4.3L swap feasibility...

[greencamaro]

hey i was waching car and drive one week and they hade a gm performance engine and the are supposed to com out with a ram jet 4.3 that has 260 hp and if you ad header and 3' ehuast it shout have 290 with 325 ft lb of tq that is what im going to do with my 3.8 just idea tell what you think of it

[jonny985]

the new 4.3 vortec engines are quite impressive putting out over 270 hp but they are very long seeing that they are inline as opposed to a 90 degree. I have heard that they use the same auto tranny as our cars but I'm not sure. I don't think that they would fit in our engine bay just by looking at the size of them.

[Blue94V6]

I looked into this pretty extensively because I had the opportunity to get the engine from m friends S10 SS. One of the big myths about the 4.3l is that it has no power or potential. This is very wrong. If you don't believe me go to www.billmachperformance.com. The other thing I learned is that I would need to get a custom computer, because you can't make a truck think like a car, and vice versa. As for the 4L60E, I don't see why the shafts would be different without some special designation. Usually there's an extra letter or something that denotes things like that. If you're seriously considering this I would contact Bill Mach, but even then it would be pretty difficult, but also very unique.

1994 Blue Camaro 3.4l 5 spd.
Eibach Pro Kit
KYB Gas-A-Just shocks
K&N Filtercharger

[MustangEater8251]

I am nto copnsidering it jsut people have asked me about it.

Thing is why couldn't you get the truck computer think its in a truck?

What sensors are there?

VSS, MAF?, Temp, IAT?, IAC, O2, TPS? if they are all moved form one motor to the next the every seonsor, but put in place i think they should all work.

[Blue94V6]

Well, you could make it work, but you've got to think about all the stuff that's computer controlled beside the engine components. You would also have to consider the axle and gear ratios. I don't blame you for having that idea. After riding with my friend in his S10 SS (which is way faster than an Xtreme). I was really excited. He has so much torque that he can floor it going about 30 and the tires spin/smoke till he hits the governor. Very fast...

[ June 05, 2002: Message edited by: Blue94V6 ]</p>

[Cale]

I really don't think there'd be that much trouble once you reprogrammed the computer. Bill Mach could do it.

The S10 SS actually only has 10 more horses than the S10/Xtreme.

[MustangEater8251]

Speed senosor and gear ratios?

who cares, you have those porblems doing gear swaps, hell, i was clokced at 84 mph tonight at the strip and my speedo read 92mph.

it can all be reprogramed, if you are that worried abotu it.

[Patrick Javert]

if you plan to take on a project such as dropping in a 4.3, the easiest way to get around the computer compatability problem is just to get a aftermarket stand-alone unit such as the racing version of the AEM computer. That computer is setup so that it doesn't have to run off of a stock computer and that the user can input all of the information him/herself. If it were me, I'd get the thing totally built. Just get a bare block and start from there. bore it out and get bigger pistons, aluminum heads P&P'd, forged, balanced, and knife-edged crank, forged rods, P&P intake manifold, ect.

[MustangEater8251]

Actually speedo and rear end problems would be soved.

Most likely someone is going to go with 3.42s, with an auto. Well not sure but i would not be surprised if the Extreme came with 3.42s in the rear.

thus stock computer would work on car with 3.42s, and be accurate, except in tire size but that is negligable.

[Guardsman]

When I had my 95, I compared it to the 4.3l S10 that we have at work, and there are 2 issues, especially for a pre-98 car.
First, the throttle-body faces up, just like a carb, and there would be an issue in getting air to it, because of the hood. An SS hood might work, but it would take some looking into.
Second, the 4.3l does use a distributor, and it would be stuck way back under the dash, and would be a major PITA to get to.

[Ryan94V6]

Mustangeater, I started a topic on camaroZ28.com about a 4.3L swap. I went to chevy and they pulled out a book on engines and they showed me a 4.3L high performance racing engine. If you really wanna know about this then go to chevy, they should have a book with engines in it. But every told me they they would recommend an LT1 engine because it has more potential and the 4.3L racing engine would be too much of a swap ,also money wise. The engine itself (NEW) would probly be 4 grand itself.

[MustangEater8251]

Once agian I have no plans of dong this, I would think a v8 swap would be easier, jsut I noticed you and some others talked about it, jsut trying to exercise the mind a bit, and see if I could figure it out.