Seems like a lot of people had POS 4.3s. I've been running, S10s and Blazers for a long time. Love those little trucks. I've had all different models with all the different engines available. The 4.3 is a great little engine in the vehicles is in good running condition. If you're truck isn't in the best mechanical/drivetrain shape, the engine wont perform the best of course.
I think power wise it's not sluggish at all. Hell even the 2.2L/5spd combo in a std cab short box S10 goes decent lol
This has to do with the build above. I'd like to do a similar build to my 4.3 that i have sitting around for my '54 Chevy truck, but we'll see.
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/e...ild/index.html