1 month to 8.1 swap, then another month to Nv4500 swap

[#Burbslut]

That's awesome and impressive Jordan! It was good seeing you over the weekend too. And your wife's burb is freaking mint dude!

So glad you were able to get it running again and it made the trip back home safe. Glad there's another 8.1 running in the burb again

My wife spotted that burb in Medford Oregon about 9 yrs ago. We were driving down the main drag there past all the used car lots. She was like “hey, did you see that beautiful grey Suburban with the big axle in the back?”

We turned around to go check it out, and 2 hours later we owned it. It was actually mint back then. The paint was fresh, it had 18” wheels with fresh 35” Toyo M/Ts. The interior was immaculate, big as stereo system....

It was a steal at $4500

We drove that thing for years everywhere. Vegas, Medford a few times a yr, Tahoe, Yosemite, and a giant loop from Santa Cruz, Mojave, Vegas, Lake mead, Death Valley, Southern Utah and back. Unfortunately the motor went south a bit later, and it’s been through 3 700r4’s. But it never failed on a trip.

 

[#Burbslut]

So glad you were able to get it running again and it made the trip back home safe. Glad there's another 8.1 running in the burb again

I wish I wasn’t so distracted and exhausted from the swap. I really wanted to talk more but my brain was fried. The night before the competition I didn’t get back to camper till 6:00am. I woke up at the end of the sled pull. That 8.1 needs to have certain things installed at the right time, otherwise components have to come back off to install.

With the ord crossmember and hd mounts, the motor will not pivot back to help align the input shaft neither will they allow the space to slide the motor back. It was much simpler with the auto transmission, but the nv4500 makes it a extremely tight fit. I ended up removing the mounts and the crossmember so the motor has the space to be level with the transmission and enough room to slide back. I had to have the intake and headers off as well. The headers can’t go in with the crossmember and mounts in, so the headers got installed after the bell housing was connected, while the motor was still suspended by the hoist. It was at this point I installed the headers with 2 bolts on each side and finished up putting in the mounts and crossmember.

I went back to put the rest of the header bolts and broke one on each side while torquing them down. Fml. The mounts, crossmember, and headers had to come back off!!! Thank goodness that there was enough of the broken bolts to grab with vice grips and I didn’t have to pull the motor. I chased all the threads and reinstalled everything. That was the 6am night/morning.


I think we got it running around 8pm Sunday night. I got everything zipped up and took it for a test drive around 10pm. We were supposed to leave that evening but I still needed to clean up shop, pack all my things and load up the trailer. I went to bed at 3am and left Monday morning around 8am. We drove all the way home minus a stop for food and fuel. We got home around 11pm.

 

[ZooMad75]

Wow. Pretty much condensed my entire 8.1 swap into a weekend. I'd be beat as well. Nice effort and I'm glad it's a runner.

 

[#Burbslut]

Wow. Pretty much condensed my entire 8.1 swap into a weekend. I'd be beat as well. Nice effort and I'm glad it's a runner.

Thanks!

My wife the entire time kept asking if I was going to be able to finish it. I was pretty nervous. The good part was that the burb was already setup for the 8.1. I just needed to swap everything. I thought I was ready but I never even looked for broken exhaust studs. When I got there and unloaded the replacement, I then noticed I had 6 broken off studs. All countersunk.

I have never had good luck with removing them, luckily my friend handled it. He had some fancy kit that worked amazing. It definitely added more time to the already stressful situation. Thankfully the motor was good.


Now I will be tearing down the other one and will have to decide what to do with it.

 

[#Burbslut]

I started reaching out to various wiring companies. I am wanting a cleaner install and better locations for the various relay, ecu, pedal controller boxes. I’d really like to have the ecu and pedal controller in the cab. The Tilden Motorsports stock/modified harness functions, but it forces me to have these items in certain locations because of wire lengths.

There are many that say that they make a 8.1 harness, but they say that it’s the same as a 6.0. Can anyone confirm this? I believe the only company that I really know of is Howell.

Any way. I’ve been in contact with Lsx specialties and Ls Harness Connections and a few other guys that make harness’s. At the moment I have the stock 8.1 harness with the ecu and Allison controller for my 05 motor that was a Silverado setup, next week I’m hopefully getting a 01/02 g3500 harness w/o ecu and pedal module, but setup for a 4l80.

I’m going to be sending them off to ls harness connections to compare them to their ls harness’s. They have had several inquiries about making them but no one had a decent core harness to start with. I’m hoping to help them out and possibly get a deal on a harness.

 

[#Burbslut]

Nothing to report really. I did get a new air filter. I wasn’t a fan of the spectre filter. The glue on the top was starting to come undone. I’m now on the hunt for a prefilter sock.

 

[#Burbslut]

Took a trip in the Burb to Winnemuca for a 4x4 competition. Not to compete, but to do judge/tech/safety stuff. It was a blast. I didn’t haul our camp trailer out this trip because I was expecting to be bringing back a front Dana 60. Unfortunately the guy that was bringing down the axle, broke down and wasn’t able to make it. I hauled our little utility trailer out but only came back with a smudge pot.

We borrowed a friends toy hauler to stay in, I’m not sure of the size. It’s definitely longer, taller and heavier than ours. 100+ gallon water tank and 40 gallon gas tank were full, with a side by side inside. The burb sagged, but it handled the tow great. It was only a few miles, but I’m always impressed by the 8.1.

This trip puts the replacement 8.1 around 1800 miles since the re-swap. No problems, this motor is actually quieter and has better oil pressure than the Tilden Motorsports one. No complaints! I didn’t do as well with the fuel economy this time. I was enjoying driving it and the economy suffered. I can’t complain when I drive 10-20 mph over the limit.
12mpg.

 

[#Burbslut]

Wow... I seen that Tilden Motorsports aka Pacific Fab is closing it’s doors. I spoke with the owner. There were a few contributing factors. It sucks to have a awesome local fab shop close down. I am still getting my parts for the rebuild from them. I’ll be heading over there next weekend to grab some stuff.


On another note, I’m kicking myself in the ass for not changing the front and rear main seals... They are leaking now. I’ll be trolling around to try and find the 8.1 specific removal tool. I had every intention of changing it, but the time crunch weekend swap got me in the end.

I really don’t want to pull the transmission out unless I absolutely have to. I think the front seal isn’t that big of a deal. I found a extra long bolt that’s the proper thread to install the balancer. I just need to get the two removal tools.

uhg....

 

[skunked]

first I heard about Tilden, that sucks.

 

[mrk5]

I've been watching Dirt Every Day for the first time and Kevin is on a lot of the episodes in the first few seasons.

 

[#Burbslut]

Sad day.

 

[skunked]

Shitty

 

[#Burbslut]

Well, I was incorrect.

Tilden Motorsports is just going to be down temporarily for a restructure, it’s Pacific Fab that’s closing for good. I’m glad to hear that....

 

[#Burbslut]

I’m not sure what my problem is, but it looks like I’ll be picking up a 8.1 next weekend with a Raylar baffle deleted and ported intake along with a 8.1 with a rod knock. The price was too good to pass up. I believe I’ll be picking up some parts from Tilden for my rod knock motor on the same weekend.

I’m waiting on a stock harness from another guy and I’ll be shipping off two harness’s and we will see what comes of it all.


I got a K5 at my house at the moment that needs some love. It’s a 84 diesel reg’d Blazer. It currently has a 454/465/205 from a 85k30. It’s a 32 spline 465 with a round pattern 205 with twin stick rails. It has a 14bff and a 8 lug Dana 44. I’m in the process of dropping it down from a 10” lift to a 4”. The front is now on a 4” spring and the rear has stock springs with a 4” shackle flip.

Pretty much every nut and bolt were loose on the suspension. The raised steering arm had no nuts or cone washer in it. It was loose and stripped. All the leafspring bolts and shackle bolts were either missing or had just a nut on hand tight. No shocks, crossmember was loose. The brake hardlines were pulled down to save on buying extended lines. Rear diff is welded, all the tires were held on with just a few lug nuts(and loose).

It has potential, buts it’s a mess. The interior is trashed too.

 

[#Burbslut]

I think I’ll be peeling the 16.5 tires off the rims and mounting them on some H1 24 bolt rims, I have spacers for the front already laying around.

lol. The rear springs.... so, it had 6” lifted 56” rear springs, and apparently I left my stock 56”s at the storage spot and accidentally brought stock 52”s. I needed to get the lifted springs out, so I temporarily improvised. I’ll be grabbing the stock 56” tomorrow.

hmm... what to do with this thing

 

[max 02]

For posting videos

https://ck5.com/forums/threads/posting-videos.329384/


I had a good time reading your thread this morning.
I seen you ask about videos a couple times hope that helps if you don’t know already.

 

[#Burbslut]

Scored today. I got a 01/02 8.1 with a rod knock and a modified/ported Raylar intake! The deal was too good to pass up. Now I just need to send out a couple harness’s and get to tear down on the two motors. I need to make a decision on what path to go. I’m thinking stock rebuild on one and go a bit bigger and better on the other, but it could be some time until that can happen.

we shall see.

 

[#Burbslut]

Maybe a few more shots of the intake and 8.1....


I was told this is a modified intake from Raylar. Is there anyway to tell?

 

[Kay86K5]

Maybe a few more shots of the intake and 8.1....


I was told this is a modified intake from Raylar. Is there anyway to tell?

View attachment 358993

View attachment 358994

View attachment 358995

View attachment 358996

View attachment 358997


View attachment 358998

View attachment 358999

View attachment 359000

View attachment 359001

View attachment 359002

View attachment 359003

Send a pic to Raylar and ask if it looks like their handy work. Other than that, no real way to tell. My brother did that intake mod himself on the 8.1 intake going in the buggy we're building...looks pretty much identical to how yours looks

 

[#Burbslut]

I scored some stock 56” springs. I can now put them into the blazer and swap out the 52”s that are in it now. I got my 37”s back. I need to order some o rings and valve stems for the H1’s. I have some wheel spacers for the front and I’m trying to work out a deal on a 4.56 14bff and possibly a front 60. We shall see if it pans out.


I got the 8.1’s and parts finally into the garage. I had the intake manifold cleaned and checked for straightness. I hope to get the vortec 454 in the next weekend or two.

gotta swap a input gear too.