The lower half of the intake manifold is very similar to lower half on the RamJet 502. The L29 is choked by its tiny oval-port heads. The injectors are at such an angle that they aim right toward the intake valves, this is good. They all share a common central rail that runs right up the center.
With large square-port heads and a cam these things come alive. Stock they are cammed to pull stumps out, and they do. L29's do burn more oil than the same era's smallblocks.

 

I have heard changing the entire exhaust from headers to true duals really make these things come alive. Also a good set of electric fans free up horsepower. Take off the clutch and you'll see why they way a ton on those big blocks.

Shawn

 

thanks guys.

I still havent been able to find to many shops that have listing for them.. Jeggs has a intake and pullys... thats about it.

You mentioned heads... doese some one make a head and cam package?

 

Take off the fan clutch and you'll see why the factory put it there. Ask me how I know I own one and did it. In texas at 105-110 outdoor ambinent and a/c it will not stay cool in traffic or idling for short periods of time. Pu the clutch back and all is well. Mine is a 98 and is in a dropped k3500 extended cab. I average about 13.5-14 on the highway and it does run real well. The cam is the biggest limiting factor on these engines. They are way choked back from the factory. Punching the cats and a dual in out magnaflow muffler made the biggest difference followed by a nice tune. I had constant problems with the injectors seeping into the intake when the engine was hot and shut off. I went through two sets of gm new injectors before I did a little research and found that a set from 00 up 4.6 ford are a direct fit if you change the injectors. It has been running perfect since that before it had a long crank time and black smoke out the duals on start up. The problem with changing the heads is that you have to have a ramjet lower intake to allow you to run the rectangular port heads. But the stockers are not bad at all with a cam swap as long as you are using it for a dd and not a racer.

 

hey thanks guys.... the truck i oraginally posted about is gone however i ran across a 00 model with 12K miles. i would rather have a newer body style but if this old lady will come down on the price, a 12K mile 7 year old truck seem like the way to go..

What was the stock hp and tq.. i know it was mentioned above but then no one varified it.. i thought they where like 330hp and 430lbtq or something like that.. that 230hp and 330 seems very low for a big block turck motor.

 

I believe the L29 was rated at 290HP. Not sure about torque, something around 410.

 

yea your right, i found on google.. well i found it for a suburban, 290hp@3600 and 410@3200..

Anyone driven one of these with a procharger. the lady on the phone said they pick up 62% in power.. that be about 469hp and about 660lbtq

 

Yup, bout right, I have one. 3.73's and with a 4000 lb trailer back there I never noticed it, even at 70 mph in OD. I honestly had to keep looking in the mirrors. Even normal acceleration shift points were the same.

I have a Wait4MeTune now and it is even ballsier now. The faster you go is no issue at all, it revs up to the new redline of 5500 with no effort whatsoever. *****. That is all I can say, it has *****. Yes, other trucks may accelerate faster, but not with a trailer. This things laughs at weight on it.

And the brag, the 3/4t Burb can carry 3000 lbs of rice in the back or 10,000 lbs of rice on the hitch.... There is no reason at all it couldn't easily do 12,000 lbs of rice. The 01-up 8100 Burbs can, the tune 454 is more powerful below 3500 for hp and 2500 for torque. 454 all the way.... (to the next gas station!!!!)

 

you know what i miss most about my 454, the sound. You could feel it almost as much as you could hear it, the way it just snarled and low revs

 

I miss my 97 454 sometimes. I know it was only rated at 410lbs but it sure felt like a lot more. As has been said dozens of times above it would pull anything. I once pull started a concrete mixer at a job site when the driver burned up his starter motor trying to crank the engine over with the drum engaged.
Usually average about 14-15 unloaded and about 12 towing. High mpg was 16 and low was 9 pulling a 10,000 lb John Deere.