Any 4.3 v6 swaps?

[primetime]

Seeing how these engines are a dime a dozen and only 2 cylinders minus the 350's, has anyone put this in the 67-72's yet? If so how is the performance/mpgs? And any pics of the engine bay?

[Blazerowner]

I saw a 66 nova in a magazine where the guy had a turbo 4.3 pushing over 500 horse about 5 years ago. He was getting high 20s for gas mileage to boot. Pretty cool set up.

[twich3136]

apparently the guys who do sand dune tours in 6 seater dune buggies at florence use those engines and love them. they drive the snot out of them every day almost all year. at the end of the season they put a new one in. i guess they are pretty reliable. ive been thinking about the swap myself

[DreamRyder1963]

The guys from Roadkill did a turbo 4.3 swap into a 71 240z. The thing puts out 400hp. I haven't seen one done in our trucks before. I guess the logic is if you are gonna do the work might as well get two more cylinders. I believe that the mounts are the same as the late model 350 so it should be a straight forward swap.

[1968k10blue]

I honestly wondered the same thing, I have a 99 with the 4.3 that the body is pretty well shot but the motor has 80k miles on it

[primetime]

Yea I'm wanting a daily driver that's reliable and pretty easy to find parts for. I remember someone saying that v6 comes with a 5 or 6 speed manual transmission option too. I'll like to put this in my 68 for a daily driver. Just want to make sure it can move the truck without struggling too hard.

[Lattimer]

I know somebody has done it before, I remember seeing the pics, but I can't recall who.

For a DD and no serious towing or hauling, a 4.3 should work very nice. Especially with a 5-speed and a 3.73 rear.

[69rut]

I dropped a '97 V-6 and 4L60 in the frame of my wife's '69 last night. I have V-8 engine towers and motor mounts that I moved back a few inches so that the engine is back against the firewall like a V-8 would be. The transmission crossmember will need to be bolted in place also. The driveshaft looks like it will need to be about 56" long. I still need to check the pinion angle against the tranny and a few other things.

One thing I have concerns about is the motor mounts. To get them to "work" I had to shim them about 1/2 an inch. The front of the engine seems a bit high also. So I will either need to mod the engine towers or find another motor mount combo that has worked for someone else. The stock V-6 exhaust manifolds will not work as they hit the engine towers. But a different tower, or modified one, might work.

I will add pictures later.

[Keith Seymore]

I daily drive a 4.3 V6 in my '87. A833 manual overdrive trans, 3.73 axle. Routinely gets 20-22 mpg.

Been a daily driver, with some light hauling/trailering mixed in, for 28 years this October

K

[special-K]

I'm afraid I don't recall the member's name,but I have a picture of his truck with 4.3 V6. I haven't seen him post in years (that I'm aware of)

[Nitis]

This is on my list of potential future builds but I think a turbo would be in order if it's not too difficult to handle

My goal is to one day have a swb daily driver that I can get 20+ mpg with all day any day. If not a 4.3 then cummins 4bt

[69rut]

Promised photos.








^^^ I used a nut between the motor mount and the tower so everything would line up. ^^^


^^^ You can't see the spacer here, but the tower and motor mount do not meet. ^^^
Without the spacer the bolt holes for the mount did not line up with the tower.

[picklito]

The 4.3 is a very nice motor, just under-appreciated. Had one in a boat and it pulled skiers much better than you might think. Ya, I'd bet it'd be a good DD in a 2wd truck.

[Shaky]

I have a 4.3 in my 2006. It's a pretty nice set-up.

Port injection,
Vortec heads,
Roller cam,
Header-style exhaust manifolds,
Dual cats.

Above 2500 it pulls fairly hard.

[special-K]

The '14s are something like 325hp now

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by special-K

The '14s are something like 325hp now

Hmm.

I had always figured if anything happened to mine (it's got 208k miles on it now) I'd just buy a V6 crate motor and throw that in.

Maybe the thing to do is find a crashed 2014 and pull the motor out of that....

K

[hugger6933]

I think the 14's are a different critter. The older 4.3 can be traced back to the C-10 in 86 and the S-10 in 88 1/2 model year[ yep they did a 1/2 year change in like Jan of 88 that made the model year of 88 run long[ same way with 91]. The tbi injection was run until up into the94 year model then the head changed a little and so did the injection to the MPFI. The later Vortec is mostly what everyone here is talking of and it is the same basic Vortec injection as the V-8 96 -99 Chevrolet small block motor stuff. These are not good motors they are GREAT motors. I do shy away from buying them in the full grown trucks cause they are a little harder to sell than the V-8 counterpart but there are those that really want just that truck. It may be just over worked by a tad. For example, I had a extended cab S-10 that I built from scratch and spare parts using some of my "put back good stuff" it was a black with charcoal int. and 4.3 auto. It also had a 3:42 posi and 15inch late[at that time ] alloys. That truck would only do about 18 to 20 MPG's. I pulled the 4.3, put in a 5.7 TBI and started getting 19 to 22 MPG's. I drove the truck to Little Rock [back when we had a Street and Performance outpost there]and had a chip burned for it. Now the same 22 on the way over on I-40 with the air on I got going over was 26 on the way back with the air still on and running like 75!! I said all that to say this the power unleashed was moving the truck so much easier that it took a lot less to do it. The motor work a lot less to do the same job with the more power. Jim

[Hiluxxulih]

My 2004 Silverado has a 4.3 liter v6 five speed it has been rock solid other than I had to put a new distributor in it I stripped out the screw holes when I changed the cap last time so I bought a new one from Napa , the truck is a regular cab long bed 4x4 w/t model it ha just over 70,000 miles on it

[Shaky]

Originally Posted by Hiluxxulih

...I had to put a new distributor in it I stripped out the screw holes when I changed the cap last time...

Yep - mine too. I bought an aluminum distributor from Rock Auto.

[special-K]

Yeah,the new series 4.3 is different. But it is a 4.3 V6 that gives well over 300 HP in stock form. Just saying...

I've seen some pepped-up older 4.3s,also. There's no reason to not run a good old reliable stock 4.3,though. It makes a lot of sense

[TwoFiftyShifter]

I've driven a 14 GMC ECSB 4X4 with the 4.3. It pulls hard but you can instantly tell the 5.3 would eat it for breakfast. It is butter smooth and good for 22 hwy... Just like a 5.3.

[Turbo1dr]

If I done a V6 swap, it would be the Buick 3800 Supercharged engine. 260HP in stock form and much more reliable than a boosted Chevy engine.

[engineer_gregh]

At a "cars and coffee" this morning one of the guys had just put a 5 speed out of an S-10 in his 55 Bel Air and loves it. It made me think about the 5-speed swap. He said that he used his existing bell house, got a new drive shaft, and did it for less than $1K. Much cheaper than any after market 5 or 6 speed I've priced.

[68C15]

the problem with the 4.3 and even worse with the 3800 is torque. They simply don't have as much in stock form as a 5.7 or 5.0 does. Now, if there was a supercharger for a Vortec 4.3 that would be golden

I'm thinking a set of frame brackets from 73-87 would be about right with either 4.3 or the 350 mounts.

[special-K]

I wouldn't be putting a 4.3 in my truck to go stomp 5.3s. It would be a great cruiser/touring engine. You don't need to boost up the newer 4.3s. They've been something like 280 hp for 5 or so years.

I'm envisioning how cool it would be to do a 4.3/T5 in my '67 GMC shortbed. I mean,c'mon man...GMC?...V6? It's got that era hot truck vibe,but with the hood down you wouldn't know. It's not for show,just driving. It would make that hum only a 6 can make going through the gears