Last of the Squares! 454 BBC Suburban
03-25-2013, 10:27 AM
#1
Last of the Squares! 454 BBC Suburban
This is a Factory built 454/4L80E 3/4 ton Suburban square body, not many of them around, especially ones with no rust. This was the last year of the squares and the first year of the GenV 454 and 4L80E, so it's a special truck... At least to me 
I'm on perf trucks almost daily, and it's a lot less up tight than the 67-72 forum, so I'm migrating my Suburban project post here. Hope you guys dig it.
2-15-2012
____________________________________
I have officially turned my guy loose on the Burb. It had a "rod knock" that went away when I first drove it. Paint is shot but there is absolutely zero rust on it, and the interior is beautiful. I can do the paint myself but I refuse to put tons of time into another cancer truck. This is when I picked it up.
The "rod knock" (if that's what it was) may have went away, but there were some odd issues with oil pressure when driving down the road, good OP, bad OP, then no OP, then good OP again. It still felt very strong, but something just wasn't quite right.
I took it to the only guy whom I trust to work on my stuff, so he could tear the oil pan off and do a little investigating... Long stringy non-magnetic shavings were found in the oil pan. oh ****. I was somewhat expecting this but I was hoping to get lucky, lol. The bottom end, however, appeared to be in good shape, but I knew it had to come out.
Might as well throw some good parts in it while it's being rebuilt, right? My plans were to have a stone reliable, 87 octane torque monster that I could safely tow with. After all, what good is a 3/4 ton burb with a big block if you can't tow a house with it?
Much to the chagrin of the performance community, I am staying with the stock peanut port heads and TBI, which means the stock intake on this GenV 454. However, I have ordered the K11-412-8 266HR full roller conversion kit and a chip burning setup from Moates. As soon as I know if I need to overbore, I'll be picking up some dome pistons to bump the compression. Basically I will lose some parasitic drag and gain some reliability, driveability, and HP/TQ.
I'm on perf trucks almost daily, and it's a lot less up tight than the 67-72 forum, so I'm migrating my Suburban project post here. Hope you guys dig it. 2-15-2012
____________________________________
I have officially turned my guy loose on the Burb. It had a "rod knock" that went away when I first drove it. Paint is shot but there is absolutely zero rust on it, and the interior is beautiful. I can do the paint myself but I refuse to put tons of time into another cancer truck. This is when I picked it up.
The "rod knock" (if that's what it was) may have went away, but there were some odd issues with oil pressure when driving down the road, good OP, bad OP, then no OP, then good OP again. It still felt very strong, but something just wasn't quite right.
I took it to the only guy whom I trust to work on my stuff, so he could tear the oil pan off and do a little investigating... Long stringy non-magnetic shavings were found in the oil pan. oh ****. I was somewhat expecting this but I was hoping to get lucky, lol. The bottom end, however, appeared to be in good shape, but I knew it had to come out.
Might as well throw some good parts in it while it's being rebuilt, right? My plans were to have a stone reliable, 87 octane torque monster that I could safely tow with. After all, what good is a 3/4 ton burb with a big block if you can't tow a house with it?
Much to the chagrin of the performance community, I am staying with the stock peanut port heads and TBI, which means the stock intake on this GenV 454. However, I have ordered the K11-412-8 266HR full roller conversion kit and a chip burning setup from Moates. As soon as I know if I need to overbore, I'll be picking up some dome pistons to bump the compression. Basically I will lose some parasitic drag and gain some reliability, driveability, and HP/TQ.
03-25-2013, 10:29 AM
#2
2-19-12
One last thing before the engine comes out of the truck, we're going to check the endplay on the crank. If it is excessive I believe I may need to look at the line pressure on the trans to see if it's to high. This is what came out of the oil pan and I have a feeling it may be part of the thrust bearing.
The beast, not all that clean but doesn't appear to have been screwed with too much.
One last thing before the engine comes out of the truck, we're going to check the endplay on the crank. If it is excessive I believe I may need to look at the line pressure on the trans to see if it's to high. This is what came out of the oil pan and I have a feeling it may be part of the thrust bearing.
The beast, not all that clean but doesn't appear to have been screwed with too much.
03-25-2013, 10:32 AM
#4
3-20-2012
Probe 18cc Forged dome pistons are sitting at the house. Hydraulic Roller Cam kit should be here in a week or so along with the Autoprom1 from Moates.net - It's starting to come together and I'm getting geeked.
Block has been torn down with some interesting results. Mains are shot, and the rest of the block looks like it has about 5000 miles on it. Crosshatch looks excellent along with the cam and thrust bearings. Only 2 bolts broke on disassembly, and they both had enough meat to grab with vice grips.
Cause of the noise and the low OP.
Can't believe they didn't spin...
It's all going to be ok, we will build him faster, stronger, and more efficient.
Probe 18cc Forged dome pistons are sitting at the house. Hydraulic Roller Cam kit should be here in a week or so along with the Autoprom1 from Moates.net - It's starting to come together and I'm getting geeked.
Block has been torn down with some interesting results. Mains are shot, and the rest of the block looks like it has about 5000 miles on it. Crosshatch looks excellent along with the cam and thrust bearings. Only 2 bolts broke on disassembly, and they both had enough meat to grab with vice grips.
Cause of the noise and the low OP.
Can't believe they didn't spin...
It's all going to be ok, we will build him faster, stronger, and more efficient.
03-25-2013, 10:43 AM
#6
June 2012 I had some setbacks with my GMC (namely the POS 4L60E breaking for the FIRST time) So I had to mothball this for a couple months. Well by the time I had the cash to finish it up, it was september and my builder was swamped with peoples daily drivers.
DDs come first (rightfully so) and projects wait until there is some free time, now here we are. A year out, and this saturday we finally seen oil pressure on the pre-lube!! The builder/mechanic is wrapping it up as I type this and I can't wait to get to it this weekend. Been a long time since I've driven the beast and I do miss it. More pics to come this weekend.
DDs come first (rightfully so) and projects wait until there is some free time, now here we are. A year out, and this saturday we finally seen oil pressure on the pre-lube!! The builder/mechanic is wrapping it up as I type this and I can't wait to get to it this weekend. Been a long time since I've driven the beast and I do miss it. More pics to come this weekend.
03-25-2013, 10:50 AM
#7
On The Tree
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 160
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just curious, what made you decide to keep the tbi heads and invest in dome pistons? You could have went with better flowing vortec heads that are 100cc and had the compression you wanted.
Trending Topics
03-25-2013, 11:12 AM
#8
Another big factor for me was the intake. There are no vortec intakes for TBIs. I would have had to buy a carb intake, adapt it, etc etc. and I just didn't want that headache.
03-25-2013, 11:20 AM
#9
On The Tree
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 160
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Cleaned up peanuts and this cam make insane amounts of lowend TQ, good power, and most importantly, throttle response/drivability. They really wake up when they're on an engine with some compression. Cheap Big-Block Chevy Engine Build - Car Craft Magazine (similar build for example) On an SBC the Vortec heads are a great upgrade, but not nearly as much on the BBCs.
Another big factor for me was the intake. There are no vortec intakes for TBIs. I would have had to buy a carb intake, adapt it, etc etc. and I just didn't want that headache.
Another big factor for me was the intake. There are no vortec intakes for TBIs. I would have had to buy a carb intake, adapt it, etc etc. and I just didn't want that headache.
03-25-2013, 11:36 AM
#10
Baltimore Whore
iTrader: (95)
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: In a van DOWN BY THE RIVER
Posts: 16,820
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
Cool build, love the old bodied gm's. Yeh the people over on that site are a different breed. I had a few questions about some things with my dads 83 dually, they got totally off track. Seems you will have a tq'y bbc build. The peanut heads arn't the best for overall power, but will make good low end tq for sure. Not to mention I do not think some models of the vortec heads will work with out swapping intakes and such. L29's should work but if your buying them, why not find a nice set of aftermarket heads, lol.. So do you need a crank, or is the one that came out of that ok?
