First of all I applaud the concept to use a V6 and I do like the 4.3, it is torquey and easy to upgrade since it is 3/4 of a 350 many performance parts work with it. I had an S15 with that engine and burning 20 foot patches was a snap.
Here are some of the considerations I foresee, and again not an expert. The 2.8 is a 60 degree engine and the 4.3 is a 90 degree engine so right off the top you will be having engine mount issues. The 4.3 never was used in the Camaro/Firebird line so that would be a fabrication I would think. The 4.3 is not going to bolt inplace of the 2.8. and you will need to consider exhaust manifolds and fitment as well.
I know you have a good 4.3 engine available however consider that GM made a 3.1 and 3.4 which are based on the 2.8 so direct bolt in. Then there is the wild card, The Buick 3.8 is a great engine and Pontiac did put it in the Anniversary Firebird Trans Am with a turbo so engine mounts and other parts are available. Could you locate a salvage yard Bonneville SSEi with the Supercharger 3.8 V6- 260 Ponies, much more than the 305's that came with in the Camaro originally.
-- Edited by RAT BOY on Wednesday 22nd of February 2012 10:22:40 PM
My kid has a 1988 camaro 2.8 V6 car with no motor or trans. Because of the year it has to be emmissions legal. For gas and insurance reason he would like to stay V6 (Us older guys all say go V8...I know, I know ). Buget is a factor as well. I have a line on a complete, running 4.3 equiped auto Chevy X-treme PU. It's cheap enough to fit the budget and after parting out what we don't need will be a really cheap deal for the kid. So..the question is will it work fairly easily ,Engine,computer, trans, emissions etc?????
I'm no help on Chevy's but it would seem to me if a 4.3 is based on a 350 and a SBC was available in the F body it has to fit in there, possibly even with V8 mounts as the trans will be in the same location regardless. Just a thought.
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Stu
"some things hurt more, much more, than cars and girls"
Did a bit of research on this. I went another route, knowing that many 4.3s have been swapped for V8's in trucks and there is plenty of info out there on that swap.
You need to use the 4.3 V6 mounts and becuase the engine is shorter than the V8 the frame will need to be drilled. The 2.8 v6 transmission can not bolt to the 4.3 v6 so you will need to pull the entire drivetrain from the truck and use it.
i know on my 1999 sonoma they sell the motor mount to make the swap to a 350 they also have a complete wiring harness available...................if you can salvage the exhaust system i need it for my truck
ok i lost 5 hp lollllllllllllll.....................195 hp but that is the vortec like mine ............but i was told it can easily be upgrade to get over the 200 hp................. the regular 4.3 is rate 165 hp
Thanks for the great info. It seems to me(from what you guys are saying) that it is worth the risk and I should buy the truck. I never thought to check truck sites. But I kinda thought that because the small trucks are (were) very popular that there would be some upgrades for the motor available. My kid is posting on the Camaro forum as well to see if anyone has done the swap already. The truck has high km's but is the original one owner. Sometimes it's the small stuff that is hard to get rather than the replacement block so a complete donor car/truck is what we want to do. Well Flatduck if we get the truck you got dibs on the exhaust!!
Thanks guys Rich
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slab----67 chevy II 2dr post and 66 chevy II hardtop
The 4.3 being of the basic dimensions of the small block should make a pretty cool sounding sleeper. Forest and Forest racing, a local machine shop here put together a mild 4.3 in a stock appearing 2wd Blazer that made roughly 300 hp with head work, a stock throttle body and tuning. The little motor will make horsepower if you want to play with it down the road. There should be a lot of cheap parts available to help you get it going.
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Keep your stick on the ice and don't pull your goalie.
I'm working at making the deal on the truck. Hopefully I can get it. If it's not saveable, so we can flip it...we will give the swap a try. Thanks again for all the great info. Rich
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slab----67 chevy II 2dr post and 66 chevy II hardtop
4.3's a good little motors, and are basically a 350 minus two cylinders. All the accessory drive, and transmission pattern is the same as a SBC.
Be careful which one you get through - the later ones with the plastic spider for the fuel injection will give you fits. If you have one of those motors, don't touch the fuel injection on the manifold!
We are going to get the truck (2000 chevy X-treme) tonight that might be used as the parts truck for the motor. We want to look the truck over real close to see if it is fixable to flip.
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slab----67 chevy II 2dr post and 66 chevy II hardtop
you have to know that if a vehicle could not have come with that engine, it will be e tested under a hotrod classification, since that camero never came with a 4.3, it would be e tested under the hot rod class. you will still have to have all the emision junk if the sniffer nazis pull you over
as well, a 4.3 is high tech motor so to speak, some come with roller cams and forged internals, so you can get more hp and save over the weight of a sbc. as for the computer and wiring, its more simple then you think, the computer only knows what you tell it, it doesnt know whats under the hood. i would stay with an older fuel injection system, they get complicated as they get newer. saved the computer from whatever motor you use
Thanks for the tips. We will be using the 2000 vortec 4.3 and have a complete X-treme to take it from. At this point(not starting the work yet) we are going to try and use everything we can. This is a new adventure for me but we are thinking about the intruments, air, heater controls, computer etc. all being put into the camaro. What ever fuel injection is on it is what we will be staying with. I think it will be a good project for my son to learn a lot from. The bad news was the insurance quotes we were getting. The kids only 14 but we were looking for an idea on what a 16yr old with that car would cost to insure. Not cheap.
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slab----67 chevy II 2dr post and 66 chevy II hardtop
