First OBS. What should I do to it?!

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454cid

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I think OEM-ish steel wheels painted nicely would look the best. I don't care for that design of factory aluminum.

I'd clean up the truck as it is.... pressure wash the engine compartment, and underside. Do all the fluids/filters. Check the brakes out. I'd lean towards keeping that 4.3L if its in good shape and it should be with the low mileage. The "clean-up" serves to purposes.... gets the truck clean, but also kinda gets you familiar with it.

I like that it's already lowered a bit... looks good on the 2wd, and should improve mpg at least a little, I'd think.
 

Nad_Yvalhosert

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I have a 4.3 short bed single cab and I rarely get any better than 16mpg… I honestly think an LS would get a little better mileage in stock form lol. Feel free to disagree but even at that, you aren’t sacrificing much efficiency. Just voicing my own experience! But hey, that truck looks SO CLEAN the way it sits. I personally think stock styling looks the best but with upgrades that make the truck “the way it should have came from factory”. Sometimes going down the customizing rabbit hole you can get so far it loses some appeal. But at the same time, people express themselves in their builds and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! Regardless, I really like this truck! Clean and low mileage…

I look at it like a stock broker. ROI: return on investment. What is the cost of LS swapping? $1500? engine, tranny, harness, PCM, tune, and what is the fuel economy differential. Perhaps 3 mpg? How long till it pays you back the MPG savings? 5 years? 7 years?
 

TCBRacer77

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I look at it like a stock broker. ROI: return on investment. What is the cost of LS swapping? $1500? engine, tranny, harness, PCM, tune, and what is the fuel economy differential. Perhaps 3 mpg? How long till it pays you back the MPG savings? 5 years? 7 years?
Is anyone really ls swapping just for the fuel mileage or a ROI for fuel economy? Lol I’m just saying to HELP justify an LS swap they would probably get better mileage than a 4.3 like mine. My main point is that keeping the 4.3 for fuel economy isn’t really getting that great of fuel mileage. Quite honestly if we were in the game of getting a ROI for fuel economy this forum would be about making these trucks into hybrids. Lol sorry but I don’t think your comment is making much of an argument for anything
 

Erik the Awful

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No, you really have to look for any 4.3 around here. When I go to Pull-A-Part I just assume everything has a 350, and I am rarely disappointed.
 

HotWheelsBurban

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There's a few of them in the Houston yards. They look weird since they're kinda like a stunted growth small block.....
 
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