What motor/ tranny do you run and why?

[Jessejames]

My 81 blazer has. 250 straight 6 with a turbo 300 behind it. Not what I want but what I have, so I'll run her till she pukes. Just curious what some of ya are runnin.

 

[454Sub]

454 to TH400

454 because I had it laying around, and the 350 lost compression in one cylinder. And because HP is the name of the game in mudding. The 400 came stock in my truck, and thats basically why thats there.

 

[nvrenuf]

I have run big blocks since '87, I love the power and they handle big tires easier than a typical old school sbc. A late model LS would be nice but I'm too deeply invested in big block stuff to change.

I prefer an auto (th400's) but after repetitive problems in my last truck I've switched to a 4spd. It's not as much hard throttle fun but its almost impossible to break.

 

[Jessie James]

I am going to suggest a motion to change your username to something that doesn't look so much like mine?

I said to myself "What, I don't remember starting that thread ... wats going on here... oh, it's an imposter!"

 

[chulisohombre]

355 and a sm465 trans. Old 350 was new when I got my truck and the 465 is indistructable so that'll stay. The 355 is just a good all around engine and has way too many easy upgrades to change to a big block. It founds good but I like where my power is now.

 

[4xcrazy]

'87 2wd Burb - TBI 350/700r4 (trans rebuilt)
'89 4wd Burb - TBI 350/700r4/241 (both rebuilt)
'05 2wd Avalanche - LS5.3/4l60e (both rebuilt)

all because that's what they came with, and after driving tractor trailers for the past 17ish years, I'm kind of burnt out on manual transmissions.

 

[Russell]

Duramax / ZF 6 speed manual -- Just cause I can pull it off, haha

 

[Cruz89K5]

6.0/4L80E. Bought them to swap into a K5, paid so little for the truck I rebuilt it and swapped the 1 tons under it instead of pulling the motor.

 

[plyr2k]

Tbi350/4l80e. Prior to that was tbi350/700r4. I run them because that what was in the rigs. I like the 80 for strength and the tbi350 because, for me, they've been reliable. I like autos for off road. Not as reliable, but in a full size I think they just make sense to me.

 

[sokoloka]

350 / Turbo350.

That's what came in the truck when I bought it, runs strong for now so I'll leave well enough alone. Would love to do a DuraMax with an Allison tranny down the road though.

 

[Duntz00]

305/turbo 400

The 305 is what it came from the factory with in 86 and havent got around to swapping it out, had 700r4 from factory but was afraid it would not hold up to the abuse so I sold it and put the turbo 400 in it.

 

[82355]

1982 K30 3+3 454/SM465

That's what was in it when I got it. The 4 speed pops out of second, and I have a hydraulic clutch setup for it and a 454 TBI. If I ever get around to working on this (should just cut it up and haul it to iron) it will go back together with a 454TBI/(different)SM465.

1985 K5 350/TH350

It came with a 305. I blew that up. So I put a 350 in its place. I blew that up. Then I replaced that with another 350. I've since blown that up. All the while that stupid TH350 holds on, so I haven't gotten around to replacing it with an SM465 (I was kind of looking for an SM465/NP208 combo instead of the SM465/NP205's I have). I should throw another 350 in it, or just haul it away.

1987 V10 350TBI/SM465

That's what it came with from the factory, but I blew up the original 350 and replaced it with one from a 1988 V10 Suburban. The SM465 in this thing is the smoothest shifting one I have ever been around.

1988 V10 Suburban 350 TBI/SM465

It is a far from stock 350, and it needs some more work, but I always put it off. It had a TH700R4 from the factory, but when I blew that up, I fixed it with an SM465.

1990 K5 350TBI/SM465

I bought this one this way, but it had a TH700R4 from the General.

I like the TBI engines because I have grown to hate carburetors as I get older. I also like SM465's because they don't blow up, and automatics are for girls.

Martin

 

[dirtygoat]

I have 350/t400 in all three rigs... 2 carbed, 1 propane... It's hard for me to own a stick, dislocated hip that pops in and out can't handle it for to long...

and I heard that girls like a big stick in their hands...

 

[Deuling]

400 small block bored .040 over to a 408. Because the 305 wiped some bearings and I got an awesome deal on a motor that has lots more balls and the torque i want to get up the dunes. Built 700r4 with with transgo stage 2 reprogramming kit and 2500 stall converter, just to prove that 700r4s can be built to take the abuse . And i cant multitask so sticks are a no go.

 

[greatwhitez71]

6.0/6l90e..... came in the truck

454/th400.... 1 ton crew cab, because anything else besides that or a cummins in that truck would have been pointless AND, it came in there as well.

 

[TerryD]

K5 350/700R4 Swapped in the 350 for the water-pumping 305 that was in it. Stock trans. Going to build the 700R4 up like the one in my Camaro if it ever dies.

99 Burb Vortec 5.7L/4L60E Came there, good combo. 17MPG highway

84 SC Camaro 350/700R4 ~400hp and Trans-go kit and pump kit in the tranny with Beast sun shell. Wouldn't reccomend the Beast for a street driven vehicle. Too many vibes in 3rd, bad for bearings/bushings. Going to swap in a 4L60E sun shell when I swap this driveline over to a Malibu.

89 Camaro RS TBI305/700R4 Came there, runs good enough. 27MPG highway with cruise and A/C. It's no record setter, but looks good and rides good. Retirement car now that we have 3 kids and it only has 4 seats.

98 Cherokee SE 4.0L/AX-15 5 Speed. Came there, bullet proof setup as far as Cherokees go. Did swap to a NP242 case to get the added AWD for slick roads and occasional rally type ass-hattery.

 

[diesel4me]

My 81 blazer has. 250 straight 6 with a turbo 300 behind it. Not what I want but what I have, so I'll run her till she pukes. Just curious what some of ya are runnin.

I bet you'll be dead and buried before the straight six ever peukes!...only thing they ever have go wrong is some wipe the teeth off the fiber camshaft gear at high mileage...some had aluminum cam gears to avoid that possibility...I owned several 250 straight sixes,though the ones I had were the later "integral head" versions,that were not as good as the old ones..one I had was a 75 Blazer 2wd,it had a integral head with a one barrel carb...it never did run smoothly,I had to fiddle with the APT screw in the carb to get it to accelerate right and not surge at part throttle,they were set up too lean for emissions and many spark knocked themselves to death........................................................................................................the other 2 sixes I had in a '79 C-10 Bonannza and my 81 G-10 van were both integeral head versions with the crappy 2 bbl Rochester E2SE carb,that was basically a Q-jet sawed in two....other than the crappy carbs though,those engines were pretty dependable and did OK as far as hauling a big tank around...the 307 V8 I put in my van had less balls than the 250 I yanked out!..The Bonnanza eventually lost the ring lands on the #6 piston a few years after I put a Edelbrock 4 bbl on it,but I blame the failure on the original carb,that made it spark knock all its life...it ran perfectly with the Edelbrock right up until the day it started blowing oil out the tailpipe and it still got me home 15 miles without having to tow it,though it wasnt much good by the time I pulled into my driveway.............................................................................................I put a 305 in it and wasn't that impressed with it,I liked the six better,more low end torque..it did go better at highway speeds than the six though,and the fuel mileage didn't suffer any,the sixes aren't any better on gas than V8's really....too much weight for the engine size makes for less MPG I guess..................................................................................................If I had my way ,both my plow trucks would have straight sixes,a 292 would be the best,but any of them would be OK with me,I dont go far with my trucks and shun the interstates,and I'd rather have a simple engine thats easy to fix anything wrong on it ,than some big V8 crammed in there you cant reach anything on...I think my favorite straight six chevy engine was the 235 I had in my '56 3200 series pickup...that thing pulled like a 454,you could lug it down to 10 mph in third gear and step on the gas,and it would just pull,no bucking,no spark knock,and it did fairly well on fuel considering it had 4:56 gears and it screamed at 55 mph....................................................................................................I have had all kinds of V8 chevys--283,307,327,350,400 SB,454's,and though I never had all that much grief with any of them,I now must be showing my age,by prefering a "simple" straight six over all of them...dont get me wrong though,I'd still want a 454 if I had to tow,or the truck is a 1 ton or bigger...I did drive a C-60 with a 292 in it once,it was not exactly the ideal powerplant for a 2-1/2 ton truck,but it did get the job done..........................I have had more GM trannies go sour on me than anything else...seems like all of them have their weaknesses,even the SM465's...I've had the best luck with TH400's,I think I've had broken or had one of every other automatic and standard croak on me ,but no Turbo 400's yet...a plow truck with a straight six/TH400 would be a pretty tough drivetrain to kill....I dont like standards for plowing,my "clutch" leg doesn't like pushing the pedal in a million times during a plow session,and reverse is way too slow...and clutches dont last long either,a year or two if your lucky,if you do a lot of snow pushing...

 

[wasted wages]

454 H.O. / T400

BBC ..... because there is no substitute for cubic inches....

T400..... still easy to find.....strong....dependable.....easy to build...and I'm too lazy to swap in a SM465...which is what I really want...

 

[raymos]

I've got a 454/700r4/208 going in my blazer cause that's what was in the parts rig I got for cheap

 

[boz42]

Stroked 500 Cadillac in the crawler. I chose it 'cause it wieghs 100 lbs less than a BBC & outta the box has 45 more cubic inches.