Everyone is right about the 5.3 except for one thing. Nothing beats the sound of a BIG BLOCK thumping away under the hood of your hot rod. I have just started taking my 05 Sierra apart with the 4.3 and im dropping in a Blue Print Engines 632 Big Block. my thinking is Go Big or Go Home and it come Dynoed at 815 HP. Your video series has helped me with some questions I had about the 4L80e. Thank you
This build has 100% motivated me. I literally sent my daily driver (same truck) to get painted. Got it back ordered drop parts and the money pit has just begun
Hats off to you for an awesome build anyone who says why didn't you go with a 5.3 does not know what its like to have a torque monster sitting under the hood you have a new subscriber.
Looks good man. I thought about doing this swap after popping my last 6.0. But I could only find one decent 8.1 and the guy wanted way more then I was willing to pay. Ended up just building another big 6.0.
Laurence T, congratulations for daring to be different. I too am a fan of big block, low end torque, especially in the form of a Cadillac 500. My only “truck” cred is that my big block sits between the frame rails of a 1985, S10, 4WD pickup. Topside is a 1950 Studebaker Champion body. I swapped out the 4X4 transfer case in favor of a NVG 149 AWD unit. Like you, my transmission of choice was the 4L80E, which will be tested by twin Garrett 3782’s mid-mounted down low. Oh, the torsion bar suspension was exchanged for front coil-overs. I look forward to future installments of the “Ugly Truck.” Best, bro. d
Remember the heads on a Pontiac always limit rpm , as does the bore size . Yes , you can throw $ and rev it but a 455 built for max torque and redline of 5500 or so will surprise you . Build what you want to
Love the NON LS swap, being creative and going against the normal. I’m doing the same on my 65 F100, its getting an 04 aviator Dohc 4.6 and 6R80 until the Aussie Barra/6R60 shows up later this year. That 8.1 and a turbo will be a tire shredder and a kick ass tow rig
Lawrence LT Tolman i can set you up with somebody, think he has some in stock. If he doesnt i do know another source that likely does and if not he can have you one within a few months👍🏻
Man I really feel like tool about my first sarcastic comment I made on the other video and told you about my big turbo forged rod and piston ls2 with a th400 2003 single cab Sierra(I did have gen4 4.8 rods and crank in my half filled ls2 block setup up until this past Wednesday my wife got me surprised me with a summit forged rods and a big boy LJMS cam and alot of arp hardware and clevite bearings and a few other things my engine builder/machinist/best friend was in on all this and basically picked everything I was going to myself lol we me and him balanced the rotating and decked, honed and gave the block a bath and painted black now it looks like a iron block but we slammed it all together in 2 days got everything together to drop it In Thursday had it back in the truck turbo kit on and running on Friday) but after we talked a little bit I understood what your doing and respect the hell out of it and from what I can tell you seem like a cool dude and got to thinking aboutmlm your project I have a buddy who has a Gen1 precision 118mm g trim with a 1.50 exhaust housing its pretty old but has been recently rebuilt and seen it at his shop yesterday and thought it would be badass on your build I looked around and found a shop named Raylar that focus on the 8100's, all you need is one of their mildish boost cam and valve spring kit and this 118mm turbo I have no idea how it will run but I'm thinking with a the boost cam they offer for stock pistons has a 1800-5800rpm power band so I wouldn't be afraid to rev it to around 6200 or 6300rpm so it should spool that turbo and be a little easier on that stock bottom end with that big ass 1.50 exhaust housing
yeah, I've been drooling over Raylar's stuff for a long time now, and hopefully will wind up with some of their parts on this engine, and what you described is exactly what I want to do. Big 'ol turbo and lots of pwer.
The Chevy big block has always been the go-to item when you want raw, N/A TQ and HP. The Corvair V8 Registry has some late model Corvairs w/ FWD Olds 455 engine/trans units grafted in the back seat area and they are quite the track monsters w/ their four-wheel independent suspension and excellent weight distribution due to the mid-mounting of the engine. They are also a favorite w/ the Corvair Ultra Van camper unit owners, as the standard boxer six was just a bit under-powered for the task of powering a motorcoach. Keep up the good work and I look forward to your modifications to the intake and exhaust, as there very few folk dealing w/ after market pieces for the 8.1.
Back in 2003 I came so close to buying a 2500 Avalanche with the 8.1. But I decided that I need a little better mpg so got the 1500 Silverado with the 5.3. Salesman said they hit well over 120 mph with that big motor. Not sure I believe them since I'm guessing the computer would not let it go over 100. Every think of putting some insulation in your shop and installing a mini split? I bet you could cool that down to at least 68 degrees and great heat in the winter. You and Tommy are my favorite on the Power Nation Team. So you two get a 10 the others get a 9.99999999.
LT, you seem to go with the off the wall stuff. '76 C10 with a 472 caddy, awesome. Or I should say non-traditional. I can't wait to see it run, and your opinion of it's power.
Recently subscribed, now watching a 3rd video from you and thinking man this guy gives a good delivery.... wait a minute, I think he was on powernation!
My thought exactly when I saw the front end off the truck. Then again I get that OP wants a baseline run first. You gotta know where you’re coming from.
I have a similar plan for my scout, I have a 454 that I plan to run the p30 crank sensor, vortec intake, vortec dizzy for cam sensor, ls coils and a 0411 ecu to run it
It would be essentially the same. The under hood width is the same between the 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton. There might be slightly less height under the hood.
Who says a 5.3 will make more power than a 496? 😐 a very mild cam in this beast will make tremendous power! I found one... The yard pulled it before i could and now they want three times the price for it so i got the 454...still a monster!
I realized today that the 5.7L Vortec was the older setup with the spider fuel injectors and distributor. I think I'm out of luck unless you've got some ideas.
Hey LT, did you use the donor ECU, or did you use the 5.3 ECU with the re-wired harness. I wanted to do this same swap in a truck with a 4.8L LS with a 4L80 trans, just don't know where to start. Thanks.
Lawrence, you are way more enjoyable then the power block! Loving your 8.1 build, I’m curious about what it’s going to feel like with all that bottom end torque! I’m having my blown 5.7 Hemi converters into a forged & arp 6.4 stroker motor with ring gap, 11:0:1 compression, and comp torque cam for my 13 Ram 1500, boost ready! It’s always fun to do a bigger motor, especially a big block!! I’ve been waiting a while for someone to do a build like yours.
Lawrence LT Tolman. Awesome bro, looking forward to it! I’ll let you know how my build goes to. Be fun to meet up person sometime at a Cars & Coffee, I’m in Tn often visiting friends in Chattanooga.
I really like that you’re going your own route. In my look at the Vortec 8100 it didn’t sound robust enough for forced induction, but maybe that’s without supporting mods. My wife’s 55 has a 5.3L and I like it, but I have a DOHC LT5 for my 57 and may someday squeeze a SOHC Ford 6.2L in my Town Car. LS and Coyote are easier, but where’s the fun in that?
Like your videos on ugly.i have a truck I did a 8.1 swap that had a ls 6.0l.done the complete swap.but haven't been able to get it to run.no fuel or spark.did the wire swap.got 12v at both and signal on both. but no start.any suggestions .
Actually, all those people are wrong in a sense about the engine power gains comparisons.. 1st of all please look at the specs across the board from factory between the 2 engines. 2nd, take the estimated amount money you'd need to sink in the stock 5.3 in aftermarket parts and labor to amount to the factory specs of the 8.1. 3rd, take that same amount of money and parts and do the exact same to the 8.1 and compare output again. Point is, the 8.1 is going to have the most hp and tq easily available for the lowest amount of paper than it's little brother. Remember, these engines back in the day became an instant game changer with just a set of headers added. You'd have to invest internal and external accessories to the 5.3 beyond 5 grand to amount to the 8.1 with a simple tune, headers, cold air intake, tbs, exhaust and a mild cam. Now, I'm not throwing small blocks under the buss by any means, I'm just saying for the money you'll get more power across the board for a lower budget and that's not even mentioning the 8.1 was tested full throttle for 300 hours by gm with no issues given!
Im thinking of an 8.1 swap. Was going to grab the motor/trans/ecu/harness out of the vehicle the 8.1 comes from. Is there benefits of using an LQ4 LS computer instead of the L18. Thanks in advance
it kind of depends on what parts combo you're using. If you are using the engine and trans as-is, then yeah, just grab everything from the donor truck, including the throttle pedal, TAC module, trans control module (if an allison) complete wiring harness, airbox, and so on
@@LawrenceTolman on the fence atm about using a 4L80 or a th40O also if I want turbo or supercharger.. But plan is track car/Sunday cruiser. Thanks for the advice
Just curious, if you have the 8.1 engine harness available, How not just swap it in? Anywhere you have to solder or butt connect, leaves a weaker link Than the factory harness.
That thing sounds healthy, good work. Quick question. I have a 5.3 that's been outside under a tarp for a year. Everything was closed off accept the headers. Would I need to worry about stuck rings, or cylinder rust on first startup? It spins freely when I turn the crank pulley.
take the spark plugs out, shoot a little wd40 in there, crank it over some and light it off, it'll be fine. Realistically it's 5.3, it'll run underwater
Alain Renteria never heard about it affecting the signal, especially considering components on circuit boards are soldered in place, but I know in aircraft applications they don’t allow solder because they’re afraid it can crack due to vibration.
With that 1500, your fuel tank is only 26 gallons. With the 8.1, you're going to get about 9 miles to the gallon, right? This means you are going to have about a 200 mile range. Is that a potential problem for you?
Hi I have a 2005 Chevy 2500hd took out 6.0 and put a 8.1, transmission was rebuilt 4L80 2wd will the computer from the 6.0 work or a computer from a 2006 2500 with with 4+4
