I'm putting a 4.3 in a 52 F1, and I'll tell you why. I've got a '34 Plymouth with a ground pounding big block with all kinds of Horse Power. It hooks good and runs good. It also gets about 8mpg. Sure I could drive it as a daily if I wanted, but I want something economical. I could put an sbc in it and get a whoping 12mpg. There is no since in it. If you're only worried about the coolness of an old car, and (in my case) its not my show rod, why in the world would you not want decent power, highway speeds, and 25mpg. I've got a hot-rod, now I want to play the smart card? Make sense? As far as traditional goes, as long as I don't open the hood, nobody will ever know the difference. For what its worth, I'm going to put a carb on it. lol Also, anybody know if a tubular sbc crossmember motormount will mount up the 4.3?
Bigblockdude402 wrote: "Also, anybody know if a tubular sbc crossmember motormount will mount up the 4.3?" Yes, a SBC tubular crossmember will work. I'm used one from Speedway to mount the 4.3 in my Corvair.
i have a 4.3 carbed engine sitting the garage that needs head gaskets, i pulled it out of my 85 truck and stuck a 307 in it. the 4.3 moved my 3900lb truck no problem with lots of power. it will be used as soon as i get cleaned up around here and find a new project to put it in
Here's some great info on souping up the 4.3... they got 300+ hp out of one! http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engine/113_0208_chevy_43l_262ci_v6_engine_build/index.html Sam
I've got 3, 4.3 engines ,2 of them in hot rods and one in a "90 Astro van. Number 2 is in a 27 Ford Lakes Modified roadster, and the third is going in a 31 Model A c/c Pu. I've found these motors to be powerful enough to get me a ticket any where in this country, fairly cheap to run, and easy to maintain. The 4.3 will also fit in my project cars with out any firewall hacking,radiator mods or frame extensions. I'm sold on them. Jack
I bought a 2001 GMC Sonoma and put 300,000 miles on the 4.3 V-6 with no problems. I liked it enough that I put another 4.3 in my '37 Terraplane with a TH350 and it is a great cruiser. The engine is rated at 200HP and it does everything you ask of it.
I'm running a 2.8 v6 in my project. Why ? Because of the size and I paid $800 for it . Rebuilt / blueprinted and included a T5 trans . As for traditional - My car is not .
Could you tell us a lot more about this; Where to get parts(esp distributor), how did you know what specs to machine it to etc.?
Here is my 54-55 Chevy with a 4.3 out of a 1994 S-10. Full roller motor like 195 horse. Backed with a th350. Has so old worn out glass packs on it and it sound like an inline when you wrap on it. Ton of power and torque. stock TBI intake with a 2g 2bbl on it.
I bought this motor complete , with the exception of the intake. The engine is a 2.8v6 60 degree out of a 87 Camaro. The intake is custom built to adapt the multi port injection system. Borowski Race engine http://www.borowskirace.com/index.html did the work on the motor prior to my purchase. The previous own dropped over $3000 into it.
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