8.1 vortec into 1979 k30

[77 K20]

Search "Dirty Larry" on the other square body site. He's done exactly what your thinking. His thread will answer any question you can ponder.

I was going to say this. I read something like 33 pages of stuff on his blue truck and I thought he was doing it again on a Suburban. I read it on expedition portal though.

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[yevgenievich]

Big blocks can get expensive. My tall deck 8.0l build cost me a small fortune. 8.0l was the gen6 with gen7 parts sprinkled on it. Rods and pistons are the weak points on 8.1l. Raylar heads supposed to perform very well from what I have seen.

 

[forcruzen]

Did it....Love it.....Just took my first 8.1L for a long distance road trip. A few tips to follow....
search "dirty larry" like that one guy said
had original harness rebuilt but I still decided to do correct new harness from Howell Engineering.
Find a blown up 8.1 from possibly a van. That gives you all the brackets, pumps you will want if trying to get ac pump moved up since the gm parts numbers are obsolete unless you get lucky.
C10 old school headers do fit, original motor mounts work. Everything else from the past will not happen.
Whatever you think it will cost to do this just take that number X 2

 

[1984dually]

Did this swap in 2013 in my C30. look up 8.1 on here and it will come up. Swap is easier than a ls based swap. Just pullout your 350, swap over your flywheel/clutch/engine mounts and bolt it in. If you want air the frame will need notched or swap the van/medium duty truck stuff. One thing to remember is you’ll have to change everything on the front of the truck including the balancer. There is aftermarket stuff available. look up Amos Garcia on facebook. Makes some good stuff. Front crossmember will need a notch to clear the drivers side of the oil pan. Bigger radiator might be needed(used 6.2 diesel radiator). stand alone harness from Howell

 

[Lu Blunt]

Slow train slow life but I’m back to work on the dually. Just can’t give up on the old truck. Got handful of parts for the swap and a list of things to order. The 350 looks small in the engine bay. I can’t wait for the 8.1. Anyone have a part number for the bolts that go through the bell housing and into the block? Thanks

 

[bucket]

I'm assuming the bellhousing bolts are metric and m10x1.5 thread. I won't take a stab at the length... that's too many assumptions for just one post, lol.

 

[Lu Blunt]

more progress

 

[Lu Blunt]

ORD engine crossmember and motor mounts

 

[Lu Blunt]

Some snow and some progress

 

[Lu Blunt]

finally got the 8.1 in the truck

 

[Lu Blunt]

I removed the transmission so I could lower the 8.1 onto the motor mounts. Today I got the new flywheel new clutch and trans all bolted together

 

[Lu Blunt]

…

 

[AuroraGirl]

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can that crank sensor be brought to the front of the engine in anyway so if it fails you dont have to get very sneaky to get it

 

[rsbad454]

That's going to be a whole new truck to drive with all of that torque. Awesome build!

 

[Bextreme04]

can that crank sensor be brought to the front of the engine in anyway so if it fails you dont have to get very sneaky to get it

Yes, you can switch to the chevrolet performance front cover with a 24x crank/1x cam sensor in the cover, but its expensive and doesn't really get you anything. You can reach up in there and get to the sensor just fine on the side of the block, you just have to remove the starter I think. There was a big problem with that sensor hole and sensor corroding and basically fusing together, making it almost impossible to remove. I'd make sure that the hole is nice and clean and then coat the whole side of the sensor with anti-seize or grease to make sure that doesn't happen