I'm about over my current 350 road oiler and have found a good deal on a '95 vortec 4.3. I've been checking out some sites and see some "factoids" and need some info from someone who knows. Can you put an intake, carb and distributor on this motor and go? I've seen people post that the vortec heads won't work without a lot of fuel pump pressure, that the distributor won't work with the full roller setup, that after a certain year the stock cam doesn't have the gear for the cam, etc... Anyone here know? I also need to know if the 4.3 if this motor has provision for a mechanical fuel pump.
Yes Edelbrock makes one for the Vortec V8 and V6 Some of the1980-s[ pre'94] Vortec V6 had a quadrajet 4bbl on them but wont fit the Vortec boltspacings..... No on the mech fuelpump on motor.....
Chevy was calling engines Vortec long before the '96 up Vortec heads. It has Vortec heads if it has the vertical intake bolts.
I have a '95 Vortech 4.3 in my '37 Terraplane. I used an Edelbrock manifold and 500CFM carb. I also bought an aftermarket HEI distributor, it runs great.
It's been about 12 years since I replaced the 4.3 in one of my boats with another 4.3 and as I recall 95-96 was sort of a dividing line where GM changed the bolt pattern of the intake. If I remember, they went from a 12 bolt to an 8 bolt, or something like that. Anyway, the engine doesn't know or care if it has injection or a carb on it so you can put an aluminum (or if you can find a marine intake, a cast iron one) and something like a 500 cfm Edelbrock carb, plus an aftermarket distributor and you will be good to go. The 4.3 is a great motor, lots of power and the proven sbc design with two cylinders lobbed off. They also take a regular Chevy bellhousing pattern, so any GM stick or automatic can be used behind one. Don
nlualum, I've got a 4.3 that is going into my lakes modified. It came out of a '96 S10 Blazer , the guy I got it from said it has a 2000 short block with the '96 heads. It dose have the roller cam and balance shaft. When I bought it ,the engine had E.F.I. and the small electronic distributer and no provision for a mechanical fuel pump. I did the whole retro deal on this motor,junked the EFI,the supenteine belt system and the electronic dist. I installed a standard short water pump V belt pullys, low mount alt. ,marine 4 barrel intake manifold with a small Carter carb. I then used a mid 70's SBC V8 distributer, converted by Hamber ( GMC Bubba) Jim Linder for use in the 4.3. Jim did a full electronic conversion. It also uses a standard Chev 6 cyl. dist cap of the same vintage. Good luck with the project, .....................Jack
People post goofy shit(tm), that might sound good, but makes no sense in reality. For example: Ask these people wtf they are smoking.
Here are a few links that might help you out . I'm running a 4.3 with marine 2 Barrel intake/700R4 in one of my T builds if you have a boat wrecker nearby they are a good source of engines the marine versions put out more ponies than the car/truck versions and are easily converted to land use.I think you can put a standard Chevy 6 points internals into an early SBC distributor housing and use the 6 cap to go with points but you can get a new billet HEI distributor for under 90$. Ya I know I used the B word just paint it!mid 80s Chevy had a low pressure in tank fuel pump for carbed cars you it you can't run a mechanical there are no provisions for it .Rebuilding the Chevy 262 | Chevrolet S-10 Forum - The chevy 4.3 performance mods - Google Search Largest Chevy S-Series enthusiast site : s10forum.comMaking Big Horsepower With A 4.3L Chevy V-6 - Hot Rod Magazinechevy 4.3 performance mods - Google Search262ci Forum (4.3) - S-10 Forum1989 Mercruiser 4.3 V6 2Barrel 175HP - UPgrade QuestionV6 4.3 Chevy finned tall valve covers AS0034B
I dont know on the 4.3 but my dad used a 5.0 from a early 90s camaro in his 65 chevy. Could never get it to run right ended up swapping the roller cam and lifters for an aftermarket hydrolic and now it runs like atop. Dont know if that may be an issue or not.
I have a 4.3 from an 86 Van. It has a cast iron 4bbl intake, a mechanical fuel pump, and a computer controled HEI distributor. I removed the main shaft and the "ring" which goes on the pick up coil. I transplanted all of this into a V8 HEI with a vacum advance, and the V6 cap. Also I am using a bunch of long water pump pullys, power steering box, etc...which replaces all of the flat belt drive parts of it. Everything seems to fit perfectly.
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