Looking to put in a new engine
 

I have a 1979 k5 Blazer. I believe it has a 400 carburetor in it right now or a 350 it sounds dumb but idk Im new to chevys so Im unsure I think its a 350 with a 4 barrel. Anyways I was wondering what kind of motors I can swap in my truck and how difficult it is to switch over to fuel injected. Any input would be great!

You can swap in pretty much any GM small block or big block.

As far as fuel injection goes, you can definitely make the conversion, but how easy it is depends on how much money you want to spend.

That motor and carb size sounds about right. If I'm not mistaken any V8 will fit pretty easy in that car but, maby someone with more knowledge can shine some light on this subject.

thanks for your guys inputs!

put a diesel in . 6.2L or 6.5

it's waaaaay easier (& cheaper) than you think. just find a '87 p/u or a Blazer/Jimmy/'Burb from '87 to '91, and transplant the wiring harness to your rig. so bloody easy it's a joke to do it.


that's the smartest thing you could do! :)

personally, i'd go with the 6.2 (i'm a little biased). if you want more of the performance side of the 6.2, drop on a Banks Sidewinder kit (they developed the original factory system on the early 6.2's for GM) and watch the numers soar. RWP in the neighbourhood of 225hp and close to 500 ft-lbs of torque. since it's mechanical injection, it's quite relieable. (the 6.5 that replaced it became electronic injected in '94)

Easy is all relative there! I know how 'easy' it is for me to do a TBI swap, but for someone else... :icon_wink:

but it is easy, it's all plug 'n play.

you're simply upgrading the wiring harness from the older truck, to a more modern version of it.

the fuse block and wiring is all laid out the same through the run of those trucks (just a little more wiring as time goes on).


that of course was all for his benifit Kyle, not yours. (we all know how well you could pull it off! :icon_wink:)

There is a little more to it than that in the case of my '74. The hole near the distributor thru the firewall is not large enough for the ECU pass-thru nor is it really in the right location. The main bulkhead through the firewall on the driver side is different (4 vs 2 sections). These are all observations I have made between my '90 'burb and the '74 K5. I don't believe that the '79 the OP has is all that much different than my '74 in those regards. Not entirely plug and play. :icon_wink: That is unless you buy a purpose built harness to make it easier.

I will be converting the whole thing over, wiring harness, dash, a/c, the whole '9'. The headlight harness will be a conglomeration of the extra '74 harness I have and the '90 forward harness. I will have to come up with a way to get a VSS signal so cruise and the '90 speedo will be happy.

To just to a TBI swap, it is likely easiest to hack up a factory harness and only pull the wiring that is needed for the TBI itself.

*EDIT* - Here is a link to a good write-up on an '83: Carb to TBI Conversion & CustomEFI's Review

*EDIT2* - Here is the same conversion on a '79 C10 which should share the same firewall configuration as the OP's truck: Chevy 350 Small-Block Carb To TBI Conversion

engine swap difficulty isn't bad if you have a spot to do it (unless you make it complicated like me). Simple enough to take a 305/350 tbi or tpi and move it over to your truck. Fuel system can be a headache, and getting the wiring harness out and then installed is the hardest thing.

swartlkk, sounds like the 90 burb is a donor for the 74 right now? (must be a 2wd burb..). I'm looking into drilling a VSS hole in my '89 t-case so I can run a 4l60e with a standalone 96 PCM, but I'm not sure if there's a place to do that (haven't opened the t-case yet)