86 suburban horsepower

[Tjflow]

How much horsepower would a 86 carberated suburban with headers have? I bought a motor out of a 86 4x4 suburban and was just wondering if anyone knew.

[sub006]

Originally Posted by Tjflow

How much horsepower would a 86 carberated suburban with headers have? I bought a motor out of a 86 4x4 suburban and was just wondering if anyone knew.

You didn't specify engine size. If the headers are running through a mufler, figure around 200hp at the clutch for a small block and maybe 230hp for a big block. Rear wheel horsepower will be less, of course.

The more important figure for moving a heavy, un-aerodynamic truck is not horsepower, but torque.

[idmetro]

My Chilton manual says the stock 350 in a 86 full size Chevy put out:

California model - 165hp, 275ftlbs torque
Federal model - 185hp, 285ftlbs torque

I would agree with sub006 that 200hp with headers is probably pretty close.

I have a carburated 86 burb with a 350 in it and what I notice is not so much the horsepower or torque but the fact that it typically gets 12mpg. For me this means I don't use it to randomly run errands but save it for those jobs when I can load it up with stuff or people at which point it's well worth the extra fuel to get the job done comfortably in a single trip.

[sub006]

My '90 1500 has a 383 with TBI, Edelbrock intake and headers, an air cleaner modified with a tall velocity stack on the bottom, K & N filter, 3" exhaust with Gibson straight-through muffler, World heads and a mild Crane RV cam. It pulls 150 rear wheel hp and 250 lbs of torque on the floor dyno. I'd suggest increasing those numbers at least 50% to campare with factory numbers taken with the engine out of the vehicle.

With 80,000 miles on this engine (450,000 total on the vehicle), it gets 12-14 in town depending on traffic and 16 highway. I keep my 255-70 X 15 Radial T/A's pumped to 39 lbs which seems to help mileage and tire life.

Fuel injection, radials, overdrive and a lot of little things all help mileage.