Vortec 8.1 question

[Chicken Little]

I'm looking at buying an 8.1 vortec for a drag project. I was wondering if anyone has ever messed with this? Are they any good? And are they an ls based motor or just a standard bbc with vortec heads?

 

[454ss]

never modified one other than a tune and k&n intake, but they are a beast in pickups with the alison trans. they are pretty much thier own monster with nothing in common or interchangable with the old 366-572 bbc. as far as ls simularities, your compairing bb to sb so just like the older gen motors, really nothing in common. not sure about adaptors for trans as the bellhousing is differant than the old stuff also i believe. if you want to build one raylar specializes in heads, cams, ect. that make big power.

 

[SixSpeedSS]

Not LS based. Modified BBC. I'm not sure how accurate, but this is right off Wikipedia's site:

8100
Generation

The Vortec 8100 (RPO L18) is a V8 truck engine. It is a redesigned Chevrolet Big-Block engine and was introduced with the 2001 full-size pickup trucks. It is an all-iron engine (block and heads) with two valves per cylinder. It retains the same bore centers as the old 7.4 L big-blocks, but stroke was upped by 9.4 mm (0.4 in) to reach 8.1L (496cuin) for a total of 107.95 mm (4.3 in) bore and 111 mm (4.4 in) stroke. Power output ranges from 325 hp (242 kW) to 550 hp (410 kW) and torque from 455 lb·ft (617 N·m) to 690 lb·ft (936 N·m). Vortec 8100s were built in Tonawanda, New York. The Vortec 8100 is the engine used in the largest Uhaul, their 26-foot (7.9 m) truck. GM stopped installing big block V-8's in the Silverado HD trucks, when the GMT-800 series was discontinued in 2007. 8100 marine engines range from 400 to 600 hp (447 kW) and come with a stand-alone Engine Control Module (ECM). The last L18 was manufactured in December 2009.

Important differences between the Vortec 8100 and older big blocks include a changed firing order (1-8-7-2-6-5-4-3), a new 18-bolt head bolt pattern, different symmetrical intake ports, different oil pan rails and the use of metric threads throughout the engine. The fuel-injection system for the Vortec 8100 is nearly identical to that used on Gen III engines, right down to the fuel and spark tables in the ECU

I knew about the firing order and head bolt pattern change, but did not know about the rest.

 

[Chicken Little]

Thanks for the info. So I'm taking it there will be alot of work involved to run any Ls aftermarket parts on this thing.