5.7 vortex build

RDF1 said:

Your truck should have the 9.5" rear end that is plenty strong enough.
And for the transmission, does it currently work?

4-5k for 300-350hp is pretty expensive horsepower.

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Yes the transmission currently works that's the first rebuild done to it but the owner also done a lot of over load of hauling and burnouts on it, I don't know if it's needed for the added horses + making more reliable. It's the 4l80e
Like L31MaxExpress said I want to just get everything replaced instead of fixing when broken

How much are you going to warm up the engine? The vortec heads flow well, just need a better intake and cam. Do you have to be emissions legal? If not you could put on a port injected aftermarket intake like the Edelbrock pro flow, or use an intake like a Performer with a holley sniper. For those you will need a transmission controller unless you go with the 0411 swap. I did the swap on my 97 k3500 and ended up stripping every inch of loom and old tape. It was a lot of work but necessary, since i found wires that were cooked by the exhaust. But I have also been frustrated with the swap trying to get the tune right. I don't have tuning knowledge, so I used Black Bear for the tune. You will need to become best friends with L31max first thing!

Scottm said:

How much are you going to warm up the engine? The vortec heads flow well, just need a better intake and cam. Do you have to be emissions legal? If not you could put on a port injected aftermarket intake like the Edelbrock pro flow, or use an intake like a Performer with a holley sniper. For those you will need a transmission controller unless you go with the 0411 swap. I did the swap on my 97 k3500 and ended up stripping every inch of loom and old tape. It was a lot of work but necessary, since i found wires that were cooked by the exhaust. But I have also been frustrated with the swap trying to get the tune right. I don't have tuning knowledge, so I used Black Bear for the tune. You will need to become best friends with L31max first thing!

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I wish you had HP Tuners and that 454 would be dialed. I am VIN unlimited on tuning the 0411s running the 2002 Express operating system. I do not have to pay HPT to license any of the PCMs or files. Actually helping another member with his 0411 run 383 now.

I can say first hand the Proflow ECM is total garbage. The single plane manifold also sucks in torque production. Hands down do not recomeend. Edelbrock also has ZERO customer support on that system when problems show up which they will because the tuning is garbage running the system and it is not user tuneable.

I'd have to look at my trucks 95 5.7 and 97 454 k2500's both over 8600gvw. Sbc sf bbc ff. Tbi and vortec. Sbc 4l80. Bbc nv4500. Love these trucks. I don't know if either are hydroboost without opening the hood but I love the hydraulic boosted brakes in everything I've had them in

L31MaxExpress said:

I wish you had HP Tuners and that 454 would be dialed. I am VIN unlimited on tuning the 0411s running the 2002 Express operating system. I do not have to pay HPT to license any of the PCMs or files. Actually helping another member with his 0411 run 383 now.

I can say first hand the Proflow ECM is total garbage. The single plane manifold also sucks in torque production. Hands down do not recomeend. Edelbrock also has ZERO customer support on that system when problems show up which they will because the tuning is garbage running the system and it is not user tuneable.

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My 97 454 is nv4500. I've got the dongle and software to tune the 0411 and p59? Computers. I'd be interested in some help with the initial tune. I'm also swapping the 8.1 4l80 out of an 02 suburban into my 86 square cab and chassis. That one should be a simple as adjusting for the gear ratio of I stay dbw

Moofus02 said:

I'd have to look at my trucks 95 5.7 and 97 454 k2500's both over 8600gvw. Sbc sf bbc ff. Tbi and vortec. Sbc 4l80. Bbc nv4500. Love these trucks. I don't know if either are hydroboost without opening the hood but I love the hydraulic boosted brakes in everything I've had them in

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First vehicles I drove with hydroboost were an eye opener for sure. One was a 1984 diesel Fleetwood and it had over 200K on the factory DX engine in it, yet still drove great. The 2nd was a mid 90s G20 van with a 350 and the 3rd was a Vortec era Astro or Safari van. All customers vehicle I was working on. Fell in love with the pedal feel and stopping power right away.

Moofus02 said:

My 97 454 is nv4500. I've got the dongle and software to tune the 0411 and p59? Computers. I'd be interested in some help with the initial tune. I'm also swapping the 8.1 4l80 out of an 02 suburban into my 86 square cab and chassis. That one should be a simple as adjusting for the gear ratio of I stay dbw

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What software do you have? I have HP Tuners and can also work with a .BIN file in TunerProRT using a definition file exported from Universal Patcher.

L31MaxExpress said:

What software do you have? I have HP Tuners and can also work with a .BIN file in TunerProRT using a definition file exported from Universal Patcher.

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I'm bad with names lol. Tuner pro rt. Pcm hackers or hammer? Ls Droid. I don't have hp tuners or efi live although I'm considering it.

L31MaxExpress said:

He has a 4L80 currently. Should be a hydroboost truck too. Probably a 10.5 rear.

He is wanting to start out with everything new or fresh for reliability reasons. The do it all and be done approach rather than constantly having to wrench on it.

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DOH!! I thought he said LD not HD
On that point, does the <8600# have the Vac brakes and 9.5 and >8600# have hydroboost and 10.5?

RDF1 said:

DOH!! I thought he said LD not HD
On that point, does the <8600# have the Vac brakes and 9.5 and >8600# have hydroboost and 10.5?

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My buddies truck is an 8600 GVW. Not sure what the break point in GVW is but surely that is a determining factor. Perhaps as stated too, GM used the beefier rear in the 454/Diesel trucks despite a lower GVW. GM did something similar in the GMT800 years. The 8100 trucks often had the 10.5" but some with Allisons had the 11.5". All the Duramax trucks got the 11.5" from what I have seen, except some earlier 2500 4x4 models that oddly had 10.5s. Guess it is also like the F44 1/2 tons that got the 9.5". The 454SS also had the 9.5 despite being a 5 lug.

Also reminds me of the 3rd Gen F-cars. You could get an assortment of engine, transmission and gearing options and they were often mixed around as well. The good engine with an automatic and a highway gear. The base V8 but good gears and a manual. Then some were built with everything right like the 1990 Z/28 LB9, 5spd, G92 dual cat, 3.45 9-bolt equipped car I had. I had a couple of Fox body friends that swore off thirdgens as being weak and slow until they ran against that car.