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4.3L V8 Performance parts


cbunnb1
11-19-2006, 04:18 PM
does anyone know any great links where I can purchase performance parts for my 4.3 V8 and would anybody have any recommendations on what would be a great improvement power wise

Blue Bowtie
11-20-2006, 09:34 AM
A great improvement? Find a block with 4" bores. The 265 just doesn't have a lot of potential without some serious ($$$) modifications. Since the 350 gets the SAME highway fuel mileage, and only about 1 MPG less in city driving, the choice seems rather obvious to me.

For just a few pennies over $1,000 I have bumped the output on my '94 LT1 to about 330HP & 380 ft/lb. You couldn't even begin to get close to that with a 265 for three times the price. And the 350 is still very street-friendly, with barely any detectable lope and no serious noise - until the fun pedal is pushed...

The fortunate thing for you is that almost everything you would need to perform the swap is already present for your L99. All you would really need to do is reflash the PCM (about $50) and bolt in the engine. If your L99 has any kind of mileage, the choice is even less difficult. Find a used iron-headed LT1, freshen it up. You can build up the spare engine as time/budget allows, and plan on a long weekend to perform the swap whenever you can fit it into your schedule.

400wagon
11-20-2006, 08:37 PM
the cheapest and easiest thing to do would be to sell the car you have and buy one that has the 5.7 Lt1 in it. The 4.3 (l99) is a good engine, but just doesn't have enough displacement to make the money you spend in mods worth it. I know that's not what anyone wants to hear, but its the truth. You'll just be throwing a lot of money at it to get it to run with the guys with stock LT1's.

You could think about doing a swap, like blue bowtie said, but having someone else do it for you would be a lot of money. If you can do it yourself, and the car is in great shape to start with, it would be worth it.

That being said, there are basic mods like a sewer pipe intake, tb bypass, mufflers and exhaust, and pcm reprogramming that would be a good place to start. Everything you can buy for the LT1 should fit the 4.3 liter, but you'll be spending the same amount of money for a very small fraction of the gain.

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