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V8 Feature vacuum pump was mounted on the front engine cover. The starter was on the right side, in front of the bell housing. The generator could be serviced by removing an access panel under the left front fender. The radiator was pressurized. In its pricier Series 70/75 models Cadillac went to a 346-cid V8 based on the 322-cid version. It had a 31/2 in. bore, 135 hp at 3400 rpm and 170 lbs.-ft. at 1000 rpm. Cadillac kept the 346-cid V8 until 1949, when a compact, but very sturdy, overhead valve V8 with five mainbearings arrived. It would last 30 years without getting stale, but growing more monstrous in size and power as time rolled on. The original had a 313/16 x 3-5/8 in. bore and stroke and displaced 331 cu. in. With a 7.5:1 compression ratio it made 160 hp at 3800 rpm and 312 lbs.-ft. at 1800 rpm. It had hydraulic valve lifters, a 5 qt. (or 6 qt. with filter) sump and an 18-qt. coolant capacity:
Cadillac 1949 High Compression V8: America’s first modern overhead valve V8 was the 331-cid high-compression Cadillac engine introduced in 1949.
A Carter WCD two-barrel carburetor fed it. This “Cad V8” started—and participated in—the postwar horsepower race. By 1952, it had a four-barrel carburetor and cranked
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out 180 hp. Thirty ponies were added in 1953, with 20 more piled on the next season. By 1955, the 331 V8 had a 9.0:1 compression ratio, 250 hp. A dual four-barrel carburetor 270-hp version was
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