4.3 litre motor... Stupid, or not a bad idea

I say do it... I thought about doing one for my '62 Olds Cutlass, but instead went with a Buick 231 because of the way the cross member and steering is.... I think we are kind of going the way it was in the early 70's.... gas economy is becoming a factor when building a hot rod... Not necesarily because of rations, but because of economics.... Let's see what you end up with...

 

Get Pat Gahanals book on building V6s on the earlier 4.3 350 speed parts work like rockers, rods, pistons, etc.This motor with a 5 speed should give you all the power you need on the street in a light hot rod plus great gas milage.Theres a guy near me with one all dressed up in a 23 T bucket he's driven the wheels off that thing from Florida to Alaska several times and tows a Mullen trailer besides!Both he and his wife love the little car.Most folks don't even realize that it's a V6 not an 8 and it's sitting right out in the open!The 4.3 supplies more power than they have ever had need of and it's backed by an automatic.Ihave also seen a 4.3 with a Gimmy on top in a full bodied Topolino again most folk mistake it for an 8

 

decent motor, use if you have it, if you want to use a four barrel and want a cheap intake look for an85 astro or pickup with a 4.3. they have a really nice high rise manifold for a q-jet. the boat guys love them.

 

So the consensus is to runit, but even though it is a Vortech? I don't think the small block parts are interchangable for thevortech.

dima

 

There used to be a 62 or 3 Nova show up in Yuma with TWO of them under the hood............... Made a pretty good conversation piece!

 

The cap is NOT the difference between a 200-229 distributor and the 4.3 distributor. The 200-229 is an odd fire engine and the 4.3 is an even fire. You can make up the proper non-computer distributor by combining an early HEI SBC and a 75-76 HEI straight 6 distributor. The straight 6 star wheel and reluctor are even fire.
If you look at the star wheel and reluctor on the 200-229 distributor you will see that the distance between the teeth is uneven to correspond to the uneven firing spacing.

 

Good motor for a light vehicle, but keep the exhaust fairly quiet in stock form. Sounds crazy, but look at some of the early '80s Caprices with the 229 v6 for parts, intakes, non-vortec heads for a thumper version. Single plane manifold?---Take the divider out of between left and right under the carb. With a bunch of compression and the right cam, they idle like a hot small block, you hear the v6 "sound" at a higher rpm.
I knew of a ""Polyasian" green" chassis IMCA modified dirt car from a few years ago that, with the correct driver, wore out some small blocks around Arkansas.
A neighbor of where that car was built, pulled out a hot flathead, to install a vortec 4.3 in a chopped 31 pickup, with a 700R4.

 

Another vehicle that emerged from the garage of the Polyasian Green modified, was a 4.3/TH350 powered 77 Chevy 2wd Blazer, kind of a lowjob. With 3.08 gears, and no overdrive, it would nail down 17 mpg and better on road trips.
Motor mounts are available to offset to the rear from typical SBC mount locations, you can build to accept a small block, and use the economy of the 4.3 v6, leaves for later options. Look at Speedway Motors dirt car stuff for the offset mounts.

 

Exactly right on the combination, including the distributor cap from the straight 6 distributor.

 

I would say use it if you are going to swap in the fuel injection and keep the engine stock. Once you start buying speed parts and trying to make it fast, you would get more return by starting with a V8.

If you leave it stock, it will probably be decently quick and get good mileage.

Ditch the TH400 though. They eat a lot of power. Maybe use a 200R4 or a 4L60?

Nick

 

There is a Nash Metropolitan around here with mini tubs and a 4.3 in it. Cool as Hell!!!!

Are you sure it's a true Vortec with the Vortec heads or is it an earlier ones out of a late 80's early 90's Blazer that they called a Vortec? The early ones had a funky multi port injection system but were otherwise basically the same as the Carb'd and TBI motors.

I love 4.3's and if yours didn't need rebuilt I'd say run it BUT they are not cheap to rebuild. I had one in an '89 C1500 I was considering rebuilding until I started pricing parts. You could build a nice 350 for the same money. Cams are expensive for one thing. If you do decide to go that route I'd back it with a 200-4R and 3.42 gears. Had one in an S-10 and it hauled. DO NOT put dual exhaust on it they sound like crap but I have heard a couple with a good performance single exhaust and they sounded badass!

 

What is the chance a Buick 3.8 even fire distributor star wheel would work in a sbc HEI? Actually the Buick 3.8 makes a nice transplant - have seen them in Model A's too.

 

watch the balance shaft in your vortec if you change intake manifolds.....
it wants to hit the bottom (of the intake)on some....

 

Yuck.

 

This is the best advice so far.

 

4.3 is a good choice if you dont have room for a v-8 and dont want to go to the expense or dont want to butcher a good stock firewall by having to recess it. Two astro vans I had with 4.3's got 22 mpg on the highway. Not bad for a big box going down the road.

 

You gotta run what ya got, you can't run what you don't got.

 

I ran the snot out of one in my boat for many years. After it had a bunch of hours on it I freshened it up with some later heads, a good camshaft and a nice Mercury Marine four barrel intake. That little motor was SWEET.....ran with my friends V-8s and used alot less fuel as well. Forget all the early stuff, the heads were junk, the non-balanced motors were shakers and they were just wheezing little engines.

 

A friend has a full fendered 27 T-Coupe with a 4.3. Runs great and hides under a full hood. Good mileage too, for a speeding telephone booth.

 

Well I do appreciate all the advice I am getting here. I am torn honestly. I have the motor, and the whole dea is to build with what you got... But the motor DOES need a rebuild, adn that will not be cheap. I can get a marine 350 (higher revving, stouter block) from a buddy that owns a boat marina. I think after all the pros and cons I heard, I want to stay a bit more traditional. It may end up being a 350.

Anyone want a free vortech 4.3?

Dima