Driver engine swap

[cj2504]

I'm going to be doing an engine swap on my 95 Chevy 1500 this spring and i was going to see if anybody had any input on how this will go and the problems along the way. The stock 350 tbi has been a very good motor and is almost at 300k miles...Not smoking or anything..I've been thinking about this project for many years and finally came across a good deal and now i have a carbed 383 stroker with 450hp@6100rpm and [email protected]'of an in between motor that should work fine for the 4000lb truck..Anyways, after doing tons of research i have planned the majority of the swap. I'm going to keep the stock in tank pump and regulate it down or go mechanical with pickup line extension, depending on the what seems to would work best..I know this has been done many times and the info i've found is pretty basic although nothing i've found has talked about the problems during. I know from talking to an ex chevy technician what all the computer controls...But what problems have you experienced? Is the stock fuel pump running on it's own or controlled by the computer? I know the pc controls the regulater on the tbi but not sure about fuel pump itself. I know there's a lot to it. Any problems, suggestions (as long as it's to help and not to deter away from going backwords)...Any help will be greatly appreciated...

[86Cutlass383SR]

I'm assuming you are going to run the 383 with a carb since you spoke of regulating the pressure down. The computer signals when to turn on and off the internal pump. It doesn't regulate the pump speed or anything like that. If you aren't going to use the TBI again, then you could just cut the wire going to the pump and wire it the same as any other electric pump. Since TBI runs about 15 psi of fuel pressure and carbs like 6-7 lbs you might want to increase the return line size, you are going to be sneding a bunch of fuel back to the tank and the stock return line (probably 5/16" ?) may not let you get the main press low enough. Might be okay...

Myself I'd just run a mechanical pump or electric pump designed for a carb.

[cj2504]

Thanks for the help. Yes it is going to be carbed. And thats good to know about the fuel pump. I think for now i'm gonna stick with stock pump and regulator for now...Easiest and quickest way to go although after changing the fuel pump and replacing the sending unit a week afterwards i should be a pro at dropping the tank. I'm gonna keep one big project at a time because it is a driver and i'll only have about 2 weeks of leave to do this..If i start having problems i'll change to mechanical and extend a pickup line in place of the fuel pump...

[86Cutlass383SR]

Good luck with the swap. Think of it like this, once you drop the tank the first time, it'll be much easier afterwards since everything will be easier to unbolt.

[Randy67]

I would keep the in-tank pump over a mechanical pump.

A friend did a similar swap in an 88 Formula. It was a TPI car swapped to a carb'd 406. He swapped the in-tank pump with a TBI pump and put a good regulator on carb. No problems at all and he left the factory wiring in place. He did use the stock oil pressure sending unit so the gauge would work. No problems with the pump cutting off, even with no computer in the car at all.

[Jim Atkins]

If you have OD automatic trans you might have problems. I had a 95 Z71 and lost OD and had to manually shift it when the trottle positioning sensor went out.