8.1 Vortec for the project.....

[SunSoaked]

Local Craigslist ad ....Hmmmm,,should I?

"I'm selling a 8.1 vortec running engine with 93,000 miles. Came out of a 2001 sierra 2500. $800 obo"

[69GWC]

I know that would end up in my 69, that would be a great project.. lol.

Plenty of lowend torque right there, got something to stick it in.?
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[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by SunSoaked

Local Craigslist ad ....Hmmmm,,should I?

"I'm selling a 8.1 vortec running engine with 93,000 miles. Came out of a 2001 sierra 2500. $800 obo"

That is a good deal, even though it is a filthy pig. You will like the L18! Nothing like having big HP and Torque in one package plus they are an easier swap than a cute little LS engine

You have a lot of work ahead of you though. Here are my recommendations:

- Remove the EGR valve and pipe to the exhaust manifold then obtain an EGR plate cover from a 2004-2010 8.1L. The EGR valve as it sits might interfere with the firewall, plus the valve and exhaust tube are just outright ugly.

- If you are running A/C, remove the front accessory brackets and replace them with 2001-2002 G-van, pieces in order to move the A/C compressor up high on the driver’s side. The A/C compressor on the Silverado/Sierra 8.1L in your picture will required unnecessary frame hacking. Don’t be that guy that hacks up a frame!

- Take the electric throttle body off and run as quickly as you can with it to the nearest trash can and drop it in there then replace it with a 1996-2000 L29 7.4L mechanic throttle body. The L29 TB will require a 1” TB spacer to allow room for the cable arm to swing. There is also a later model plastic engine cover and oil fill tube that moves oil fill further to the passenger’s side which allows room for the throttle cable to pass. Look at my 8.1L swap pictures in my signature to see what I am taking about.

- Remove the exhaust manifolds that are on it now and chuck them. They will not fit your frame without major hacking. The 8.1L will accept any exhaust manifold or header from any old big block. I run 80’s 454 manifolds on my 8.1L.

- Replace the Crank Sensor in the rear of the engine before you install it in the truck. Once it is in the truck, you will not have enough room to replace the CKP sensor. The engine in your picture is an early 8.1L with the horrible CKP design. Chances are it is not original and already replaced with the second design. To be safe, replace it again!

- Howell Engine Developments builds a great harness for an 8.1L as well as ECM tuning. Recommend tuning out the EGR Valve, Torque Management, and Electronic Throttle control. Their 8.1L hot tune is good for around 425HP/555 lb ft of torque as they told me when I did my 8.1L swap.

- The 8.1L you have is also an early one where it will have an adjustable fuel pressure regulator. Once it is running, bump the fuel pressure up to about 67-68 psi at idle. 8.1L's love higher fuel pressure over what is documented. Vrooommmm!!

As you get closer to fixing this thing up let me know as I have all of the part numbers you will need.

Hoping to get started on another 8.1L swap soon as well. This time the Polar Bear Burb is getting infused with one. I love that engine! IMHO, it is the best all around truck engine GM ever built. It pulls like a diesel but has hot rod horsepower too boot.

[DirtyLarry]

Whoops, looks like my L18 swap pictures are not in my signature anymore. Here you go.

I installed my L18 in 2008. The first year I ran it on a Delphi MEFI-4 ECM (Ramjet 502/Marine) with a tweaked marine calibration running speed density calculation. I did not like the way it ran so I converted it to a P59 ECM (typical GM ECM used on 2000-2006 GM vehicles) and Howell Harness with MAF. Much better! That said, you will see a small ECM and a tiny harness in the earlier pictures in the picture set. Those have been removed from the truck years ago.

[SunSoaked]

Dang Larry, that sounds like a lot of work and not much of a "drop in". I have a stand alone edelbrock pro-flo I was thinking of using on it. It's 1000cfm and edelbrock will burn me a new chip. From the basic tune on the chip, it's all adjustable from the control module.

Other than an intake/exhaust manifolds it should be plug and play. Only thing I'm not sure of is the coil packs. I don't know if the pro-flo will work with them.

This motor might be overkill for how I'm using the truck, but seeing that 8.1 locally for what seems like a decent price has got me thinking

[DirtyLarry]

Oh, boy… You won’t be putting an Edlebrock or any other intake on a L18 8.1L. The only intake that fits an L18 is what it was born with. The engine is similar to older big blocks but yet is entirely different, especially in the heads and intake. You can’t even swap heads form an older big block to an L18 as the water jackets and head bolts are entirely different plus the heads are taller. In fact, the intake is dry with no coolant passing through it at all and each head has 2 additional head bolts than older big blocks. Really, to do an L18 swap right it is a $1500 to $2500 date not including the acquisition cost of the engine itself. You better pass on this Craigslist deal and let someone else go after it

View of the differences in intake ports between older BB and the L18

[dieseldawg142]

Originally Posted by DirtyLarry

Oh, boy… You won’t be putting an Edlebrock or any other intake on a L18 8.1L. The only intake that fits an L18 is what it was born with. The engine is similar to older big blocks but yet is entirely different, especially in the heads and intake. You can’t even swap heads form an older big block to an L18 as the water jackets and head bolts are entirely different plus the heads are taller. In fact, the intake is dry with no coolant passing through it at all and each head has 2 additional head bolts than older big blocks. Really, to do an L18 swap right it is a $1500 to $2500 date not including the acquisition cost of the engine itself. You better pass on this Craigslist deal and let someone else go after it

View of the differences in intake ports between older BB and the L18

$1500-$2500? jeez, makes me wish i dropped that $3500 for my pro flo on an 8.1 swap instead!

[Zoomad75]

Go with the 8.1. There is NO replacement for displacement. Look at it this way, the 8.1 used in the RV was pulling rigs with GVW's of 24,000 to 26,000 pounds. I've driven many of them in the mountains loaded at or near GVW and pulled up 6%+ grades at the speed limit. They pull like a locomotive. It's darn near bulletproof as long as you keep an eye on the fluids like Larry said. We replaced 3 RV 8.1's at our shop 2 summers ago common point of failure was lack of coolant causing them to overheat and cook themselves to death. Had they just kept an eye on it I wouldn't have had to replace them.

I've commented before about how Larry's truck runs with the 8.1. Let's just say the truck goes faster that anything that big should. That's coming from me seeing his tailights disappear up the hill in front of me and my wheezy 350 trying to keep up with him. Riding shotgun I've seen him pass cars accelerating from 65 to 75 without ever downshifting. On the flip side, the 8.1 has so much torque down low it can idle over just about any thing he comes up to off road. It's about as close to having your cake and eating it too you can get. You could say Larry eats a lot of cake. It's a wonder he isn't a big guy like me!

8.1's aren't the cheapest to swap but probably are the best kept secret for brute power/torque without all the issues of going to a diesel. No 6.0 LS engine can build this kind of power without a lot of help and still do it so low in the RPM band. That's where the big displacement really shines.

[dieseldawg142]

man larry, where do you get those pic's!? for the want of just one of them 8.1. it would be perfect in my 4 ton honey

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by dieseldawg142

man larry, where do you get those pic's!? for the want of just one of them 8.1. it would be perfect in my 4 ton honey

Can’t say but, we’ll just say I went down to the factory and snapped a few pictures myself.

[Zoomad75]

Originally Posted by DirtyLarry

Can’t say but, we’ll just say I went down to the factory and snapped a few pictures myself.

Nice Johnny Cash reference!

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by Zoomad75

Nice Johnny Cash reference!

Ya, hehe.....Johnny was the first thing that came to mind on this topic Wasn't sure anybody would make the "Piece At a Time" connection with that statement.

[ryanroo]

all this talk has me really considering an L18 for my jeep now. it has an old TBI 454 but id love to step up. ive been idly toying with a 6BT swap, but i do like my BBC... plus, i dont need no stinkin a/c, and already have some headers that work.

do the taller heads equal taller overall height? it looks like a shorter VC is used. that is my biggest clearance issue in the M715

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

all this talk has me really considering an L18 for my jeep now. it has an old TBI 454 but id love to step up. ive been idly toying with a 6BT swap, but i do like my BBC... plus, i dont need no stinkin a/c, and already have some headers that work.

do the taller heads equal taller overall height? it looks like a shorter VC is used. that is my biggest clearance issue in the M715

Heck ya, go for it! It is a lot easier swap than a Cummins and you would have more power than an old 12V Cummins without the crazy amount of weight over the front axle, stench of diesel and the brain rattling noise. The only thing you wouldn't get is 20 MPG

Correct, the valve cover is actually shorter so the overall height is the same as older big blocks. Dimensionally, it is same footprint as the L29 Vortec 7.4L it replaced.

Here are some poorly scanned engineering dimensions. The dimensions are in metric. This is a Silverado/Sierra application so the accessory brackets are not the same I use.

[SunSoaked]

For the record, the Edelbrock Pro-Flo uses all GM Parts except for the manifold which is as good or better than the GM unit (GM probably sourced it from an aftermarket OE anyway).

I can buy any piece of it from any local parts store. Durability wise, I can't see an OE system being any better than the Pro-Flo.

Everybody has brand sentimental to some extent.

[SunSoaked]

And...

I want a daily driver that I can afford to put fuel in. I'm not looking to pull an 8000 lb trailer over the pass as I blow by the winnebagos .

Yes, I agree bigger is better-if thats all that matters. These guys that brag about getting 10 MPG with thier 454's must have more cash laying around than I do.

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by SunSoaked

For the record, the Edelbrock Pro-Flo uses all GM Parts except for the manifold which is as good or better than the GM unit (GM probably sourced it from an aftermarket OE anyway).

I can buy any piece of it from any local parts store. Durability wise, I can't see an OE system being any better than the Pro-Flo.

Everybody has brand sentimental to some extent.

Originally Posted by SunSoaked

And...

I want a daily driver that I can afford to put fuel in. I'm not looking to pull an 8000 lb trailer over the pass as I blow by the winnebagos .

Yes, I agree bigger is better-if thats all that matters. These guys that brag about getting 10 MPG with thier 454's must have more cash laying around than I do.

True, sort of…. Edelbrock probably uses the same supplier base (mainy Delphi) or at least Chinese equivalents, for injectors and sensors as GM. The Edelbrock ECM is not an automotive production piece and I very seriously doubt Edelbrock has millions of test miles and hours into durability testing their ECMs. ProFlo is probably a decent piece for running around town but I wouldn’t rely on Edelbrock, Holley, MSD or any of the aftermarket electronic modules for travels out in the boonies.

You know, I had a 2005 Silverado HD with a 6.0L and it got the same mileage as the 8.1L. In fact, the 6.0L got worse mileage when it had a trailer behind it. Not sure what kind of mileage you expect you are going to get out of your project regardless what engine you use. If fuel mileage is a big concern for you, you picked a horrible hobby to be in my friend

[ryanroo]

I get 12 with my 454! and my drive to work truck is a 460 BBF. it gets 12-14!

i am using a 12v cummins in my new DD K20. it should get 20+. that way mosesburb isnt the only cool guy around....

but i would still love an 8.1 in the jeep. i think it would be just about perfect with my gearing and NV4500. ill just tow it with the K20 so i can have the best of both!

i just need to see if i can measure 370 mm from the crank CL to the heaterbox on my jeep with my imperial tape....

thanks for the info Larry

looks like a little extra height might be a deal breaker. but i have a nice big hammer, so i can make it work...



Ryan

[69GWC]

6.0L getting over 14mpg would be something mine got 11/12 NEVER would EVER get 17/18 thats to funny, my 5.3 wont do that unless i baby it.
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[Mr. 250r]

I've never seen a motor that dirty unless it was used for mudding and then you know its been abused for me it goes diesel for towing, small block for everything else lol but it has to be a 24v as well

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by 69GWC

6.0L getting over 14mpg would be something mine got 11/12 NEVER would EVER get 17/18 thats to funny, my 5.3 wont do that unless i baby it.
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The right tires, tune and an easy foot and speed less than 65mph. elevation has a lot to do with it. i was in the san luis valley when i got that. ~7500ft. i was on my way to SoDak, and as soon as i dropped out of the elevation and got into west kansas, possibly the flattest part of the world, i was back at 14-16 depending on the road i was on. it was also early spring, but after the winter fuel.

Ryan