Need your input on my 1989 V2500 LQ4 4l80e swap

dirtyweekendrig

New member
Hi I've been lurking around the site for a few years with the intention of buying a ford excursion and modify it to be able to enjoy the outdoors and sleep in it and eventually get a roof top tent etc etc... Well I happened to get my 1989 V2500 for free from my gf's parents(original owners) because they bought a few new cars and ran out of room to store/park it and also because it would't pass emissions anymore but it was quickly taken cared of after I welded a new catalytic converter on it.

I have a 2004 2500hd 2wd silverado as a donor car for my swap and has everything as far drive train goes. I have seen several swap threads about lsx swaps but I would like to know what you guys would salvage from the donor truck to this suburban. I'm thinking about using the 14 bolt rear end with the disk breaks but I'm not sure if it'll be worth transferring all the abs stuff, not sure if I should keep the old ac from the suburban or keep the one that it's already in the silverado, I have rear ac on the suburban so I don't know what are the pros and cons in this case. Any other ideas are greatly appreciated, I'm sure I'm missing something else I can use on the suburban.

I'm probably going to rebuild the engine and transmission since the truck already had 120k miles and I'm not sure how well it was maintained. The suburban only has 95k milles LOL and it's in great shape for an 89. I know you'll want pics so I'll snap a few pics later and post them as soon as I figure out how to post them on here. I might keep all the progress pics on this thread or make a new one, time will tell. thanks in advance guys!!! :)
 

superbuickguy

Explorer
There are two considerations, how much do you want to spend, and how far to you want to go in doing the swap. The similarities between the two drive trains is as follows: it uses a drive shaft, and the transmission mount is the same. What isn't the same:
1) the throttle
2) the motor mounts
3) the radiator
4) the a/c system (though you can adapt the system to the evaporator, realistically, it's even different because the new one uses 134a)
5) the computers
6) the dash

A lot of people find it's easier to swap absolutely everything and do the metal/interior work to make the later dash cluster work in the V2500. The literally means swapping every bit of wire from the 2004 to the 1989. Alternatively, you can swap the 89 body onto the 04 frame then do all the swapping inside as well.

There are easier ways, but all of them cost money.

Question for you - what do you want to achieve with the swap? I presume your 89 has a TBI 350 in it that is literally a head-change away from excellent power and torque (the 89 used ramp heads that lead to the the vortec heads - put the vortec heads with an intake and the tbi, and you'll have similar power and mpg as the 6.0 liter).

If you just want to swap the transmission, it does require either a different torque converter (at $400), or an adapter to move the transmission back ~1/2" and a controller from any of the aftermarket companies. Again, what do you want to achieve? The 700r4 from that generation weren't that bad - they got a bad rep that were fixed by 1989, and it's not computer controlled - which to many is one less thing to go wrong.
 

Larry

Bigassgas Explorer
Buickguy,

histerical.gif
You’re way overboard with what is required to drop a late model engine into an older rig. It is not nearly that involved and a body swap would really be a foolish move that would require a lot more work with an questionable outcome in the end. Where people go wrong with these swaps is they try to use the harness that came from the donor vehicle where the engine came from, which using a donor harness will cause more problems and retrofit challenges than the money saved to just buy a brand new stand-alone harness. The best way to go about these is to use a stand-alone harness from a vendor like Howell Engine Development that is plug and play. A vendor like Howell can also do any special ECM tuning to meet whatever needs the customer wants. With that there is no need to mess with swapping absolutely everything and do the metal/interior work to make the later dash cluster work. In fact, it is not even required to rig up the electronic throttle as an older cable driven throttle body from an early 6.0L can be used.

Where Dirtyweekendrig may run into a challenge is with emissions if he lives in CA. If that is the case, he should really start speaking with a CARB emissions coach before starting this to find out exactly how to go about it legally. Outside of that, a 2004 6.0/4L80E swap into an 89 Burb would be a cake walk. Even the current 32 spline 241 that is behind the existing TH400 in his burb now will bolt right up to the 2004 4L80E.

I’m running a 2002 Vortec 8.1L in my ’78 K10. The engine runs on its own harness and the gauges still run on the original ’78 harness. Same with the wiring to the A/C. The throttle body is a cable operated unit from a L29 Vortec 7.4L then Howell custom tuned the ECM to turn off EGR, turn off Torque Management, turn off electronic throttle, turn off downstream o2’s, and add a performance tune. There was no hacking stuff up to retrofit harnesses and clusters from the donor into the ’78 truck. I’m getting ready to do a 2005 8.1L swap into my ’89 V2500 Suburban this winter using the same recipe as when I built the K10. In addition, a buddy and I also doing a 5.3L into his ’91 K5 although that one is a little different in that it will be running on a MEFI-4 marine/RamJet ECM and harness because we already have that ECM and harness on hand. These late model engine swaps are not that difficult, definitely much easier than a body swap for crying out loud. Little things like A/C are not difficult either to 134A is not an issue either. My ’78 and ’89 have been converted to 134A years ago.

Dirtyweekend, Do some research on coloradok5 and the http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/ forum. There is no shortage of quality Gen III swap threads going on there. Some guys go way to overboard by using donor harnesses while others do it right and invest in stand-alone harnesses. If you do it right, you can be into one of these swaps for $2000 (or less) outside the cost of the engine (installation parts usually cost more than the engine/trans itself).

Hope to have this 2005 (with 2002 valve covers) 8.1L in my burb this winter.
14958346222_7c78dbc651_c.jpg



I installed this 8.1L in my K10 back in 2008. It has about 30,000 miles on it since the swap.
4202432466_159da99f8d_z.jpg
 

superbuickguy

Explorer
You know what I love the most about Expo Forum? It's that some OP will go a week without anyone responding to his post asking for help on his project; but the moment someone answers him there's 20 people who are right there to totally disagree with the only person who responded to the OP.

If you had really read my post, you would have noticed the "there are more expensive options" line - and thought "wow, he could buy a ecm tune, or he could get a stand alone harness, or...." and your post could have been helpful - instead it's mostly troll.

You have an opinion, post it, but don't argue with my opinion... it'll make life much happier for both of us.
 

clandr1

Adventurer
My free advice (worth what you paid for it):
Swap the motor and tranny
Swap the 14 bolt if it is a full floater (you'll need a new proportioning valve for rear discs, but those can be had pretty easily)
Don't transfer ABS (if you want ABS, see if you can buy factory ABS parts for a '90 or '91 suburban or K5 and integrate them)
.

Go to www.ck5.com and pay $25 membership for full site access. There are gobs of threads and plenty of information on a LS swap in an old squarebody.
 

Larry

Bigassgas Explorer
histerical.gif
Not everybody has the time to be on the forum everyday and reply to every thread. Sorry to hurt your feelers
 

dirtyweekendrig

New member
You know what I love the most about Expo Forum? It's that some OP will go a week without anyone responding to his post asking for help on his project; but the moment someone answers him there's 20 people who are right there to totally disagree with the only person who responded to the OP.

If you had really read my post, you would have noticed the "there are more expensive options" line - and thought "wow, he could buy a ecm tune, or he could get a stand alone harness, or...." and your post could have been helpful - instead it's mostly troll.

You have an opinion, post it, but don't argue with my opinion... it'll make life much happier for both of us.


Thanks for your input, sorry I didn't check my thread earlier today last time I checked my thread yesterday it was getting buried after 60+ views and no hits. I have considered both scenarios but it's a 2WD truck with a longer wheelbase so even though it sounds good at first to swap bodies I decided not to so I'm going the other option you mentioned in your first post.
 

dirtyweekendrig

New member
Thanks Larry, I live in the Phoenix AZ area, I have been following your build threads for a while and obviously polar bear is my favorite I'm so jealous you were able to find a manual transmission equipped suburban, I've considered a LQ4/T56/241 combo in the past because I have a spare T56 from a previous project but... I would have to buy/build an adapter and I found a new home for it in my new 99 firebird and event though I hate automatics I think I would live and as you said earlier it just bolts up to my existing 32 spline NP241 transfer case and all I would have to do is slide the transmission mount back and adjust the length of my drive shafts. This Suburban will be getting hand me down performance parts from my Corvette and Firebird (They are both 99 and Metallic blue haha)
 

dirtyweekendrig

New member
I did consider just swapping transmissions (NV4500, T56, and 4l80) but I figure I could use the drivetrain of the donor truck that I already had before I got the suburban.
 

dirtyweekendrig

New member
Thanks! I will check if it's a full floater and I have checked the CK5 forum I think I will finally just pay the membership price and absorb as mush info as possible from there too.
 

clandr1

Adventurer
Thanks! I will check if it's a full floater and I have checked the CK5 forum I think I will finally just pay the membership price and absorb as mush info as possible from there too.

Trust me, the info you can get out of that site is well worth $25. I learned a TON of info there when I first picked up my Jimmy in 2010.
 

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