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-   -   1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap (https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=693824)

Nodnarb76 02-01-2016 11:43 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
1 Attachment(s)
Also got the dash and instrument cluster out.

Nodnarb76 02-01-2016 11:48 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
1 Attachment(s)
Also got my compressor, starter, alternator, motor mounts, ignition coils, water pump, thermostat, and my sending units for oil pressure and coolant temp.

Nodnarb76 02-01-2016 11:51 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
1 Attachment(s)
One more pic

DirtyLarry 02-02-2016 12:29 AM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Nodnarb76 (Post 7470320)
One more pic

That high mount bracket is awesome! Coming along nicely

Nodnarb76 02-06-2016 12:48 AM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
1 Attachment(s)
Got the motor in tonight!
Also got the transmission in place.

MTCK 02-06-2016 02:40 AM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
Nice work!

Nodnarb76 02-07-2016 10:44 AM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
1 Attachment(s)
Like mentioned in the above post, we got the motor and transmission in Friday night. An interesting thing we encountered when installing the motor, the Dirty dingo mounts had to be swapped left to right. When we had them bolted up like they were supposed to be installed, the motor would not go in, but as soon as we put the one labels pass side on the driver's side and vice versa, everything lined up perfect! We didin't even have to move the transmission crossmember, it went back in the stock location! Still have plenty of room up front for the electric fans too.
A couple problems have shown up, the Enytopy radiator/fan combo is a little too short, so I am deciding whether or not to send it back and get one a little taller, or try and make some spacers to lift up the Radiator a bit.
Also my new AC condenser is too narrow to go back into the stock location.

Nodnarb76 02-07-2016 10:47 AM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
1 Attachment(s)
Plenty of room in the back:

Nodnarb76 02-07-2016 10:48 AM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
1 Attachment(s)
Plenty of room up front.

COS399 02-07-2016 12:57 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
I'm in. Can't wait to see it done and see how you like it. Please be sure to post your before and after mileage. :metal: :metal:

Nodnarb76 02-07-2016 05:02 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by COS399 (Post 7477045)
I'm in. Can't wait to see it done and see how you like it. Please be sure to post your before and after mileage. :metal: :metal:

Thank you,
With the 454 TH400 combo I was getting about 9 mpg, 6 with the A/C on.
I'll be sure to post up new MPG numbers as soon as I can!

slotard 02-08-2016 12:26 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
I'm amazed that AC drops your mileage by 1/3, sounds to me like something funny was going on. Unless you run AC in town and not when on the highway or something...

Nodnarb76 02-08-2016 12:35 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
Always compared it to a newer car/truck that will loose a couple mpg when the A/C is on, never thought about it being a 1/3 drop in fuel economy. I did run it mostly on really hot days when my kids are in the truck with me and we weren't moving fast enough with the windows down to be comfortable.
Either way that is all out of my life now, the LS swap with a Saden compressor should make a noticeable difference.

slotard 02-08-2016 06:43 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
Yeah, at 20mpg I could see a 3mpg drop from AC... at 9mpg that's a TON of extra fuel. For a 100mi trip, 20 to 17 means you burn (100/17 - 100/20) = .88 gallons extra. 9 to 6 means you burn (100/6 - 100/9) = 5.6 gallons extra.

Nodnarb76 02-11-2016 11:04 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I got a promotion at work which is the good news. Bad news, I have to work an extra day a week. Now I have only one day a week to work on the truck. Sunday's are off limits, that day is for my kids.
Last week I managed to get the manifolds on at least by comming in early and working on it before work. They fit perfectly and don't touch anything.
I was a little worried, because I fliiped the motor mounts left to right that I might have issues. So far so good.
I went to take some pics only to discover my iPhone 6plus' camera is broken!
All my pics are a blurry mess. Sorry I don't have any pics.

72MARIO 02-11-2016 11:27 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
I am following along. I just picked up a 2003 LQ4 for the 1968 suburban along with the dirty dingo mounts

What manifolds are you using ?

Nodnarb76 02-11-2016 11:38 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by 72MARIO (Post 7482983)
I am following along. I just picked up a 2003 LQ4 for the 1968 suburban along with the dirty dingo mounts

What manifolds are you using ?

Sounds like a really cool project! Do you have a build thread yet? Would love to see pics.
I'm using the Hooker ls swap exhaust manifolds.

MTCK 02-12-2016 12:01 AM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
Congrats on the promotion . Keep up the good work.

72MARIO 02-12-2016 11:18 AM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=625017

Just getting started on mine.

Nodnarb76 02-13-2016 10:28 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
^Really cool suburban, anyone who hasn't checked it out yet should.^

Nodnarb76 02-17-2016 01:42 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
5 Attachment(s)
I got my IPhone camera fixed yesterday, I was able to snap some pics of the Hooker exhaust manifolds installed. Looks like I may have to trim the tabs off the transmission for the exhaust.
Also wanted to get everyone's opinion on my oil pan being so close to my crossmember. Once the motor is running and vibrating a little, I'm worried they may touch. If it does looks like I may cut a little off the crossmember for extra clearance.

Weird, from work I can post more than one pic per post.

Nodnarb76 02-17-2016 01:46 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
3 Attachment(s)
Here are a few more pics of the motor/transmission installed.

78srx440 02-17-2016 03:58 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
Great work, keep it up! Subscribed.

MTCK 02-17-2016 04:01 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
Nice progress. Looks a little cozy with the cross member. Can you move the motor / trans back a little bit using those adjustable mounts? I would rather move the rear cross member than hack the front one.

Nodnarb76 02-17-2016 04:30 PM

Re: 1987 R20 Suburban LQ4 4L80E swap
 
The motor is as far back as it can be. Like I mentioned in my earlier post, I had to swap the Dirty Dingo motor mounts left to right to get the motor in, which moved the motor forward a little. I have plenty of room everywhere else. I hate to cut into anything, but if I have to, perhaps I can shave a little off the crossmember.


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