My new 83 k30

[trevmountain]

Hello all…I’m new to the forum and I’ve owned a few square bodies in my day but it has been quite few years and I recently just picked up an 83 k30 long bed 4wd with the sm465 trans and 410 gears. This truck is quite cherry with 34k original miles and previous owner put a very nice paint job on it as well as a few other cosmetic changes. The truck runs really well and does not seem to use much oil which I was surprised being that it hasn’t been used much in the last 38 years or so.

My goal for the truck in the performance/functionality realm right now is a gear vendors, which is already ordered and im very excited to get that overdrive…and happy up the motor a bit. Right now the entire truck is sitting bone stock as it came from the factory other than cosmetic stuff the previous owner did and that includes all the emissions on the motor ect.

Im really interested in a fuel injection conversion with Holley sniper being the one I’m honed in on the most and the reason isn’t based on much other than the fact it’s in LMC catalog and it seems to be a fairly straight forward so called plug and play system.

In addition maybe a set of headers/full exhaust system and just open up the air flow. I think getting into cams and head porting is for down the road a little bit when I get bored or decide to rebuild the motor. Truck runs so good right now It just seems like I can grow into more goodies down the road as needed. The main goal really is just to sharpen it up with the fuel injection and gain a few ponies in the process.

The process of doing the conversion with all this emissions business in the way leads me to think doing an a nice dual plane intake manifold might be smart to kind of help with that process and maybe a plus in the performance as well.

Just looking for some opinions as I know most of you know these trucks inside and out and upside down and have plenty of experience with these subjects. I’m all ears and open to all suggestions.

These old trucks remind me of a better time and excited to be an owner of one again. Hopefully I can have some fun improving this time capsule rare find truck further

Thanks in advance

Here’s a couple pics hopefully they load up.

 

[SquareRoot]

Nice truck. Please do your homework on the Sniper. My experience with it was horrible. The Edelbrock pf4 has been a dream. Curious why you went with a gear vendor over a nv4500 if you already have a manual trans? I looked at every aspect of which way to go before converting my 85 k20 from an auto to a 4500.

 

[AKguy]

I installed the sniper on my recently rebuilt 454. The installation is straightforward, but you will need to invest some time in getting it dialed in. I am still working on a decent idle, but once you get her going it runs great. My handheld display quit about 3 weeks into using it. Holley fired me a new one. I plan to get with other, more savvy users regarding the fuel profile and idle soon to get it smoothed out. If you decide to go with the Sniper make sure you get the progressive linkage to start with, much smoother early throttle reponse.

 

[Bextreme04]

I think @Vbb199 is running a sniper unit on his 502... its a pretty rowdy unit.

I think if I was buying new I'd be looking at a MPFI unit like the Pro-flo as apposed to a throttle body unit like the sniper.

 

[AuroraGirl]

I think @Vbb199 is running a sniper unit on his 502... its a pretty rowdy unit.

I think if I was buying new I'd be looking at a MPFI unit like the Pro-flo as apposed to a throttle body unit like the sniper.

especially for driveability refinement for those wanting that, but then raw power potentials for others and then of course doesnt it get more precise because it can cone spray closer to the valve rather than being yanked from a centreal spot where it may not be as ready as the nearby injector would be

 

[trevmountain]

Thank you for all the responses…

So I guess my reasoning for the GV over the nv4500 is based on a previous experience with a 6.2 diesel with an sm465 that I owned many years ago and that was the route I went. I found a used one at junk yard bought the adapter housing ect and slapped it on but the floor cutting and location of the hole and just kind of the whole aspect of the shifter location just never really worked out that well. I made it work but it just seemed hodge podged. I guess I just couldn’t imagine cutting into this pristine truck in that same way but I might be missing something here completely. I mean that was the 6.2 so maybe the shifter location isn’t as far off.?? I’m all for it if it can be done cleaner. I did make some calls before before ordering the GV and it sounded like I’d have to cut the hole bigger for sure. But I’m all ears if there’s a clean way to do it.

I did notice a few threads last night of guys talking about the edelbrock pf4 and it sounds like maybe it is kind of the Lamborghini of these conversion kits. Sounds like maybe if I were to go with that kit and some headers and exhaust I’d be doing pretty good. Any advice on headers and exhaust or maybe a good combo you guys would recommend?

So let me ask why do some people go with these TBI type injection conversion kits over the mpfi? They look to be cheaper I see and I assume the install on them might be more simple straight forward..? I know I would certainly prefer to not have to fiddle fart to much to get it work right…I’d much rather pay a little extra for something that’s gonna work and work very well vs lots of fiddling.

 

[shiftpro]

Hey Trevor thanks for joining our party.
That's a very nice truck, what a great place to start.

I especially like your proper grammar. Wow, sentences and punctuation. Very easy to read and understand.
AND... you posted pics too!
Welcome!

 

[Bextreme04]

Thank you for all the responses…

So I guess my reasoning for the GV over the nv4500 is based on a previous experience with a 6.2 diesel with an sm465 that I owned many years ago and that was the route I went. I found a used one at junk yard bought the adapter housing ect and slapped it on but the floor cutting and location of the hole and just kind of the whole aspect of the shifter location just never really worked out that well. I made it work but it just seemed hodge podged. I guess I just couldn’t imagine cutting into this pristine truck in that same way but I might be missing something here completely. I mean that was the 6.2 so maybe the shifter location isn’t as far off.?? I’m all for it if it can be done cleaner. I did make some calls before before ordering the GV and it sounded like I’d have to cut the hole bigger for sure. But I’m all ears if there’s a clean way to do it.

I did notice a few threads last night of guys talking about the edelbrock pf4 and it sounds like maybe it is kind of the Lamborghini of these conversion kits. Sounds like maybe if I were to go with that kit and some headers and exhaust I’d be doing pretty good. Any advice on headers and exhaust or maybe a good combo you guys would recommend?

So let me ask why do some people go with these TBI type injection conversion kits over the mpfi? They look to be cheaper I see and I assume the install on them might be more simple straight forward..? I know I would certainly prefer to not have to fiddle fart to much to get it work right…I’d much rather pay a little extra for something that’s gonna work and work very well vs lots of fiddling.

There's several reasons. A big deciding factor is if you have a heat crossover and whether you live in very cold climates. The lack of heat crossover in a Gen VI BBC or a Vortec headed SBC can make the throttle body kits more problematic in cold environments. The MPFI is more complicated, but also more efficient and more stable in a wider variety of conditions.

If you go with a throttle bodied EFI you will want to switch to a single plane manifold with a heat crossover. There are several Engine Masters episodes where they have individual O2 sensors in each cylinder and the dual plane manifolds cause huge variances in A/F ratio and make the EFI run poorly with the throttle body EFI systems. The MPFI will come with its own manifold so you won't have to worry abut that with one of those systems.

 

[Vbb199]

I think @Vbb199 is running a sniper unit on his 502... its a pretty rowdy unit.

I think if I was buying new I'd be looking at a MPFI unit like the Pro-flo as apposed to a throttle body unit like the sniper.

The throttle response of such a large motor is comparable to that of a cable driven fuel injected v6 or 4 banger... snappy... goes from idle to 5,000 in milliseconds..... so far i wouldnt trade it for anything else

My friend(s) LS or coyote motors dont wind up that fast,

 

[SquareRoot]

TBI relies on a "wet" manifold. MPFI creates a "dry" manifold. Dry air moves faster and doesn't knock the fuel out of suspension like a wet manifold. Dry type systems will ALWAYS be more responsive which adds to the seat of the pants feel. Efficiency is also improved because you have an injector for each cylinder vs a shotgun approach with TBI. Plus what vbb said about lousy cold starts which goes back to the wet manifold issue.
Cost wise, there really wasn't any in the end between Sniper and PF4. You need to consider the proper upgrades to your fuel system that will be needed. I've learned all this the hard way and done much of it more than once to get it right.

 

[Vbb199]

As we approach colder weather here, im interested to see how it fires up

 

[AuroraGirl]

TBI relies on a "wet" manifold. MPFI creates a "dry" manifold. Dry air moves faster and doesn't knock the fuel out of suspension like a wet manifold. Dry type systems will ALWAYS be more responsive which adds to the seat of the pants feel. Efficiency is also improved because you have an injector for each cylinder vs a shotgun approach with TBI. Plus what vbb said about lousy cold starts which goes back to the wet manifold issue.
Cost wise, there really wasn't any in the end between Sniper and PF4. You need to consider the proper upgrades to your fuel system that will be needed. I've learned all this the hard way and done much of it more than once to get it right.

Batch fireeeeee just dumb those suckers on the manifold and wait for the valves to suck em in... was a GM usage in 2.8 and 3.3 engines lol. V6 that is... not a really nice system tbh

 

[Craig 85]

Welcome.