...and the 80E is in!



This job is cake with a good tranny jack. I lifted the transfer case up first and strapped it in as far to the rear along the torsion bar crossmember as I could. I then put the transmission in, unstrapped the transfer case and bolted it up. I'd heard that a guy had tried to put the transfer case in last and ended up having to pull the torsion bar x-member to do it.

The modified tranny x-member fit perfectly and the cooler lines were in the perfect spot. Everything is done underneath the truck except for the driveshafts and exhaust. It's a good feeling.

 

I forgot to mention, the cost of the 80E swap was around $1600 including used transmission ($400), Circle D's finest ($1050) and shift kit ($120). Everything else I did myself or got for free. Not a bad price for a badass transmission upgrade. It's still well under what a built 60E would be.

Of course, I still need driveshafts...

 

I finally got my valve seats machined and got a lot done today, even with a torn ligament in my hand. The heads went on easy even with the studs in place. There was lots and room and torquing was a snap. The blower is on but I'll need to shim some pulleys before the belt goes on. I should get quite a bit done tomorrow.

Haven't seen a comment in a while, is anyone actually following this?

 

that looks amazing

 

Are you gonna laser those pulley's?

 

Shiny!

 

Awesome progress bud!

Nice 80E install, yourone! trans worries are now gone !

Sexy looking throttle body!

Everything looks great!

For the drive shaft find a Duramax 4x4 truck for front shaft ( i got one from an 07 classic) And the rear i had a custom steel shaft made. Very happy with it and its about 1/2 what the big dollar aluminum ones run.

 

 

How did the valve adjust go? I usually end up with bloody knuckles.... lol

It's looking really good! Can't wait to see a vid of it tearing up some asphalt.

 

I worked for 9 hours today. I got the pulleys lined up but it took a lot of work. The power steering pump had to be shimmed back a bit, the tensioner and blower pulleys needed shimmed and I had to take some material away from the back of to alternator pulley. All in all I think it's nearly perfect and I did it all with straight edges.

The valve adjust was a piece of cake but finding zero clearance was a bit of an issue since the lifter cups were holding so strong. They would hold the lifters down or up and that was a bit of a headache. I'm pretty sure I got it though and the 7.250 rods are about perfect. Thanks again, AK.

The engine bay is complete except for some wiring for the 100mm MAF. I don't know if I'll even run it but it's there in case I want to go that route.

The other things that need done are the headers and exhaust and the driveshafts. Exhaust should only take a couple of hours.

I'm thinking that I'm going to load a tune from a 2000 6.0/4L80 and try to work it from there. I'm not too sure when I'll get to it next but every spare minute will be spent finishing up.

Here's a crappy pic. Kinda cool, the writing on the oil cap is the same color as the engine.