Engine swap 98 vortec in a 83 k10

[97K1500Silverado]

Good call, I wasn’t thinking his 400 might be stock.[/QUOTE

Both trucks stock except for below bolt ons.

Blackbear tune, shorty headers, flowmaster headpipe and high flow cats, dual 2” exhaust on 1997.

34 degrees total timing, 1 7/8 long tube headers, no cats, dual 2.25” exhaust on 1979 with Edelbrock 1406.

 

[swb charlie]

According to Edelbrock the fuel pressure for their carbs is 4 to 6 psi. They like 4 psi best. Did this swap on a '88 a few years ago.

 

[Clutch1819]

I just put a 98 5.7 vortec engine in my 84 k5 about 4 months ago. Used a complete engine with all accessories. The 98s alternator is a good upgrade over the stock 84 setup. I used an Edelbrock 2116 intake and a qjet carb. On a vortec intake, you'll need to hook up the bypass on it or else its gonna run hot. So far I'm very happy with it. If your going to do a carb setup, you will need to order a melonized distributor gear for the hei dizzy. I have the part number. I'll be happy to answer some questions if needed and if you want me to shoot you some pics to your email. Just PM me your email.

 

[kylenautique]

It will work great! Boats with carbs use them all the time. You will have to use a electric fuel pump. One other thing to remember is the cooling is slightly different. The block doesn’t have the pass through hole to the heads like older blocks, so you have to make sure you are circulating the coolant properly. Not a bad idea to take a hose from the intake manifold and put it directly into the water pump so it circulated properly.

 

[Ehall8702]

According to Edelbrock the fuel pressure for their carbs is 4 to 6 psi. They like 4 psi best. Did this swap on a '88 a few years ago.

Yep Edelbrocks like 3-5psi with high volume

My suggestion is a Q-Jet. The basic carb was used on everything from a 3.7 4 cylinder to a 500 V8.

a 650 is a bit on high side for a 350, have a 650 on a 455 big block Buick and its borderline too much for a stock big block, albeit the BBB spins alot less than a sbc I'd be more into a 500cfm for a daily on a stock motor, and in my.personal opinion ( yeah I know they r like a$$holes, everybody has one) I'd run as far away from a quadrajunk as u can. When they r right they work great but like a Holley they never stay that way and if u aren't great tuning a carb ( or just want it to work without messing with it) IMHO just grab a Edelbrock and it'll always work. I've set Edelbrock s on fire and they still work fine, I've had a back fire on a qjet and a Holley and have had to completely rebuild em. You aren't gonna use an Edelbrock to make tons of power tho, just a basic reliable carb. Again that's my opinion.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Yep Edelbrocks like 3-5psi with high volume


a 650 is a bit on high side for a 350, have a 650 on a 455 big block Buick and its borderline too much for a stock big block, albeit the BBB spins alot less than a sbc I'd be more into a 500cfm for a daily on a stock motor, and in my.personal opinion ( yeah I know they r like a$$holes, everybody has one) I'd run as far away from a quadrajunk as u can. When they r right they work great but like a Holley they never stay that way and if u aren't great tuning a carb ( or just want it to work without messing with it) IMHO just grab a Edelbrock and it'll always work. I've set Edelbrock s on fire and they still work fine, I've had a back fire on a qjet and a Holley and have had to completely rebuild em. You aren't gonna use an Edelbrock to make tons of power tho, just a basic reliable carb. Again that's my opinion.

On the opposite token I have had nothing but problems from Edelbrock carbs and the Q-Jet was far more reliable for me. It was set it and forget it for me. Ran it for several years and 10s of thousands of miles without touching it. I am curious what a backfire could possibly hurt in a Q-Jet that would require a rebuild though. Considering it has a power piston and the only diaphram is the accelerator pump which has a built in check valve. The edelbrock would boil the fuel out of the float bowls and dump it down the intake on a hot engine. Stop for gas and it would be practically impossible to start again even cranking it with my foot to the floor.

 

[Ehall8702]

On the opposite token I have had nothing but problems from Edelbrock carbs and the Q-Jet was far more reliable for me. It was set it and forget it for me. Ran it for several years and 10s of thousands of miles without touching it. I am curious what a backfire could possibly hurt in a Q-Jet that would require a rebuild though. Considering it has a power piston and the only diaphram is the accelerator pump which has a built in check valve. The edelbrock would boil the fuel out of the float bowls and dump it down the intake on a hot engine. Stop for gas and it would be practically impossible to start again even cranking it with my foot to the floor.

It seems you either hear one extreme or the other about a qjet lol. I've just had bad luck with em, even getting one from a guy who all he did was reman qjets and swore by em, I'm not above me saying it wasn't my fault tho, cause I can be quite a tard at times too.

 

[Bowtiefresh]

I recently swapped my 97ext 4.3 v6 to a 5.3 carbed, and I kept my stock fuel pump used 2 regulators to bring the fuel pressure down to 6psi carb. Installed a .500 lift cam rv pulling cam better than the measly .466 lift the stock 5.3 has. Has massive torque down low to about 5k rpm, I spent $1500 on the whole setup, carb, intake msd, 5.3 was $150 long block with bad cam bearing, I installed the new cam bearing they were $20, 97 0411 using the pcm to control the 4l60e. I used a afr guage to tune the jets on the carb I went up a couple sizes not hard to tune at all Just my expieriance . I would also definitely consider a full 383 kit from ebay, my buddy has used them before with success, comes with everything you need for less tha $1000
Not bad for 400hp.

 

[Slipnslide1968]

I'm pretty sure I have a used Edelbrock intake for vortec heads and carb in my storage unit If I recall correctly, it was for a square bore carb flange. Maybe the 7116 performer RPM but I don't remember for sure. I'd probably let it go for $100 plus PayPal fees and shipping costs.

 

[Derick]

This would be a great swap for you. Start a build thread when you get started.