Well by now you must know I have little knowledge of engine swaping but I have a major desire to do so and want to make sure I do everything the absolute right way. With that said I also need to know if i would need to change out my factory driveline as well?
Driveline too!
- Thread starter luda22
- Start date
Molson02536
New member
Nope, all you need to do is to relocate your radiator and push it forward of the cross member to give you more engine bay room. Some people have cut out the section on the radiator cross member to move the radiator forward to give more engine bay room.
When I worked at a speed shop, here is a secret with the 4.3 that have been done to my Jimmy that can out hall ass with the V8's.
The W engines had the best cam for power. There might be a little room for improvement with a bigger cam but you will have a trade off somewhere else - MPG economy, reliability, idle quality and in-town drivability. Depending on your injection type, tuning for a different cam can be a costly nightmare- especially if you have the spider injection which i believe you have in the 95's. The head ports, valves and cylinder efficiency will probably not show the benefits of a bigger cam anyway so it would be a waste of money and effort.
Lets face it, the cams in these 4.3's are for torque not top end speed. If you are dead set on installing a new cam, go with a cam that is as close to stock as you can get and mic. the lobes for consistency. Install with a degree wheel 2* advance for some extra power. You will need a cam sprocket with an adjustable dowel that allows for the advance. You'll see more power with a stock cam with the 2* advance as well. It builds more torque which is what you are after.
The factory does not do this "trick" because of emissions, but it is good for at least 45 more pounds of torque which is better than a new cam will show you. If you have a Z motor, a cam swap might be the only thing you can do to improve the power as they are only at 160 hp. An alternative would be 1.6 ratio rocker arms like is did, but you'll need screw-in rocker studs. Some heads had them and some didn't, i was lucky and had the screw-in rocker studs why i have no idea. Gift from the Gods i guess.
The W engines are rated at 195 - 200 with 250 lbs of torque and mine I believe was around the 210 - 215 HP with 298 lbs of torque. Fun to drive and easy to spin tires when ever you want with the extra torque and for some crazy reason i am still getting 23 mpg on the high way doing an average 72 mph at 2,200 RPM, but have to use no thing less then 91 octane, 94 octane works well at Sunoco.
Good luck on your project, but you can do the same damage with your 4.3 if done right and still have enough money to buy a winter beater.
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