V6 Swap

[sgtsteve]

Anyone swap out an inline 6 for a Vortec V6 into a 2nd Gen? I was thinking of doing this with my 66 Nova, but I don't know how much of a problem it would be with the computer, and such? I could probably pick up one of those 4.3L out of an S10 or Blazer pretty cheap, those are pretty good engines from what I hear anyways.

Steve

[Paul Wright]

The 4.3 is a SBC without 2 cylinders.
I think that should be pretty easy except for the oil pan and headers. You'll probably have to fab your own.

[skullboy]

My bro has a 4.3 v-6 in his 48 suburban.He is very happy with it.I think he is using a holley fuel injection set up.Took some tuning but he has it dialed now.I could ask if you need more info.Skull

[sgtsteve]

My bro has a 4.3 v-6 in his 48 suburban.He is very happy with it.I think he is using a holley fuel injection set up.Took some tuning but he has it dialed now.I could ask if you need more info.Skull

I'm not sure when they came out with the 4.3L, are there any that aren't computer controlled? I really wouldn't know where to start in hooking up a computer wiring harness....:rolleyes:

[Gloryhound]

They made a carberated 4.3 V-6 that would help out on any computer issues. Also I think their are some companies that make a harness to do this in hot rods and such. The other option is when you get the engine take the complete engine harness and computer with it. If I were making a car that was going to see a lot of road time the vortech 4.3 would be an idea engine to have some nice power and fuel economy all in one.

[Paul Wright]

Edelbrock makes carb intake manifolds for the 85-95 V6 and the 85 up V6 with Vortec heads.
They claim 202HP and 260 ft/lbs on a Marine 4.3L

[Fredsgarage]

You are right if you think about all of the money you could spend on that 4.3. !!!

Probaly could make it a real mover too. BUT if you are thinking a Six why not keep it Inline? You can do quite a bit to the Inline to make it faster and more fun to drive. Weigh it out and think about it!

4.2 versus 4.3?



James

[sgtsteve]

You are right if you think about all of the money you could spend on that 4.3. !!!

Probaly could make it a real mover too. BUT if you are thinking a Six why not keep it Inline? You can do quite a bit to the Inline to make it faster and more fun to drive. Weigh it out and think about it!

4.2 versus 4.3?



James


A vortec v6 is more efficient, and more powerful than an inline 6 (even if the inline is mildly modified) Let's see.....I could probably get a good running 4.3L for less than the price of a inline intake manifold/header combo. What would be really cool is to find a wrecked or salvaged Syclone truck and pull the motor, that would really be a sleeper! :)

[skullboy]

Good luck!!:rolleyes: :beer: :beer: Goin on more.Sorry bad habit!

[Chris67Wagon]

Any new info on this subject???

[Rayndawg99]

I have done this swap into a 66 Willy's Overland. Used the whole Engine and Harness out of a wrecked 99 T-10 GMC. If your gonna do this get the whole harness and PCM. Don't forget GROUNDS! hehe stumped me for about a day.

Good Luck
Jim

[Dawg]

The '85 and '86 model 4.3's were carbed and found in Impalas, Monte Carlos and El Caminos. I think they went TBI in '87 or '88.

Yes it's possible to put a 4.3 in a Chevy II> I used to know of a kid that had one in his '66.

I've lost touch of him but his dad is friends with a guy named "Goob" over on maliburacing.com.

['70GreenMachine]

That would be unique. If you got the moter form the donor car, you could get the harness too, right? What kind of tranny are you gonna use?

[1963DUCE100]

I believe Edelbrock makes a 4bbl intake for theese engines. I have thought long and hard a bout this swap but I have too many v8 that I can use.

[Chris67Wagon]

Any new information on this subject???? I am still thinking on this one...Can get an "03" 4.3 and tranny for @ $1000.00

[simmondj]

They went to TBI in 87.
You can get adapter plates to change a carburated to a throttle body injection or vice versa. Or as others have noted Edelbrock makes an intake manifold that is compatible with a carburetor, but why not use the wiring harness and computer. If you can't find one, Painless makes a harness for these and they go for about 300$. The other advantage is that you could run a 700R4 transmission and so gain in fuel economy and overall drivability of the overdrive. Good luck. I would be interested to hear how the swap goes.

[Hemi Nova]

I've been working on a Syclone 4.3 swap in a 3rd gen for a couple years now.
There is one guy that has done a Syclone swap in a 2nd gen.
Go to http://www.syty.net and ask for somebody that's done the swap.
A 4.3 is about 2" shorter than a small block, all the bolt holes on the front and the back are the same as a SBC as well.
They shortened the distance between the back of the engine and the motor mount bolt pads.
I don't know about a 2nd gen, but on my 3rd gen we bolted a transmission in the car then bolted the motor to the trans and then welded steel plates to the subframe and moved the motor mount towers back to the correct location.
I think Painless makes a harness for the Vortec motors, they don't make one for the Syclone motor though.:(

[Chris67Wagon]

Yeah, that is what I was thinking...bolt in the trans first, then figure out the motor mounts..In the 67 the stock steering is under the oil pan, so I was thinking that would be a Big problem....?custom alum. pan??(I'm thinking of using an 2003 4.3) So I was thinking BillsII conversion would be the way to go??? I also would want to us the engine as it was in the truck..computer and all...What did you do as far as wiring???? Thanks, Chris

[SteveM]

I'm in the middle of a 4.3 / 700R4 swap into my '63. It's all mocked up right now, except for the headers. I used a bowtie overdrive crossmember to correctly set the position of the trans (using a Vega driveshaft). The motor mounts, oil pan, and headers are the biggest challenges so far. I bolted a pair of plates to the block at the location of the factory motor mounts, which extended forward to a pair of V8 frame-to-motor mounts. I then custom-fabbed a set of U-shaped saddles out of some cut-apart square tubing for the link between the plates and the frame-to-motor mounts.

I am coverting to a Bills II rack and pinion setup (picking up the rack this afternoon), so that I can use a factory oil pan. You will find that a 4x4 4.3 oil pan out of an S-10 blazer will clear the rear-steer setup, but is probably too deep, especially if your car sits low.

I have a set of rare aluminum "Bowtie" 4.3 heads that were originally used on Busch cup stock cars back when they ran V6's. These are angle-plug heads, which require headers (factory cast iron exhaust will not work due to the angle plugs). I have a set of 4.3 headers designed for an El Camino / Malibu that I am modifying to work with the setup.

I am using the Edelbrock carbureted intake, and a factory 4.3 HEI distributor which does not require computer control. This will be "phase 1" of my ultimate project, which I intend to convert to fuel injection at a later date.

There are a couple of 4.3 powered early Novas around. The first one I remember was done by a guy named Mark Grimes, back in the late '80's. He was a top-notch rod/pro-street builder who built an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous '62 Nova with 4.3 and auto power.

There is another one one a well known rod-shops website (I'll post the link when I get home) using a 4.3 and 5-speed manual trans. That car also uses a TCI or Heidt's front end (I forgot which), making the exhaust and oil pan issues much easier, but at a definite cost.

[Real McCoy]

As already mentioned these motors were used in Nascar in the Busch Series and they can be made to go fast and there were alot of after market parts available. The early motors had a low RPM vibration which GM fixed with a counter shaft in the newer models. Nascar was running these motors in the Goodies Dash Cars when the series was dropped a couple years ago. Carburator intakes are/were available and may even be cheap if you could find them. If you do the puter set up that would be neat but don't forget the fuel pump that you need to feed that set up. Best of luck. RM
Ron Hutter in Chardon Ohio was the man on the Nascar 4.3 stuff. His engines were the best. If you could find his phone number he may have some parts or know where some are if you were interested. His shop used to be Trick Stuff Eng but I think it's Hutters Racing Engines now, not sure.

[Chris67Wagon]

Hi SteveM; Thanks for the info...I am planning on a late model 4.3 computer setup...With the trans. located what kind of clearance between the firwall and dist. did u get??? Any pictures of what you have done would be great.....Thanks, Chris

[SteveM]

Chris:
With a "large cap" HEI, the fit is snug at the firewall (same as with a small block V8 and large cap HEI in an early Nova). In fact, when test fitting the distributor, I had to put the dist in first, and then mount the cap. (it wouldn't go into place with the cap already installed).

I'll have to take some pics, but would be happy to send them to you. My first plan was to do the complete TBI injection / computer controlled distributor route, but I have decided to go in stages (carbed, HEI first) for the sake of simplicity. I have the complete wiring harness and computer that came from the truck that I got the 4.3 from.

The fuel system seemed to be the biggest obstacle for a complete computer controlled, injected system. I plan to use an external pump (a Bosch unit) and re-work the sender on the fuel tank to accomodate an additional hard line.

SteveM.

[Chris67Wagon]

SteveM; On the fuel system you will also need an additional fuel setup..I read on here somewhere where the FI guys had come up with a small tank and fuel pump system, based on a house water filter..like an additional small fuel tank....With the stock tank you can have fuel starvation issues...I'm sure someone else can give better info on this....Try and post any pictures on here so everyone can see.....Thanks, Chris

[SteveM]

Chris:
I am familiar with the small reservior concept as well. I have wondered if a big spin-on fuel filter would provide enough reserve capacity (maybe a marine style filter, about 1 quart). There is a pretty good book on the topic (TBI and TPI conversions in earlier cars). I have forgotten the name of the book, but I believe it's published by the same people that have the "Jaguars That Run" website and books. These guys are into SBC swaps into Jaguars, Volvos, etc.

There's a lot of good info there.

SteveM

[tpinovaII]

A few years back, I kicked around the idea of dropping a 4.3 with EFI into a third gen. I've always liked how the stock 4.3L Vortec runs out so it would make for a nice driver. What I determined was, that for the same price, I could have a V8 with EFI. Not to overstate the obvious, but the V8 offers more displacement and torque right out of the box. So I chose to go V8. I still like the idea of a V6 in an X-body though.
As soon as my schedule allows, I intend to build a custom fuel tank with baffling, an internal sump, and internal pump. I plan to use an original tank as a starting point and cut & modify as necessary. The current plan is to graft in the pump/sending unit assembly from a newer EFI tank. (The stock tank isn't deep enough but I will get around that.) I'm hoping to take pictures and post them here. If it works, it should be a great budget minded approach to adding EFI to and old car.