Vortec 350 Swap Into 1995 Z71

[awalkertx]

Hi all!

 

I've been toying with the idea of going to the OBII L31 engine for almost a decade now. Well the old Z71 engine has >300K on it and the distributor just went out. While perusing craigslist I found a T-boned suburban with 100k on it that has a 7k crate Vortec engine in it. I sprang for the suburban and now I'm wondering what I've done! Good news is since the Z71 serves no day-to-day purpose I don't mind it being out of commission for a long time. Be advised that it's a truck I've had since almost new and the only reason for such effort on my part is because of stubborn sentimentality!

 

The recipient truck:

1995 GMC K1500 SLE Z71

L05 TBI 350

MG5 manual transmission

 

The donor truck:

1999 Chevy K1500 Suburban

L31 Vortec 350

4L60E automatic transmission

 

Both vehicles will be parked next to each other for the duration. I plan on keeping the manual transmission in the Z71.

 

What I do know: everything harness related both sides of the firewall, cluster and computer will need to be swapped. I even plan to swap the ABS over and maybe even the dashes (to include the passenger side airbag). Fuel sending unit and lines will need to come over as well. Much of the swappable interior will come over as well.

 

Questions:

Will the Vortec engine accept the old flywheel?

Will the automatic transmission'ed harness accept the MG5?

Any gotchas out there that I'm completely in the dark about? (very possible)

 

Thank you so much for any insight from anybody out there. I am timidly excited about the project and really hoping for a good result.

 

 

 

Adam Walker

[GMstrong]

I was almost about to do this swap it will bolt right in.i would throw a carb on it.