okay i started this thread a while back asking if there was anyway to mod out a 2.8l v6 to race against a bone stock 97 mustang with a v8.
obviously it just turned into a flame fest.
or everyone told me to swap to a v8

basicly i'm updating the odds, and again i ask a stupid question, yet less stupid.

his stang vs my camaro, except with a 4.3 v6
once again the question is, are there any mods to this engine i could run to make the race in my favor.
or is it just not possible for me to beat him without a v8

i'd rather not use nitrous,

and please no turning this into a bash
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his car


mine (ignore the date, i never set it from the camera, it was taken about a week ago)


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also he claims it to be a gt
but i'm 99% sure thats

 

Well to swap a 4.3 is going from a 60* motor to a 90* so you might as well do a sbc, plus 4.3's only really made power in vortech form which has the spider injectors, a pita. A direct swap would be a 3.4 out of a 93-97? camaro/firebird. That with a top end swap and some other bolt-ons should run with the stang(also depending on gearing). Or just do some searching and read daves sticky and do a turbo install, that done right should give that stang a run for its money. Plus if you need a hand I'm 10 minutes down the road in Killingly. James

 

thanks. i'll look into the 3.4

i had the 4.3 idea because somebody had said it was one of the most powerful v6's that would fit directly, but if it doesn't i might as well do a v8 swap than a 4.3

 

if that is all stock stang,the wheels are not (gt) style
ive only seen those wheels on the v6 models
at least around here anyway?

 

the wheels are GT style, same as my lil sis's gt

 

You could do a turbocharger but by that time you would be spending as much as an SBC swap.

Mitchell de Moor

 

Hmm... those are GT wheels around here.

I would just save and swap a 350 in. If you can find, and build up a 3.4 for cheap (and I mean real cheap) it might be worth it, but I have a feeling your going to spend a lot of time, money and effort to have a 14-15 second car. Why not build a 350, and drop that in?

 

Not sure how a 6 cyl camaro will fair against a 8 cyl mustang. I own 6 cyl mustangs in my 305, and its always a good race with the 4.6 and 5.0.

 

im going to go against my instincts here seeing as you seem quite set on a v6 swap.. if you dont mind me asking why?? gas mileage??
anyway if this is the case hunt down a wrecked s-10 zr2 and get the 4.3 from it (the zr2 4.3 made 210 horse witch is more than the lower end modle 4.3)
there are a few places that do make crazy stuff for these engines (mostely designed for mad offroading but it would do) if you want em ill send you a link to some sights that make cams, headers, underdrives, carb swaps ect. with all the mods (about 3 grand worth) it would most likely up that motor to around 290-maybe300 hp

NOW the better idea but much harder to find, hunt down a Buick Gran National it should have a turbo v6 in it that will swap over very easy exept i think you will need to get somecustom manifolds made.. aside from that those motors stock from what i hear can handle stupid amounts of boost. get it in a put a bigger turbo a FMIC SSBOV have it tuned and get a fuel pump adequite for it.. you should walk on territory of even ls1

 

Why not use a 4.3? It's like a 350 with 2 cylinders lobbed off. I like the idea really. There were also turbo versions of the 4.3 so there is some direct aftermarket there. A lot of 350 parts will fit and there are even some improvements in the block and head design over the old 350.

 

if your going through the trouble of an engine swap theres no reason not to do some sort of a sbc, you could double your horsepower over the stock 2.8 very easily

 

It's just much cheaper to put in a SBC in a car that was designed for one. The Fbodies never came with a 4.3L so it's slightly more difficult and you can easily make more power even with a small V8, like a 305.

 

My thought for you is this; if you are set on using a v6, use the 3.8L from the '93+ F-bodies. The 3.4L is considerably underpowered for an engine with the same external demensions, which is why the 3.4L was dropped in the late 90's. I have seen quite a few 4th gens rock with that 3.8L using only minor tuning, bolt-ons and a supercharger, many of them out running the stock LS1s. I know a supercharger might be a bit on the spendy side, but consider; in the late 90's Buick began making a supercharged version of their Regal sedan. That v6 was a 3.8L, and for a fairly heavy sedan the supercharged Regal was fast. Yes the Regal is FWD, but near as I understand (I have not tried this yet), it is only a change in mounting brackets and some other hardware to convert to RWD. I am sure with a little patience and some digging might get you a solid engine from a junked car for a reasonable price. There are plenty of 4th gen owners dedicated to their v6 cars and a descent aftermarket to support the engines. If the conversion project (from FWD to RWD) sound like too much, I would just try to pull a 3.8L and tranny from a 4th gen and start there. Most aftermarket companies offer support for these engines.

 

You can mod a 4.3 to handle a good bit of power. I plan on putting one in a chevette here shortly but I agree it would be just as easy to swap in a SBC. Or you can turbo the 2.8, just depends on what route you want to go.

 

A 4.3 with 290-300 hp for $3,000? Yeah right. 400 hp for $3,000.
Get a 4.3 roller block, not one that uses a balance shaft, vortec heads, headers (that's the expensive part, if you can't make them yourself) 14:1 pistons, roller rockers, have comp cams make you a cam... This is less than $2,000 and makes about 340 hp. Motor mounts might be the only difficulty in mounting this engine to a third gen. Costs about the same as a sbc, but it's a lot more satisfying to beat on mustangs, then tell 'em you have a v6.
If you add forced induction to this, along with the fact that it weighs 25% less than a sbc, and gives you near 50/50 weight distribution, you could see some air under the front tires.

 

the motor your talking about is a l67 it comes in quite a few gm cars. I have one in my regal the come in grand prix gpt's to name a few. i am not quite sure how easy it would be to convert to rwd