Well 3 days before X-Mas my Camaro got rear-ended. The damage don't look too bad(hit from rear on drivers side of bumper with a wrinkle about the gas lid) but when I was hit I was making a right hand turn and got pushed onto a curb which did a lot of damage under the front(bent struts and one A-frame along with the steering box). I went to 2 bodyshops: 1 said $1500 to fix the body alone(they don't work on suspinisions) another said between $2500 & $2800 to fix the body and front end. The body shops say that book value on a '91RS is around $1800-$1900 and that is what the insurance company will probly try to give me and want to take my car too. Well I've got news for them I gave more than that, then I have put more than that in parts, and would not put all that labor in anyones elses car for that much either. The way I see it if they want to take the car fine, I'll sell it for $3400 lock, stock & barrel + my medical bills, $300 for the 4 days work missed and $2000 for the 3 times its left me stranded cause of the front tires wearing out(I've put 7 used tires on the front since the wreak). Or(what I want) fix the car back like it was + my medical bills & $2000 for my trouble and missed work, or at least fix the rearend of car & give me the money for the cost of OEM struts and other frontend parts needed + my medical bills and $300 for my work days missed! (new springs, struts, shocks and bushings was going to be my next mod)
It just makes me sick. 2 more days and I was odrering new BFG G-Force KD's. I'd just got the car running nicly, all it needed was new tires. I drove it nearly 2 weeks after but it eats up front tires in less than 3 days.
My neck has also not been right since, it feels like it needs to pop real bad but wont. Hurts real bad when I wake up, he|| its even hard to get to sleep with it.
The car that hit me was one of thoes g0dforsaken Mustangs( a '92 GT). And I've yet to here from his insureance!!!! Makes me wish I'd have just killed the idiot then & there. But I've decided to get a lawer!!
While I'm waiting to see whats going to happen I bought a '91 4.3L(TBI) 4x4 S10. Don't get me wrong I've still got several F-Bodys: '97 Z28(LT1), '89 Formula(LO3), and now a '88 Formula350(L98).
Could anybody tell me about any better heads for the 4.3L TBI's? Also is there any cranks out there to turn them into a stroker? Do all the mods for the LO3's carry over to the TBI 4.3L's? Also are there any websites like this one for the S10 4x4's? I feel this is the best TBI of any sort website I've ever saw, but I've never really heard much talk about the TBI 4.3L. Which really is a powerfull V6, it even is a 90* motor with 5.700 rod and 3.480 stroke. Any info on this motor would be nice, since I will be able to keep up the TBI tuning!
Thanks, Bobby

 

IIRC the 4.3 liter v6 is the LB4. I don't recall the hp & torque, but the heads are swirl port on the intake side and they are probably cloned from the 193 casting swirl ports heads from the LO5.

As far as better heads, I believe that there was a Vortec-type v6 head for the 4.3 engine but I know zero about it --- other than seeing the Sy/Ty people using them and seeing pix of them.

The heads on the LB4 aren't too good, stock, based on the flow data posted in JPrevost's post on swirl-port heads and why they "need to go" but I'll add that if you look at Dyno Don's posts on before/after porting on the 193 castings, he got big gains. So if you just want to make the S-10 run better, for low cost, just port the stock heads and alter the exhaust and air intake. HTH.

 

I owned a 4.3L S10 once, for about 10 minutes . I can't tell you a whole lot about them, but I do know that the actual TBI unit is the exact same as ours (so parts will swap from one to the other), so all of the ultimate TBI mods will work, as well as all of the other usual mods like injector spacers, TB spacers, open elements. I also know that you can get all of the usual modifications for these trucks, like an aftermarket intake manifold, headers, aftermarket TBI unit, camshaft, etc.

I'm sure there are some S-10 and Blazer forums, but I couldn't tell you how good they are or not.

 

Been there, done that.

There are Vortec-style V6 heads available for the 4.3L V6. They are VASTLY better than the lousy swirl-port castings that came stock on your 91-vintage 4.3. Now for 5 paragraphs of bad news and "gotchas."

They are basically the same as the V8 versions of the heads EXCEPT that they use funky 10mm screw-in rocker studs Won't work with your traditional "350-style" valvetrain. You have 2 choices....

1. Get them machined for standard 7/16-3/8 screw in rocker studs. About $100 at your local shop.

2. Buy a set of adapter studs that is 10mm on the bottom and standard 3/8" on the top. Sorry, but it'll cost you about the same $100 just for the bolts. F-ing rip-off, if you asked me.

You'll still need self-aligning rocker arms with either one. Unless you get a set of vortec-specific guideplates. They are NOT the same as a standard SBC V8 guideplate (the spacing between the rocker studs is SLIGHTLY different). I used adjsutable guideplates to get the rocker tips dead-on the center of the valve stem tip.

Obviously, the Vortec heads will REQUIRE the use of a Vortec-specific intake manifold. You'll also need a set of GM intake manifold gaskets- there are no aftermarket gaskets available.

And you're kinda screwed if you intend to keep using your stock TBI system. The only Vortec 4.3L aftermarket intake I have found is the Edlebrock unit and it is only for a 4bbl carb. You would need to use an adapter plate to fit the OEM TBI unit on top and I have no idea how well that would work or what complications you would run into (for sure the EGR system will not work- no exhaust drossover passages in the heads). Later factory Vortec 4.3L intakes will bolt right up but they are MPFI-style intakes and you could never mount a TBI on top.

In short, it's a heluva project if you want to keep it TBI and emissions-legal. I built mine for a carb with no emissions and it was still modestly challenging.

 

The 1994 S10 and Astro used the vortec style heads with the straight down bolts and a TBI so their is a factory intake available for that head swap. Those 94 era Vortec TBI 4.3s run better than the same year 350s do.

 

Fast355- I stand corrected. Didn't know such a combo ever existed from the factory. I thought I had done my homework, but I must have missed that.

 

yeah my dad has a 94 S-10 ext cab 2WD 4.3 vortec T5. It just flat out hauls for an S-10 V-6. There is a difference between your motors though. I think it was 94 GM put a balance shaft into the 4.3L to smoothe out the idle. not that it effects your swap but just nice to know. Or you could do the CPI (central port injection) which sucks anyways they had vortec heads, and the old style bolt design like an old smallblock. They were rated for 195 HP. Yours is a 160 hp version. My buddy had a 91 s-10 wit early heads, headers, full exhaust and it went a 15.5 quarter. I have the SFI 96 S-10 and i turned a 15.6 off the bottle and a 14.0 on the bottle. Not too bad for a "pickup"

 

Also check out www.s-series.org . Thats by far the best S-10 site out there. They pretty much know everthing about the trucks.

 

Balance shafts came in around late 1992 in certain models.