8.1L Vortec swap any good?

[Maldred]

Got bored and started looking up some of the various big displacement engines GM used and came across the 8.1L Vortec. Looked around further and found a couple forums that seemed to be at a 50/50 split, with half calling the engine a waste of metal and time and the other half calling it the king of torque. Would this engine be any good for a swap into a stock K1500, or should I stick with my plan of swapping in some Corvette/Camaro TPI parts into my stock 350TBI? I figure a stock 4x4 700R4 trans wouldn't bolt up so if you think the swap is a good idea, could you please point me to a trans that will work.

 

[mistaake]

It's a good engine but they like to burn oil - like, a lot of oil. Just something to mention. I know two people personally and both drink about as much motor oil as they do gasoline they do have a ton of torque though - excellent for towing!

You could always do an LS swap. The Vortec 6.0 is all over the place in wrecked trucks in junyards and it's a much more modern setup than the 8.1.

 

[Biggershaft96]

If your going through the trouble of doing a motor swap for something that wont bolt and plug in i would go 6.0. There is tons of aftermarket support and cheap to build and if you grendade it a 4.8 or 5.3 will drop right in in a pinch with a little tuning. The 8.1 is a great engine with plenty of aftermarket support but everything is more expensive for them. I wouldnt say they go through as much oil as gas but when my dads was brand new in 2002 it would burn 3 quarts between changes and that was "normal" according to the dealership he got it from.

 

[Maldred]

First I've read about the engine burning oil on a regular basis. Any opinions on the idea of strapping GenI Corvette/Camaro, TPI parts to the truck?

 

[kennythewelder]

You asked for opinions, so here you go. IMO I would never do a swap for a TPI anything in a TBI. The TPI were not a real power full engine. There are a lot of options for power and performance, for you TBI 350. If you are going to do a swap, the easiest swap is a built 383 TBI direct swap crate engine. If you want something more modern, then a 6.0L is a good choice, but an even better choice, is the 6.2L Corvette, Camaro engine. These are also in Cadillac"s, Denali's, and some Z71's. No mater what you decide to do, research is a big part of making a good decision that you will be happy with. Also like the old performances shops use to say years ago, still hold true today. Speed cost money, how fast do you want to go, so how much do you want to spend.

 

[94_C/1500]

The 8.1L is basically a BBC. It's the last generation. All bolts are metric and not much interchanges. The heads are completely different. The last year or two of the C3500HD could have them actually.

 

[beardeddummy]

Generally gm kept the same bolt pattern for the bell housing. a th350 or 400 will bolt up to a 4.3 and 6.0. so will a 700r4 or 4l60e.