06 LQ9 into 89 Suburban Fuel Delivery/CA Smog Issues

Thank you in advance for any help, it is much appreciated.
I am swapping a 2006 LQ9 into my 1989 V2500 Suburban and I am going to make it CA smog legal, which complicates things a little. Member Kewljay has advised me to try to swap a newer fuel tank into the 89 so I can take advantage of the evap emissions components already in place. After researching it looks like I could use a tank from a 99 suburban and make it fit. 99 looks like the last year that they mounted the tank in the same position as my 89... behind the rear axle, in between the frame rails and it has close enough dimensions that I think I can make it fit. The 99 sending unit will have the pressure sensor and tank level sensor incorporated into it which I need for the evap system. Because I will be using components from 3 different years... 89, 99, and 06, it isn't as straight forward to me to make it all work together so I have a few questions that I haven't been able to answer.
1. Will the stock 99 sending unit/in-tank fuel pump provide enough fuel pressure for the LQ9?
2. Kewljay brought the ORVR valve to my attention, does anyone know if I will need one in this application? I have researched but can't find a definite answer. If I do need one, I cannot seem to find one, or find where it would go, or find anyone who even knows anything about it. I believe it would need to be somewhere in the filler neck or tank inlet. I cant even find where I could buy one to try to add it to the 99 tank, since I don't think they were required in 99.
3. The 99 fuel tank has three holes/inlets/outlets on the top of the tank. one large hole for the sending unit, and two smaller holes. One of the smaller holes is for the vent valve (I think) and the other??
Again thank you to anyone that can help and thanks Kewljay for the help you already provided (if you read this). Also, if anyone thinks of something that might be a problem with this setup please let me know. Thanks!

Attachment 8856

Here is a picture of the 99 suburban fuel tank with the 3 holes on top.

The only question I can answer is that the fuel pump will definitely supply enough pressure to make the LQ9 run. LS engines run the same fuel pressure as Vortec injected Gen I engines.

Cool thank you, that is what I thought but I wanted to double check here.

no problem man. since your dealing with the orvr, its going to be a little more difficult for you to somehow integrate that and it be functional and allowable in the refs eyes. so just be prepared. from what ive read, the orvr stuff is built into the filler neck like you said. so if i was you, i would look into the filler neck from the year and vehicle your donor motor came out of and somehow get it to fit in your truck. obviously how you engineer all that will be on you... lol

as stated, the stock fuel pump from the vortec and LS motors will be sufficient. you can always upgrade the pump to a walbro 255 or more while you have it out of the tank anyway if you plan for future upgrades.

and lastly, i think your right for the vent valve (not positive) but in my research i also found that they have "roll-over" valves also... try a site with dealer diagrams stating what all the components are. that should tell you what they are for.

Well I thought I would update my progress on this swap so far. I finally got the 06 LQ9 picked up and brought home, then I got the old motor out, swapped inn a cross member from TNA which fits around the new motor better, then got the new motor in place. As suggested, I picked up a fuel tank from a 99 suburban to try to swap in, but there's just no way it is going to work under my 89. I went with the 99 suburban because it was the closest to my original shape and size. So now my biggest obstacle for this swap is still the evap/emissions stuff. Here's some pics of the progress:

Motor in the truck:

So now that I know that I have to use my original fuel tank, I am going to have to somehow add the pressure sensor and fuel level sensor to my original sending unit. Any ideas??

get the newer style donor tank and cut out all the holes (sending unit, and two check valves) and weld them onto your original tank. that way the tank will still fit and you will have all the provisions and required parts for the newer style system. this assumes you replace the sending unit opening you have now. the pro to this is that you wont have to add the pressure sensor as its built into the newer sending style sending unit. the con is that you will have to remove the old sending unit which will render your gauge useless since the newer style cant run your gauge...

TWO options:

1) you ADD the newer style opening to have both of the sending units in the tank, which will probably be very difficult due to the baffles inside for fuel slosh.

OR

2) you go ahead and replace the opening with the newer style and the add your old float (just the float) inside somehow in order to run your old fuel gauge.

i know what i just said sounds really confusing but it makes sence if you read it a few times. lol anyway, thats kinda what i did and is how i would do it if i did another cali swap again. im running two floats in my tank. and while i was in there, i added a second pump for my future mods. but in doing that, i had to drill holes and add wires. doesnt seem like a big deal until you have to find a way to seal it up!! and it has to stay sealed and be COMPLETELY sealed for the evap test to pass... hence my point of just welding all the provisions in your tank that way everything just plugs right in and seals like it should PLUS it will look factory to the ref which is what you want. just know though that if you go with option 2, you will still need to get two wires in the tank and seal it which is why option 1 is nicer but harder to do.... if you still go with option 2, make life easy and fork up the cash for this...http://www.racetronix.biz/itemdesc.asp?ic=BCWS-001&Tp= trying to dick around sealing up your own holes is not worth it. trust me!! pick that up, looks factory and allows two extra wires for a second pump if you wish.

my only concern about welding the tank is the inner coating to protect against rust. never dealt with that before so idk anything about it.

i would post pics of what i did but i didnt take any. lol sorry. but dont ask what i did tho cuz im lucky i passed with the way i have it (i almost didnt pass because of it) and im sure your ref will say no. go with anything i posted above and im sure you will be just fine. def not a walk in the park tho...

Sweet! this is exactly what I have been considering doing. I have been wondering how in the world you went about it. I think I might just swap the holes out for the sending unit. I am a little worried that the newer style sending unit will be too long to seat in the tank though. The newer tank is deeper than the older one and the sending units normally sit right at the bottom of the tank. Im going to go pick up a used '99 sending unit and see what I can come up with.
I wonder if I can mount the old float to the new sending unit somehow and then just run that wire bulkhead adapter to it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by socoinslo

Thank you in advance for any help, it is much appreciated.
I am swapping a 2006 LQ9 into my 1989 V2500 Suburban and I am going to make it CA smog legal, which complicates things a little.

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Have you talked to a SMOG referee before getting started? I was going to do this on my '83 C10, but the bullshit from the BAR to make it CA legal was rediculous. I am not saying it can't be done, but you may be in for more headaches than you can believe.

No I have not actually spoken to a bar ref. My understanding is that I will need to incorporate everything emissions related from the 2006 donor vehicle, which now that I am in the process of doing is a pain in the arse. What about your research or conversation with the bar ref made it not worth it to you? So far the hardest part of the emissions stuff for me has been getting the vapor system check to function properly. I have so far obtained the charcoal canister, vent valve, purge valve, fuel tank pressure sensor, fuel tank level sensor, and the filler neck. Getting all of these installed properly should allow the computer to perform the vapor system check. To get them installed, so far, I have taken a newer style tank and cut out all the mounting rings and welded them to my 89 fuel tank. This let me get the newer style sending unit mounted in the tank which has the level and pressure sensors in it already. Now I will mount the vapor canister next to the tank somewhere and hook up the vent valve to it then run the purge line from the motor to the canister. Since the donor vehicle is a 2006, I have to also swap out filler necks so that I have the ORVR valve as well. Please don't freak me out man... I feel like I am so close!lol

The only other thing that I have heard is that I may have to have same trans that the motor was mated to... That is baffling to me!:rolly:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ydtrack

Have you talked to a SMOG referee before getting started? I was going to do this on my '83 C10, but the bullshit from the BAR to make it CA legal was rediculous. I am not saying it can't be done, but you may be in for more headaches than you can believe.

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LMFAO ok dude, I myself and another member on here just passed our motor swaps within a few weeks of eachother. Yes it can be done and let me tell you its not that hard. The hardest part is exactly what soco said....getting the pressure sensor in the tank if the donor tank doesnt fit. the only other hard part is maybe the exhaust but on a truck with all the space... ha minor adjustments and your good to go. hell my truck is a 4/6 and it still clears the ground.

Sounds like you just want it to all fall in place for you and just cant handle anything more than that. but As long as you have some basic fabbing skills and arent afraid of a little challenge, a truck motor swap in cali is honestly a piece of cake as long as you do your research before hand. which it sure looks like soco did since hes almost there. just because you talked to one ref and it scared YOU, doesnt mean you should be trying to shy people away from it. ESPECIALLY since you never even tried going through the process. and if anything, its WELL worth the small hoops to jump through as you will benefit from MORE power with the same and most likely better MPG aaaand, its cleaner for the environment!! talk about a win win.

so soco, keep on truckin (pun intended) on your project. glad to see i helped you get this far. sounds like you got it all figured out. dont listen to negative comments about cali swaps as most people dont know what they are talking about. and i hope your taking pics along they way. im really interested in seeing how your tank turned out. i think i might pull mine in the future and do it that way also. you should do a thread about it also. you might cover material that i left out in my thread to help anyone interested in doing it out. keep us updated!!

If you use the fuel rail on the drive side of the 2001 through 2003 you can used the factory fuel return system of the suburban and just put a 255 gph pump in the original tank sender unit.