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Eskimo Auto & Truck Parts

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Remanufactured Chevrolet 8.1L V8 Engine - B7, C, K Series Trucks, C3500HD, C6500 Kodiak, C7500 Kodiak, Express Vans, Silverado, Suburban; GMC B7, C3500HD, C6500 Topkick, C7500 Topkick, Savana Vans, Sierra, Yukon XL 2500

8.1L · V8 · Part DCW2

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We'll confirm availability and your price on this remanufactured engine — warrantied, with a refundable core.

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Platinum Warranty: parts and labour, four years, included on gas engines in non-commercial use

4-year no-fault nationwide warranty — includedOn gas engines in non-commercial use, at no extra charge. The builder’s standard cover is 3 years, parts only. Every gas engine we sell includes the 4-year no-fault warranty with labour, at no extra charge.

  • “No fault” means we do not investigate why it failed — if a covered engine fails inside the term, it is covered.
  • Labour is paid up to CAD $95.00 per hour — a cap on the rate, not a flat payout — and only for the remove-and-replace hours in the Mitchell labour guide. Diagnostic time is covered up to 2 hours, and fluids up to CAD $200.00. Towing and a rental car are not covered. Anything not listed here needs to be agreed with us before the work starts.
  • The 4 years start the day the engine is installed, and a claim needs proof that a professional shop installed it.
  • Unlimited kilometres, and no deductible.
  • Call us before any warranty work starts, so we can authorise it. Labour paid on a repair we were not asked about first is not covered.
  • A claim starts with a call to us. We file it with the manufacturer, and the manufacturer pays it.

Diesel engines, and engines put into commercial service, are not covered by this 4-year warranty — the terms vary by engine, so call us for the terms on the unit you’re pricing.

Full warranty termsInstalling the engine

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Fits

  • Chevrolet B7, C, K Series Trucks, C3500HD, C6500 Kodiak, C7500 Kodiak, Express Vans, Silverado, Suburban 2001–2001 · 8.1L V8

Not sure it fits? Call (780) 473-2424 with your VIN and we'll confirm.

4-year warranty included

Refundable core

Ships Canada-wide

Engine guide

Chevrolet Big-Block V8 (396-502)

Also known as: Rat motor, Mark IV big-block, BBC, Vortec 7400, Vortec 8100, 454, 396

Overview & history

The Chevrolet big-block — the "rat motor" to generations of gearheads — is one of the longest-serving V8 families GM ever built. Production began in 1965, when the Mark IV debuted as a 396 in the Corvette and Chevelle Z16, but its DNA traces to the 1963 Mark II "Mystery Motor," a 427 race engine developed under engineer Dick Keinath that stunned NASCAR at the Daytona 500. Its canted-valve "porcupine" heads flowed so well they carried the family through the muscle-car era as the 396, 402, 427, and finally the 454 of 1970. When that era faded, the big-block found its second career: work. Tall-deck 366 and 427 truck versions, the 454 in C/K pickups and Suburbans, the Gen V and Gen VI updates of the 1990s, and finally the Vortec 8100 (8.1L) kept the family in production at GM's Tonawanda, New York plant until December 2009 — a 45-year run powering everything from LS6 Chevelles to Kodiak medium-duty trucks.

Specs & engineering

  • •90-degree OHV pushrod V8 with cast-iron block and heads in nearly all trims — L88/ZL1 racers got aluminum heads (ZL1: aluminum block too).
  • •Canted-valve "porcupine" heads angle the valves in two planes for straighter ports and big airflow without overhead-cam complexity.
  • •Oval-port heads (torque; most cars and trucks) versus rectangular-port (high-rpm performance); late truck heads use a small "peanut" port.
  • •2-bolt or 4-bolt main caps by application; heavy-duty truck and performance blocks got 4-bolt.
  • •Mark IV uses a two-piece rear main seal; Gen V (1991) switched to one-piece — a key interchange point between eras.
  • •Fueling evolved from carburetors to TBI to multi-port injection (Vortec 7400, 1996) and coil-near-plug ignition (Vortec 8100).

Generations & variants

  • •Mark I "W-series" 348/409 (1958-1965) — predecessor with combustion chambers formed in the block.
  • •Mark II "Mystery Motor" 427 (1963) — race-only forerunner that debuted the canted-valve heads at Daytona.
  • •Mark IV 396/402/427/454, plus 366/427 tall-deck truck versions (1965-1990) — the classic era: L78, L72, L88, ZL1, LS6.
  • •Gen V 454/502 (1991-1995) — one-piece rear seal, 4-bolt mains.
  • •Gen VI Vortec 7400 L29 454 (1996-2000) — multi-port injection for pickups, vans, Suburbans.
  • •Gen VII Vortec 8100 L18 (2001-2009) — 8.1L/496 ci, the last production big-block; HD pickups, vans, Kodiaks, motorhomes.
  • •Still sold new as GM crate engines — 502, ZZ572, and the 1,004-hp ZZ632.

Vehicles it powered

  • •Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396/SS 454 (1965-1972)
  • •Chevrolet Corvette (1965-1974)
  • •Chevrolet Camaro SS 396 / COPO 427 (1967-1972)
  • •Chevrolet Impala / Caprice (1965-1976)
  • •Chevrolet C/K pickups (1968-2000)
  • •Chevrolet Suburban 2500 (1973-2006)
  • •Chevrolet Silverado / GMC Sierra 2500HD-3500 8.1L (2001-2006)
  • •Chevrolet Express / GMC Savana 8.1L (2001-2009)
  • •Chevrolet Kodiak / GMC TopKick C4500-C8500 (1990-2009)

Casting numbers

38559611965-1966 396 block, 2-bolt or 4-bolt mains
39024061967 396 block, 2-bolt or 4-bolt mains
3963512Shared casting: 1969 427 and 1970-1976 454 block, 2-bolt or 4-bolt — measure bore/stroke or check the crank to know which you have
39992891971-1979 454 block, 2-bolt or 4-bolt mains
39992941968-1984 427 tall-deck truck block, 4-bolt mains
140154451978-1990 454 block, 2-bolt or 4-bolt mains
101141821991+ Gen V 454 block, 4-bolt mains
39198401967-1969 rectangular-port closed-chamber head, 2.19/1.88-inch valves — L78/L71/L72 396 and 427 performance engines

Known issues & fixes

Flat-tappet cam lobe wear (Mark IV through Gen VI)

What to watch for: New ticking, a dead cylinder, or metal glitter in the oil — modern oils carry far less ZDDP than these cams need.

The fix: Break in a fresh cam with high-zinc oil and light spring pressure, then run ZDDP-fortified oil — or convert to a roller cam.

Valve-seat recession on pre-1971 iron heads

What to watch for: Valve lash steadily tightening and compression dropping on engines run hard on unleaded fuel.

The fix: Hardened exhaust seats installed at remanufacture solve it for good.

Running hot under load

What to watch for: Temps creeping up on grades or in traffic — big-blocks reject a lot of heat and punish marginal cooling.

The fix: Size the radiator to the engine, run a proper shroud and fan, and verify timing — retarded ignition is a classic hidden cause.

Broken exhaust manifold bolts (Vortec 8100)

What to watch for: Exhaust tick on cold start that fades with warm-up; heat cycling under load fatigues the bolts until they snap.

The fix: Extract the broken bolts and refit with new hardware before the leak erodes the sealing surface.

Oil consumption (Vortec 8100)

What to watch for: Fouled plugs and a low dipstick — GM's spec allowed a quart per 100 gallons of fuel.

The fix: Keep the PCV fresh and check the level religiously when towing.

Did you know?

  • ★The Mark II "Mystery Motor" appeared unannounced at the 1963 Daytona 500 after secret testing in Arizona — rivals spent the weekend guessing what was under the hood.
  • ★Only 2 Corvettes and 69 Camaros got the all-aluminum ZL1 427 in 1969, one of the rarest factory engines ever.
  • ★It's the "rat" because the small-block was already the "mouse"; the press dubbed the heads "porcupine" for their staggered valve stems.

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]