6.0L LQ9 into my 1990 Chevy 454 SS

EDIT: i just realized i posted this in the wrong section, i dunno if a moderator could move it to the LSX section or something?

Hi my name is Brandt, i have a 1990 454 ss truck that was grandpas until he passed away and my dad passed it down to me on my 16th birthday a couple years ago. The motor has needed to be gone through since i started driving it, i just recently graduated and i plan on using the money i recieved to convert my truck to the LQ9. I plan on keeping this truck for a while and i dont want to go carb because of the hassle of keeping them jetted properly and the weather around her is anything but stable.

My question is what am i getting my self into? i know im going to have to wire it, change motor mounts, install the electric gas pedal, but is there any other hidden secrets?

A local salvage yard has the motor, wiring harness, gas pedal, and tranny in a vehicle that was rear ended, im getting it all for 2300 and they are going to remove everything once i give them an answer on if i want it or not.

what kinda mileage on that combo you are getting. Price seems pretty fair for all of it. There are plenty of guys on here that have the same style truck as you with similar swaps. Good luck and keep us posted.

The LQ9 set up has right at 43000 on it, its like 42930 something. and ill definitely keep yall posted. ill have some pictures once i get started

The LQ9 would be a nice swap. And you'd probably get better gas mileage than you were, but the LQ9 isn't exactly great on gas either.

I don't know where you live but for the most part you don't have to adjust a carb because of the weather. The people who say that are usually people who never had a carb on the street. Generally carbs naturally adjust for the weather due to the change in air density which comes with cooler air. As the air gets cooler (dense) it naturally draws more fuel as it passes through the venturi which automatically enriches the mixture. Once a good carb is set up correctly it's not unusual to have a carb that can go from 0 degrees to over 100 degrees without touching it. The mixture won't be controlled as well as with EFI, but the car or truck will still run fine. I've driven many carbureted cars over the years with temps below 0 to over 100 without touching the carb and the car always ran great year round. But a carb generally won't get the gas mileage EFI will.

IMO you should put a big block back in that particular truck because that's what the truck was about. The big block that came in those trucks wasn't much of a powerhouse, but that can be fixed. In short, IMO, when someone raises the hood on one of those trucks they expect to see a big block, anything less would be a disappointment.

You probably won't find many on this LS1 truck site that will agree with my post. There was just a big thread on this message board where many of them expressed their hate of the big block. Understandable since this site is about the LS1. But that's just my .02

Yep I agree with the above, keep the big block and give it some power adders, rebuild that engine and don't think you will be dispointed with a few upgrades, and a overdrive tranny will help also with your mileage.

BB

Put an Edelbrock/Musi 555 with fuel injection in it, they installed one in a Chevelle and got 20+ on the power tour. :thumb:

IMO, leave it with teh 454, maybe do an edelbrock EFI upgrade on it.
I say that cuz those trucks were only made for 4 years and are semi rare and will go up in value in a few years time.

If it were mine I'd try to mostly keep the factory stock look. I'd probably put headers on it, but the rest of the changes would be made inside to improve performance, with a dyno tune added in the end. :thumb:

You might get some ideas from a site like this one...

http://www.454ss.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl

one of my friends is currently doing an lq4 swap into a cherry 1990 454ss, i never thought id hear of some one else swapin a big block for ls motor

The main question you have to ask yourself is what the final goals of the truck end up being. are you gonna race it? do you just want to preserve it? Are you looking to get all the power you can or are you just wanting a couple hp adders here and there?