Quote: Originally posted by GhostRider84 Everyone talks about the 4.3 being a hard swap, what if you just used the engine and transmission from an S10, hung a carb on it & let it fly. What's this about clearing the strut towers? (I sure wouldn't want some like this under my hood) where did you get that and what details do you have about that engine in the pic. your starting to turn me on wink wink wink.....

it was the 3.8 liter BUICK engine used in the Busch Grand National races that took place int he 80's

lets stop and put 2 and 2 together here

the point i see in this post is to swap to a larger engine

why do people usually swap to a larger engine in a thirdgen f-body?

to gain more performance (although there is the .00001% that swap to a larger engine in the 3rd gen f-body so they can tow more)

if i was going to sell you 10 books for $5
or 3 books for $5

which deal would you choose (assuming that the same 3 books are included in the deal of 10)

if you want to be different, thats fine with me, but remember 99% of the time being different means being beat

for those of you are going to flame me and say "not everyone races their cars"

1. go to the top of this post
2. read the post title
3. comprehend that the engine swap considered is mainly for performance
4. realize the relationship between performance and racing
5. leave here a smarter person

i dont post here to be a "broken record"
there are some people who ask questions with hope to find a answer
i like to answer these questions by showing people ways to get better performance for their dollar

Gumby, please describe to me how a 4.3 will be "fun" for you, i'm curious

The 4.3 makes sence on many levels, more power then any 3.4, better fuel economy then a V8 and well thats about it...
It really wouldent make sence though for you V6ers to do this swap although as mentioned it is practicly the same as a V8 swap, FYI 4.3 light duty van exhaust manifolds are the ONLY stock manifold that will work in a 3rdgen and its close.

I would love to have a 2.5 firebird, Bill what kinda of mileage do you get???

1 were in the v6 section
2 the thread is about the 4.3 v6
3 you sound lik the typical put a v8 in it moron you run into in the other sections.
4 your in the v6 section
5 the topic is about the 4.3 v6

it should be plain and clear that no matter what anyone ask about engines in here they do not want a v8, no matter how much of a cost saving you think it is. If they wer interestd in the v8 swap guess where they would be??? not in the v6 section.

you do sound like a broken "v8 moron" record.

put a v8 in it, put a v8 in it, duh huh huh....

you didnt answer my question


p.s. thanx for getting this locked

although i really hate to say it, but IMO, a 4.3 v6 or anything other than 60* v6 swap isnt worth the money to be swaped into a v6 f-body..

engine, tranny, suspension upgrades (cuz theyll be needed for heavier engine), radior?

cost of above parts equal cost of a v8 thirdgen..

if u really want a 90* v6 (ie: 3.8, 4.3), find a v8 f-body w/ a nonworking engine and build from that.. thats the cheapest way to do it

A 4.3 would not be that much heavier than the 3.1 liter, since they both have iron blocks and heads. I would think that a 4.3 liter F body would be cool. The one thing that the 4.3 liter definitely has is torque. In the early 90's the 4.3 liter in fullsize pickups had more torque output than the 305 TBI. They didn't have as much HP, but it wasn't too much lower. My brother has a 1991 GMC Sierra with a 4.3 and a 5 speed with 3.08 gears. I built his motor using the Edelbrock intake, cam, timing chain, and valve springs, 1.6 ratio roller rockers, and I had the heads worked and put stainless steel 2.06" intake and 1.65" exhaust valves in there. It is a pretty nice ride, even in that heavy pickup truck. I can only imagine what it would do in a 3300 pound F body.

You could probably get a 4.3 out of a Caprice, with the transmission and all, and it would probably have everything you would need to fit it in there.

Teal's right- but it does depend on what state you live in. Some states just care about what the emissions levels are that come out of the tailpipe. Some states only care that the car has tires. And some state require that:

1. Motor must have been an dealer option for your year
2. Motor (block) must have been made in your year, or "newer"
3. Induction (fuel injection, carb, etc) must have been used in your year or newer
4. The tailpipe emissions are at or below a certain level.

The bummer is engine year- it'd be illegal if I put a 1985 2.8l in my Firebird, since the block says '85, but between 85 & 86, the 2.8 was exactly the same!

What Teal meant was that the 4.3 is a truck engine. It was never offered for the f-body platform by GM. So if emissions is strict in your state, the guy would pop the hood, see a funny looking motor, run the block #, find out it was a truck motor, and fail you right away- without even checking the tailpipe emissions levels.

That's why Karl was so concerned about making his 3.4 look exactly like a 1985 2.8 - No 3.4 came in an 82-92 f-body, so technically, his swap is illegal- even though it probably passes emissions better than the '85 2.8 did.

Just like some of these guys with the '89 350's getting rid of their TPI fuel injection for a "good 'ol carburetor". That's illegal to the smog police. There was no carbureted 350 offered for an '89 f-body.

It's just one of those technicality laws meant to drive hot rodders like us crazy. We all know the reality is that any motor can be swapped into any car, and any motor can be tuned up so it passes emissions! In fact, most of the times, when we do a mod for extra horsepower, we're making the engine cleaner because we're making it more efficient! I see myself rambling on and on, so I'll stop now.

Thats why i said re title it as your car, dont even call it a gm. Ripe the searial numbers off the dash and have it retitled.

and I missing something here, long as you do not go down saying I have an 86 firebird and I want a title. You can build your own car/truck.bike.

You say i built a car out of junk with my own two hands, its not any paticular make and I need a title, pass safety inspection and emmsions and you now have a car built by you and not GM.

If you tried to do an engine swp and stuff and reuse your title and or still tried to call it a chevy aro, pontaic firebird it wouldnt work.

must be re titled as home made and then anything is possiable.


lock what???? your the only one off topic teal. with your put a v8 in it smack.

Whoa!!.. And the words will fly -
I just like to keep an open mind and look at diffrent options.
Most of the cars we "build" here will not ever get Built. Study Hall Cars I like to call them - Good weather for it, now is the time to day dream.

Gumby,
The picture is from page 144 of the GM Performance Parts cat.

I know a guy who had an 85 Firebird with a straight 6 from some 60-70's car, and he had some strange tranny in it as well. If you'd like more info I think I can get it from him, damn that car was strange though!

bet it was a straight 6 with a 2 speed pwerglide.

2 speed auto trans, dont shift out of first till about 50 and then it just rev's and rev's.

kinda scary and funny, friend got a nova like that, we laugh and laugh as we waited for it to shift out of first. it took so dam long it was funny.

The 4.3V6 was offered in the '85-88 Chevy Monte Carlos check my signature below. '85 and 86 rated at 130hp 215tq with non roller cams while the '87 and '88 rated at 140hp with roller cam. All four years came with 2.29 gears in the back with limited slip axles.

hmm that kinda sucks man, I mean it has more toque but many many builder will say go for Hp and torque will follow, while some buid for torque and deal with what ever HP they get.

I beleive in just building HP, torque will follow, it has no choice.

3.4 is 160HP 194TQ

and man, them carlos had to be slow??? why such a hi rear end, that thing must have been great on the eway for long trips at constant speed. but geese, make a nice car and skimp on the gears. sad sounds like a hi 18 car.

Its not really slow I can spin tires and it keeps with a regular 305 V8 Monte Carlo until about just past 2nd shift of transmission(turbo 200c). When I hit the passing gear it move like a 350V8 but falls on its face about a 3K rpm and many people think I have a V8 under the hood. On the highway, I cruise about a grand rpms at 55mph in lockup and gas mileage about 25 miles/gal when not showing off with t-tops removed.

yea I had a cutlass with a 280 v8 and it had a 2.80 something rear, it was quick but a 3 somthing would be better


what is a q mile time on a 4.3 carlo????

I have not idea but the powerband doesn't feel flat across it range. Torque peaks at 2 grand while horsepower at 3.3 grand and the redline is at 4.5 grand. In the city, its fun to drive but not for racing not much at the top.

yep, through some basic number through drag 2000 and a carlo is a high 17-18 car, but put some 3.53 gears and a 2500 stall and its a high 16 low 17, 4.11 gears are slower, 3.53 are faster, might not have the rpms to make 4.11s work.

Well, I find my self on the horns of a dilemma - Actually the mirror image of the 90deg. in a Fbody problem. I was thinking of putting a 2.8 in my 76Vega - But the V6s that came in the early Hbodys were 90deg. (i.e. 231 V6 Monza). S-o-o- if I want to go with a V6 it looks like it needs to be a 90deg.

you will just need to make a custome motor mount. not that hard.

other than that I could see no problems.

Don't think that the 2.8 will buckel-up to the Powerglide - I'm gona lay them out on the ground and see. The Vega's got weard look'n (to me) motormounts, what ever I build is gona be weard. The motor mounts from a V6 monza "should" just bolt up to a 4.3.
I don' know, I'm kinda loosing intrest in the project - thinking about trading it for a Grand Prix with a Double Overhead Cam 3.4
(not running ofcourse). Tell me Doc. - am I out of my mind?

4.3 V6 use 350 motor mounts thats what I had to buy for my monte carlo.

Hm, interesting. I'll have to check into that... seems like it wouldn't fly, though. I mean, if it were possible, everybody'd be doing it in California.

my g0d 73 posts lol

thats a personal record for me

did anyone else see the 4.3 HOT ROD magazine built?
they ended up slapping a SC on it and it made like 500hp or something

TomP ,
Gumby has got me thinking – we should really do some research into this legal thing (after the holidays). Someone’s dad or brother or uncle or something is bound to be a lawyer . I know that here I can go down to the law library and get help from the staff looking things up – there’s bound to be similar things in each state – plus on line.

74 posts – it’s the thread that wouldn’t die!

call your local state highway patrol, they are the ones who do the safety test and issue you a new title number.


the emmsion stuff would be straight forward, just pass it.

its possible to do that here in the "golden state", but expensive.. the only cost i know for sure, is to certify an engine swap is $400, and thats just to get them to look at it..

for wild custom stuff, use a 74 or older vehicle.. thats the cutoff date for smog and stuff like that here.. im sure its like that most other places..

if ur really set on doin custom stuff on a newer vehicle, get a p.o. box in nevada and register the car there.. no smog or anything..