Engine exchange
Plainpayne
03-22-2004, 01:57 PM
I have a 87 suburban w/ a 350 TBI and want to upgrade the engine to a 350 LT1, of course for more HP.. Which make and model will fit from? what other car. I want to make sure of a straight drop in with no retro fit. All mounts to bolt up.
ldmill
03-29-2004, 07:03 PM
What you need is "grunt" for a sub. LT1 does great at high RPM and really fly's.
My suggestion? Drop in a 400 small block. Same motor mounts, everything except just two parts (balancer and flex plate). I had a 1990 Chevy Silverado Z71 with a worn out 5.7 in it. At 200k miles, I built a 406 4 bolt main torque monster. Kept the stock heads - just drilled out for steam holes, and pocket ported them - along with valve job.
All I had to change was the harmonic balancer, flex plate, and do a chip swap. Oh man, did it have power afterwords!! Could spin the tires on it - with the racecar trailer attached. Sold this thing for more than I had into it, more than I was going to ask for it, before I even advertised it... I now wish I hadn't done that. I'd like to have the motor back and drop it into my 95 Sub.
My suggestion? Drop in a 400 small block. Same motor mounts, everything except just two parts (balancer and flex plate). I had a 1990 Chevy Silverado Z71 with a worn out 5.7 in it. At 200k miles, I built a 406 4 bolt main torque monster. Kept the stock heads - just drilled out for steam holes, and pocket ported them - along with valve job.
All I had to change was the harmonic balancer, flex plate, and do a chip swap. Oh man, did it have power afterwords!! Could spin the tires on it - with the racecar trailer attached. Sold this thing for more than I had into it, more than I was going to ask for it, before I even advertised it... I now wish I hadn't done that. I'd like to have the motor back and drop it into my 95 Sub.
Automotive Network, Inc., Copyright ©2026