350 TBI is all but done for, so....

[Zs_Silverado]

Howdy guys! After an extended vacation, mainly due to work and medical reasons, I'm back and ready to put in a ton of work on my little Silverado. So basically, this is how it goes. Be prepared, it's a lengthy post.

My 350 has over 223k miles on it, and I know it's ready to give up on me. Using some money that I got saved and tax returns coming in soon, I'm looking at the possibility of motor swapping it. Now, I've got two candidates, but I wanted an outside opinion to see what would be the best route for me to go, considering this would be my first real engine swap.

Not too long ago, I owned a 1985 GMC Square Body. It's was a 1/2 ton longbed, but this thing was mean! It had a 7.4L 454 dropped in where the 350 was, and I swear that had to have been the best truck I had ever owned. However, it was plagued with issues and was broken down at least once a week. It really needed to be rebuilt more than anything, but I had ran into issues at work and needed the money, so I ended up selling it.

So, that's candidate number 1. I'd really like to get a carb'd 454 in place of my 350. I know the gas mileage isn't going to be great, but I'm really just using it for a local daily driver, I doubt I'll ever travel more than an hour away from home in this truck.

Then, there's candidate number 2, and it's what everyone loves to hear. LS SWAP! I already have a 4L60E in my truck, granted it needs a rebuild. But luckily I have a guy that can rebuild it for free, all I have to do is buy the rebuild kit! I'm looking at 5.3L's more than anything because they can be had around here pretty cheap. Which brings me to my next bulletin.

My budget. I'm looking to stay between $2000-$2500 for this swap. So, with that in mind, here's my final questions.

For my budget, should I rebuild my 350 and start doing bolt ons to make it a little more performance oriented (maybe a TBI to Carb swap?), should I swap in an already carb'd 454 and relive my nostalgia for the truck that got away, or will my budget allow for me to LS swap my truck comfortably?

Any sort of insight is greatly appreciated!

tl;dr - I need more speed in my life.

 

[99'Subourbon]

Rebuild the 350 TBI - You'll be miles ahead in performance.
That budget would get you to a stock 5.3 swap, and 454's aren't cheap.

You already have the 350; rebuild it with go fast in mind.

~$600 vortec heads from scoggin dickey already cleaned up and modded to accept .550 lift.
~$400 for a nice cam.
~$350 Edelbrock Victor Jr Intake
~$45 2bbl Carb to TBI adapter
~$230 454 TB Ported
~$22 Injector Spacers
~$170 1% Flow Matched 454 Injectors

~$1800 or so, leaves you with $700 for tuning and any machining.

The total could be driven down if you shop around - that is for new pricing.

While retaining your TBI, and driveability.

You'll want to save up for a tranny at this point, unless you are nice on it your stocker won't last long behind this.

you are looking at 460hp~ at the flywheel. Look up 'Fast355' on other forums.

 

[Zs_Silverado]

Rebuild the 350 TBI - You'll be miles ahead in performance.
That budget would get you to a stock 5.3 swap, and 454's aren't cheap.

You already have the 350; rebuild it with go fast in mind.
$600 vortec heads from scoggin dickey already cleaned up and modded to accept .550 lift.
~$400 for a nice cam.
Edelbrock Victor Jr intake opened up to 2"
Carb to TB adapter
454 TB ported to 2"
While retaining your TBI, and driveability.

you are looking at 460hp~ at the flywheel. Look up 'Fast355' on other forums.

I like that idea, that does sound like a solid build and would give me a really good performance truck. thanks for that Bourbon!

 

[99'Subourbon]

Here's 2 very informative posts by Fast355 -

http://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tbi/391406-budget-tbi-buildup.html

http://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tbi/438903-500-hp-tbi-reality.html

-

I considered this route on a soon to be project truck, but decided with going either an OBS LS swap, or NBS outright. That being said, I chose that route because my budget has no ceiling for that whenever it starts - it'll be years upon years going. My current estimated pricing is putting me around 15K with what I want to do so far, and that's just performance - no cosmetics, wheels, or tires.

 

[skylark]

I like a lot of the information that fast355 has but strangely nobody else can duplicate his results. Double check everything and only believe about a third of it. I followed one of his builds perfectly and finally gave up and went back to my stock cam. Suddenly I had better power everywhere and better mpg.

 

[99'Subourbon]

I like a lot of the information that fast355 has but strangely nobody else can duplicate his results. Double check everything and only believe about a third of it. I followed one of his builds perfectly and finally gave up and went back to my stock cam. Suddenly I had better power everywhere and better mpg.

If I recall, that was regarding a LT4 cam, right?
I would agree in that perspective.

 

[Zs_Silverado]

I still like the idea, but I also have to ask. If I can pick up a 5.3 for 800 or so, would that be a better idea? I feel like the LS could have more tuning options vs TBI. I'm just a little unsure of the LS swap because of the mixed reviews on how the swap went. I've seen people wire it up with four wires and be done with it, but I've also seen wiring hell from it too.

At this point I've pretty much completely disregarded the 454 idea. Haha

This is my first engine swap so I'm a little newbish to this whole thing.

 

[99'Subourbon]

I think the cheapest you would pull of an LS swap would be around $2000 - and that would be a lot of waiting for scoring good deals. Long term potential is sky high, but you wouldn't be anywhere near 'fast' - you'd be as stock as stock gets.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

I still like the idea, but I also have to ask. If I can pick up a 5.3 for 800 or so, would that be a better idea? I feel like the LS could have more tuning options vs TBI. I'm just a little unsure of the LS swap because of the mixed reviews on how the swap went. I've seen people wire it up with four wires and be done with it, but I've also seen wiring hell from it too.

At this point I've pretty much completely disregarded the 454 idea. Haha

This is my first engine swap so I'm a little newbish to this whole thing.

I always say, the best engine for your fillintheblank is the one that came in it. It already fit's, the accesories work, the exhaust plug's in...

The only people who are quick to say LS swap are kid's with no realistic idea of what engine swapping takes. I've been putting a 6.0 in my FJ40 for a few year's now, since I have the luxury of waiting for deal's to come along, I don't need to drive it. I'll have around 4,200 in it all said and done, and that's with keeping a Non-OD trans behind it lol. It can be done cheaper of course, but you can't count on that.

The TBI, it fit's, it works, part's are out there, build's are documented. I bet a medium/built TBi would keep you plenty happy.

 

[wally]

I've been debating this very same thing for a couple years now . There is no replacement for displacement but unfortunately where I live I have emissions test I have to meet and the state won't let me put a carb on mine so I'm doing the ls swap deal and I agree the best way to do it is good deals if you want to do it on the cheap . The way I look at it is it's easy to do upgrades later once you get over the jag you just spent doing the conversion