Craigslist sanity check: 4L80e + 5.7L SBC 350

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by 1project2many

It looks ok. What is not working?

Haven't tried to start it yet. Right now I'm just trying not to blow myself or the engine up

[tmoble]

any GM distributor that came on an EFI engine won't work because it will have no advance mechanism at all. Best bet is one of the GMPP HEIs. They're usable out of the box and last forever. Just leave all the GM electronic components in place. No 80,000V coils or multi-whatever modules.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by tmoble

any GM distributor that came on an EFI engine won't work because it will have no advance mechanism at all. Best bet is one of the GMPP HEIs. They're usable out of the box and last forever. Just leave all the GM electronic components in place. No 80,000V coils or multi-whatever modules.

ok, ordered the HEI and some new wires. Have to head out on business for a couple weeks so I may not get to try all these goodies until I get back. Entry to the house is starting to look like the back of a UPS truck. I'm running out of excuses for why there are so many boxes coming for the "piece of junk" in the garage

[AZbent]

And I thought I was the only that had a piece of junk in the garage. I asked my wife for birthday gift ideas for her, "Get the POS out of the garage." Well, that gift is officially off of the list now.

[gigamanx]

Anyone have a suggested part number for the oil pan? I just put the oil cooler eliminator on and it reminded me that I need to get a more streamlined oil pan for the lowered truck.

[gigamanx]

Quick fire up of the engine with the new intake and HEI. Sounded pretty sweet before running out of fuel. I wasn't running a fuel pump yet. The test was mostly to make sure I wanted to spend the rest of the money to finish out the build.

In hind sight, this was not a budget conscious thing to do. When all is said and done, I think I'll be about $2500 into the engine. Probably should have looked for a rebuilt v8 or at least an engine that already had the carbureted setup. The upside, I got to learn much more about engines than I thought and the new knowledge is priceless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDZxpoH_5DU

[gigamanx]

Another $700 in parts on the way. Had to get a torque converter for the transmission, replacing the rusty water pump and spark plugs, S10 V8 headers from Hedman, and a fuel pump. Once all that is in place, I'll see where I'm at with the build. I know I'll need some tubing to connect up the water pump, but that won't be needed until I drop the engine/trans combo back into the engine bay. I still haven't decided on how to mount the power steering and alternator. I could go one of two ways... switch to a V-belt setup and run them separately, or get the parts I need for a serpentine system. Any preferences or suggestions out there? For serpentine, I'm mostly worried about the lack of wheels I have on the engine right now and the routing for the belt. Most systems I've seen have an AC pump, idler wheel, and tensioner.

Would suggest getting the JEGS headers because they come with mounting hardware and gasket. Other sites (rhymes with Schmummit) I looked up only had the headers.

I've seen a few S10s on craigslist lately that had a V8 swap and sometimes air ride suspension already installed. They are a bit more expensive at $3000-$4000 but man, in hindsight, that doesn't seem like such a bad deal if the engine and transmission are good. Engine parts seem to depreciate faster than used underwear.

[joedoh]

dont beat yourself up too badly, when asked what you wanted out of the project in the beginning you said v8 and air ride.

if it makes you feel better, I spent more on getting my 4.3 running correctly than a good replacement engine would have cost from the salvage. its called the "run mother fu$%&er, why wont you RUN?" snowball where just one more part is all it ever needs. I picked up the metric air cleaner wingnut today and still only have about 3 one-more parts to buy.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by joedoh

dont beat yourself up too badly, when asked what you wanted out of the project in the beginning you said v8 and air ride.

if it makes you feel better, I spent more on getting my 4.3 running correctly than a good replacement engine would have cost from the salvage. its called the "run mother fu$%&er, why wont you RUN?" snowball where just one more part is all it ever needs. I picked up the metric air cleaner wingnut today and still only have about 3 one-more parts to buy.

That's true! I did want V8 and air ride. The goal was to do it in pieces though instead of trying to do the whole truck at once haha. The more I spend, the more I end up leaning towards just doing it all once and being done with it. When I stare at the bare frame, I start seeing all the things that need to be done: suspension, bushings, steering, engine mounts, core mount, do I paint the frame, do I get the right wheels, on and on. I don't know how many times I want to take all the sheet metal off to work on the next step.

I was definitely at a crossroads the past few weeks where I had to decide if I was going to finish at any cost or cut my losses and leave the project. I have learned a TON over the last year and even enjoy my own commentary on this thread from 5 pages ago.

Since parts are showing up, I guess I've decided.

[Daze57]

"Get the POS out of the garage."

so i did ! shes living with someone else now !!! - the truck is still here

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by joedoh

dont beat yourself up too badly, when asked what you wanted out of the project in the beginning you said v8 and air ride.

if it makes you feel better, I spent more on getting my 4.3 running correctly than a good replacement engine would have cost from the salvage. its called the "run mother fu$%&er, why wont you RUN?" snowball where just one more part is all it ever needs. I picked up the metric air cleaner wingnut today and still only have about 3 one-more parts to buy.

Speaking of airride, I decided to do some armchair shopping and low and behold, someone is selling a accuair e level kit with all the components out of a VW eos. wants $1000 for everything except the 3/4" lines.

1x 440c compressor, 4 bags, 3 gallon tank, e level ECU, VU4 manifold, 4 leveling switches. Looking at the bags it looks like 2 are the strut type so I probably can't use those and 2 are the bag type I'm used to seeing in the front of the S10.

I really don't have the budget for another one of these craigslist "deals" but man, when I see someone selling about $2500 worth of stuff for $1000 its hard to say no. Especially knowing someday, I'll need a similar kit.

[joedoh]

man I would be careful, a pile of parts is pretty tough to jump in and drive around, and buying stuff you dont need yet might be exciting with the chase and the gratification endorphines but you should try getting the drudge work done first. my 2 pennies were in the beginning, and still are: its easy to take a running truck down for a weekend or week for an engine swap, or installing a bag kit. it is TREMENDOUSLY hard (and extremely expensive) to buy a bunch of different components bolt them all together and expect them to work harmoniously.

I know you have a 2.8 and thats bad luck but you know what, I would lump it with the 2.8 till everything was running and driving because you already know it works. get that experience of driving around the block instead of sitting in it making engine noises a year from now.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by joedoh

man I would be careful, a pile of parts is pretty tough to jump in and drive around, and buying stuff you dont need yet might be exciting with the chase and the gratification endorphines but you should try getting the drudge work done first. my 2 pennies were in the beginning, and still are: its easy to take a running truck down for a weekend or week for an engine swap, or installing a bag kit. it is TREMENDOUSLY hard (and extremely expensive) to buy a bunch of different components bolt them all together and expect them to work harmoniously.

I know you have a 2.8 and thats bad luck but you know what, I would lump it with the 2.8 till everything was running and driving because you already know it works. get that experience of driving around the block instead of sitting in it making engine noises a year from now.

I hear you for sure. I am only buying parts I need. The accuair kit only grabs me because it seems rare to find that in my area for the price. I'm told to be patient for a good deal on parts, but sometimes the parts show up before we need them. I realize that actually installing it would blow my budget and timeline up just like the engine did, so the plan would be to shelve that project until after the truck is running. 3 link suspension kit, new front uppers, probably drop spindles, fabbing the bag mounts, air lines, fabbing tank mounts. Then while I'm there I'll do all the front suspension and steering bushings.

See how much I learn in a year I now at least have an idea of what goes into putting something extra on the truck haha.

As far as drudging though; I actually like all of the work except getting crusty old oil off parts so I can reuse them. The biggest hurdles are time and my own knowledge. I have to learn every step before I can do it. If I ever did a second truck I'd be whipping through


Update....scored for $700. Compressor, VU4 manifold, elevel, 4 wheel sensors, rocker switch and 2 bags

[gigamanx]

Shines up pretty nicely after some elbow grease, brake cleaner, GM blue paint, and scrubbing. Not too many issues, but I did run into an issue with the accessory mounting. I got the clockwise water pump so I need to switch everything now to belt drive. No big deal since I didn't have an accessory solution for the mounting brackets or serpentine setup. The only thing that is really serpentine is the crank pulley.



V belt pulleys seem much less expensive like this kit from gearhead on ebay $229! It says its not for vortec engines though. I don't know if mine still counts as a vortec engine. Maybe the mount holes are different for the brackets?
... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Small-Block-...item54379f4ba2



I did notice there are a few serpentine setups that have two belts, but can't get info on those. I guess that idea would work.


https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mch-22020

Seems crazy expensive at $549 though