Engine swap diary

[Stewart G Griffin]

Attempted to/ looked at switching 4pin hei module from 305 to the v-6's distributor which is a 5 pin (ESC) module:

[Irish_Alley]

Not sure how much you will notice but the trans will have a small block stall so it will lock up sooner than a 6 cylinder stall 1500vs2000 rpms.

[Stewart G Griffin]

Not sure how much you will notice but the trans will have a small block stall so it will lock up sooner than a 6 cylinder stall 1500vs2000 rpms.

That's a good point.  i can live with it for now.

Another interesting point is a lot of these trucks came equipped as such----4.3 v-6 AND Turbo 400!   The truck i bought the engine out of was equipped that way.

[Ben_Greenberg]

I think it's ok for this day to day. It's also a great place to bring up something and have other members provide links to other threads or sites for info on getting things fixed.

Not every issue needs its own thread, especially if it's hard to describe or choose good search terms. Just my $0.02

[Stewart G Griffin]

If we could re-visit this topic, i need a little help understanding the sticky:
http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/drivetrain/escrepl.htm

In order to bypass the ESC function, it says to unhook the spark control computer lead from the pink wire and hook the pink wire directly to the dist. cap.

Let's look at my setup:


As you can see, the pink wire from the computer already goes into the distributor cap.   Unless he means unhooked further down the line?   And furthermore, if i'm not going to be using the computer, why do i need this wire at all?  Maybe i'm not understanding it clearly.

i do understand having to connect the green and black wires, but do i need to reconnect this plug to that ESC harness to create a ground or something?

What i'm trying to do is----the 4.3's distributor is ESC and i want to bypass the ESC function.  As you know the 305's distributor from the 78 malibu which is non ESC has a different star-wheel and another part which i forgot the name of, otherwise i would just use that distributor.

[Captkaos]

If you are swapping in a non ESC distributor, you just need the power wire Labled plugs into Dist cap and plut it in.
All the other wires from the ESC are useless...

[Stewart G Griffin]

Did the ESC bypass by connecting the green and black wires from the secondary harness.  i still don't understand the whole pink lead from the computer but i'll figure it out.

And trimmed the A.I.R. tubes off the exhaust manifold.  If you look at the above rice picture, the tube is mostly now gone.

[Captkaos]

Merged all of these topics.  See above on information on removing the ESC.

[lastwords1978]

The plus side of the rice is it would soak up any moisture.

[Stewart G Griffin]

i'm mainly starting a new thread to keep track of my progress.

Re-installed exhaust manifold with anti-seize applied to bolts.  i read 25ft/lbs.?

Installed carb.  This is the carb original to the truck.  Carb that came with engine is probably junk.  Mismatched for application.    The service manual said 12ft/lbs for the carb to manifold bolts.

And, installed custom fuel line.  The reason why i went this route was because fuel pump-to-carb lines for a 4.3 ARE NOT easy to find if they are even out there.  i searched long and hard for one.  No luck.  So i figured rather than to try to hunt for one in a junkyard---remember MOST 4.3's were fuel injected not carbed, it would be easier to just use a pre-made kit.  i used this one:
http://www.jegs.com/i/Russell/799/641030/10002/-1

You might think, and so did i, that you could just use any small block pump to carb line, but on 4.3's the fuel pump is mounted upside down.  i think this was done so the pump would clear the front crossmember?

The other advantage of using this line, is that i could use Pontiac, Olds and Buick quadrajets as well if i need to.

[fitz]

This should be a good thread.
I'm a big fan of the A.N. line that you are using.  Once you get the hang of how to cut it to length ( I use a dremel with a small cut off wheel) its great to work with.
Are you going to take pictures of your work?  Did you clean up the motor and paint it?
If I was a betting man I would bet that once its installed you will follow up with mpg comparison with the V6 vs V8.
This will be a good read.

[zieg85]

He has a 2.56 rear end which may dog it too much and have to keep his foot in the throttle.  I ran my 4.3L on a 150 mile gas mileage check on my 86 with a 2.73 rear end which got me close to 17 but that was 65-70 mph on the interstate.

[Irish_Alley]

When I babied my 4.3 in my 94 swb I got 16. This was the same trip that my 79 with a sm465/205 and 28s got 10 when babied. Granted the 4.3 has over 320k so she might not be as strong as she once was

[Stewart G Griffin]

This should be a good thread.
I'm a big fan of the A.N. line that you are using.  Once you get the hang of how to cut it to length ( I use a dremel with a small cut off wheel) its great to work with.
Are you going to take pictures of your work?  Did you clean up the motor and paint it?
If I was a betting man I would bet that once its installed you will follow up with mpg comparison with the V6 vs V8.
This will be a good read.

The A.N. line was actually pre-assembled, but i have built my own in the past and yes, i think i used a dremel.  Yeah, i will try to get a pic up soon.  i tried cleaning it up but did not paint it.

And, yes, i'm definitely going to be tracking mpg.  This is the whole reason i got the 4.3 in the first place.  With the 305 overheated, it finally sowed the seed to put the 4.3  in.

[Stewart G Griffin]

He has a 2.56 rear end which may dog it too much and have to keep his foot in the throttle.  I ran my 4.3L on a 150 mile gas mileage check on my 86 with a 2.73 rear end which got me close to 17 but that was 65-70 mph on the interstate.

Zieg, i'm going to bet and hope it will be ok---as the 4.3 makes almost the same torque and hp as the 305.  And the 305 did ok with the 2.56 rear.   Of course, the 4.3's torque peak happens at about 400 rpm higher than the 305's though.   We'll see.