Anyone done this swap recently...few questions

First off I am going to sell the 6.2

Getting a 1987 TBI setup off my buddies 1987 suburban 454(he's keeping engine)
Getting a 1992 454 off of TBI van minus that TBI setup.....

I will put the TBI from suburban on 1992 block and that will go in to 84' 1008
The wire harness from the suburban is also mine from the pump in tank/ computer/and harness under the hood.
I am curious if the new harness will provide power to stuff like the blackout lights, I want to keep them working....any recomendations here are appreciated.
I also plan on after market temp guage/oil pressure/volt gage....since the under hood harness is changing, will that make any weird dash problems?
I am betting that the in tank pump from this truck will go into the diesel tank fine, all I have to do is drain the fuel out. Is that right?
Also curious if someone else has done this swap, what unforseen problems did you find?
The power steering pump and bracketry is also missing, will steering pump off of similiar year small block work (big blocks are hard to find in junk yards here) or do I need to keep the one from the 6.2, works great, I just dont know about remounting it to a 454.
I have misc bracketry from another big block aswell...anyone know any specific years to look for serpentine bracketry to complete the front of the motor?
I'll be elbows deep in this job as soon as the 6.2 sells...It's complete from alt(s) to cdr to pan, thought i'd mention it because most of you live on the east coast so I wasn't planning on putting it in the classifieds on this site. I will be driving this truck right until someone buys the motor so there's no rush on info. I just wanted to start figuring out some of these little things....going to pickup TBI and big block tomarrow, tear apart that motor and go for new bearings and a balance job, i'll lap the valves. It will end up being a low buck power swap if anything goes right....lol. Should be easier to sell motor when someone can drive the truck right.... Thanks for any info that makes the swap go easier!

You will need the complete wiring harness from the Suburban. Your current underdash harness will not work with the underhood harness and TBI harness. You could make it work put will require a lot of rewiring. There are 5 main harnesses on the Suburban. The dash, engine,TBI, rear and forward light. You will have to make your own harness for the blackout lights. Fuel pump and sender will probably mount in the tank but the diesel tank doesn't have the baffles in the tank for the pump. SB brackets and diesel brakets wont work on the BB.

I've also have a 454 TBI motor I've been thinking about installing in one of my M1028's.
I'm leaning towards using a carb but if I go TBI I will use a harness from Painless Wiring.
Painless makes stand alone harnesses for fuel inj conversions (TPI, TBI, Vortec, LS1).
My 81 stepside uses a Painless harness to run a TPI set up on a 400SB.
I know your looking for a low buck solution but the Painless Harness will save a lot of time and is a well thought out kit.

Would probably be cheaper and easier to go carb setup... Aftermarket intakes are fairly inexpensive and Quadrajets are readily available (with decent rebuild will perform well with little to no problems!) Lot less chances for issues with a HEI set-up and carb... Much less of a hassle with wiring also! Not sure if the later big blocks have a fuel pump provision?

Believe the later 80's to 90's V series utilized the hydro-boost set-up, so you would need the brackets and or pump. In my case i changed system to vac brake booster and used a standard pump set-up for steering. Not sure about serp set-up though, think the "V's" were all v-belt?

You should swap the torque converter out... I used a rv/towing converter i scored on ebay for cheap. And while the engine is out, might be wise to have the trans freshened up... Quite a bit easier to remove once engine is out.

I also installed a trans cooler when i did mine, but really not such a big issue as the radiators are pretty effective in the 08's

What exactly do you mean by balance job? A "real" balance involves a complete teardown, at that point you'd be better off rebuilding.

Had a big block for my truck, but decided against using it as rpm's would've been a little excessive with stock gearing. I Eventually hope to rebuild the 400 SBC I've had for many years (in several vehicles) but time, money, and life always seems to get in the way!

I personally like the no frills, no computer, no engine management control issue venue the 1008 provides. If it has spark, fuel and compression it will run.... Don't need the scanner to diagnose problems, don't need it to pass emissions!

Eric

thanks for the info...keep it coming
I wasn't sure if the harness would work, a buddy of mine thought it would be pretty easy to move a pin here and there to make it work....he has done a lot of swaps in the chevy's and has a 1009 with a 350, he changed the harness in it but uses a carb, not tbi
Tbi really sounds good, just hit the key to start in all weather....i've always had terrible luck with chokes on carbs. I've rebuilt a few quadra's and they always ran great, with an unreliable choke system. The lever that drops to open the air horn flap when the linkage does it's thing usually gets wired so the choke stays open. seen others with good luck, just not me.
The cheapest intake for a quadrajet in summit right now is 180.00, already getting away from a low buck swap....
I do like the painless wiring idea, not real low buck
I will probably need to buy the correct pump for a hydraboost on that big block, definately want to keep that.
will do with the trans cooler, I have a spare that will make it's way in.
The tranny shifts great, firm and precise, no problems there, i'll leave well enough alone on that....I know a guy that will give me a smokin deal on parts and labor for the internals on the tranny that need changed for the different rpm range of a gas motor
I will tear down this motor, it runs now but needs help....new rings/bearings throughout, polish the crank, re-size the rods, timing set, new balancer, and maybe a different cam, that will depend on some more research of the tbi swap.....family works in machine shops and a few friends, already priced a total rebuild with gaskets a stuff, about 600 with me doing the work. I traded in to the 454 with some stuff that I didn't need and 100.00, at any rate this will be a lower buck swap than the so-called low buck swaps in magazines that cost 2000
Since you mention it, i've wanted a TPI setup for the mud truck for years, and I will take your painless advice on that swap when the parts are located.
Idaho doesn't do emissions at all so i'm very lucky there.
Unfortunately the complete sepentine setup off of the 1992 block isn't coming with it, i'll have to make whatever I can find work, total of 4 pulleys.
btw, this block does not have a mechanical fuel pump boss
Thanks

I used a gm serpentine belt kit when i did my swap. The powersteering pump from a 1993 k3500 with 454 works /fits best - you can use your excisting powersteering hoses with this pump set-up. I ran a carb but if i had a choice would of went with tbi for sure

well, No TBI.... seems there is just too much crap to deal with. Since the transmission case broke I am looking to do this sooner than anticipated to save doing stuff twice. Will probably run aluminum intake, dual plane. I'm told There's really only about 6 wires to run for the gas motor if naturally aspirated. I heard talk from others about this being a very easy swap....where did you tie the ignition into for the key to switch like normal? Did you use a donor harness or just run those 6 or so wires? Been a long day so the brain isn't working well tonight.....got the project on my mind.

Does anyone know if I could just get a complete underhood harness off of an 84 or so gas engine, and just plug it in at the firewall....I havent even looked to see how the blackout lights connect to the harness....

Howell Industries rebuilt a cross fire injection wiring harness for me. They made it a stand alone with the Corvette computer. I put it in a 1977 2wd Blazer and used it to pull my bass boat all over the central US, it was a wonderful thing. They were doing all sorts of wiring harness rebuilds and selling stand alone wiring harnesses then. You might look them up and see if they have a simple harness for the Tpi as that is a super design.

I had several sets of early biig block brackets and pulleys. I used to do small block in a big block hole for guys and only charged them for the fluids, if they would let me have the pulleys and brackets. A lot of 454s would get a little blow by, then the owners would not check the oil regular enough and they just burned up from no lube.

Big block parts have always been popular with the streetrod guys and they could buy about anything, except brackets and pulleys. It was a favor for favor type thing. I had four big block cars at the time, 65 468 Malibu, 68 427 Camaro, 69 427 El Camino and the 70 402 C-10. I may have a set or partial set, but I have not checked for a long time. You are welcome to whatever I have. I will look next week, send me a pm as a reminder if you want. I am pretty sure I have a power steering pump, complete with brackets.

As far as the wiring for a carbureted engine goes, it should be very easy to convert your truck. You need a ignition wire and I think the injection pump wire would be super. The starter is pretty simple, your 6.2 sending units should work in the big block for oil and temp lights. The big block mechanical pump is so close to our lift pumps, it is not funny. You will have some 24 to 12 conversion to do, but I think that should be pretty straight forward as well. It should not affect your wiring for lights. The newer 12 volt alternators are easy to wire as they are a single wire with internal regulator.

The 6.2 exhaust is small for a strong big block, but you can do that later. Wish you were closer, I would be glad to help you knock it out. Glen

My apologies, it is Howell Engine Development, it has been a few years.

Howell Engine Developments Inc. - Home

Glen

Brand new harness online for $149.00 everything just plugs in and works fine

FACTORY FIT .COM . I USED THE HARNESS FOR A 1979 WITH A 350 V8 - MINOR RELOCATION OF THE PINK FUEL TANK WIRE AS 1979 MODELS WITHOUT DUAL TANK OPTION HAD ONLY A PASSENGER SIDE TANK AND A M1008 HAS ONLY A DRIVERS SIDE TANK. JUST PULL WIRE OUT OF LOOM ABOUT 10 INCHES BEFORE END ALSO PINK TANK WIRE WILL BE ABOUT 10 INCHES TO LONG , OTHER THAN THAT MINOR MOD IT FIT AND WORKS PERFECT

Do you have a link?

Sorry abought that it is factoryfit.com and also i just looked at my invoice the harness i used was for a 454 engine and i purchased a small adapter to plug in the newer style alternator. Hope this is helpful for you

Thanks, I cruised the site and found a harness that might work. The newest I could find was 1981. I'll probably call tomarrow and talk to someone, internet just makes it more difficult, but I got the # now.

I bought one for a 1979 model - worked fine.

If you are thinking about the swap from a 454, most of the older 454 tbi setups had an adapter that bolted to a regular 4-barrel intake. They had coolant running through to keep it from icing. For the time being if you had to...do the swap with the quadrajet and later do the tbi swap when you have more time. I will see if I can find pics for you if you need them. I did this swap on my 78 k5 and used a 87-up fuel tank that was baffled inside to keep fuel at the pickup.

If you're going carb set-up you really don't need a harness. Everything you need is there! s previously stated, the injector pump solenoid is "ign" powered source, sending units wires are all there., same for the alternator. It's a fairly simple hookup. Just label your diesel sensor wires (oil/temp)....

Once everything is connected you can start cutting all the unnecessary stuff out (ensuring wires aren't hot of course!)

malibuz16 said:

if you are thinking about the swap from a 454, most of the older 454 tbi setups had an adapter that bolted to a regular 4-barrel intake. They had coolant running through to keep it from icing. For the time being if you had to...do the swap with the quadrajet and later do the tbi swap when you have more time. I will see if i can find pics for you if you need them. I did this swap on my 78 k5 and used a 87-up fuel tank that was baffled inside to keep fuel at the pickup.

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was this design used on a 1987 454 with tbi ? I have a 1988 and a 1989 454 with tbi and the intake will not except a carb.

I just got back from napa, looked at a square bore carb and intake....checked pricing. I will probably go with a weind stealth intake and a edelpuke 750 w/ elect. choke. Was wanting to put the gas tank from donor truck in mine but the tank is rear center mount...crossmembers, rear single brakeline bracket and stuff is in the way. I'll see if one of the junk yard trucks here has a side mount tank w/ electric pump, haven't had good luck with the inline models. The diesel just isn't selling, and until it does the whole project is on hold anyways. Saturday i'm going to a local yard for a donor TH400...need the case. Will be re-stacked for 125.00/maybe modded for big block....timing has to be right for everything to come together smoothly. A simple complete drive train swap could be done in a weekend...or it could take weeks to get the thing done if I have to pull the tranny twice for swaps and stuff.

Do I need new motor mounts/engine brackets? I looked at a thread that mentioned stuff being different between 2wd and 4, but never did nail down an answer. Thanks

the mounts ,brackets etc are slightly different -it will bolt in useing any of the v8 mounts . i changed the rubber mounts and used 454 rubber mounts and buckets and that was it .i can send you more photos if needed. i also had hose bushings/adapters made to keep the diesel radiator - gas and diesel trucks use a radiator with different size hose connection if you look at the blue hose/black hose junction on my top radiator hose. good luck

POOR WHITE BOY said:

the mounts ,brackets etc are slightly different -it will bolt in useing any of the v8 mounts . i changed the rubber mounts and used 454 rubber mounts and buckets and that was it .i can send you more photos if needed. i also had hose bushings/adapters made to keep the diesel radiator - gas and diesel trucks use a radiator with different size hose connection if you look at the blue hose/black hose junction on my top radiator hose. good luck

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Do you still use the oil cooler portion of the rad....?