Greetings from Utah

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454GrandPrix

Master Mechanic
Jul 27, 2016
429
818
93
Lehi, Utah
Hello everyone. I'm in Lehi, Utah. I've been a long-time car guy, but most of my past wrenching was on FWD 4cyl turbo Mopars--I spent five years campaigning a turbo 1989 Dodge Caravan at the local drag strip, for example. I've tried switching over to V8s a few times since then; I've owned a few V8 cars, but never really started wrenching on them.

Now that is all changing. I bought my 1980 Grand Prix last fall and immediately began planning to yank its Buick 231 mill for something more... potent. I bought a 1999 Chevy Express 3500 that wasn't running and yanked its Vortec 454 and 4L80E. I was just gonna drop the engine in as-is, until I found out it had a spun bearing which destroyed the rod and the crank. I was delayed while I gathered funds; now the rebuild is just about finished and I plan to finally swap engines next month.

I've already ditched the 7.5 and installed a Fox body 8.8 in its place. I do want to eliminate the c-clips and install new shafts which will return my bolt pattern to stock, but that will have to wait until some time next year. Driving on mismatched wheels may look goofy but, hey, I'm a goofy guy.

Anyway, I guess that's my project in a nutshell.
 
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Welcome to the site from Houston. Cool project. Looking forward to pics of the engine swap.
 
Sweet GP! I'm actually not too far from you, greetings from Elko, Nevada
 
Cool project.

Thanks. Your GP looks really sweet.

I'm actually not too far from you, greetings from Elko, Nevada

Elko, eh? I "vacationed" there in 2012--a group of us were driving our Jeeps to Tahoe to run the Rubicon when my throwout bearing disintegrated on I-80. I limped to Elko, where I dropped out of the group and spent a couple days installing a new clutch kit, then drove back home with my tail between my legs. But in 2013 I made another attempt--this time towing my Jeep on my new car hauler--and I made the whole trip without incident.
 
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