Thoughts on 434 sbc for 99 suburban

[Schurkey]

1. If Skip White were giving stuff away for free, I wouldn't walk across the street to get some. The guy is the MASTER at bottom-feeder import-junk parts.

2. PUMP E85 is a mess. You'd have to re-tune the engine at every fill-up unless you've got alcohol sensors in the fuel system. Officially, "E85" NEVER has 85% Ethanol, and the Ethanol content varies seasonally from 51% to 83%. In reality, you have no idea what alcohol content the fuel has until you test it.

OTOH, if you're buying E85 by the drum from racing fuel suppliers, I suppose it's nicely uniform.

Around here, E85 is going away. Stations that used to sell it, have quit. Doesn't bode well for the future of E85, at least until overbearing, overreaching Government steps in to prop-up another failed "pseudo-Eco" industry.

3. You'll spend less money on a semi-stock bottom-end 454 rebuild than on a bigass small block. I sure did when I built the 400 for the 'Camino. Probably get more power from the 454, too.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

1. If Skip White were giving stuff away for free, I wouldn't walk across the street to get some. The guy is the MASTER at bottom-feeder import-junk parts.

2. PUMP E85 is a mess. You'd have to re-tune the engine at every fill-up unless you've got alcohol sensors in the fuel system. Officially, "E85" NEVER has 85% Ethanol, and the Ethanol content varies seasonally from 51% to 83%. In reality, you have no idea what alcohol content the fuel has until you test it.

OTOH, if you're buying E85 by the drum from racing fuel suppliers, I suppose it's nicely uniform.

Around here, E85 is going away. Stations that used to sell it, have quit. Doesn't bode well for the future of E85, at least until overbearing, overreaching Government steps in to prop-up another failed "pseudo-Eco" industry.

3. You'll spend less money on a semi-stock bottom-end 454 rebuild than on a bigass small block. I sure did when I built the 400 for the 'Camino. Probably get more power from the 454, too.

1) There is a Legitimate Skip White and a fraud that plays off his name. Two completely different companies.

2.)Pump E85 might be a mess, but I have been running it for a while now without a flex fuel sensor functioning. My flex fuel sensor worked when I was 24x. When I went back to 4x with the same PCM, the PCM no longer reads the signal. I adjusted stoich in my tune to jive with E85, then flashed it while the tank was filling. I added some timing under load to take advantage of the higher octane as I have very low advance numbers (low-mid 20s) under load on 93 with 11:1 compression. What little change in fueling has occured between tanks the fuel trims easily absorb. I even found myself away from E85 and topped the tank off from 1/2 tank with 87 octane. My PCM was pulling like 8% fuel when I did that. E85 might be going away in your area but it seems to be even easier to find here now. E85 was also $3.09/gallon and pump 93 was $4.79/gallon. My 383 is cheaper to run on E85 than 93.

3.) It is hard to go wrong with a big block. My cammed 8.1L is a monster well until it burned a valve and I had to pull it and pulled the heads.

 

[someotherguy]

1) There is a Legitimate Skip White and a fraud that plays off his name. Two completely different companies.

Interesting to know. I haven't bought anything from them (either one) but I can recall numerous reports of some white box China junk associated with that name, so I'll guess that's the fraud operator?

3.) It is hard to go wrong with a big block. My cammed 8.1L is a monster well until it burned a valve and I had to pull it and pulled the heads.

That would be my suggestion, too; not only for the engine but the accompanying transmission. It would just take a good donor truck. Problem is him being a K1500 he'd have a tougher road ahead IMO than a C1500. Maybe I'm wrong as I'm not a 4x4 guy, but doesn't it get a little tricky at the front diff when doing these types of swaps? Might have read that wrong in other's posts.

Richard

 

[GoToGuy]

Great for you, thanks for the info on a 99. Is that on any 99 and up or any 99 that is factory optioned " E85 compatible" / Flex Fuel ?
Last time I looked there is no E85 in north/central Calif. Maybe L. A. or outside next to State Capital Governor's parking spot.
400 ft lbs of torque just off idle? Then with a rise in RPM to max continuous, torque output be 1200 ft lbs. ?
Would probably be more effective with a big block. What was it, " nothing beats cubic inches for torque , except diesel?
How about a Duramax Allison six speed conversion?

 

[BeXtreme]

Great for you, thanks for the info on a 99. Is that on any 99 and up or any 99 that is factory optioned " E85 compatible" / Flex Fuel ?
Last time I looked there is no E85 in north/central Calif. Maybe L. A. or outside next to State Capital Governor's parking spot.
400 ft lbs of torque just off idle? Then with a rise in RPM to max continuous, torque output be 1200 ft lbs. ?
Would probably be more effective with a big block. What was it, " nothing beats cubic inches for torque , except diesel?
How about a Duramax Allison six speed conversion?

The farthest north you can find E85 is in Anderson, near Redding.
https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/ethanol_locations.html#/find/nearest?fuel=E85

 

[GoToGuy]

No wonder I've not seen any, the closest is 30 miles away. I have learned something new. Thanks.

 

[Moofus02]

I appreciate all the replies. I've got a cylinder on each bank with 75 psi compression. The rest are 185 to 195. At 165k miles it broke a heater hose y fitting to the rear heat and I'm guessing it cracked both heads. It's not using coolant and it's not getting any coolant in oil or compression in coolant. What it is doing is burning a rotor about every 3 months. I put an aluminum distributor in it but it's the week cylinders are hard to fire at idle and cap and rotors are the week link. I've changed 18 cap and rotors so far, auto zone hates me lol. Truck has 320k now but it is super clean and interior is good just needs door pins. I need to dump some oil in cylinder and see if compression comes up and then do a leak down to figure out where it is going. If it's just 2 bad heads I'll put a set of aluminum heads and a little better cam in it and call it good. If not I guess I'll look for a 7.4/4l80 4x4 parts truck and swap it. I like the 6.0 in my Escalade , it ran like a scalded dog but was dead down low always wanted to be reved up. The 8.1 in my 02 suburban is a monster. Converter flashes at about 2800 and acts like a cvt until it locks up at light throttle. I think someone has been inside it. A 45 mph roll on against my buddies 6.2 we were door to door to 105mph when I lifted and mine just dropped out of overdrive into 3rd. From a dead stop it blows the tires off hooks up and runs off 6k tach then breaks loose going into second and again into third. Third is 105 mph. The 6.2 doesn't stand a chance against my 8.1 from a dead stop. If I could find a 8.1 parts truck I would duplicate mine and swap it into the 99. 5.7, 6.0, and 8.1 and the 8.1 gets better milage than the rest. Running to work at 90 locked in 4 wheel drive bucking snow it gets 13.8. The rest of my trucks get about 12 at speed in dry weather. Yes I know that is above speed limit but I'm getting passed all the time

 

[Moofus02]

Interesting to know. I haven't bought anything from them (either one) but I can recall numerous reports of some white box China junk associated with that name, so I'll guess that's the fraud operator?


That would be my suggestion, too; not only for the engine but the accompanying transmission. It would just take a good donor truck. Problem is him being a K1500 he'd have a tougher road ahead IMO than a C1500. Maybe I'm wrong as I'm not a 4x4 guy, but doesn't it get a little tricky at the front diff when doing these types of swaps? Might have read that wrong in other's posts.

Richard

Just takes the right transfer case that fits the 4l80. My 02 8.1 2500 sub has the same case as my 99 1500. Just different input spline to match the 4l80. So front axle operation would not be affected. Just need drive shafts that fit

 

[1990Z71Swede]

Just some input on a 434 SBC. That is going to be a 4" stroke 4.155" bore build on an aftermarket block with most likely a reduced base circle cam and maybe even "stroker" rods for everything to fit together.

If anything goes wrong you are going to be very limited when looking for spares, for example, try searching for 4.185" Pistons with just enough dish and the right compression height for that specific 434 combo. If you score a bore you most likely are looking at ordering custom pistons.

If it where me i would go no further than 3.875" Stroke 4.125" for a 414CUI engine.

But the only sensible thing really is staying with a stock stroke 406-409 which could then even be built on a stock block, if you can find one that is not cracked or just about to crack..