keiser31 Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 Seen on FaceBook, looking to identify. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCarter Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 1930 or so Cadillac 353 V8. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Boehm Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 What does the part partially covering the head do? It looks like a valve cover but that is a flathead engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 1930-32 Cadillac V8. They added those shrouds over the spark plugs to clean things up a bit and, I believe, to make it look more like the OHV V12 and V16 that had just debuted. Purely cosmetic and I always thought they looked kind of cheesy, especially for an OEM like Cadillac in the 1930s. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 It’s absolutely a 1931 Cadillac Series 355A engine, produced from September 1930 to March 15 1931………..give me the serial number, and I can give you the day it was assembled. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 5 Author Share Posted May 5 44 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said: 1930-32 Cadillac V8. They added those shrouds over the spark plugs to clean things up a bit and, I believe, to make it look more like the OHV V12 and V16 that had just debuted. Purely cosmetic and I always thought they looked kind of cheesy, especially for an OEM like Cadillac in the 1930s. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 5 Author Share Posted May 5 3 hours ago, DCarter said: 1930 or so Cadillac 353 V8. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 5 Author Share Posted May 5 50 minutes ago, Tom Boehm said: What does the part partially covering the head do? It looks like a valve cover but that is a flathead engine. Only photo I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 5 Author Share Posted May 5 8 minutes ago, edinmass said: It’s absolutely a 1931 Cadillac Series 355A engine, produced from September 1930 to March 15 1931………..give me the serial number, and I can give you the day it was assembled. Have no serial number, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCarter Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 13 minutes ago, edinmass said: It’s absolutely a 1931 Cadillac Series 355A engine, produced from September 1930 to March 15 1931………..give me the serial number, and I can give you the day it was assembled. Ed, What are the visual cues that distinguish the 355A from the 353 in the picture? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 (edited) Give up all my secrets? 🤔 Edited May 5 by edinmass (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 A 1930 V-8 Series 353 didn’t use the fake covers. And the 1932 V-8 Series 355B didn’t either. There are a bunch of other things…….but the cover is most obvious. I have owned more than a dozen 1931 Caddy Series 355A cars over the years. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCarter Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 33 minutes ago, edinmass said: Give up all my secrets? 🤔 😉 29 minutes ago, edinmass said: A 1930 V-8 Series 353 didn’t use the fake covers. And the 1932 V-8 Series 355B didn’t either. There are a bunch of other things…….but the cover is most obvious. I have owned more than a dozen 1931 Caddy Series 355A cars over the years. Thanks Ed! Always good to learn a little from those who know. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagefinds Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 I read one time what that HC stood for,some think it's High Compression but I'm pretty sure it's something else,anyone know for sure? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 9 hours ago, sagefinds said: I read one time what that HC stood for,some think it's High Compression but I'm pretty sure it's something else,anyone know for sure? Correct.......but it was not "high compression" it's just a marketing tool. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 6 Author Share Posted May 6 Thanks to all who have added content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Boltendal Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 353 engines did use the covers .I own two cars and have the factory pictures to confim this. So 353 and 355A both use these covers. The difference from a stock engine is the air cleaner on the 355A the cross pipe holding the ignition wires is straight for the 353 and bend towards the radiator, for the 355A (room for the intake pipe) The HC and LC heads differ in the way that the LC was used for export countries and the HC for the USA , difference in gas quality made this happen , again own two, one US and one imported to the Netherlands in 1930, both 353 HC 353 5.05 to 1 LC 353 4.92 to 1 HC 355A 5.35 to 1 , LC 5.26 to 1 If info is provided, it should be accurate, I think Johan 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 (edited) Johan.........you are correct on the air silencer and to be honest, it's probably a faulty memory causing my incorrect information. The carburetor covers had a slot cut out on them in 31, I think 30 did not s memory serves me.(Cover missing in photo.) Also the mixture knob on 31 is solid, and the 29-30 were dished out from memory. The compression numbers are absolutely asinine....as the difference is so slight it's ridiculous. Taking into consideration the very poor carburetor design..........0.10 difference on the heads is a zero starter.........hell, head gasket thickness and surfacing the blocks and heads would be more productive. And the pre heat chamber for the intake was a very bad idea also. Early Cadillacs while nice cars are very tempermental to set up and make drive correctly. Most hobbyists today are not up for the challenge. I put 200 miles on our V-16 three weeks ago in an afternoon. They drive well, when set up correctly. Personally I find the 8's too under powered for my taste today........and will no longer own them. Even the 12 is a bit doggy. I probably have 50k miles on 1931 V-8 Caddy's over the years............ Edited May 6 by edinmass (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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