i have a 87 camaro. and i took out the 2.8L v6 and its transmission a wile ago and planed on puttin in a 4.3L v6 and the m80 transmission from a 93 chevy half ton van. well i thought it wasnt going to work at all. not many people have done this from what i have herd. but i sticked to my plans and shure enough both the 4.3 and the m80 transmission fit like a glove. its like it was made to fit in my car. i still have to do all the wireing. but the only problem i am having is that the manifolds do not fit and need to get ones that will so if any one has any ideas i would apprieciate it. i will have pics soon!!!!! thannks for the help

 

cant wait for these pics

 

did you try the car V6 manifolds yet? How about the S-10 manifolds?

 

no but monday i am goin to a junk yard to see if i can get em. thanks for your help

 

Remember, you can also use the ones for a 3.3/3.8 Chevy V6 as well from 1978 and up. The Chevy V6 engines are easy to recognize with distributors in the back and they look like a little Chevy V8. Same water pump and front timing cover, etc...

I have one in a 1978 Chevy Monte Carlo but it's not ready to come apart yet. They do look like they will fit a camaro.

 

thats cool thanks!

 

Something else; take pictures and post them!

I am trying to get as many of the "alternative" engine transplant pictures as possible to show everyone that it is not as difficult as some people would have you believe.

Especially take some now to show that you are in progress and to help show the motor mounts and such.

 

ya i will definatley take some pictures tomorrow and try to get them on here by tomorrow night and bye the way thanks for ur tips!!!!!!!

 

2.8 to 4.3 was always a popular easy swap with the early S-10's until GM finally offered the 4.3 in them.

 

Too bad GM never took a hint and offered a 5.7(or ls-1) in the s-10 as well. I think that would have sold fairly well.

 

what kind of HP and MPG can you get with a 4.3?

 

My 93 S10 ext cab got 20 MPG no matter what I did. 4.3 L Z code motor. I don't know if it was just that truck or what, but really felt that the transmission was holding that engine back performance wise.

 

I think the turbo V6 was a nice concession prize!! (Syclone/Typhoon)

 

pics??

 

I did a 4.3 in a friends 86 Camaro. We mated it to the stock T5 using the same original V8 flywheel and clutch assembly. I built simple adapter brackets to adapt the Camaro V8 motor mounts that bolted on to the 4.3, to the existing V8 frame mounts. After it was finished, I realized I could have just used the Camaro V8 motor mounts and bolted them to the 4.3 with no adapter. Then remove the stock V8 frame mounts from the frame. Bolt them on the motor mounts that are now on the 4.3. Bolt the transmission to it's stock location. Then lower the motor taking measurements to center the motor in the cradle. Where it's centered is where you drill your new frame mount bolt holes. How did you do it, buckhunter?

We used the old Chevrolet Astro minivan factory headers. Yeah...the 4.3 V6 Astro's came with a factory tube shorty header. See if you can find one. I think the flange was an interference on the driver's side because of the steering column because the flange mounting bolts hit the column but since the header was tube steel, it was a simple cut and turn of the flange, then reweld. Midas adapted the existing exhaust to what we had.

One member from Denver did actually do the Syclone swap. I need to PM him and ask him how it's going. Oh....one little side note. If you can build a V6 with some power...and there are parts and power adders for it...a T56 will bolt up to it using an LT1 bellhousing and an adapter flywheel. The same one as a V8. In fact the swap is exactly like a V8 swap. No custom driveshaft needed and use the crossmembers by Spohn and other manufacturer's specifically for this swap. Now that would be cool.

Anyone thinking of a 4.3 swap can look into front springs by using the spring rate listed in parts catalogs. The S-10 and the G-bodies both share the same front spring as our F-bodies but with different spring rates. The spring rate your looking for falls in between the 2.8 and the V8 springs because the weight of the 4.3 falls smack in the middle of those two motors.

 

They switched to Vortec heads on those 4.3s in 96 right? I have a 2001 in an s-10 blazer with the vortec heads and multiport fuel injection. It's a nice engine with decent torque. The newer Trailblazers have a smaller 6 with a lot more power though (about 275 hp and tons of toque with 3.73 differentials). I remember reading an article in car craft about a year ago where a guy pulled a 4.3 out of a 94 blazer to put in his car and changed the heads, and the article said it's possible to get 300 hp out of those 4.3s when done right.

 

Then they supercharged it and got 500 !!

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/e...all/index.html

And the heads they used for both the 300 and 500 horsepower builds were junk !! Ported they barely flowed the same as stock 305 V8 heads! There wasn't a dedicated manifold for the new V6 Vortec heads at the time of the article so they used factory early heads. The newer Vortec headed motors beginning in '96 are so much better. I scored a set of Bow Tie 23 degree aluminum heads. The last series of these heads were very good heads. 205 cc intake ports, 48cc kidney shaped chambers, 2.05 in intake valves. They pop up on Ebay quite often. Along with the dedicated GM Cross ram manifolds, these really wake up the 4.3.

 

Swirl ports vs. vortec

Ported vortecs can flow very well.

Carb Vortec manifolds have been available since the late 90s for both the 4.3 V6 and the Chevy small block. They have been used by Mercruiser for over 10 years now. There have been plenty of 4bbl Q-Jet equipped 4.3 Vortecs made by Mercruiser, EVEN BEFORE THE ARTICLE IN QUESTION!!!!!!!! I KNOW, I had one prior to their article. It went in place of a 150 HP LB4 in a 1992 Astro. I built that engine in 1999.

 

I stand corrected, Fast355. You're correct. I should have said there were no Vortec manifolds available that would accomodate a Holley or similiar square bore carb. They used a Demon and Edelbrock square bore carbs.

Now the heads being junk is not my opinion. It was Hot Rod's opinion that the heads were junk and they stated this in the original Aug. 2002 article. Now if they had done thier homework, they would have found out about the Mercruiser manifold. I don't think they looked at every possibility. They did search for a set of Brodix V6 heads but found them to be scarce and expensive but all they had to do is go to the GM dealer because the 23 degree Bow Ties were still available at the time. Here's a shot of the combustion chamber side of mine. Very much ahead of it's time.

 

I say that because the design came a few years before the Vortecs but take a look at the intakes. See anything interesting? They are nearly identicle. In fact a Vortec intake gasket fits nearly perfect except for the mounting bolt configuration. What I am trying to stress in this all is there is a host of performance parts for the 4.3, mostly because it shares so much of the design with the V8. Interestingly, it was the original 300hp 4.3 that got me considering one for the 3rd Gen Camaro. It was that article that suggested it would be a great motor for someone looking for a great handling 3rd Gen.

 

hey man kinda want to see some pics

 

ya i will have pics by this weekend for shure and i have a video of it when i first started it up but i dont no if i can post videos

 

ya that be great, would the chevy s10 fit the same? and does the 2.8 manifolds fit?

 

2.8 manifolds do not fit the 4.3