Newbie with 2 Burbs, general questions, engine swap

[Joe Gilmore]

'89 Burb 2500 2wd 454 and a '90 Burb 1500 4wd 350.  I bought the 350/4wd first and found it didn't really have the torque for pulling my race car trailer, then bought the 454/2wd which solved that problem.  But I still liked the 350/4wd so I kept it.  Now I'm looking to keep them healthy and do some upgrading.  I am considering a 96-99 Vortec 5700 swap into the '90 350/4wd.  Questions for you guys who have been on this forum awhile:

1.  Is this a good forum for my particular Burbs and engine swaps?
2.  Are there some other forums anyone would recommend in addition to this one?
3.  Is the Vortec swap a good one, or is there something else I should be looking at?

Thanks,

Joe

[Irish_Alley]

welcome from maryland
1. Yes
2. no
3. i would do it

[choptop]

X2. You can get all the info here. Welcome

[beastie_3]

I agree with chop and Irish

[Joe Gilmore]

Thanks for the welcome, guys.  It's always nice to find a new home.

[zieg85]

Welcome from NW Indiana

[Lt.Del]

Welcome Joe, where ya from?
i have  a 91 3/4 ton 4x4 with a 5.7 it has 3.73 ratios and have no problem pulling my 7,000 lb trailer, unless I'm climbing over the Blue Ridge Mts, then I drop her in L2 so I can at least go 50 over the mt.  I do have a 50,000 lb tranny cooler on her too. I am going from 16.5 33's to 265/75/16 tires for better city driving--not such a tall gear then.
what kind of ratios are on your 4x4 (and tire size) to make it difficult to pull your car?    If you have 35's on it and taller than a 3.73 rear, I can see it being a problem

Put 4.11 gears on it and keep it out of OD.

[Joe Gilmore]

I live in Denver.  Normally-aspirated engine performance at 5000' of elevation is not so good.  Tires are 31 x 10.5 R15, don't know about the diff ratio.

[Jims86tpisub]

Joe, Look in your glove box, and that should tell you what gear ratio you have. I am running the same tires, and I have the 3.42 ratio. tires are about 2 inches to tall(around 1800 or so rpm @75mph). I`m going to the stock 235/75/15s that came on it from the factory. 700r4`s don`t like real low rpm.

[Joe Gilmore]

According to the label, I have RPO GT4, which my factory service manual lists as a 3.73 rear axle ratio.

I love the big interior/cargo space of the older Burbs, but this 350 gets maybe 11 mpg--same as my 454 Burb.  Maybe it's because I live at high altitude that the 350 is underpowered and overworked, do you guys at lower altitude get better mileage?  So I'd like to find some more torque/better gas mileage.  Here are the options that I am considering:
1.  96-99 Vortec 5700 swap -- some people are telling me this is a lot harder than it looks, that you need virtually everything from the donor vehicle, OBDII is much more complicated.
2.  LT1 swap from a Caprice or Roadmaster -- but I read a post somewhere that said its cooling system (reverse flow) is not good for a towing application.
3.  Edelbrock multi-point FI setup for my existing engine.
4.  A TPI setup from some GM donor car -- don't know much about this option yet.

I'll consider any reasonable idea (and some unreasonable ones) that anyone can offer, hopefully I can find one that doesn't require too much brain or wallet damage.  Sometimes it just seems I should buy a newer vehicle to take advantage of the newer engine technology.  But as I said, I want the interior space.  What's the point of having a big vehicle like a later model Burb when the interior is small?  Also, I imagine the newer ones are more complicated to diagnose and work on.

[Irish_Alley]

the box if the stick is there wont mean anything since they can be changed out by the PO

[Jims86tpisub]

According to the label, I have RPO GT4, which my factory service manual lists as a 3.73 rear axle ratio.

I love the big interior/cargo space of the older Burbs, but this 350 gets maybe 11 mpg--same as my 454 Burb.  Maybe it's because I live at high altitude that the 350 is underpowered and overworked, do you guys at lower altitude get better mileage?  So I'd like to find some more torque/better gas mileage.  Here are the options that I am considering:
1.  96-99 Vortec 5700 swap -- some people are telling me this is a lot harder than it looks, that you need virtually everything from the donor vehicle, OBDII is much more complicated.
2.  LT1 swap from a Caprice or Roadmaster -- but I read a post somewhere that said its cooling system (reverse flow) is not good for a towing application.
3.  Edelbrock multi-point FI setup for my existing engine.
4.  A TPI setup from some GM donor car -- don't know much about this option yet.

I'll consider any reasonable idea (and some unreasonable ones) that anyone can offer, hopefully I can find one that doesn't require too much brain or wallet damage.  Sometimes it just seems I should buy a newer vehicle to take advantage of the newer engine technology.  But as I said, I want the interior space.  What's the point of having a big vehicle like a later model Burb when the interior is small?  Also, I imagine the newer ones are more complicated to diagnose and work on.

Well,
 I have done the TPI, but I went from the Computer controlled Carburetor to TPI. If I had it to do all over again, now that I know about the Ultimate TBI mods, I would have gone TBI.....and the major reason is that TBI would have kept me from having to buy $350 worth of prom tuning equipment, which I have to learn.you can find the TBI mods here: http://www.fullsizechevy.com/showthread.php?76859-TBI-Mods.
Fullsizechevy.com is another info packed forum.
So, Speaking from experience, stay with the TBI.
You can find some EGR friendly heads, like trick flow, World S/R torquers, or even summit offers some good budget friendly heads.
 I have shyed away from the vortec heads(which are wonderful, BTW), because of the need for a $300+intake manifold($470 For TPI), and having to plumb external EGR source, just rubs me the wrong way. And then maybe see what the HT383 roller cam does for you.....From what I have seen, its making some pretty good low end numbers on 350`s.
 Then , of course, when you are done, go to a chassis dyno, and have the vehicle data logged, and maybe send the info to TBIchips.com, and have the whole shooting match optimized.
As far as high altitude, even here at sea level, we use to change the carb jets or metering rods down 2 steps from factory.....and we would get around 19 to 20mpg with carbed 350`s.

[Jims86tpisub]

Oh, and you could still go with the L31 engine(96-99),and keep the TBI, you just need the before mentioned intake manifold, and external EGR setup, as well as the tune. There is apparently a big difference in the Vortec headed engines when it comes to vacuum....throws earlier ECM`s for a loop.

[Lt.Del]

to answer your mpg question. my 91 V2500 sub (3/4 ton 4x4) with 5.7 w/ 4L80E trans 3.73 ratio with 31's on it gets 16-17 on all interstate driving but 11 in city driving.

[Captkaos]

Of the 4 you listed I would go with #1 first.  As for it being hard, you do need the engine/trans and all the wiring but the motor should drop in fairly easily.