I am in the middle of an engine swap/upgrade in my '99 K3500 pickup. I have pulled the old tired 350 out of the truck and have a rebuilt, fully ready 454 sitting on the stand ready to go back in.
Over time, I have really learned to hate the oil cooler lines that came on the truck to begin with. Over the 354,000 life of the truck, it has seen a few sets of cooler lines. The last set I did I had some custom ones made up the way I wanted. They lasted much, much longer then the weird factory GM lines, but as with every other replacement they eventually had a leak of some sort, even if just minor residual evidence around the fittings.
The 350 I just pulled was the original motor and was 100% stock. It had an aluminum block bolted to the engine that the oil lines threaded into as well as the oil filter. This unit here seemed to be a continual maintenance issue and was always wet with oil of some degree.
The 454 is set up to have the oil filter threaded directly to the engine block. Next to the oil filter location there are two holes, that are currently plugged, where I have found in my research is a different way of threading in oil lines if the vehicle is set up to do so.
I am wondering how important it is to have these oil lined hooked up with the new motor? If I can get away from these, I would be thrilled, but understand if it is a necessary evil. Look forward to everyones experience and opinions on this one.
Thanks,
D
Over time, I have really learned to hate the oil cooler lines that came on the truck to begin with. Over the 354,000 life of the truck, it has seen a few sets of cooler lines. The last set I did I had some custom ones made up the way I wanted. They lasted much, much longer then the weird factory GM lines, but as with every other replacement they eventually had a leak of some sort, even if just minor residual evidence around the fittings.
The 350 I just pulled was the original motor and was 100% stock. It had an aluminum block bolted to the engine that the oil lines threaded into as well as the oil filter. This unit here seemed to be a continual maintenance issue and was always wet with oil of some degree.
The 454 is set up to have the oil filter threaded directly to the engine block. Next to the oil filter location there are two holes, that are currently plugged, where I have found in my research is a different way of threading in oil lines if the vehicle is set up to do so.
I am wondering how important it is to have these oil lined hooked up with the new motor? If I can get away from these, I would be thrilled, but understand if it is a necessary evil. Look forward to everyones experience and opinions on this one.
Thanks,
D