This 1957 Cadillac V8 Rebuild Timelapse Is the Coolest Thing You'll See Today

The folks over at Hagerty just finished rebuilding a vintage Cadillac V8 from 1957. It took them three months to do it and they documented every important bit of the project, from removing the first screws to applying the finishing touches.

It's all compressed into the first six minutes in the video below, followed by footage of the big V8 running on the test bench. It still requires a bit of fine-tuning, but this 64-year-old mill is ready to go back into the car.

In case you're wondering, this is a 331-series V8, part of the overhead-valve design that Cadillac introduced in 1948. The company's longest-running design, the OHV replaced the iconic L-head, the company's first V8.

The L-head was also the world's first mass-produced V8 engine. It arrived in 1914, 10 years after Leon Levavasseur built the first known V8 for speedboat use. Rolls-Royce and De Dion-Bouton also built a few V8 engines in 1905 and 1910, respectively.

Getting back to the 331-series in question, it soldiered on from 1948 to 1976 with two major redesigns. Displacement increased from 5.4 to 8.2 liters over the years, and output topped out at 400 horsepower and 550 pound-feet (746 Nm) of torque in 1970.

The 6.0-liter V8 shown in this video is a development of the original 331-series design. It debuted in the second-generation Eldorado for the 1956 model year, and it was offered for two more years in the third-gen version of the luxury rig. For its final year on the market, the 6.0-liter V8 produced 335 horsepower.

Cadillac added a longer stroke for 1959, pushing displacement to 6.4 liters and output up to 345 horsepower. The 331-series 390 was redesigned for the 1963 model year.