4.3L to ?? swap.

[Dropped88]

I actually swapped a fresh TBI 366 into a G30 cutaway RV in place of a tired 350. The 366 ran circles around the 350 bolted to a 4L80E and 4.10 gears. The TBI 366s use small oval port heads rather than the peanut ports that flow ~250 cfm through a 2.06 valve and have dome pistons to keep the compression up with open chamber heads.

Forgive my ignorance but are 454 of TBI era just gutless pigs?

Mine runs smooth and flawless and has the grunt to pull a double wide of it's foundation lol but if you decide to accelerate hard it's a joke this is also my first big block but I drove a 1990 SS truck that felt the same.

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

Forgive my ignorance but are 454 of TBI era just gutless pigs?

Mine runs smooth and flawless and has the grunt to pull a double wide of it's foundation lol but if you decide to accelerate hard it's a joke this is also my first big block but I drove a 1990 SS truck that felt the same.

I think they made 225 HP or thereabouts. That's just how an engine that makes a lot more torque than horsepower feels.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

I think they made 225 HP or thereabouts. That's just how an engine that makes a lot more torque than horsepower feels.

For their time, when they were new, that was some HP. It's just that things have changed so much since then....

 

[packer0440]

Forgive my ignorance but are 454 of TBI era just gutless pigs?

Mine runs smooth and flawless and has the grunt to pull a double wide of it's foundation lol but if you decide to accelerate hard it's a joke this is also my first big block but I drove a 1990 SS truck that felt the same.

I have driven two of them, one auto, one manual, and I think they both make 235 hp (one is a Mark IV, one a Gen V, but they act the exact same). I find the acceleration to be just fine (considering they are in one tons). I enjoy the low end torque more than top end power, it can just idle up hills for days, even when loaded. But everyone's tastes are different. For a 1/2 ton though, I would probably pick a 350. For what you are able to haul in a 1/2 ton of this era, a 454 is a bit overkill.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

I used to have a '81 Malibu with the 267, it was totally gutless but it had a THM350 trans in it already at least. I built a 355 out of mostly junkyard parts for it when I was in my pre-apprenticeship program. That really woke it up, but it was dying for some better rear end gears. I think I had 2.73s or something. My dad was telling me (after I got that car) that GM made a bunch of them with the V6 and a 4 speed manual trans, most of them were exported to the middle east. That would have been a cool base to start with! Well, I'm just partial to manual transmissions.

To the OP, I've also got a 4.3 begging to be replaced in my truck, and I've been mulling over the options. You could always just swap in a regular old small block and change to a carb'd setup, if you are averse to wiring. That way definitely has its merits. Honestly the LS swap is the way to go though, plenty of people have done it, it's not difficult to figure out. There's so much aftermarket support for these swaps, and people put them in literally any kind of vehicle you can imagine, so it's not a difficult thing to do. Odds are you could probably find someone near you who could get it done as well, if you don't want to tackle it yourself.

I have an LS swapped vehicle. In a heavy truck, give me a traditional small block or a big block. LS couldn't pull its way through a wet paper bag until you rev the snot out of it.

 

[1997]

GM made a bunch of them with the V6 and a 4 speed manual trans, most of them were exported to the middle east. That would have been a cool base to start with! Well, I'm just partial to manual transmissions.

sorry slight thread hijack,,,, another interesting thing about them malibu's, all had, you guessed it AC.
the V6 was a 3.8 IIRC.

 

[stutaeng]

I have an LS swapped vehicle. In a heavy truck, give me a traditional small block or a big block. LS couldn't pull its way through a wet paper bag until you rev the snot out of it.

I get you don't like LS (and get that folks here like their engine designs), but they are what GM engineers went with like 23 years ago, so it's not like we have a choice if you are shopping for a newer full-sized vehicle.

We just got back from a family vacation in my wife's '20 3500 Express Passenger van. It has the L96 or something like that Gen IV LS 6.0 with the 6L90e. The last 6.0 in a production vehicle, I believe. Vans are old school, I'm pretty sure you know that.

For reference, my options shopping around were the Dodge Promaster and the Ford Transit, both unibody and V6 options. The Chevrolet LS 6.0 was the obvious choice. And I had been slowly transitioning from the SBC to the LS anyways.

I had driven it only a few times around town and didn't like it that much, mostly because of the 6 speed, but after driving it like 1200 miles into the Rockies, I'd say it's pretty dang nice. Even with as heavy as that darn van is and the wife and kids packed and luggage, it stayed into the low 2,000 RPM range. The few times it did go above 2,500 rpm, it felt plenty powerful, smooth AND quiet. I honestly have zero complaints of it and never felt under powered, even in mountains. I had to set the cruise control AT the speed limit because I found myself speeding a few times...

My 5.7 in my k3500 feels like it's going to blow out of the hood above that range, and really doesn't do much above that RPM anyways, so I never really push it...about the same as I recall with the older Express vans I got to drive (pre-LS) on family vacations when I was still living with my parents. So I apologize, but I find these gross "LS suck" statements almost comical.

Oh, and no distributors/goofy spider injectors to worry about misfires and no-starts on the LS.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

I get you don't like LS (and get that folks here like their engine designs), but they are what GM engineers went with like 23 years ago, so it's not like we have a choice if you are shopping for a newer full-sized vehicle.

We just got back from a family vacation in my wife's '20 3500 Express Passenger van. It has the L96 or something like that Gen IV LS 6.0 with the 6L90e. The last 6.0 in a production vehicle, I believe. Vans are old school, I'm pretty sure you know that.

For reference, my options shopping around were the Dodge Promaster and the Ford Transit, both unibody and V6 options. The Chevrolet LS 6.0 was the obvious choice. And I had been slowly transitioning from the SBC from the LS anyways.

I had driven it only a few times around town and didn't like it that much, mostly because of the 6 speed, but after driving it like 1200 miles into the Rockies, I'd say it's pretty dang nice. Even with as heavy as that darn van is and the wife and kids packed and luggage, it stayed into the low 2,000 RPM range. The few times it did go above 2,500 rpm, it felt plenty powerful, smooth AND quiet. I honestly have zero complaints of it and never felt under powered, even in mountains. I had to set the cruise control AT the speed limit because I found myself speeding a few times...

My 5.7 in my k3500 feels like it's going to blow out of the hood above that range, and really doesn't do much above that RPM anyways, so I never really push it...about the same as I recall with the older Express vans I got to drive (pre-LS) on family vacations when I was still living with my parents. So I apologize, but I find these gross "LS suck" statements almost comical.

Oh, and no distributors/goofy spider injectors to worry about misfires and no-starts on the LS.

I have had a no start maybe 2 times on a L31. One for a coil and the second for a crank sensor. The LS coils fail quickly too but just results in misfires. Only time a spider ever caused me issue was one that sat for 2 years without running. Had the OE style and several poppets stuck. I had one blow up but that was GMs crappy intake gaskets.

My 5.7s and even my 5.0L have always been silky smooth to the shift points and had good power.

I found myself speeding with a ~180 hp 305 in a G20 van in the mountains multiple times.

Every LS or modern Hemi I have driven feels like it needs a 3,500-4,000 rpm converter even with the stock cam to get rolling. They are slugs getting off the line. I have always found the power lacking. 6spd helps with that but a 4L80E is twice the transmission as a 6L90E and will last 2-3x as long. I would not own a GM vehicle newer than 2002 and I don't. If I had to go pick a different van at this moment it would be a used Nissan NV3500 with a direct injected 5.6L and 7spd.

 

[DDTurbo]

sorry slight thread hijack,,,, another interesting thing about them malibu's, all had, you guessed it AC.
the V6 was a 3.8 IIRC.

This 3.3 Chevy V6 actually was removed from a 1979 Malibu Estate wagon. Depending on what model it was an option back then.

 

[stutaeng]

I have had a no start maybe 2 times on a L31. One for a coil and the second for a crank sensor. The LS coils fail quickly too but just results in misfires. Only time a spider ever caused me issue was one that sat for 2 years without running. Had the OE style and several poppets stuck. I had one blow up but that was GMs crappy intake gaskets.

My 5.7s and even my 5.0L have always been silky smooth to the shift points and had good power.

I found myself speeding with a ~180 hp 305 in a G20 van in the mountains multiple times.

Every LS or modern Hemi I have driven feels like it needs a 3,500-4,000 rpm converter even with the stock cam to get rolling. They are slugs getting off the line. I have always found the power lacking. 6spd helps with that but a 4L80E is twice the transmission as a 6L90E and will last 2-3x as long. I would not own a GM vehicle newer than 2002 and I don't. If I had to go pick a different van at this moment it would be a used Nissan NV3500 with a direct injected 5.6L and 7spd.

Maybe I'm exaggerating on the misfires and no-starts, or maybe I hang out too often here, but it seems way too common to me. I've had it happen to me, and drove me nuts. I'm always joking to myself in my mind that the "the OBS should come with half a dozen cap and rotors as a starter pack."

The few times I was left stranded on the road on my 4.3 Vortec was a failed ICM, failed camshaft (I think this was misdiagnosed by my mechanic for a distributor that was about to die), then 2 weeks later distributor died on me. And numerous no-starts when damp/humid, before it got replaced with a 5.3. Last time it wouldn't start I was in Rockport, TX by the coast and the darn thing wouldn't fire because it was humid. I was so damn pissed that time. I've talked to my mechanic and he's had the same issues with his 5.7 Vortec distributor. He just keeps replacing caps from the junkyard...

On my 5.7 K3500 it had a lean code that I chased all summer right when I bought it. Finally bought a scanner with live data (after watching many diagnostics videos) and nailed it to a dead injector #7...the infamous spiders. Never got any mis-fire codes, which would of given a hint. On the flip side, I've learned a lot of how to do diagnostics working on these trucks!

Yeah, my other trucks have the 4L80. I like them and agree they are very durable, but they are gone in 2013.

3500-4000 RPM to get moving on the LS?! That's nonsense. I'd be doing burnouts at every stop light if I tried doing that! My buddy that has had a Hemi says they are plenty strong, and he's had the OBS 350, but I've personally never driven a Hemi.

It's rare that I ever push the 3,000 RPM, and wife says I drive like a manic

Realistically, the LS is nothing more than a SBC with different (better) heads, better electronics and ECU that are more precise, so I'm not sure how anyone can hate that; but you obviously have your reasons and I respect that...the bottom end is stronger too, and the intake is a dry design. I consider the LS an improvement over the older engine in just about every aspect I can think of.

Yeah, I did consider the NV vans, but they were out of my price range, and I believe they got discontinued so not many of them out there. One family from church did buy a used one recently.

OP: sorry this is derailing from your post.