Help! I'm a moron with money!

So I am being told by everyone that I know that I have just wasted a large sum of money. I dropped some serious coin on a 2000 454 with 132K and a 2010 6L80E with 41K. The engine comes with the ECM and harness (engine only, not chassis) and the transmission comes with nothing but the torque converter. My friend that has swapped a 1999/2000 454 before did so with the entire harness, cats, key and all. The truck I am getting mine from doesn't even have the column anymore.
So - did I do something really stupid here or is there a prayer of making it work together?
This will all be going into a 1993 K3500 that currently has a TBI 350 and 4L80E. I know my 4L80E wouldn't work and I know that I need a 1996-1997 fuel pump. Aside from that I was going to ditch the cats and get a Nelson tune.
Any thoughts on how to proceed? Is this impossible, possible but stupid, or are they making mountains of mole hills?

Hmmm yikes. Definitely some parts there that don't make it easy.
The 454 engine will be controlled by a newer ECM and harness than your current 350 harness
The 6L80e is totally different and will be a stand alone harness and separate tcm.
Those two will not integrate.
The current 4L80e is actually a closer match than the newer trans will work and shift just fine behind that 454.
And use the same harness and PCM.

I personally would never go with a big block in that truck but it all can work out just fine with some knowledge and patience.

Maybe consider selling the 454 and getting a gen4 engine and hanress and the new trans will work just fine.
If ur keeping the 454 then sale the 6l80e and use the 4l80e to keep things simple.

Just my opinion and preference and definitely stick with what you want.

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Originally Posted by farmtruc

Hmmm yikes. Definitely some parts there that don't make it easy.
The 454 engine will be controlled by a newer ECM and harness than your current 350 harness
The 6L80e is totally different and will be a stand alone harness and separate tcm.
Those two will not integrate.
The current 4L80e is actually a closer match than the newer trans will work and shift just fine behind that 454.
And use the same harness and PCM.

I personally would never go with a big block in that truck but it all can work out just fine with some knowledge and patience.

Maybe consider selling the 454 and getting a gen4 engine and hanress and the new trans will work just fine.
If ur keeping the 454 then sale the 6l80e and use the 4l80e to keep things simple.

Just my opinion and preference and definitely stick with what you want.

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Allen, have you done a 6l80e swap in an OBS yet? Seems as if it would be fairly straight forward, but I would like some insight on this if you have done it... just for future reference.

To keep things simple, I wouldn't want to run two separate controllers and harnesses for the engine and trans.
The trans uses CAN protocol.
It's not really straight forward, but very possible and doable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by farmtruc

To keep things simple, I wouldn't want to run two separate controllers and harnesses for the engine and trans.
The trans uses CAN protocol.
It's not really straight forward, but very possible and doable.

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I mean with complete Gen IV pullout, how hard could it be? If you had a GEN IV truck and an OBS side by side, getting the trans to work shouldn't be just outrageously difficult. I haven't seen anyone do it yet, but I would be interested to see how that panned out. I don't see why it wouldn't work if you had a Gen IV PCM and harness.

That's completely off topic, sorry to thread jack. I would honestly sell what you have and get a 6.0/4l80e combo.

Oh, ok. that's easy. Ya, done it. Everything goes in just like the gen3, just a different harness and you gotta electronic pedal.

engine, trans, etc, works just like it's supposed to.

actually gonna do another one on a '68 C10 (my new project i just got).

Admittedly the dual computer idea is not ideal, but would it work?
I have a 2004 LQ4 (and 4L80E) already that needs a rebuild but includes what is I think a complete wiring harness and ECM, but no accessories. Between the accessories and the rebuild I thought it was going to be too much money for the result. I have been repeatedly told that my (now with the small block) 6,000 LB truck was a little on the heavy side for the Gen IV 6.0 and I would be better with the extra torque of the big block. Add to this that I may be increasing that weight to ~8,000 LBS or so. I wanted the 6L80E for the 4:1 first ratio and I want to keep overdrive, obviously.
The truck is currently driving around with the TBI 350 / 4L80E but is losing oil pressure fast. I was told that if I went to a newer engine the transmission I have would not work. Something like the one I have is electronically just on/off and the newer (1996+) are PWM.
My goals are a very low first gear automatic, stump pulling torque, multiport injection, and not a 350 or diesel. I now have a little less budget to work with because of this potentially stupid decision, but I want to know whether my idea is salvagable or should I just dump the parts and take the price cut as an expensive and quick education.

The 6.0 will do fine. Rebuild it with a few goodies and swap rearend gears if it
doesn't have low ones already.

Turbo the 6.0 and keep 4l80e.

Yeah, I am thinking that I cannot afford to rebuild and turbo the motor. Also, I failed to specify earlier that I was talking about empty weight. Current empty is 6,000 going toward 8,000.
What does forced induction really cost on the cheaper end of things. I mean, anyone who has rebuilt one of these knows that part is not cheap alone, but then to add forced induction seems like asking a lot.
Also, anyone got any info regarding the trans issue (1993) and PWM on 1996+ models?
I was really looking for help with what I got myself into more than I was looking for advice on a different combination.

Whats wrong with the LQ4? You have to realzie that the LS motors arent like the old SBC and need a rebuild every 90k miles :lol:. I had over 230k miles on my 5.3 when I pulled the heads to replace the lifters the cylinder walls still had factory crosshatching. The only thing "wrong" with the motor was some carbon build up on the pistons and in the combustion chambers of the heads.

Also the cost of a rebuild wont be as high as you think its gonna be. Unless there is something MAJOR wrong in which case you could probably find another pull out in a junkyard for less than the cost.

I think 6.0/80e is gonna be your best bet. There is a reason that GM stopped putting the big block in the 3/4 ton trucks and started using the 6.0.

As far as the transmission wiring, the pre 95 trans. has one less wire than the 95 1/2 and up. You would have to get the newer internal trans. wiring harness, and a pwm solenoid should come with the harness. Then the transmission would have to be tuned with a 95 base tune, I did this to my Firebird and it works perfect.

I almost forgot you also have to run the extra wire from the ecm down to the 13 pin transmission plug.

The older trans wiring will work and it's not possible to start with a '95 trans calibration when the setup needs a newer PCM.
The older trans will work and some have done it with a 2002 PCM controlling it.
I can't remember the details on the pinout but we tuned a few.
Tuning side u simply make the minimum tcc pressure maxed. That way there is no pwm just on/off.

As for ur truck. If the truck came with a 350 and u decide on the sixo. It's gonna be much stronger and tow much better with that sixo.

To answer ur question will the current stuff you bought work. yes it'll all work.
Get you the correct harness that ran a 8.1 and 80e and install the big block and keep the 80e.

The sixspeed isn't gonna work unless you run a separate controller and those are typically around $1,000.

There is something about a bigblock and all the torque is produces.

What does pwm stand for?

PWM is Pulse Width Modulation.
Basically the transmission goes by electrical hertz (cycles per second) instead of just on or off to determine what is happening.

Also, without seeing other people making the six speed work, I got cold feet and risked pissing off the wrecking yard owner by telling him I cannot use it. He was a little mad, but I am going to get the 454 and a 1997 4L80E. I know that combination works and I can make my old transmission hook up later.
Thanks for all the help.

i know this is an old post but i was curious why your truck is going to get 2000 lbs heavier? planning on feeding it rockwells and 54's?

So I typed up a long response earlier but then hit "+ Reply to Thread" rather than "Post Quick Reply". Why is that a huge blue button and post is a small gray button!?
So - as for the additional weight of the truck - there are/were a lot of additional plans. The big block added a couple of hundred pounds, not just from the size of the engine but also because the accessory mounts on the old 350 were aluminum and the 454 inexplicably has entirely iron accessory mounts. The 6L80E would save some weight (when I get around to it) but I was going to build a steering 14 bolt axle for the rear and I figure that would add approximately 100 pounds more. The addition of a second (iron) transfer case will add more still, I will be putting in a second tank, and so on and so forth. The addition of the steering rear axle will allow me to change the wheelbase from its current 168.5 to 200 inches. The truck's overall length will not be changing, but the frame obviously will be. It will be getting frame sliders that are diamond plate steel 1/4" thick. It's shaped about triangular with 12" top, about 10" down, and 2" parallel to the top. The top and bottom will be attached to the frame rails, making the last part of the (semi) triangular shape. Those at 165" will add a considerable amount of weight to the truck. The 165" is for 200" minus the 31" for a tire's diameter plus a few inches for steering movement. So that's the weight issue.
As for the truck - well, the truck. Things are not going well with the truck. I have the 454 in and it runs, but that's about it. I have continued to dump funds into it to no avail, and right now it is sitting on my father's driveway pissing him off without a transmission or transfer case, among a host of other miscellaneous issues.
I'll update more later when I am less upset over the state of things.

What's up with this truck now? I gotta ask, wth are you planning to do with it? Lol

I know I'm too late finding this thread, but your original combo could have worked well. There is a guy up north(pm for contact info) who designed 24x and 58x crank reluctors for early GM V8s. All your combo would've taken was a 58x crank signal and 4x cam signal and the engine could've been run by a Gen4 ECM which would be happy to play with a Gen4 TCM thru CAN, and could run your 6l80.

I have used his 24x reluctor to run a Tune Port SBC on a Gen 3 LS1 PCM and coil packs, worked great!

Anyways, hope the project is looking better!