. Although there is only 35 lbs. different in the weight of a 350 Chevy and a Cadillac 427 or 500, the aluminum 4100 is very very light weight. My car’s weight with the 472 is now about 3780. However, that extra 160 lbs. Eldo –to-Camaro handicap is unnoticeable due to the 535 lbs. of snap-your-neck torque and FWD traction.
When it was running, it felt very light and responsive. You could accelerate hard coming out of the corners because the nose-heavy FWD would direct the power where you wanted it to go and the back end had nothing to cause it to come around on you. I could come out of a corner with enough torque at the wheels to send a Corvette spinning in circles- and if I did break traction, it just plowed forward safely until I feathered the throttle to get it to hook again. Currently the brakes are small 10.5” discs, but with so much weight sitting on top of the front, you could brake hard without locku. High brake heat and brake fade during hard autocross-like driving was a small problem, but a future brake upgrade is in mind. The Eldo already has high offset hubs, so all it will take is modified spindles and caliper brackets to put 13” C5 discs on all 4 wheels. 17X9.5” wheels will fit easily under the front with 275/40 17 tires. The rear has a clearance problem, however, so I can only go 8.5” wide with 245s unless I widen the rear fenders which is planned for a future upgrade.
When I get time, I’ll post some pics of my 70 Eldo racing the 1986 autocross; I wish I had pic or vido of this 82 Eldo in action. Both are very fun to drive (and it’s a lot more fun when you win in an autocross run or a drag race while driving a Cadillac than when you win while driving something that looks cool like a Mustang……
I mean if you are a Camaro/Mustang owner, how do you tell your friends that you got beaten by the car they made fun of the “Gone in 60 seconds” movie?
LOL Remember the Burgundy drug dealer’s car that they revved up and laughed at?
That’s an Eldo in the 79-85 range. LOL