Jesse OBrien Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 I just found a great deal on a '94 Suburban engine/tranny/ecu combo (the vehicle is totaled, and is being towed off tomorrow). I've been looking for a new engine for awhile, and this seems like a perfect opportunity. The trouble is that I'm not sure what's involved in the swap. Currently, I have a blown 283 installed. I'm pretty sure I'd have to fabricate new motor mounts and tranny mounts. I'm not sure if my fuel lines would need to be replaced, or if any other unexpected changes will need to be made. My primary concerns are: motor mounts fuel lines + pump (mechanical pump on the engine currently) electrical (my electrical system is VERY simple right now) transmission mounts (going from a turbo 400 to a 700r4 vertical fitment (will I need to cowl the hood for this? I'm strongly considering fabricating and installing ITBs and getting a cam for this engine, but I wanted to come by and have some people yell at me for not searching first. By the way, I did search, and got way too many results that weren't directly related to what I'm doing, so I decided to ask. I believe this engine is an lm7? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerminator96 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Motor mounts should be fine. They are both GenI SBC motors unless there is some difference I am unaware of. Would you need new mounts if you swapped in a '71 350? An intake swap would fix any clearance issues, if there are any. My biggest concern would be the electrical. You are going from carbed to OBDI era fuel injected. Then again, you could always just carb it and keep everything the same. Edit: Oh, and I wouldn't waste time and money on the ITB unless you are just doing it for the looks. Odds are good you won't get any gains over a decently designed single throttle-body intake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse OBrien Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 Oh, I'm very well aware of the ITBs being only for sound (not looks). It's still worth it. I did a bit more research and found out that the suburban probably won't take my edelbrock performer intake manifold and carb (which is a huge disappointment) and that it's a tbi motor (only four injectors, i think... works similarly to a car). I'd have to add an o2 sensor to the exhaust, which could be problematic since my I essentially have two seperate exhaust systems. The mounts I have would work for a '71, if the mounts haven't changed 'till after '94, I should be set. As far as the electrical, I can take EVERYTHING out of the suburban and use the ecu and wiring harness from that. That would essentially mean that I'd be running two entirely seperate wiring harnesses, though. One for the body and one for the engine. I suppose it's not all that different from stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerminator96 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Oh, I'm very well aware of the ITBs being only for sound (not looks). It's still worth it. I did a bit more research and found out that the suburban probably won't take my edelbrock performer intake manifold and carb (which is a huge disappointment) and that it's a tbi motor (only four injectors, i think... works similarly to a car). I'd have to add an o2 sensor to the exhaust, which could be problematic since my I essentially have two seperate exhaust systems. The mounts I have would work for a '71, if the mounts haven't changed 'till after '94, I should be set. As far as the electrical, I can take EVERYTHING out of the suburban and use the ecu and wiring harness from that. That would essentially mean that I'd be running two entirely seperate wiring harnesses, though. One for the body and one for the engine. I suppose it's not all that different from stock. The GenI SBC didn't change much more than bore and stroke from 1955 through 1995, except for switching to a roller cam in '86. I would assume your intake would work fine but if it didn't you can pick up another one fairly cheap. I would strongly encourage you to go carb with that motor for simplicity sake, but if you must go TBI then just make sure you get everything from the suburban, right down to the O2 sensors (they're expensive and you need 2).I have never heard of the TBI having 4 injectors, I guess that it's batch fire? Not sure what you mean by 'works similarly to a car' as the TBI motor was put in all kinds of cars and trucks for about a decade with little variety between them. Then again the LT1 and LS1 are more my area of expertise.On a side note I doubt that a ITB intake will change the sound of your car significantly. Most of what you hear is the exhaust, and that sound is largely dictated by firing order.Hope I've been of some help, by the way this should really be in the GenI & GenII sbc section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockerstar Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Pretty sure he meant "works similarly to a carb". I'd ditch the TBI and go with the carbed set up or look for a new engine and go with fuel injection. Any chance of moving the blower over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse OBrien Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 The GenI SBC didn't change much more than bore and stroke from 1955 through 1995, except for switching to a roller cam in '86. I would assume your intake would work fine but if it didn't you can pick up another one fairly cheap. I would strongly encourage you to go carb with that motor for simplicity sake, but if you must go TBI then just make sure you get everything from the suburban, right down to the O2 sensors (they're expensive and you need 2).I have never heard of the TBI having 4 injectors, I guess that it's batch fire? Not sure what you mean by 'works similarly to a car' as the TBI motor was put in all kinds of cars and trucks for about a decade with little variety between them. Then again the LT1 and LS1 are more my area of expertise.On a side note I doubt that a ITB intake will change the sound of your car significantly. Most of what you hear is the exhaust, and that sound is largely dictated by firing order.Hope I've been of some help, by the way this should really be in the GenI & GenII sbc section. I thought the 94 was Gen3 not Gen2, honest mistake. I'm a big fan of carb, the only reason I was considering EFI was to do ITBs. If it's easy to toss a carb on this motor, I'm all for it. I believe they were all 4bolt mains, and unless I'm mistaken they were all aluminum blocks. I've got a great edlebrock quadrajet-style carb that I'm pretty fond of that was on my 283, and I THINK it'll flow enough for a 350. We've been throwing out a lot of anagrams here, so here's a quick legend for anyone who doesn't get what we're discussing: TBI = Throttle Body Intake ITB = Independent Throttle Bodies SBC = Small Block Chevy EFI = Electronic Fuel Injection Pretty sure he meant "works similarly to a carb". I'd ditch the TBI and go with the carbed set up or look for a new engine and go with fuel injection. Any chance of moving the blower over? Yes, I meant carb not car. I'm comfortable with carbed setups, but I'm not sure if I'd need a different manifold than I have now. I'll have to do some research, I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete84 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 I believe that motor is a LO5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Small-Block_engine#L05 It is still a Gen I, not II. I can't imagine why it would not work with a SBC Edelbrock manifold. What CFM / model is that carb of yours? Beyond a new camshaft, what else are you willing to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerminator96 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Ah carb, not car, that makes more sense. I think you're right, it's just four injectors over a carb style throttle-body. Don't worry about the efi stuff, unless it's free then take it and resell it. If you want to do ITB you will have to fabricate your own efi setup anyway and I doubt that ECU will be able to control it.The motor is a GenI, not GenII. GenII was the LT1/LT4/L99. Believe it or not GenI, GenII, and GenIII motors were all produced and put in GM vehicles in 1997. Your motor will most likely be a 2 bolt main and it will definitely be an iron block.Funny thing about the slang terms we have been using. In your first post you said you had a blown 283, which I was thinking you meant a 283 with a supercharger, but now I'm guessing you mean it's blown up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse OBrien Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 I ended up not getting the engine (it was already sold when I showed up) but the seller felt bad and has a friend who owns a wrecking yard that he's going to put me in contact with on Monday. I believe that motor is a LO5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Small-Block_engine#L05 It is still a Gen I, not II. I can't imagine why it would not work with a SBC Edelbrock manifold. What CFM / model is that carb of yours? Beyond a new camshaft, what else are you willing to do? I'm not entirely sure, but I think this carb is a 500cfm. I have some pictures of the specific model here somewhere, I'll try to dig them up. Ah carb, not car, that makes more sense. I think you're right, it's just four injectors over a carb style throttle-body. Don't worry about the efi stuff, unless it's free then take it and resell it. If you want to do ITB you will have to fabricate your own efi setup anyway and I doubt that ECU will be able to control it.The motor is a GenI, not GenII. GenII was the LT1/LT4/L99. Believe it or not GenI, GenII, and GenIII motors were all produced and put in GM vehicles in 1997. Your motor will most likely be a 2 bolt main and it will definitely be an iron block.Funny thing about the slang terms we have been using. In your first post you said you had a blown 283, which I was thinking you meant a 283 with a supercharger, but now I'm guessing you mean it's blown up? Yeah, it really helps when I use the right words and don't randomly drop letters. The 283 was pretty much destroyed, not supercharged, so I'm looking for a replacement motor. Craigslist has been good to me thus far, so I'm going to make some more calls today to see what I can find cheaply. I found out that the earlier (GenI at least) SBC engines had the water jacket in the intake manifold, which would make my ITB plans next to impossible. If I end up going LS1 or LT1 I'll probably fab something up, but for now I just want the car back on the street. I'll post on my next great find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerminator96 Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Don't give up on ITBs because of water passages. Just get the intake flanges and weld a couple of pipes between them for the water to flow through. If you can fab an ITB setup for that motor you can certainly play connect the dots with coolant passages.When your looking for a motor to avoid any confusion as to what's Gen I II or III just stick to anything pre 92 or just pre 98 Vortec engines. That will ensure a direct swap and ease of adding a carb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragefear Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 well another difference is that carb heads hold a different bolt pattern to the intake manifold. So you would have also had to change the heads in order to use your carb equipment. Sounds like it would have been a big pain anyway. I think your best bet would be to find an already built motor and snag one of them up. One went on thirdgen.org for 2K, 400hp TPI motor. Look around all the chevy forums, camaros, off roading, anything that is related to a v8 and you might find something, also try craigslist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse OBrien Posted July 15, 2008 Author Share Posted July 15, 2008 I ended up getting a generic 350 for cheap. Even came with a nice Rochester Quadrajet. I also did a bunch of gutting and removing of extras. More info here for anyone who wants to follow up: http://madnessmanual.com/2008/07/15/anger-project-upgrades-to-a-570z/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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