4.3 donor thoughts

dont get me wrong fellows, i love my :hurrican: but thinking ahead and am leaning tword a 4.3 chevy there are many reasons for the 4.3 as a good choice but my question is what would be a good donor vehicle. i am looking at buying a whole vehicle and there are a couple in the local trader, thinking of getting TBI along with saggy stuff all in the same vehicle then sell the rest for scrap a buddy of mine was telling me of a fullsize chevy pickup with 4.3& 5sp with a bad tranny for $400 circa late 80's early 90's. hell it would bring $300 scrap minus the motor just not sure what steering setup it has so what would be good donor vehicles I ask you good people

 

Exactly what I did, 1995 Blazer, running for $200, hit in the rear, and totaled by the insurance co.

I am lucky enough to have a place to keep the hulk until I am done with the Jeep, that way, I get to pick over the parts as I discover something else I need.

 

95 still have TBI?

 

also a straight drive with hyd clutch would be preferable, just looking to make my old heep a little more user friendly but I am gonna miss that low end torque that the :hurrican: makes

 

Drive something with a 4.3 and you won't miss it a bit! The F-4 is a good motor for what it is, but modern engines will blow it away every time unless going for the retro or originality.

An S-10/S-15 Blazer or pu would be the best donor but don't rule out Astro Vans either. A TBI unit is inexpensive and easier to deal with than a CPFI

 

XACTLY what i needed to hear never ran 5:38's behind anything other than a L or F 134, but those damn little motors are like a tractor Ifin a 4.3 with 5:38's will chug along like a willys engine i would say you are spot on

 

I've got 5.38's with a mildly warmed up 231 in the '59-5 and love them off road. A little low on the highway (33" tires) but will still do 55-65 without trouble. It definitely scoots when I want it to.
I put 5.38's in the '6 but it has an overdrive tranny and 36" tires, haven't driven it yet....

 

There was a year or two that used Vortec heads and TBI. I can't remember for sure but want to say around '94 or so. I may be off on that though. Patrick could probably help with the years. That's kind of the holy grail for swapping. Most torque and hp for a TBI system with minimal swap hassles and expense. I've got a '90 TBI 4.3 in the garage waiting to go into a Jeep and have a set of Vortec heads waiting for rebuild to put on it. Gathered the parts back when they were harder to find. Now complete good running engines are cheaper than what I have in parts

 

4.3 donor info

http://forums.carcraft.com/70/6485406/general-car-craft-discussion/general-motors-43-v6/index.html

Scroll down, user name "Mikeasis" or such.

Cant miss it, really long post, full of good info on 4.3s.

 

Had a 93 4-door with vortec heads and TBI.

 

Chuck, you are welcome.

The forums for the S10/S15 truck folks also have a ton of info, specially the hot rodding side of things.

 

Yes, at least in the S-10’s ’95 was still TBI.

 

Going with the 4.3, don't you need to move the motor mounts, off center the motor, or channel the fire wall? Seemed to be several mod's that need to be completed going from the 225/231. I thought I read that here, and that is why I rebuilt my 3.7.