I originally lost all interest in my camaro, about a year ago. It had a 2.8L mpfi v6 in it and has broke just about everything imaginable. Since i bought it, I've restored and replaced everything, I'm up to about $8000 into the car between motors, clutches, completely new interior, ect. Well I saw it sitting there the other day and i sat in it and miss it. So I'm going to upgrade that hunk of metal.

The motor I'm going to be putting in, is a 4.3L V6 which I'm told is about the same amount of work as putting in a sbc. Fine with me, the reasoning for doing a 4.3 as opposed to a 5.7 is it's going to be turbo. My talon has kind of made me a boost freak. I want the space that i won't have with a v8 to add in turbo, wastegate, all the intercooler piping, the fmic (front mount intercooler for you non-turbo people) and such. The donor car is a 89 s10 blazer.

I just wanted to know if anyone has ever done this or any info, problems ect. that i will run into. Also any comments on what you all think. The only person I told thought it was a great idea, as well as i think. It would basically end up being a lot like a syclone/typhoon.

 

The plus to that would be as you said, more space up front than a small block, and slightly less weight. The minus, only 3/4 the power.
Pretty much everything else will be about the same for all practical purposes. The FMIC won't take up any space that a V8 uses up unless you install it behind the radiator, which would make it a BTRMIC, heh, and that would be stupid with all the room that's in front of it. Piping doesn't take up too much room either.

I don't see a problem with turbo'ing a 350 as far as space goes, lots of people have done it without much trouble.
I'm keeping everything it had stock (even A/C) except emissions, which I could modify and reinstall if I need to. Otherwise you could rear-mount the turbo and keep all of the space up there.

Either way you can run the Sy/Ty code in the '749/'730 ECU if you stay with fuel injection, and tuning and everything else will be just as involved.

$.02

 

Factor in that the motor isn't very solid by any means. All depends on the power you wanna make. I junked my V6 turbo in favor of a V8 turbo. I had way to many issues with mine.....

It won't be cheap nor easily accomplished..... Cast crank and rods aren't great. At least the Buick's parts were hardcore for factory pieces. GMC shoulda followed their example.......

 

The only thing that I don't like about the 4.3L is the fuel system. If you've got access to a mill/aluminum welder and can make a port fuel injection intake, it's not a big deal IMO. Other then that you're stuck with "spider" systems and TBI. TBI's a good functioning system, but it will probably limite the HP you can make to a bit over 300 at the flywheel. To be quite frank, that's why my 4.3L is going out and a TPI 305 is going in. The rods in the "W" VIN motors (CPI) are better then the ones in the earlier engines, and besides the pistons are the biggest weak point in this engine. I wouldn't hesitate to run a prepped 4.3L crank to 550hp. If I was you I would seriously consider taking a look at the Buick platform as well, a N/A 3.8L is different then the turbo engine in the pistons and crank only, and N/A cranks have been run into the 11s and 10s so it's not a big deal. You may lose some displacement, but the availibility of parts for them are nice, and for motor mounts you buy TTA mounts or adapters.

 

wow with all the negative feedback I'm getting from everyone on the forums (especially s10), I might as well just keep modding my talon, i know i can make 500+ hp out of that 2L with stock bottom end anyways. and everything's a lot cheaper. maybe i'll just add like a 100 shot to my 2.8 and keep changing the motors as i blow them up. i think i paid like $100 for this one with under 100k on it.

 

Turbo the 2.8L rather then a 100 shot. This Is a 3.4L but was originally a 2.8 engine, he just upgraded. I think it ran mid-low 13s when he had it set up, and that was a remote mount system with a stock 2.8 long block and a marginally too small turbocharger. There's a guy who has a Blazer that runs low 14s on a 2.8L as well, so they can make power. Get a set of GTP injectors (36#) and some engine management and go for it! If you've been doing a Talon you could start off with whatever stock components you have from it and move up as you go along.

 

Yeah, you might as well boost the 660. I have the 12 second RMT which is using a stock 3400V6 from a Venture mini van at 10psi of boost. It made 328HP/352TQ to the front wheels. Lots of power potential in the little chevy V6. Of course it will be easier to make the 2800lb Cavalier fast than your heavier F-body, but you have the benefit of upgrading the drivetrain once you make the power, where us FWD guys are stuck with the Getrag/Muncie 5-speed (which has held up well for me, its all original with 199k miles, knock on wood).

 

You can't compare a symmetrical 4 cylinder to a V motor. Most inlines by design are pretty indestructable. The mains are evenly spaced, most of them have very large main journals, intake ports can be on the opposite side of the exhaust keeping the heat away from the incoming air charge, etc.

The buick stuff will last, I do not like the 4 bolt per cylinder and how they like to eat cams. I couldn't seem to keep the heads on and when it ate the cam I decided enough was enough and went back to a Chevy. Other than that it's a great foundation for a build.

I like the chevy for it's roller cam, 1 pc rear main, better ecm, etc. Not to mention the vortec heads flow very well. As said a stock crank will survive, grab a good set of rods and pistons and go for it........

Good luck!

 

Pete, like you said... GMC should have taken Buick's notes.

Does anyone know what rods the Cyclone or Typhoon used? Those trucks ran quite well and they were boost fed.

I'd recommend using those trucks as a model, fbodymechanic, if you want a 4.3 V6 with a turbo.

 

Bone stock 4.3L LB9 rods. That's the big issue IMO.
Pete:you're right about them blowing HGs, they can be picky but it's the HG blowing not the hard parts which is good IMO; having 5 head bolts per cylinder is good and bad.
The cam eating is due to one of the lifter bores being misaligned in the block I'm wanting to say #3 exhaust if I'm remembering correctly. If you look at the shape of the cam lobes that lobe will be "tapered" the opposite direction, the lifter spins in the bore the opposite direction then the other lifters do.
Overall, I have to say you're probably right about good rods/pistons in the 4.3L. Another thought is doing blow through carb.

 

I just bought a 87 camaro with a 2.8L with 240,000 kms. The engine is tired.
A

 

ooooooo kay..... Thanks for coming out.

 

There is a reason certain swaps are popular. Because they work. Thats why people tell you to "Put a small block in it." Because in the end, it will make power and be somewhat reliable and most likely be cheaper.

The Talon is built for boost, and so is the Buick engine. The GM V6 engines were not built as performance platforms. So in GM's mind, why let the price of the internals drive up the cost of the bottom line? Hell, SBC's are sorta similar. For the power they can easily make the internals cannot keep up.

 

id love to see what a boosted 4.3 would do,specially since i just did the 3.1 60* motor on boost,going 12's for under 1k and i still have alot of tunning to do before i can up the boost even further

 

This thread is the heart of all stupidity.

I'm outta here.

 

thanks for letting us know *******... don't let the door hit ya....

I think it's been pretty well summed up - to do anything worth while it's gonna be some cash... even the v6 to v8 swap is a big deal with having to swap the trans and all...

I'm not sure that i'd let doing a 4.3 stop me - a set of ported heads, set of headers, and a cam would wake it up in a big way over stock...

 

Precisely. This is why you and everyone in this thread is stupid.

Money well wasted, j*ckass.

 

Werent you leaving? TGO isnt worthy of someone such as yourself. Hell, this world isnt worthy. Go kill yourself and join the gods.

 

I'm so sorry we didn't meet your 'authoritative' standards of intelligence, oh wise one. Well actually, I'm not.

Go make an "I'm better than everybody" website if you want to have the immature attitude, there's no room for it here. BTW, a good way to **** off the moderators and get yourself banned is to bypass the banned word filter. Follow the rules and act like a respectable TGO member. I know you can.


Rods in the 4.3 are no problem. Any standard OTS aftermarket 350 rod will fit right in. Same with the pistons. If the budget is too tight for that, GM PM (LT1) rods can be had used dirt cheap, and so can new stock replacement Sy/Ty pistons. I'm not too sure about the strength of the crank or how much an aftermarket one costs, though.
You could also do a 3.4 swap from a 93-96 Camaro and boost that. It would be lots more fun than the 2.8, and everything will pretty much bolt directly in. That's the easiest engine upgrade you'll get (a 3.1 isn't an upgrade, haha).

 

Cant we all just get along?

This thread is soooo getting locked.....

 

i like 350's and will stay with mine, but your idea is facinating, and am sure you would be able to get as much power as most streatable 350's, but would it end up costing more because of the avalibility of parts. you can find 350 parts anywhere even 305 stuff can be a little more dificult to find, lucally all the externals are identical. was just curious.

also have you thought of a destrocked 350, a 305 or 327 those can wind really fast with a turbo.

 

go ahead and lock it. i've decided that as cool as this would be, the limitation of the intake setup and tuning has left me at a standstill. it would cost far more than i would have been willing to put into the swap. i'd like to leave this up for anyone else who feels they might want to go this route. it's reallistically not worth it. i'm not spending the money on a 2114 intake, the FAST system is too pricey and frankly i have no will to work on the car. my talon is 100x faster, more fun, reliable and it's already on it's way to 10s (first 13 sec pass a couple weeks ago. yes 13s aren't fast but i've done very little to get this far lol). so until then, someone buy my car!!!! it's in the trader