I am new to this forum. Just posted a profile and an intro. Yesterday I brought home a 53 Tin Woodie Chevy wagon. It is powered by a 216 with a 3spd ******. Has anyone here put a 4.3 GM in one of these cars. 53 and 54 were identical bodies. I am looking perhaps to mount a 4.3 with a 5spd std ******. Would also consider using the open driveshaft and rear axle from the donor vehicle. I plan on keeping the suspension stock and just replaing what is needed (most likely everything). Can anybody help me here? Thanks. Ken in NY
Aside from fabricating the drivetrain mounts and a few other bits such as clutch linkage there's no reason why the 4.3 won't work well. It will have more beans than the original engine for sure but obviously this isn't a light roadster so performance won't be much to brag about. Mileage with an OD transmission should be rather better than the typical SBC with automatic that sees such common duty in this situation. You didn't say what the donor vehicle was but there but almost any of them would have a rear axle that should work fine provided the width is not far off what is needed for the 53.
if i were you i'd just put a newer 235 with a 4 speed and open drive shaft. if i remember, 57 chevy rear ends bolt up nicely to the 53-54's.
Cool idea. I have a '51 Pontiac Tin Woody with a 4.8L LS1 from a totalled Silverado. A 4.3 would be OK, but, wouldn't you really rather have a V8? Just kidding, the 4.3 5 spd would be a good swap. Buy an S-10 for a donor and build it! I did the woodgraining on mine, if you haven't done one and want some pointers, pm me.
The factory rear springs are pretty flimsy, if you ditch the torque tube you'll need new/better rear springs as well(or they'll wrap something fierce). Jost something else to keep in mind.
Ken, welcome from up the road in Mt. Vision. Lots to see and learn here as you will find out from cool projects to great people that can offer advise, help when you need it and parts and cars in the cl***ifieds and alot more
people seem to say that around here quite a bit. it was not the case in my experience. I had a nice 350 with a turbo 350. stock springs and 4" or so of blocks. I'd burn rubber quite often as well as get a second gear scratch now and then and never had a problem. a 4.3 would be even less of a strain on the skinny stock springs. I think the 4.3 would be a good motor in a 49-54 chevy. things I would think about is what is involved with running one of these outside the car it came in. fuel injection or carb? is there afternmarket wiring to do this if the car is injected? what kind of distributor do those have? lots of late model motors don't have conventional distributors. I don't know about the 5 speeds, but if you run a 700R4 auto you need to redo the trans crossmember since the trans mount is about 10" behind where the old crossmember ends.
i have a 53 chev with 235/powergluide and own a 07 silverado with 4.3 / 5 speed it should work well, gas milaiage will be very good (20 around town 24 hwy with siverado) the 235 power gluide kind of gets high strung around 60 mph the 4.3 makes 80 mph easy and keep on going. i would go for it it eliminates any firewall issue
A 4.3 is about 265 cubic inches. For the same amount of work you could put a small block V8 in it, I think, depending on how far back you set the motor. Or you could convert to open drive with a full pressure 235 motor, an overdrive trans, and a dual carb setup or even just a 2bbl carb. About the only benefit to the 4.3L is fairly brainless maintenance, compared to some of the things you need to keep an eye on with a 235 (lifters, more frequent oil changes, lack of a full flow filter, electronic ignition), and if you want to go to the trouble you could put a fuel injection setup of your choice in there. Plus most your maintenance parts will be available over the counter, where you might need to wait a day or two on some 235 stuff. It will probably pull better milage than a 235 if you run an injection setup on it. But I think with careful driving as long as you don't get over 350 inches and gear the rearend for the highway almost any engine combo can be made to run mid-20s in that car. By coincedence, this thread was close to the top of the board as well - might be worth a look. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=276979
Hi I have a 4.3 and t-5 in my 53 it is a great swap as there is plenty of room I havent run mine yet but its a great swap my 53 is on a a body chasis (chevele)
I've been looking hard at the 3800 Pontiac V-6s, either EFI or Supercharged for my next build. MUCH better engine than the 4.3. And peppy. They can be adapted to north-south running. Light and compact. Another choice would be the motors based on the same series blocks found in late model Caddy sedans. Very peppy, but a little less gas mileage. If the high-tech-e-ness doesn't freak you... worth looking at. For the same reason, I bet some Buick GN fans will pipe in soon. Gary
the vortec 4200 could be another option. Here's a short vid: http://img532.imageshack.us/my.php?image=732008011921xz3.flv and the thread on the engine http://www.inliners.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=42271&fpart=31
The earlier 4.3 versions had carb intakes, but had one of those funky electronic type carburators on them. Around '91 (if I'm not mistaken) the motors went to about 160-180 horsepower stock with the fuel injection on them. The fuel injection setup on the earlier motors - mine was a 89 - had very little needed in the way of sensors for the computer to run the throttle body. In fact, I'm thinking that the only things left that the computer ran on mine was the throttle body and the distributor. Most of the sensors were disconnected and unused, and it still pulled down nearly 20mpg in a full sized truck. You might look for a full sized 1/2 ton Chevy for the 4.3 and 700r4 or 5 speed setup. They can be had cheaply enough - typically around $1000 for a complete half ton donor vehicle - and you'll have everything you'd need. Look at Mercruiser and some Volvo marine setups for a cast iron 4 barrel intake manifold, and possibly a distributor if you cannot find one elsewhere that'll work with your setup. Personally, if I didn't already have the 350/700r4 for my Dubble A project, I'd be going with the 4.3 motor. Especially after I managed to squeeze 27mpg out of one in a full sized half ton one trip from NC to Oklahoma. Oh... and you won't notice the power as much if you use a standard. Just something about those trucks didn't show the power with the 5 speed. They were far more peppy and felt more powerful when coupled to an automatic. Just my opinions..
those are some awsome pics, hay on the suicide doors did you keep ev erything concealed in the doors or how did ya do it as far as a 4.3 i would have used a old typhone motor and moded the boost of it
Keep in mind that a V6 will turn off a LOT of potential buyers should you decide to sell it down the road. Also affects value. 53 and 54s are not super valuable as it is. Look online, you can buy a nice finished one for 10-15K whereas a 55 would fetch double that.
maybe, maybe not but one thing's for sure, don't build it for a "potential" buyer. build it for yourself! but i'm not a 49-55 chevy fan. yeah, i know a 55 ain't the same but i don't care for 'em either. 56 only for me if i gotta have a box...i seem to like the 'unpopular"
Hot Rod or Car Craft or someone built a hot supercharged 4.3 that made like 500 hp with 8lbs of boost and it was carb'd. It is just 3/4 of a 350 so any sbc swap kit is a bolt in for this engine. And if someone bought it in the future they could swap a SBC in it real easy.
Thanks for all of the replies and input. Love the pics of the 307. One of my concerns was if a small block would fit properly and still leave room for the air vent tubes. Any additional info would be appreciated. Thanks again. Ken
The air vent tubes weren't much of a problem at all on my '53, it was the steering that really was the hardest part to get past. You saw my remedy on the post about my wagon, but Sanderson makes headers for the swap that would make it real easy. I just wanted the simplicity of manifolds. My mom has a '50 chevy hardtop with a 327. It has manifolds on it and is the most reliable, comfortable car I've driven. I wanted the same feel with my wagon.
All you have to do for a 53/4 is pull the firewall braces off or trim em down. Been done thousands of times. My 54 has a 350, fits fine and works well. The air tubes are nice, even a BBC will let you run these.
It's my opnion that any motor that's measured in liters should not be used to replace a 235 or other engine measured in good old American inches. In other words a 302 Ford in a '54 Ford would be OK. A 5.0 would not. Your opnion may vary
all of the small block and big block guys like to say how fast they go, speed 0-60 or 1/4 mile e.t. was the old speed measurement, now for 2008 it is how fast you get to the gas station small block guys go fatser again.
You could easily enough drop a V6 into your car...and when you're done you'll have a nice, reliable driver that'll be miles ahead of any Stovebolt in terms of fuel mileage, reliability and performance...but you'll be "bucking the system", building something outside the "accepted formula" and hence it won't be worth a dime. Drop a V8 in there. Make it a 350 Chevy...don't go trying to save money and gain fuel economy by swinging a great deal on a 305 or something like that...everyone knows that a 350 makes 23 times as much power as a 305, so follow the herd!!! There's RULES involved in Hot Rodding, dontchya know??!! Don't try to cheat the system...color within the lines and do what everyone ELSE is doing...that's the only way to do it!!
You've said a lot of really intelligent things and I've learned a few things from you here, but....forgive me... that is the most retarded thing I've seen in quite a while. A five litre is still a 302, is still a 5.0 litre. The difference is little more than marketing. Visually I would challenge you to tell a difference without checking casting numbers. Had you said any metric engine should not be used, I might agree with you on that one.
I had a 4.3L/Th700 converted to carb and HEI and it had enough balls to light up the tires without much trouble. It also got good gas milage and ran great. That was in a 49' chev. I want that car back. I am probably going to drop a mild cammed 305 into my 57' poncho, dressed up as a 283. Should be around 200hp and still be real good on gas. I like to drive my cars and the better milage will let me do that a lot more.
If you already have the V6, stick it in there and rock and roll. Who says you can't change it later? If you haven't bought one yet and money is an issue, use a 305 or later inline six... they are just as cheap, you can buy dress up stuff for em, and it won't piss you off at the gas pumps. And even if it doesn't have any power, at least it won't sound like a Berlinetta Camaro
It was a joke. But i do hate trying to do the math in my head to relate 4.3 to something I can understand. 2 liters is 122. 3 is 183. 5 is 305 All the rest i have to start counting. It's the old dog new trick deal again.
Actually, I don't have the 4.3 yet. What I do have is a 350 with 4brl Edelbrock carb in a 59 Chevy 4WD truck. That motor is coming out to be replaced with a 6.2 GM diesel. (already have that one too). The diesel will be converted to run on used fryer oil. I am already doing this in a 97 GMC 1 ton van. Have over 23k miles on waste fryer oil. The 350 is beginning to look good as a replacement for the 216. I have been ***ured that the suspension will take the added weight ok. Just not sure about the mpg, as I like to drive them too. Had not considered the Berlinetta sound effect. Nothing quite like the sound of an old in line 6 banger. I have some decisions to make soon. Thanks for all of the input on this one. I am sure I will have many questions as I progress. Ken
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