i searched several different phrases-454 tbi, 454 tbi swap, tbi swap,& several others and learned quite alot, but everything i read, was for 454tbi into a truck that already had a 350 tbi in the rig, and most were using the stock 350 tbi harness and changing injectors, ecm/or reburning the ee-prom chip, and changing a few connectors in the harness, so it will work.
i'm working w/a 87 donor, w/the 454 tbi engine, thats going into an 84 k-10 that was carb'd, and I'm running a sm465/np205, so i need the ecm to control
just the engine & I'd like to junk everything else i don't need(get rid of all the smog junk i can), we have no test here, not even an inspection. so i need someone who has done this same swap to chime in to let me know what i need to use/to pull from donor truck and what i can ditch...and tell me where to find the wires i need or link me to some good threads or innerweb pages.
it maybe easier to leave the k10 truck like it is & get a closed loop ecm & harness from painless wiring, iirc, i think the whole kit/engine harness and ecm are under $400, i haven't looked recently. but, why spend that money when i have everything to do it with, already on the donor truck, it runs & drives! i could even drop the c-10 cc tanks & get the fuel pump out of it and put it in my 84 tank.(will it swap over by just pulling the whole thing out, lid & all and putting it in the 84 tank? are the openings the same size? are they standardized where this would work and i just have to untwist the ring that locks it down & put it in the 84 tank and twist to lock it closed & hook up the lines and swap in the return line from the CC and cut it to k10 length?
i think i remember reading about someone here, on ck5 that will rework the original harness and cut away "all the fat", so you wind up w/ only the wires you need. anyone know who this member is? i need to talk w/him, with a little help i can do this, i was a radar & tacan tech in USMC, so basic wireing is well within my grasp and i can do this with a little guidance of what wire does what. i suppose i could work it out w/the schematics, but it would be so much easier if i could talk to someone who has done this same swap already! if anyone has pretty good info on putting a tbi into a non-tbi 4x4 in their build thread please give me a link to your thread!
not thinking about the ease of being able to just leave the k10 like it is and install an aftermarket ecm that deals with the engine only &
comes w/instructions! how hard is it to swap the stock wiring harness? i'm not sure an aftermarket ecm & harness would allow everything to function correctly inside, like all the controls on the turn signal/cruise,wipers, etc, etc. while being easier, it maynot do everything i want it to do. i know the stock harness connects through the bulkhead on the drivers side into the fuse block, this is the reason i wonder if i would have to change the wiring under the dash also, and have been told that the harness also runs thru the firewall on the pasenger side to the ecm, at least thats what i have been led to believe.
i do believe the 87 c-20 has a th-400 behind the 454tbi, and iirc, the ecm doesn't mess w/ a th400 trans anyway, so the 87 ecm may already just control the engine....
i want everything inside the truck to work, like the gauges, lights, wiper switches & cruise control thats on the turn signal, and the dual gas tank rocker switch,etc,etc,i want it all to work. i am curious, will i have to put the under dash harness out of the 87 into the 84 cab also, so that the harness will plug in under the hood. again iirc, i will need the harness that goes thru the firewall on the right side that goes to ecm. what else do i have to keep and what can go? surely someone has a build thread or tech thread w/ this same kind of swap in it, i'd be forever grateful if someone would show me some more links to this info, i think we need a tbi sticky thread. ooo, wait we have a fuel injection forum don't we, i've never been in it. i will have to check it out.
this is my 1st attempt at swapping tbi onto anything, my 1st time converting to tbi ever, i've always used carb's...this is also my 1st BBC, well i have 1 more 454 but it needs a rebuild and its getting the crank and rods out of a 366T BBC b/c they come from the factory w/ steel nitrated-hardend crank and rods & it turns a 454 into a 427 and that is my favorite BBC, so, i may have questions coming up as i start & progress thru my build, i'm fairly well mechanically inclined so hopefolly not alot of questions! i will start a build thread here shortly b/c i've collected enuff parts to almost finish the build, if it would quit raining!
idk why, but, i have always dreamed of having a 427. i remember seeing a camaro when i was 12 or 14, with a 427 just smoking everything that pulled up beside it and it sounded so GOOD, i've been hooked ever since. they seem to wrap up faster than a 454 b/c of thier shorter stroke! so, i bought this running 87 c-20 srw cc w/tbi 454 to get everything in the k-10 truck wired for the tbi and to have a complete donor for parts to swap in, but i feel intimidated by the swap & i want to drive the k10 w/stock tbi 454, as i save $$$ to build my dream 427 BBC, when i have the other motor ready, then i'll pull the 454 and change engines. then i want to find another 366T to rob it of its crank and rods and build a spare engine to keep in my shop, on a floor mounted engine stand w/ gauges and radiator, so i can start it every now and then to keep it up and running, just to hear it run and disturb the neighbors when i need to be loud! but thats a long way off right now! =)
SORRY ABOUT THE NOVEL!
