Help with new engine decision
My beloved 1992 Holiday Rambler Imperial with a Chevy 454 and 4l80E trans decided to blow its rod bearing on our trip home going up a hill (it's always seemed a bit underpowered on hills since I had i...
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Tran build ups are fairly cheap (compared to engines). The 4L80E is one tough trans, uses many of the same parts of the TH400. Of course they wear out, so we don't know its current condition. When you get over 600 ft lbs of torque is where you start worrying about things. Then you need a different input shaft. I would also suggest that I very rarely hit full throttle, except when I'm showing off to myself. 50% throttle is usually pulling like crazy, such as pulling out in front of someone. I also programed my trans to stay in lower gears on moderate acceleration. That means things don't have to work so hard. Normal driving shifts like you expect, but anything over about 45% throttle will wind out to redline before shifting.
As far as heat, it is a non-issue. It runs cooler than the 454, even under full load. The biggest thing to get rid of heat is headers. Headers make anything run tons cooler - well as long as you run good mufflers - something other than Chokemast...oh I mean Flowmasters.
I picked up the engine from Crateenginedepot.com. Since they are local, north of Chicago, I drove there and picked it up. Since its a Gen VI, you can expect 200,000 miles out of that engine. The 502 is a killer build from a reliability standpoint. Its basically the same short block as the boat engine. If you know anything about boaters, they think the throttle is a toggle switch.
AS far as running lower octane, the differences are pretty subtle. Throttle response is not quite as crisp, but it certainly does not turn into a dog. Somewhere around 5% loss. Being that full throttle usage is so rare, its not like something you are going to really feel.
As far as heat, it is a non-issue. It runs cooler than the 454, even under full load. The biggest thing to get rid of heat is headers. Headers make anything run tons cooler - well as long as you run good mufflers - something other than Chokemast...oh I mean Flowmasters.
I picked up the engine from Crateenginedepot.com. Since they are local, north of Chicago, I drove there and picked it up. Since its a Gen VI, you can expect 200,000 miles out of that engine. The 502 is a killer build from a reliability standpoint. Its basically the same short block as the boat engine. If you know anything about boaters, they think the throttle is a toggle switch.
AS far as running lower octane, the differences are pretty subtle. Throttle response is not quite as crisp, but it certainly does not turn into a dog. Somewhere around 5% loss. Being that full throttle usage is so rare, its not like something you are going to really feel.
