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Ryoken's 89 Crew Cab Tubebed build... aka Mutt....

Overview Gallery Discussion
oh, and I should postface that whole 8.1 segment with the disclaimer that I haven't even had any kind of core yet for the 6.0's and 8.1's yet..... haven't repowered one yet... just maintanence, marine package work, tune, etc, etc... so it may be a while before I can "acquire" one....

that is the same ole chevy bellhousing correct?
 
The 8.1 has the standard chevy bell with standard chevy depth.

The 6.0 (which is a horrible tower FYI) is the same chevy bell BUT has more depth which requires a spacer with an older trans.
 
ryoken said:
good info.. did not know that about the 6.0
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I wont say its as much the motors fault as it is the junk piece of poop should die in a fire horrible shifting 6L80E trans behind it.

I mean it does acceptably and physically move our 54ft 2 car loaded but god is the thing screaming and hesitating to double down shift on hills when the damn 8.1 you just put your foot in a little more and it acts like nothing is behind you
 
You probably know this already, but the 8100 has both LS and SBC mounts cast into it, so It will bolt in using your existing mounts. That's what I did for mine, the 10 MM bolts even fit through the holes on the mount with out having to drill the out.
 
I researched a ZF-6 swap because I want a manual trans with OD and tighter gear ratios. However, its more complicated than meets the eye.
First off its very hard to find used, especially a Chevy one so prices are sky high for them. The ZF-6 is HUGE and will require fire wall and trans tunnel mods and a custom crossmember. Because of the integral bell housing you are stuck running an internal slave. And a custom clutch has to assmebled to get the input splines on the disk right with a flex plate that will work. And finally the output splines are some odd count like 29 :dunno: I think. So you'd be stuck running whatever t-case came factory behind it which means drivers drop. So a front axle swap would have to be required.

Don't get me wrong, I WANT this trans behind my 355 bad but for me a NV4500 swap is a lot more realistic and doable :deal: But for someone like yourself with your fab skills and expertice I definately think you could pull it off :waytogo:
 
As far as the trans goes the 4500 shares the same problem as the good old 465 even the 6 speed dodges i have driiven have the same issue almost, you need another gear between the 1:1 ratio and the gear that precedes it.

So in my mind a gear vendors wins evertime over just about any trans swap.
 
blazinzuk said:
As far as the trans goes the 4500 shares the same problem as the good old 465 even the 6 speed dodges i have driiven have the same issue almost, you need another gear between the 1:1 ratio and the gear that precedes it.

So in my mind a gear vendors wins evertime over just about any trans swap.
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i hadn't even contemplated a 5 spd at this point.. and probably wont for awhile... as we know, the 465 is like an old friend... comfortable... sure, I'd like a GOOD 5 speed setup, but I can wait...
 
y5mgisi said:
For real? Do you have an article for this? Link?
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Thats for a tuned out marine motor but the potential is there for the engine that comes in the trucks too. The stock advertised power rating is 340hp and 455ftlbs from GM but I can tell you right now if you've ever towed with one you can tell theres more there than that.
 
Stomis said:
Thats for a tuned out marine motor but the potential is there for the engine that comes in the trucks too. The stock advertised power rating is 340hp and 455ftlbs from GM but I can tell you right now if you've ever towed with one you can tell theres more there than that.
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So wait, you are saying that a tune only took a stock 8.1L Marine motor from 340h/455t to 550h/720t? (+210h/+265t)

I am thinking h/c and a tune to get those types of increases.
 
the standard Merc 496 is 375 hp.... the HO version is 425 hp.... not a ton of mods being done to em yet from what I see.. now 502's? everything under the sun being done to them... the rig will probably be a gen VI 502 base for quite some time...

got the exhaust touched up today... those guy's loved the rig, but they're all hotrodders like us... one guy's got a 71 Monte, the other a 65 Stang, the other a nasty fox body...
 
Stomis said:
Thats for a tuned out marine motor but the potential is there for the engine that comes in the trucks too. The stock advertised power rating is 340hp and 455ftlbs from GM but I can tell you right now if you've ever towed with one you can tell theres more there than that.
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I have towed with the 8.1 in a 03 4.11 geared, auto trans equipped Avalanche before, it didn't feel much different than my 96 7.4 Vortec 4.11/4L80 truck, but handled the trailer much worse in my opinion.
It got 9mpg, same as my 7.4, and used about a quart every 700-900 mi.
which my 7.4 didn't use quite as much at 12-1500mi/qt.
I really didn't like the avalanche for towing though, just too much sway.
 
I towed a loaded hay wagon with 200 bales with an 8.1 and an Allison, and it didn't feel like it was there...
 
DEMON44 said:
That's more a problem with the chassis it was in I think.
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So why would it be down on power so much as everyone else is thinking?
Torque management or similar control?
Just didn't feel as impressive to me as others seem to experience.

Sorry to crap up the thread Paul...
 
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